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Blog Special: Ranking The Big Brothers

To celebrate the end of this series of Big Brother and the start of Ultimate Big Brother here is my list ranking all the series both celebrity, pleb and inbetween in terms of their awesomeness.

19. Celebrity Big Brother 2 (2002)
Notable Housemates: Mark Owen, Les Dennis, The Chickens
Highlights: Mark Owen resserects career, Les Dennis has mini-breakdown, Goldie uses a forklift
Lowlights: Les Dennis feeds the chickens, Sue Perkins and Melinda Messenger row, the housemates knit a giant quilt.
Comment: To be fair this is when the Celebs were still playing for charity. The series was only a couple of weeks long, but even so most people snoozed off. Mark Owen was a lively housemate and so was first evictee Goldie. But Anne Diamond, really? The low viewing figures here meant that Channel 4 waited another two and a bit years before attempting the celebrity format again.

18. Big Brother 4 (2003)
Noteable Housemates: Jon Tickle
Highlights: Jon Tickle generally, Lisa threatening to kill everyone with two fingers, eventual winner Cameron jetting off to African Big Brother, the first night nominations
Lowlights: Most of the other housemates (Sissy, Justine, Tanya anyone?), the weeklong endurance task, Jon Tickle being evicted in Week Four, the non-romances between Cameron and Steph and Scott and Nush, everyone laying around most of the day.
Comment: Big Brother 4 will be remembered soley for one man - Jon Tickle, who was evicted in Week Four but was so popular he was put back in for the last two weeks. Everything else just flowed along without incident, this was Big Brother's attempt to go 'Back to Basics' which worked in away but it meant the loss of a lot of viewers.

17. Celebrity Big Brother 5 (2007)
Noteable Housemates: Shilpa Shetty, Dirk Benedict, Jermaine Jackson, Jade Goody and family, Donny Tourettes
Highlights: Donny Tourettes' manic outbursts and escape over the wall, Dirk Benedict's sense of humour, the Jackson 5 task, Shilpa being the eventual winner
Lowlights: The Shilpa Shetty/Jade Goody incident, the general lack of personalities and Celebrities: Carol Malone, Danielle Lloyd, Cleo Roccas and especially Jade's boyfriend Jack are hardly names that roll off the tongue
Comment: What this series will always be remembered for the bullying that Shilpa had to endure from Jade, Danielle Lloyd and Jo from S Club 7. Even if it wasn't generally racist it was still very much three girls picking on one. When Jade's family came in things went downhill fast with the mood of the house changing and two of the best contestants, Ken Russell and Donny Tourettes, walking out. Even after Jade was evicted things really didn't pick up and the show as a whole was rather downbeat.

16. Celebrity Big Brother 6 (2009)
Noteable Housemates: Coolio, Verne 'Mini Me' Troyer, Terry Christian, LaToya Jackson
Highlights: Coolio's outbursts, Verne Troyer getting drunk, Terry Christian as king of the house, the Celebrities task
Lowlights: Tina Malone's self-absorbed nature, Lucy Pinder trying to be interesting, again a lack of personalities from Tommy Sheridan, Mutya from the Sugababes, Michelle from Liberty X and Ben from A1, Ulrika Johnson winning
Comment: An amiable enough return to the series after having 2008 off. Obviously some celebrities were cautious to participate after the 2007 series and that's why there wasn't a lot of familiar faces. However there was lots to like thanks to runner-up Terry Christian always providing a laugh and Verne Troyer showing us that not all American movie stars are vapid. But Coolio was the star of the show and deserved to win but for some reason Ulri-ka-ka-ka triumphed.

15. Big Brother 10 (2009)
Noteable Housemates: Marcus, Halfwit, Sophie, Noirin
Highlights: The Irrepressable Dark Horse Marcus Aitken, Noirin ensnaring most of the male housemates, The Alice in Wonderland task, Rodrigo's hissy fits, the return of former housemates, Lisa and David leaving the house and dressing up as aliens, Kenny escaping over the wall
Lowlights: The opening night 'twist' in which none of the housemates were actually housemates, the casting a lot of over-the-top personalties such as Angel and Sree, the focus on punishing housemates, Sophie winning, the lack of impact the new housemates had, the central house relationship between Sophie and Kris which dominated most of the show.
Comment: Big Brother got too clever for its own self this year and the 'non-housemates' opening night allienated a lot of the viewing public, including my good self, seeing the figures drop massively. If it wasn't for Marcus I would've probably stopped watching entirely

14. Big Brother 8 (2007)
Noteable Housemates: Brian Bello, Samanda, Ziggy and Chanelle, Charley
Highlights: The all girl start, the off/on Ziggy and Chanelle romance, Brian Bello's loveable naievity, Samanda's partying, Charley Uchea - possibly BB's Best Ever Bitch.
Lowlights: Lesley leaving early, Emily Parr's racist comment, the house-next-door, the focus on weird men and their obsession with cuddly toys.
Comment: An interesting start to this year's Big Brother saw only women enter the house bit by bit more men entered the house but then things got a bit dull so BB started to throw more and more non-entities in. Does anyone really remember Laura, Shabnam, Kara-Louise, Nicky, Liam, Gerry and Amy? The romance between Ziggy and Channelle and Charely's outbursts of anger aside there wasn't anything particularly memorable here.

13. Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack (2008)
Noteable Housemates: Not many but maybe you'll remember Scottish politician John or circus performer siblings Victor and Emilia, this one was all about the Big Brothers
Highlights: Matt Lucas' opening night challenge, Russell Brand and others messing around with highly strung motorcar racer Jeremy, Malcom McClaren getting most of the housemates to roll around in paint while in their task, Brian Sewell making the housemates cross-dress, Andy McNabb holding Anthony and Amy hostage, Corden and Horne on Big Brother's Big Mouth, Clarissa's hit 'I Love to Play My Bongos in the Morning
Lowlights: The lack of conflict or any type of storyline to speak of.
Comment: This was Channel 4's way of doing something new in the January slot that was typically reserved for Celebrity Big Brother. After the controversy of the 2007 series, Channel 4 stuck a load of up-and-coming musicians, sportsmen, dancers, artists, politicians etc. in the house and had celebs be the Big Brothers. Apart from a couple of moments everyone got on but on the plus side there was almost entertainment every day from some big names playing Big Brother.

12. Big Brother 9 (2008)
Noteable housemates: Mario and Lisa, Mikey, Rex, Kat, Darnell
Highlights: Mario and Steph's faux wedding, the heeaven/hell divide, Lisa's general musings, Belinda, Mikey's food based tasks, Rex's general manner, Mario proposing to Lisa, the Golden Balls-esque task
Lowlights: Luke's gossiping, Alexandra's pow-pow incident, Dennis spitting in Mo's face, Maysoon, too many dull hunks, Bex getting her boobs out, Rachel winning
Comment: A so-so year where we saw Big Brother's first blind contestant in runner-up Mikey Hughes and also two couples Mario and Lisa who went in together and original housemate Rex and his girlfriend Nicole who became a housemate in week eight. Best of all though was Lisa's general musings on life and her turn-of-phrase. This series wasn't to everyone's tastes but I quite like it, B-Block for Life!!

11. Celebrity Big Brother 1 (2001)
Noteable Housemates: Jack Dee, Vanessa Feltz, Anthea Turner, Chris Eubank
Highlights: Jack Dee's escape attempts, Jack Dee winning, Vanessa going crazy and writing on the table, Chris Eubank generally
Lowlights: Claire Sweeney being involved
Comment: The shortest Big Brother in history this lasted just over a week and was done for Comic Relief so was a co-production of both the BBC and Channel 4. This was before the days in which celebrity versions of proper shows became ten-a-penny so at the time it seemed very odd to watch our favourite celebs sharing a house or a jungle together but its now seen as the norm.

10. Big Brother 11 (2010)
Notable Housemates: Josie, Corin, Steve, Ben, John-James, Andrew, Sam Pepper
Highlights: The general production values that differed from all the series that have come before, the majority of the tasks specifically the robot, superhero and singing ones, Mario the Mole, Andrew's bad jokes, narrator Marcus Bentely and Davina both entering the house, Sam Pepper stirring the hosue up in its final few weeks, Ben - probably the most classy housemate BB has ever seen.
Lowlights: The lack of personality from the later three housemates, Keeley being injured so we never got to saw what happened between her and Steve, controversially the John James and Josie relationship, John James' strops, Shabby's over zany personality, Govan's bitching
Comment: So this year's series comes in at number 10, I have to say this is for a number of reasons. 1) the production values and the use of montage has meant a snazzier final series, a good cast on the whole has made for fun watching without yelling at the T.V. and the whole wicked carnival thing has given a sense of theme.

9. Celebrity Big Brother 3 (2005)
Noteable Housemates: Jackie Stallone, Bez, John McCririck, Bridgitte Nielsen.
Higlights: John McRirick's silent protest, Jackie Stallone being out of it the entire time she was in the house, Kenzie standing up to John, Bridgite Nielsen and Jackie Stallone making amends after years of warring, Bez's general mannerism and winning the show
Lowlights: Germaine Greer walking, Lisa I'Anson and Jeremy Edward's as non-entities, nothing really happening after Jackie and John left.
Comment: After two years away Celebrity Big Brother came back bigger and better than before thanks to some ingenious casting - Bez, John and Jackie in particular and some great tasks this was enjoyable if not completely memorable.

8. Celebrity Big Brother 7 (2010)
Noteable Housemates: Vinnie Jones, Stephen Baldwin, Alex Reid, Stephanie Beacham, Ivana Trump
Highlights: Stephanie and Ivana's bitching, Stephen's extreme religion, Alex Reid kickboxing a snowman, the debut of the tree of temptation and a new shooting style, the old folks home task, the male beauty contest
Lowlights: Katya and Jonas' tedious showmance, Vinnie Jones being a little bit too big for his boots, Lady Sovereign's constant petulancce
Comment: Another one from this year which I believe benefited from good casting and a new design to the house complete with a devil who was denounced by Stephen Baldwin straight away. A combination of wacky foreigners like Heidi Fleiss and Stephen Baldwin combined with national treasures Vinnie Jones and Stephanie Beacham meant that the house was a combination of fun and bickering and ultimately made as look at Alex Reid as more than just Jordan's man.

7. Big Brother 1 (2000)
Noteable Housemates: 'Nasty' Nick Bateman, Craig Phillips, Anna Nolan
Highlights: The whole Nasty Nick debacle from lying about his dead mum to the whole writing notes on paper the confrontation is still one of Big Brother's most memorable moments, also Nicola and Craig getting naked, the first BB kiss between Andy and Mel and Craig winning but most of all being able to watch people on TV for the first time
Lowlights: Moody Darren and melancholic Mel weren't particularly awesome housemates while some of the best characters were eliminated early - Caroline, Nichola and the whole thing went down hill a bit after Nick left.
Comment: Well it's the first one but definitely not the best of the bunch. Apart from the Nasty Nick thing and a couple of arguments elsewhere everyone got on pretty well and there was hardly any manipulation from Big Brother back in those days. But it has to have a Top 10 place just because it was the first one if nothing else.

6. Celebrity Big Brother 4 (2006)
Noteable Housemates: Chantelle and Preston, Pete Burns, George 'Would You Like Met To Be the Cat' Galloway, Michael Barrymore, Dennis Rodman
Highlights: Chantelle's secret task in which she had to convince the other celebrities that she was a member of a girlband when in fact she was a pleb like the rest of us, Barrymore thinking the people had forgiven him on opening night, George Galloway as a cat and dressed in lycra, Pete Burns generally, Chantelle and Preston's romance
Lowlights: Jodie Marsh's on-screen breakdown, Faria Alam being allowed in the house in the first place, Barrymore's Hitler routine
Comment: This has to be the best Celebrity Big Brother series, featuring the only non-celeb winner of a celeb series it also featured some hilarious turns from Pete Burns and George Galloway and the only celeb series romance that ended in marriage and then divorce

5. Big Brother 2 (2001)
Noteable Housemates: Brian Dowling, Helen and Paul
Highlights: Brian Dowling from beginning to end including his friendship with Narinder, his flirtation and falling out with Josh and his eventual win. Also the romance between Helen and Paul Big Brother's first and best house relationship, also Dean's guitar playing and sugar-cube stacking, Helen's I Love Blinking speech, Paul's international rockstar speech, Bubble's accident, the start of Big Brother's Little Brother and from a personal standpoint Elizabeth, Helen and Amma naked in the hottub.
Lowlights: Stuart's fights with both Amma and Penny were unpleasent and unnecessary, Josh's arrival did little to stir up the group's behaviou
Comment: This was the year that I started to really get into Big Brother and I think it managed to top the first one without being overly cruel it just filled itself with some good personalties and two brilliant storylines - Brian's journey and the Helen and Paul romance. This was also the first year a new housemate joined the group and the first year of Big Brother's Little Brother.

4. Big Brother 6 (2005)
Noteable Housemates: Makosi, Anthony and Craig, Eugene, Derek, Kamal, Kinga, Science
Highlights: Makosi's many secret missions, Makosi claiming she was pregnant, gay Craig's persual of the very straight Anthony, Kinga and the bottle, Eugene's insanity, the box task, Roberto pouring food all over Maxwell, Science and Derek's odd double act, some of the twists
Lowlights: Lesley's opening night outfit, Maxwell and Saskia under the covers, Orlaith escaping eviction twice and then leaving, Anthony winning
Comment: After the over-developed Big Brother 5, Big Brother 6 calmed it down only slightly. Fame hungry twerps such as Maxwell and Saskia were combined with a bunch of eccentrics like posh Derek, wannabe rapper Science, uber-nerd Eugene and cross-dressing Kamal however it was the quite frankly bizzare Makosi who was the star even though she came third. I think this series could've been better is she or Eugene triumphed instead of ultra-dull dancing hunk Anthony Hutton.

3. Big Brother 3 (2002)
Noteable Housemates: Jade Goody, Kate Lawler, Alison Hammond, Alex Sibley
Highlights: Jade Goody's transformation from minger to national treasure, BB's first female winner in the likeable Kate Lawler, Alex's 'do something for me' and singing behind the door escapades, Sandy peeing in the bin and later climbing over the wall, Alison and Kate breaking the table, Tim's constant complaints, lothario Lee's quest to get both Adele and Sophie, he married and divorced the latter and now they have a kid.
Lowlights: Sunita the first ever contestant to walk after spending only four days in the house, Jade and PJ under the covers,
Comment: This is often described as the year Big Brother lost its innocence featuring more arguments and bitching than the previous two years it also featured the first sexual act performed on the show. In terms of characters who could forget the late Jade Goody but Kate, Alex and Alison are all still with us and are still very actively all over our T.V.s

2. Big Brother 5 (2004)
Noteable Housemates: Nadia, Stuart and Michelle, Victor and his Jungle Cast Jason and Ahmed, Marco, Kitten
Highlights: Kitten's rebellion, fight night, the Jungle Cats, Victor's one-liners, Stuart and Michelle, the Big Brother bedsit, Ahmed smashing the plates, Shell running round the garden naked, Stuart's cowboy outfit
Lowlights: Emma generally, a little bit too much nudity at times, new housemate Bekki being completely useless, Jason coming second despite doing nothing of note in the last there weeks.
Comment: This was really where Big Brother turned a corner and started presenting us with a much more extreme cast of characters. Of course there was the odd normal one - Shell, Vanessa, Stuart but really it was all about the ultra-camp law student, the Portugese transexual, the angry asylum seeker and the lifelong rebel. I have to say it was a very close run thing but this in the end came second.

1. Big Brother 7 (2006)Noteable Housemates: Pete Bennett, Glyn, Nikki Grahame, Aisleyene, Grace and Mikey, Richard, Lea
Highlights: Utterly charming Touretts sufferer Pete Bennett winning the show, Nikki Grahame's hissy fits, the majority of the tasks, Richard's witty diary room rants, Aisleyene dubbing herself the Ghetto Princess and telling Nikki that she better know herself, the house next door, Glyn's life lessons, Pete romancing most of the women in the house
Lowlights: Snoozy Suzie being picked as the Golden Ticket winner, first entrant Bonnie being picked as a housemate in the first place, Nikki Grahame being eligible to win after being voted back in
Comment: So with just a little bit more going for it, 2006's series clinches it the characters were extreme - one with Touretts and one with Britain's Biggest Boobs but at the same time they were warm characters most of whom were very fragile. The final two both went on a journey and there were two romances - Pete and Nikki which didn't last and Grace and Mikey which did.

Another of those catch-up blogs and this time I've dubbed it entertainment. This may be a little bit of an over-step as I wasn't entertained by some of these programmes at all. But at the same time I believe that is their purpose so I've grouped together singing competitions, chat shows, game shows and one bizzare dating-based format in the same blog. Enjoy it nonetheless.

First up cross your arms together and jiggle them like an idiot while a camera sweeps over your head because its time once again for another series of the super-juggernaut talent series that is The X-Factor. There's only a few tweaks to the format this time later on we will see eight acts get through to the judges' houses stage and a rumored 16 finalists. Also the judging panel is a little different as Danniiiii Minogue was busy popping out a sprog, so fair dinkem they got in some replacement judges. Although no-one was expecting Cheryl Cole (surely it should be Tweedy again) to get Malaria, although judging from the first episode I think she may have been faking it so she didn't have to put up with Louis Walsh saying 'you know what I really like you' to every flippin' contestant. Minogue's first replacement was former UN ambassador Geri Halliwell, we got a video package reminding us of her achievements but really she hasn't been relevant since about 2002 when she was responsible for helping Walsh put together Girl's Aloud. For an opening show there were very few rejections with even the patchy, and in one case, awful singers got through. The biggest example of this was the final contestant 30 year old single mum Shereena Johnson who did a version of Duffy's Mercy without any of the words. Despite this Cowell loved her and but her through where no doubt she'll be eliminated at Boot Camp. The most memorable act of the first show had to be the group G and S, a 40 year old gay man who couldn't sing a note and his 20-something straight companion who was alrightish. Of course lovely Ginger Spice thought that S was good and she just happened to have another song already on the tape deck ready to sing she warbled her way through 'Get Here' well enough to be put through. The fact that she already had the other song ready may mean that the accusations of the show being scripted, which this week have come from both Simon Pegg and Lily Allen, may have some truth to them. Also making the grade where first auditionee Stephen Hunter who performed a rather interesting routine to Disco Inferno and Glee style band Noir.

For me though there are two girls who could develop throughout the show. The first is Katie Wailsell who'd deidcated her look to Madonna and whose idol was Freddie Mercury, she was told by Simon not to perform original choice - At Last by Etta James instead singing We Are The Champions but after she failed to impress she went through after singing At Last, confused? I was. But it was charming Zimbabwean born Gamuchirai Nhengu (Peter Dixon will have fun with that name if she gets through to the live shows) performing a bluesy reimaging of Walking on Sunshine, she's the current bookies favourite and if you saw it then you could see why. I have to say The X-Factor is beginning to look a little tired, we kind of know who'll get through and what'll happen. For me the audition shows go on way too long but we still watch it and that says something about Simon Cowell's pull on the nation's viewing habits. Although maybe the next series of X-Factor should be its last.

Sky One has also trotted out a show which it has dubbed 'The Anti-X Factor'. Must Be The Music puts more of an emphais on the actual acts than anything else, the music comes first and the acts can be of any genre ,they can sing or simply play an instrument and they can perform a cover or an original composition this final point has seen the show draw comparisons with Fame Academy but that was more about solo acts than anything else. The show has chosen its judges due to their own musical success so we have the red hot Dizzee Rascal (the first UK solo star to have four number 1s from the same album fact fans), the laid back jazz supremo Jamie Cullum and Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri. One of the things that's refreshing about MBTM is that the judge's aren't the focus, they simply press yes/no buttons straight after the act and then just give a small amount of praise or criticism which is such a change from the Cowell-based shows. The mixture of acts was also impressive we started out with a gang of school-boy rappers called Flowdem, who were later followed by a young Irish lad on an electric fiddle and a later episode also saw a steel drum ensemble. But the show isn't above having the odd sob story including the piano player who wrote a song about her drug addiction and then got her friend to sing it while she accompanied her. And also the show does feature precocious brats like 11 year old harp-player Hero, this was a girl by the way, who sung a song about meeting a boy on holiday (SHE'S 11!). The auditionees will then be whittled down to 15 with all of these getting the chance for their music to be downloaded so they start making money and the winner getting £100,000 to start a succesful music career. The concept of Must Be The Music is an admirable one and seems to have an authenticity that is lacking in the rest of Britain's Talent Shows however the one thing that spoils it is the choice of host - Fearne Cotton. Cotton should not be allowed to front a show especially when the camera cuts from the acts singing to her gurning along to the music or making stupid little comments. This works when its Ant and Dec or even Davina McCall but Gurn Cotton is yet to earn this praise, the set also looks cheap as compared to how some of the other shows look. So overall a respectable programme which tries to do something new but falls down in its choice of host.

The third and final singing competition on the list which doesn't have an original bone in its figurative body is Five's attempt to cash in on the Glee phenomenon - Don't Stop Belevin'. The competition involves show choirs from the U.K. singing against one another to win a 'chance' of an album deal and worldwide distribution. Each week six of these groups will perform against each other with one going through automatically and the other being a wildcard entry put through by the judges each week. And who comprises the dynamic judging panel? I hear you ask. Well it seems to be anyone who wasn't doing anything and was cheap enough. So first up there's Anastacia possibly the biggest name on the panel who sympathises with anyone with a sob story after her own painful ordeal with cancer. Then we've got Duncan 'From Blue' James who should stick to sitcoms or skating because he really doesn't make an effect as a judge. James though has been picked because he's currently starring on the West End as is Tasmin 'Mel from Eastenders' Oulthwaite. I'm not quite sure what she's doing here as she has got quite a succesful acting career I don't see she has the need to appear as a talent show judge. The only one with any opinion seems to be a diminutive American fella who apparently had something to do with choreographing High School Muiscal. Your host for the shindig is Emma Bunton who makes Gurn Cotton look like Michael Parkinson she's completely ineffective and doesn't really have the enthusiasm needed. The performances all seem a little bit creepy, tacky or sappy such as six kids dressed in different colours singing 'True Colours' or two dozen men leering at one woman while shouting their way through 'Sex is on Fire'. The strangest section is 'the supergroup' which happens while the votes are being tallied up, each week five non-singers come and sing on the stage and each week five more join the group. None of them are famous, although one did turn down the chance to possibly be in Girls Aloud, instead they audition in a passport photo-esque booth which is placed in Shopping Centres around the country. Despite the creepy performances, and infectual judges and host the whole thing could have had a sprig of originality to it however this was already done by the BBC pre-Glee and it was called Last Choir Standing. Five really should stick to importing programmes rather than trying to copy The X-Factor et al.

When Paul O'Grady left Channel 4 last year he claimed it was because the channel wanted to cut down on the money spent on the sets and feel of the show. O'Grady in return responded by saying that they wouldn't be able to attract the calibre of guests that they had done in the past - Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, Michael Caine, Susan Sarandon and John Hurt to name just a few. O'Grady really hasn't made any TV appearances since, save a one-off slot on Celebrity Mastermind, but the show sort of lives on as The 5 o'clock Show. Although the programme could easily have been dubbed - Not The Paul O'Grady Show, as it features almost the same atmosphere and even the same general public members and crew from Joyce to Diggler to Osi (yes I was a bit obssessed by the O'Grady show). The set has changed but not drastically with the presenter's desk and the sofa where the guests sit simply swapping places. The one main difference though is the host which differs from time to time. For example Fearne Britton got to host it for two weeks as did Pete Andre while Lenny Henry only did one week as did the unholy duo of Mel Sykes and Denise Van Outen while Phil and Kirsty got to do four days and Sonia From Eastenders only got one. The quality of the guests did dip slightly there were a couple of Americans - Andy Garcia and Mr Schue from Glee both popped in but a lot of the time the guests were far lowlier and it seems that O'Grady was right. I'm thinking that eventually Channel 4 will try and lure O'Grady back at the meantime he is happy just to take their money as the whole thing is produced by his company - Olga TV.

I can imagine the ITV programming meeting - 'So people really loved Blind Date didn't they?' 'yeah', 'and Come dine With Me is one of the most popular daytime shows of the last ten years? 'yeah', 'so how about combining them?' 'that sounds like a brilliant idea!' Whether it was a brilliant idea or not doesn't really matter at this stage, what does matter is that the show came into existence under the name Dinner Date. In Dinner Date a contestant, who was female in both of the episodes that I watched, is presented with five menus by potential beaus she then has to whittle down the five to three by picking the menus she likes the sound of best with the other two not actually getting to meet her. This was my first problem with the concept, why get two guys on the show who are only going to be featured in the first five minutes and then never be shown again? Anyway the girl then gets treated to three dates in a row where each of these men treats her to a meal. I have to say though if I were on the show I wouldn't be very happy if I got her on the last night when she was a little bit tired and not as hungry as she was on night one. Anyway the men then get to woo her with their good looks, cooking ability and in one case poetry writing. After all three dates the contstant and the three cooks each rate each other with the highest rated guy getting a second chance to go on a date where he doesn't have to cook. One of the cruelest things is the two men that are rejected simply find a microwaveable meal for one on their doorstep. Although generally the concept works, again this has been done before, I can't really remember the name of it but it was a Channel 4 teatime studio-based show in which the contestant was cooked for and then had to choose the best cook to date. That was a better idea because here the girl just chose the best looking guy regardless of the fact that his meal was possibly the worst and that he even burnt the steak. If a girl is that vapid then maybe I'm just as happy with a microwaveable meal for one.

Summer Satruday Night Enterainment ain't the greatest. We're in that dodgy middle ground between Britain's Got Talent and Andrew Lloyd Webber finishing and X-Factor and Strictly starting again. Three shows - One from the Beeb and two from ITV have sprung up to fill this gap none of which have been given much of a chance. First up is the BBC's effortt a kind of Total Wipeout game show with more of a quiz element and a larger cash prize. 101 Way to Leave a Gameshow is the name of the show and it is presented by the poor man's Vernon Kay and Welsh hunk Steve Jones. All these shows now have to have a glamorous female assistant The Whole 19 Yards had Caroline Flack while Kirsty Gallagher helped out on Sky One's Gladiators however the budget seemed to have gone on the equipment so the female co-host is BBC 6Music's afternoon DJ Nemone. There's nothing particularly wrong with Nemone but I think she'd rather be introducing obscure indie songs on the radio than chatting to 40-something housewives after they just bungee jumped into a massive swimming pool. The basic concept sees seven people competing for £100,000 each round begins in a studio where Jones presents the contestants with seven answers to a question, six of which are correct and one of which is wrong. Everyone has to pick one so essentially someone is wrong every time, the USP of the show is that the contestants find out how they've done while strapped to bungee chords or strapped into exploding cars, with the loser having to face a horrific stunt. It goes on till only three are left then the question only has one right answer with the contestant who picks this victorious. In essence 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow is a fine 45 minute format however the show is stretched out to an hour which means that Jones has to pad for at least 15 minutes. He does this by reiterating what has gone on before, cracking horrendous jokes (the show has a writing team which includes Jones himself) and doing a 5 minute countdown before each wrong answer is revealled. Overall an admirable attempt but a show that outstays its welcome every week.

ITV1 meanwhile presents a double bill of 'entertainment' each Saturday night which kicks off with Odd One In a programme in which two teams of celebrities have to pick from a line-up who is telling the truth and who is telling porkies. It is refreshing to see a Saturday night gameshow giving new faces a chance to shine in a brand new format. However that hasn't happened instead Bradley Walsh is hosting (what happened to his acting career?) and the two regular panelists are the rather shy Peter Andre and Jason Manford. Mandre, as I shall from here on refer to them, are the Home Team every week and have to take on an Away Team of equally camera-shy people including Eamon Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Katy Brand, Angela Griffin, Mark Durden-Smith and Lorraine Kelly. The aim of the game is to guess which out of a panel of five is the genuine article so for example the group might be presented with five men one of whom is Mexican and the others aren't or find the real nun and the winning team is that with the most right guesses at the end of the night. But there is more as the audience are playing along every step of the way and the audience member with the most correct answers gets the chance to play for £5,000 by guessing the correct answer one more time, which they inevitably do. I wasn't expecting much from Odd One In and I didn't really get much back. There's nothing particualrly wrong with it and Jason Manford tries his level best but the format goes all the way back to Call My Bluff and the interactive element doesn't really add anything. It's a good attempt to create something new for the summer but I think this may get put on the scrapheap as many Bradley Walsh vehicles often do.

Continuing ITV1's Saturday night line-up of shows that have been done before we find Magic Numbers. It's a show where celebrities come on and take part in challenges each of which helps to generate a number when all six numbers are put together anyone with at least three of the same numbers in their phone number can call up and compete for a cash prize. If this sounds familiar to anyone its because its been done before in the mid-1990s and it was called Talking Telephone Numbers. That time there was no messing around it was six numbers or nothing but there are much better odds but it doesn't seem as worthwhile. Also the old show had the ultra-professional Philip Schofield, Magic Numbers has Stephen Mulhern who looks about 18 but is actually in his mid-30s. The numbers are generated in various ways including Paddy McGuinness guessing as many TV theme tunes as he can in a minute or a member of the public trying to decide who Louis Spence is meant to be when he puts on a load of wigs. Personally I'm still trying to decide who Louis Spence is. There is also the final number generator where one of the celebs hits one of those things you find at the fair with the hammer and the bell where the arrow shows you how much you've hit but in this case generates a number from 1-9. Emma Bunton and Alex Reid both had a go at this in seperate weeks and unfortunately Reid did better. But why is it called Magic Numbers? Well that's because Mulhern is a Jack of All Trades and is also a magician so performs magic tricks with the help of celebrities during the time all the pensioners are wasting their money trying to win the grand prize. To be honest Magic Numbers is a bit dull, Mulhern isn't a big presence and often the celebrity guest outshine him a little. Let's just hope this never sees the light of day now that X-Factor is in full swing.

Final show to cover takes us way back to May again and saw Davina McCall actually having to present another show on Channel 4. Fearfull of Big Brother ending and knowing that the BBC won't give her another crack at a talk show she hopes that the channel that made her will keep her on or else she'll have to linger over on Sky presenting that dance show that hardly anyone watched. Flexing her presenting muscles once again Davina presented us with The Million Pound Drop. LIVE!!!! Yes it defnitely was indeed live as Davina and Channel 4 told us over and over and over again. The basic concept of the show sure a couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, boyfriend and boyfriend, workmates, sisters etc., being presented with a million pounds in 'cold hard cash' and having to risk it over a series of eight questions. The million is seperated into 40 bundles of £25,000, the opening questions have four possible answers, if the players aren't completely sure of one of the answers they can spread their money over two or three options as each answer is next to a trapdoor. So for example if you risk all of you million on a right answer and its wrong then you lose all your money down the trapdoor but if you split it across three (you have to keep one cle

ar) then you've got a better chance of making it the whole way. Of the shows I saw only one couple made it to question eight with quite a healthy sum but then thy lost it on the final question. The show is pretty good and makes use of the live element by asking certain questions about things that have happened that day or even about ads during one of the commercial breaks. Although very similar to a lot of things we've seen before as the contestants can actually see the money they are losing each round it becomes ever the more dramatic. Overall an interesting concept and one that looked original, Davina did alright and I think her place as one of Four's main faces will stay in tact for now.