#Big Brother All-Stars: From Sizzle to Fizzle

Big Brother is one of the best shows on TV. 

There, I said it. 

Something is fascinating about putting a group of people in a house to scheme their way to the top spot. 

However, the show has been on a slippery slope for years, with questionable contestants and even more questionable decisions from people who are supposed to be good players. 

All-Stars had a lofty task: It had to bring a string of returning players into the fold during a pandemic. 

It’s surprising the season even got off the ground given what’s going on the world right now, and some credit has to be given to producers for pulling off the impossible.

While many thought this was the season the series would get back on the right track, it’s quickly shaping up to be one of the worst seasons ever.

Much of the blame has to fall on the casting team. You can’t call a season All-Stars and bring back night one eliminees, as well as weak players, and expect to make good TV. 

We should have known this was going to be a dud when CBS announced it as “All-Stars” before going on use terminology such as “second chances.”

Janelle Pierzina, Keesha Smith, Kaysar Ridha are Big Brother royalty, and they expected to get to play a game of Big Brother. 

Upon entering the house, it was evident to them they were going to be picked off because the casting team wanted there to be more recent players than older. 

The only reason for this could be that CBS was worried about alienating the viewers who have watched recent years, but not the ones before Big Brother 16. 

Janelle, Kaysar, and Keesha were at an immediate disadvantage because most of the newer players balked at the idea of playing with the older players. 

There’s no question about whether the game has changed in recent years. The older seasons were more cutthroat, with players making big decisions. 

Nowadays, players hide behind majority alliances, and don’t make the moves they would like to because they’re scared of being put on the block the following week. 

Memphis and Enzo managed to find their way into alliances quickly, and are in solid footing in the game — for now. 

Ahead of Big Brother Season 22, there was a wealth of reports that some of the players were pre-gaming, effectively making big alliances before entering the house. 

That appears to have happened between Cody, Nicole F, Dani, and Memphis, anyway. Bringing Tyler and Christmas in was their way of adding some muscle to their alliance to keep the numbers on their side. 

That left Janelle, Keesha, and Kaysar — all previous competition beasts — to work with people who did not want to work with them. 

Kevin, bless his heart, had terrible reads on the game in his initial season, and I hoped he would have changed and learned from his mistakes. 

Unfortunately, he seemed to be the source of paranoia in the house. Kevin ultimately turned Nicole A against Janelle and Kaysar, as they were trying to save her from eviction. 

Kevin has pretty much faded into oblivion because nobody in the house trusts him. 

As for David, he was the person I wanted to make it far into the game this summer. Last season, he had a great read on the events in the house, despite not being able to compete as he was in Camp Comeback following his first-day eviction. 

This week we discovered that he’s got seasons to watch Big Brother alum Ovi, but his actions seemingly prove he is not here to play and merely taking up space in the game, which an actual All-Star could do, instead. 

Ovi would have been a much better person to play in David’s spot because at least he understood the concept of the game. 

Ahead of the premiere, rumors suggested Big Brother greats such as Danielle Reyes, Dan Gheesling, and Derrick Levasseur could be competing. 

Had they arrived in place of some of the people who should not have been in the game, it could have blossomed into one of the best seasons to date. 

Another major flaw is that the competitions have also been geared heavily towards the men, which explains why men have won the first four head-of-households and vetos. 

I know they’re delivering Big Brother during a global pandemic, but they could be making the competitions fairer.

The women are getting picked off one-by-one, and I don’t expect that to change with Enzo being in charge. The best-case scenario is that he puts up the two winners: Nicole and Ian, and the former goes home. 

That would at least deliver some drama in the house because Dani would need to have a mind of her own instead of rushing to Nicole with everything. 

It’s frustrating that this could have been a great season of Big Brother, but it’s been marred by pre-gaming, woeful casting, and terrible planning for the competitions. 

The biggest surprise in terms of players is Christmas. She did not strike me as an All-Star, but she’s building the most amount of relationships, and nurturing them as she sees fit. 

When people start coming for Nicole and Dani, she’s going to be sitting pretty. 

Da’Vonne and Bayleigh are only in one majority alliance, and that’s worrisome about their future in the game. 

It seems that Dani planted the hinky vote against Kaysar to make it look like it was Da’Vonne or Bayleigh. 

Sigh. 

What do you think of the season? Do you agree with my insights? 

If you were to win Head of Household, who would YOU target?

Hit the comments. 

Big Brother continues Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.