Maverick at the Attic (MATA)

“Nnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…..,” a loud reaction came out from my brain as loud as the scream produced by Bruce when Wendy got evicted from the house of Kuya.

This was my immediate reaction once another Big Brother series was on the offing. After the hullabaloo about the inclusion of Wendy until the Big Four, director Dyogi must have that heart of steel to do another one yet. And to do another Celebrity Edition even when he himself admitted to have troubles the first time around truly makes him a good soldier of the studio.

There is nothing like watching reality television, particularly when it is produced as good as the ones done by ABS and Endemol. And I have to commend both entities for creating local reality shows worth the watching notwithstanding Direk Joey Reyes’s pronouncements on the last edition of PBB. These shows are not done primarily just for entertainment, but to elicit viewer reactions.

And if writers are creative and judicious enough, they should be able to produce situations which should push the buttons of the housemates. But it would be more effective television if the housemates themselves are the ones to rouse other housemates to grip us into watching day-in and day-out real drama. That is why I was very appreciative of Wendy as she had the derring-do of upping the ante of a somehow lethargic series.

But many of the televiewers have to be cautioned not to disparage people inside that little big house of Kuya. Each housemate has a story to tell, and a role to play. And if the housemate delivers it with gusto, then so much the better for the viewers. Their little stories and roles weave a narrative for all of us to get glued on the television. And hopefully, it gives us a morality tale that sparks conversation and little arguments in our houses, offices, and in the different internet fora.

What the housemates say and do is not the end all and be all of their personhood. The housemates just decide to show personas for all of us to have a sneak peek on. As I have said time and time again, we as viewers are not better than the housemates. My fear is that viewers will be diminished to condemning, accusing, and finger pointing individuals. I hope the viewers this time value the whole series thematically rather than the individual parts of the housemates.


Are the televiewers prepared for another ride of mind boggling, heart pounding, gut wrenching, bone chilling and hair pulling antics of the celebrity housemates?

“Yyyesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!” But please watch with caution.