With the latest season of Big Brother Canada being cancelled prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are a lot of questions going around in the fanbase about season 8 and the series as a whole. A reality show like Big Brother that airs weekly as the show is still actively filming, being cancelled in the middle of a season is very rare. It's not like The Amazing Race where they're able to essentially pause the game and pick up where they left off later (although maybe they could?). This has only happened a few times across the international versions of Big Brother, so there's a lot to wonder about the effect it will have on the Canadian version of the show going forward.
For many fans, the immediate question being raised is whether the season being cancelled means that Big Brother Canada as a show will be cancelled completely. It's a fair question considering season 8's issues weren't only related to the pandemic. There were the controversial ejections of two players, Jamar and Kyle, with the decision to kick Jamar off the show being an especially controversial decision which some fans accused the show's production crew of making a racist decision. Plus the season started with a self-eviction and was heading towards another in the week it was cancelled. As a whole, it wasn't on a great path, and several choices that lead to that were within the show's control. On top of all that, fans likely haven't forgotten that Big Brother Canada neared official cancellation when it was put on hiatus after season 5. Fan support was strong enough to bring it back not long after, but the possibility of it ending was present. And this time fan's might not be as motivated after how this season sputtered.
In this case, it should at least be made clear that all the announcements about Big Brother Canada ending is strictly referring to the current season. Past that, the future of the show has not been made certain. The controversy and abrupt ending don't work in the show's favor, though, so the worries are understandable. However, the ratings were still strong, and nothing is certain yet, and if talk of the show ending as a whole happens, then host Arisa Cox would surely let the fans know quickly to demand its renewal. She's Big Brother Canada's biggest supporter and was an important part of it bouncing back from hiatus after season 5.
Should Big Brother Canada move on from this season, another question is how will the show be adjusted in reaction to the controversies of this season. Ideally the show learned the right lessons from this. Be more careful with who's cast and ensure everyone will be able to properly handle the Big Brother house and game environment. Stop using twists early on that basically tell some players that the audience doesn't like them, not to metniont, there's plenty for them to learn from the Jamar-Kyle situation. It's hard to imagine the producers would make the same mistakes twice, and it might even be expected that the next season would be set up to be safer and avoid any similar drama.
The show easily could try to completely move on from this season, and that's why it's also unlikely that any players from this season ever get to play again. Viewers have sympathy for a lot of these fans who finally made it on the show only to have the pandemic cut their time short. Obviously it's unfortunate and ideally many of the bigger players or personalities could get another chance, but realistically this show has only had returnees once before. It wasn't even a full cast then and the ratings for that season were on the lower end. Even in the off chance an all-star season does occur, there are still so many other seasons with bigger characters that fans will want to see play more than the season 8 cast, who they only got to watch for a few weeks. Again, it's unfortunate, but it's likely the case.
Big Brother Canada shouldn't and likely isn't doomed by this polarizing, incomplete season, but should there be future seasons then the show definitely won't be reminding people of season 8 often, if ever. The hope is that while leaving the season behind, the show will learn from and own its mistakes, and create a better, full season again when the world gets back to being as close to normal as it ever does these days.
Big Brother Canada 8 finale airs on Wednesday, April 1st at 7pm EST on Global.
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