Why Did BB Want a Male HOH?

Active fans of Big Brother understand pretty quickly that Big Brother producers subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) influence what happens in the house. Most of the time, this is done in diary room suggestions, where they at times hint as to who should be put on the block, who should be saved, or who should or shouldn’t be trusted.

A more direct method of influencing the game involves the contests for HOH, POV, and slop. How many times has “the house turned” because of a competition that favors a fan favorite that’s likely to otherwise be booted from the house? 

For the most part, this kind of production input occurs later in the season. Anybody has a shot at most of the early competitions, as BB has yet to realize who will be major players, fan faves, or annoying drama kings/queens. Not this season, though, as the very first Head of Household competition was designed to put the first major house moves in the hands of an alpha male. 

I wasn’t entirely paying attention when the “Weinie Challenge” went down this past Thursday, but something didn’t seem quite right. I didn’t even catch Julie’s instructions that the last person across on the winning team would be the first HOH. Watching the show once again on DVR, I see that there was absolutely no shot for any of the women or the smaller, less athletic males.

It was immediately clear that the women were going to have a tough time wrapping their arms around the apparatus that transported them over the “grill”. The guys resorted to tossing the girls to the top of the “hot dog”. Both teams immediately understood that the girls needed to get across first. Hayden didn’t even want to be HOH, but really had no choice as he was the beefy strength of his team.

Why would BB desire this outcome? The first HOH competition has always been a game that anybody could win…as it should be. Did they want to create another dimwitted, self-appointed “Master of the House”, ala Jesse? Did they think to avoid nominations the bimbos would come running to share the bed of a jock? 

As long as I’m complaining about this competition, I must also bitch a bit about the cast’s participation. This is not an ambitious bunch, which was clear the moment Julie informed them they need to form two teams. Generally, this instruction leads to a bit of dissension, as somebody feels bad when they don’t end with the person(s) they desired. Not this time. Outside of one shift (or maybe two), nobody moved from the side of the couch they were sitting.

This lackadaisical approach carried on into the game. When Britney fell, everybody stopped what they were doing. Normally in this situation, the other side would take advantage of this until producers called time out to bring out a medic. (Of course, this may have actually happened and it was just poorly edited.)

What do you thing? Was it a fair game? Did the house guests perform as intended?