gretel killeen

Small Screen

Gretel Killeen Returning To The Small Screen

11:39AM Jess McGuire | Even though I don’t particularly miss Big Brother, occasionally I do find myself thinking back to the glory days of the show, particularly Gretel Killeen’s insane costume choices and enthusiasm for alliteration. Her last attempt to return to the small screen didn’t exactly garner her rave reviews, but hopefully her appearance on The Morning Show next week will win back the hearts of the viewing public. More »
Small Screen

Final Thought On Logies Hosting…

1:56PM Jess McGuire | I have come up with an idea. Naturally, I updated my Twitter and let my followers know before coming here because that site is as addictive as crack and I need help. More »
Small Screen

Here’s A Big Brother Related Mystery For You…

11:56AM Jess McGuire | Did you know that Quentin Kenihan, lovable star of the Quentin Crashes [INSERT TELEVISION SHOW HERE], is on Twitter? Well, he is. He describes himself as “Australia’s most well known Disabled Celebrity” which is fair enough, because if you go and visit any small town in regional Australia and hold up photos of Quentin and Kyle Sandilands, the townsfolk will pick Quentin out as the famous one every time. More »
Small Screen

Wil Anderson Tweets The Logies

3:11PM Jess McGuire | In case you are one of the apparently very few people who weren’t following Wil Anderson’s Twitter updates through out the Logies, I feel I should bring his comic work to your attention. More »
Small Screen

Gretel Killeen As Logies Host: The Verdict

10:42AM Jess McGuire | Let’s ignore the fact that I was sleeping off illness and missed the live Logies broadcast. Who needs to actually watch it on Channel 9 these days, anyway? Between celebrities updating their Twitter accounts through out the night and citizens of this fine country uploading footage to YouTube, it’s possible to piece together an opinion on the event without ever having switched on your telly. More »
Small Screen

Ooooh, The Logie Nominations Announcement! How Thrilling!

12:48PM Jess McGuire | Nothing gets me more revved up than the Logies. Remember Defamer Australia’s highly entertaining live blogging of last year’s ceremony? Good times. And now the list of nominations for the 2009 TV Week Logie Awards have been announced, and I’m pretty much shitting myself with glee. TELEVISION’S! NIGHT! OF! NIGHTS! More »

Big Brother – In Memoriam: Remember When Gretel Was Just About Writhing With Excitement During Uncut?

1:57PM Jess McGuire | I can’t stop looking at YouTube videos of the way it was. Oh Gretel, you minx. This one is quite good too, as Gretel spends a long time talking about Saxon’s sex drive – something that, with the benefit of 2008 hindsight, we know she’ll soon enough learn about in her private time. More »

Big Brother Has Been Axed

8:09PM Jess McGuire | Behind Big Brother announced it, the news outlets are running with the story, and we just received an insider email from a Big Brother connection confirming it as true – Big Brother has been cancelled by Channel Ten. Were radio duo turned television hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O the kiss of death for the Big Brother franchise, or was the loss of Gretel Killeen more to blame? Did the downhill slide kick off after the debacle that was Turkeyslapgate? Or was it over and out for the Gold Coast based reality extravaganza when Lefty Tim was robbed by the Logans during the 2005 finale (no, I’m still not over it)? Who knows. All we can be sure of is that the last few years of the program have felt like producers were going through the motions, and audiences were slowly but surely finding better things to do than stay in and watch sun-loving bogans party pashing in the spa and talking rather ignorantly about world affairs. The show’s ratings have been poor since radio jocks Kyle and Jackie O replaced previous host Gretel Killeen as the faces of this year’s series. Big Brother was even beaten in the ratings by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan’s Budget speech in May. Ratings bounced back to more than 1.4 million this week with the appearance on Wednesday of former Playboy Bunny Pamela Anderson. Look, Pamela’s appearance on the show absolutely worked for me – she was great, charming, and funny – but it wasn’t ever going to be enough to redeem the show in the eyes of the viewing public. Rumours that the show will return in 2010 may thrill some fans (and chill the blood of Big Brother haters…) but whether a year’s break will be enough to reinvigorate the program remains to be seen. That said, a hiatus was something I suggested earlier this month – relax, kittens, I’m not egotistical enough to think my daft memo to Big Brother producers was influential in any way – so fingers crossed my other suggestion (Charlotte Dawson as host! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!) is taken on board as well. I suppose the big question is – how on earth are Channel Ten going to fill their schedule between April and July next year? M*A*S*H re-runs? They’d better not invest in local drama, or I may very well pass out in shock. I suggest buying up as many cheap reality shows featuring Jillian Michaels as you can get your paws on, dudes. Vale, Big Brother. We knew you all too well. More »

A Facebook Refuge For Gretel Fans

3:05PM Jess McGuire | Alright folks, if you’re still distraught and horrified by the fact Gretel Killeen has been kicked off Big Brother in favour of Kyle “Faustian Pact” Sandilands and Jackie O, there’s a Facebook group you can join titled “We Will Never Again Watch Your Shit Show, or, How Dare They Remove Gretel” started by Defamer Australia’s very own UK Correspondent and dedicated Gretel admirer Will. It is here, and describes itself thusly. Gretel Killeen is no longer the host of BB-AU. And to rub salt in the wound, she has been replaced with the literally insupportable Kyle and Jackie O IS THIS A FUCKEN JOKE Gretel was in fact the only reason most people (apart from retarded children) watched Big Brother. Now that she is gone, this will become evident. It feels like the end of the world. There you go. More »

Special Sunday Bulletin – Gretel Given The Chop From BB, World’s Most Annoying People To Replace Her

12:38PM Jess McGuire | Oh god. Oh god. It’s not often we break our weekend silence, but when we woke up to a text message saying “IT’S OFFICIAL, GRETEL’S BEEN GIVEN THE ARSE” we knew we had to let you know as soon as possible. We’d heard whispers a few weeks back, but desperately hoped against hope they would prove to be untrue because her rumoured replacements were going to be two of the world’s least likable television personalities. But our worst fears have been realised – not only has Gretel left the show, but they’ve signed Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O for the 2008 season. Gretel Killeen has been dumped from Big Brother as Ten seeks to revamp the struggling show by introducing new hosts, radio duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O. “Working on Big Brother has been an extraordinary, challenging and rewarding experience,” Killeen said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved but I now have the seven-year itch and am busting to get on with a million new things, including my first feature film, which we’re shooting in the new year.” After seven years, the show is in dire need of a change. The 2007 series was criticised for its boring and predictable housemates, resulting in poor ratings and speculation the show might be axed. But producers Endemol Southern Star have confirmed the show will return in 2008 in a “tighter, re-energised format”. WHY MUST TIGHTER AND RE-ENGERGISED MEAN KYLE SANDILANDS AND JACKIE O? “I would like to see them shake it up, especially with the contestants because I think everybody is sick of the same old contestants going in,” Jackie O said. “It actually gets really boring after a while. As a fan, I have always wanted a bigger variety of people in there and also to push the contestants more.” “I want that conflict, that real sense of drama rather than that frat house drama that we’ve seen over the last few years,” Sandilands, who is also a judge on Ten’s Australian Idol, said. We don’t know, Kyle. We recall times the house has been filled with a real sense of drama over the past few years, like when that fucking idiot in the Sean John cap had a tantrum and sooked his way off the show. Don’t be fooled by our open letter, we bloody LOVE Gretel Killeen. No, really. When she’s good, she’s good – it’s just she’s obviously not wanted to be there for the last couple of years, and it’s made an already dying show even harder to stomach. We simply want the little lady to be happy with all the exciting new things going on in her life. Perhaps, as our gay and UK correspondent Will once suggested, she can be “Garretted through” the ranks of the Labor party and find herself a sweet position in Rudd’s posse? In any case, we wish her well. But Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O – seriously, Ten? As far as most viewers with taste go, the Austereo pair are the television hosting equivalents of a punch in the genitals. By all means, prove us wrong next year, but we fear this may be the final nail in the coffin for our Big Brother addiction. On the upside, at least we’ll start doing something productive with our Sunday and Monday nights in 2008. More »