Author Topic: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)  (Read 2869 times)

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Offline MamaTo4boys

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Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« on: August 14, 2007, 03:30:14 AM »
Just thought this was insteresting. It answered some questions I had, and know they have been asked.
http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article7214.art&page=1


What Can Eric Do? CBS Answers RNO’s Questions about America’s Player
by David Bloomberg -- 08/08/2007


America’s Player, Eric, has been assigned a wide variety of tasks in his weeks within the Big Brother house. But each time, new questions have come up regarding what he can and cannot do. Is he allowed to vote differently from what America says? Does he have to attempt every task? RealityNewsOnline went to the source, and CBS answered our questions.

As Big Brother 8 has progressed, questions have come up about America’s Player, Eric, and what he can or can’t do. Indeed, many people have speculated and debated these points. But I decided to go to the source, CBS, to find out.

One thing I think would be nice is to have a running tally of how Eric is doing on his tasks. We haven’t seen one, but CBS told me, “As of Thursday’s show (8/2), Eric has completed 7 of 9 America’s Player tasks.” This means he’s earned $10,000 so far, and is three tasks away from another ten grand, as he gets that much for every five tasks completed.

It would appear one task he failed is sleepwalking into Joe’s bed until Joe woke up (we saw him get a “buzz” for that one). As for the other, I’m not entirely sure. He failed in his attempt to get Kail evicted this past week and the week before. That would seem like at least three failures. However, the wording is sometimes different on his tasks – in some cases he has to attempt things, in others he has to succeed. So perhaps that’s the situation here. Like I said, it would be nice to see a running tally of how he’s doing.

But what does Eric actually have to do when given an America’s Player assignment? Can he ignore it if he wants, such as if he thinks it will hurt his standing in the house?

In short, no. CBS said, “Once Eric is given his America's player task, he must make a meaningful [effort] to complete the task.” However, he is not told how to do it. As CBS told me, “His methods of campaigning or completing the task are his own.” So, for example, when he was told to vandalize somebody’s belongings, he was presumably not told to use mustard on a shirt – that was his own idea.

A key point that I have been concerned about – at least privately if not specifically mentioned in any of my articles to date – is that Eric has never actually cast an eviction vote. Julie Chen would bring him in and they would chat, but his vote was always assumed to be that cast by America.

Since I thought these were suggestions given by America, with a cash prize for everything he accomplished, I figured Eric could choose to vote differently from America if it was to his advantage. For example, we have seen how his two votes that were different from the majority have been causing Eric problems this week. I figured he would have been smart to vote with the house, forsaking one of his tasks for a better shot at the big prize at the end.

But CBS dispelled that notion for me, simply saying, “Eric's eviction vote is always America's vote.” So in other words, he does not have a choice. We are not advising Eric on what he should do, we are telling him what he must do in terms of voting. He can tell America how he wants us to vote, but once we give him his orders, he’s stuck with ‘em.

And frankly, that’s where things get difficult. We tell him who we want him to target on Tuesday nights. But a lot can happen between Tuesday and Thursday in the Big Brother house. So America is operating at a disadvantage, and putting Eric at a disadvantage as well.

Of course, America can also vote based on anything they want, including whether they want a particular player in the house for reasons other than Eric’s strategy! Many people are sick of seeing Jen, so she becomes a target. Same with Kail. Meanwhile, the house strategy shifts and Eric is left out in the cold.

But it also becomes a test of Eric’s abilities. Can he lie well enough to convince people he was not the one who cast the dissenting vote? As we have seen, the most recent answer is “no” – though he was additionally hurt by a banner plane and by Dick and Daniele’s illogical logic that accidentally reached the correct conclusion.

One RNO staffer wondered if Eric could reveal his status as America’s Player to the other houseguests, perhaps as a strategy to avoid getting evicted. For example, I just mentioned how Dick and Daniele came to a conclusion about how Eric was supposedly trying to set up Nick and then Daniele, ascribing all sorts of evil conspiracy theories to him (like that he’s been in an alliance with Kail and Jen all along). If Eric felt he was in a situation where he might be evicted because of these stories, could he admit to being America’s Player and say, “Hey, I was just doing what I was told”? Maybe that would get them to ease up a bit.

Alas, no. CBS told me clearly, “Eric cannot tell the other houseguests that he is America's Player.” So that ends that possibility.

Where does that leave Eric? In an interesting position. He has already won some money and might win more. But he also has been restricted from playing the game he wanted to play. Given that he was described as such a Big Brother enthusiast, I can certainly see why some of his family members expressed concerns when it was revealed that Eric is America’s Player. We don’t know exactly how Eric would have played differently without orders from America, but we can pretty well guarantee that he would not have cast those lone votes that drew so much attention. And without those votes, everything that has taken place since then would have likely been very different indeed.

Eric is certainly in a difficult position. Until this week, he was handling it admirably. With last night’s episode, it seems like the producers really have it in for him – he’s in a tough spot and they want him to flatter somebody incessantly. That can only make things worse, no matter who it is.

Hopefully, though, he can pull things back together and overcome the situation he’s found himself in while still following America’s dictates. We’ll see if he can do it.

Offline puddin

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2007, 08:07:16 AM »
Interesting, thank you mama  :kuss:


Offline Texan

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2007, 09:06:30 AM »
Godo articlwl thanks for posting

Offline TARAsia Fan

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2007, 12:04:03 PM »
Great article. Thanks for posting that, Mama!  :waves:
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Offline Seanaci

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2007, 04:08:35 PM »
Great article! Thanks for posting.

And if the writer wants to know if he's completed tasks or not... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_8_(US)#America.27s_Player... there's that. Dunno how accurate it is being Wiki and all. But, it gives an idea.



Offline aprilsvagina

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2007, 05:37:02 PM »
well if this is correct hes 2 completed tasks from bringing in another 10,000 thats a total of 20000.If he stays another 3 weeks he could collect 30,000 for being A.P.,along with his regular pay he will do quite well this summer.I know puddin knows this,how much are they getting weekly and their stipend this year?I know its probably not as much as allstars,i cant seem to remember.

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Offline MamaTo4boys

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2007, 07:52:40 PM »
I believe Daniele said Nick got 9,000 and he was there 5 weeks ??? That seems like an awful lot though (2,000 a week lol). Can't be?

Offline Seanaci

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Re: Insteresting article on Americas Player (interview with CBS)
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2007, 11:16:17 PM »
well if this is correct hes 2 completed tasks from bringing in another 10,000 thats a total of 20000.If he stays another 3 weeks he could collect 30,000 for being A.P.,along with his regular pay he will do quite well this summer.I know puddin knows this,how much are they getting weekly and their stipend this year?I know its probably not as much as allstars,i cant seem to remember.

we'll see how he does. I say he won't make 30,000 before he's voted out. He's still got to complete 3 more tasks in order to get 20,000.