It’s not often my Mum rings me to discuss Mike Goldman. In fact she never does. But she did on Sunday, to praise his hosting efforts on Big Brother’s Sunday night eviction show.
She, along with many long-term BB fans, believes he displayed not only great warmth but an enormous knowledge of the program.
Well you’d hope so. The guy has been narrating the Big Brother daily show for eight years, hosting Friday Night Live for three, and for yonks hosted cult hit Big Brother UpLate.
He probably knows more about BB than anyone.
But it wasn’t only his knowledge that impressed my Mum. It was his capacity to make housemates feel he valued them and their opinions.
If that all sounds a bit soft remember my Mum is a Mum after all, and a psychologist to boot. But she has a point.
Big Brother at its best is about the housemates. It is at its heart a social experiment.
It’s about the public living through the characters and asking themselves – How would I have handled that situation? It’s about housemates being shown their behaviour, and the public’s perception of it and asking themselves if they are proud or want to change it.
And as wanky as this sounds, and in between the fun and titillation, it’s about an analysis of the human condition.
And this is where previous BB host Gretel Killeen excelled. She was whip smart, funny and whether fans loved her or hated they all respected her.
She could flirt with the boys, she was a mother to the girls. And she was generous to housemates when they were in situations where they were vulnerable.
She made the show fun for the kids, sexy for the teenagers and cerebral for the adults. She had enormous gravitas.
And shadows of this Goldman showed on Sunday night.
Anyway, back to my Mum. I’m not sure if she’s right… but it sure was nice to get a call from her anyway.
