This Week in Television: 17th season of 'Big Brother' is upon us

The premiere is only hours away and with the live feeds going up Thursday night, these assessments will all become moot. Because, let’s be real, it’s very rare that these folks live up to the hype that we’ve created in our heads. These folks will be locked up, under constant surveillance for 97 days. There'll be no hiding or editing trickery with this show. So opinions will change. But it's still fun to see how they do throughout the course of a season. So, with that, I bring to you This Week In Television: The Big Brother Edition:

UNNECESSARY DISCLAIMER: These are all quick judgments based on short, condensed interviews. These views can and will change once the feeds turn on.

[ new page = The Girls ]
The Girls
The girls definitely are the preseason stand outs, personality wise. These folks seem have it in spades (Ha, so puny. More on that later). But a few also appear to be very game-savy. So we'll see how they'll fair throughout the season.

Audrey Middleton
Age: 25
Occupation: Digital Media Consultant
She’s received the most preseason attention. She’s going to be the first transgender contestant in American Big Brother history to appear on the show. Obviously the US version is behind with the time because the UK version has had 3 transgender contestants in its show, with one taking the win. Middleton came across a little standoffish in her interviews (which I loved). Excited to see what she’ll bring to the show. If she lays low the first couple weeks I think she can last. Hope she can live up to potential.

Becky Burgess
Age: 26
Occupation: Retail Manager
Bland. Boring. Bleh. Blah. Ok, I’m done with B-worded adjectives to describe Ms Becky. But, while she may not have given the most exciting interview, she does have potential. She seems like the perfect type who could slip under the radar and leave you asking, “How? When? Wah?” when she randomly pops up at Final 5.

Da’Vonne Rogers
Age: 27
Occupation: Poker Dealer
Fun and feisty are two words that could describe this houseguest. She came across really well. Though I am questioning why many fans just assume she’ll key in on housemate, Vanessa (professional poker player). I doubt Da'Vonne will recognize her but I do hope otherwise.

Liz Nolan
Age: 23
Occupation: Marketing Coordinator
She literally laughs at the possibility of her willingly participating in an all-girls alliance. Instead claiming that she would rather “find an alpha male” and ride his coattails to the finale. She plans to wear a lot of "short shorts and swimsuits" to lure men in. Her words, not mine. Doubt she’ll make it to jury but I can’t fault her strategy. Do what you got to do to get to the end. Just remember that this isn’t The Bachelor so don't get too attached. You WILL eventually have to cut your showmance partner off in order to further yourself in the game.

Meg Maley
Age: 25
Occupation: Server
She likes to talk….a lot. Very bubbly. Almost creepily so. That's all I have on her. Other than she has floater (someone who floats through the game without making any big moves) written all over her. Hopefully she can prove me wrong.

Shelli Poole
Age: 33
Occupation: Interior Designer
Shelli's the oldest cast member at the elderly, decrepit age of 33. The show continues to get younger every year, it seems. She appears to be a clone of BB16 Britney in that she has no clue what she's getting into. She'll probably have plenty of game smarts but will she have the no-how/drive to execute?

Vanessa Rousso
Age: 32
Occupation: Professional Poker Player
She’s the pokah playah. The biggest question mark is whether her poker skills can translate to Big Brother. Sitting at a table for a few hours trying to read other players could be considered to be a lot easier than having to keep face for a 97 day long game. Big Brother is a never-ending game of chess. But Rousso came across as very calm and collected. But we haven’t seen these folks in action yet. So this assessment could be opposite and she could completely spaz out once the live feeds turn on. We’ll see.

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The Boys
The guys seem a lot more lowkey, which they could use to their advantage. A few give off vibes that they could potentially become big threats during the later stages of the game.

Austin Matelson
Age: 30
Occupation: Professional Wrestler
Very BIG character. Matelson used to be under contract for WWE’s developmental brand, NXT, until injury took him out. He says he’ll try to use that injury to his advantage because he knows that his size could be seen as intimidating. Yeah, good luck with that. He claims to have this top hat wearing alter ego, Judas, that he plans to unleash on the house. I already know he’ll annoy the crap out of me if he brings that hat into his diary room sessions. It'll become overkill if he overdoes it. And as a wrestling stan, I WANT to like you Austin. So, please don’t disappoint. And now that I’ve gotten my hopes up, watch him completely suck at the game now.

Clay Honeycutt
Age: 23
Occupation: Graduate student at Texas A&M
He is pretty. So VERY pretty. Model pretty. It’s just too bad that watching his interviews felt like getting a root canal. Boring. But, hey, dude has great abs. So if he can’t deliver in the personality department during the show at least there’ll be SOME consolation prize for the viewers.

Jace Agolli
Age: 23
Occupation: Personal Trainer
He claims to be a snowboarder, a surfer, a rapper and the list goes on. A jack of all trades, Jace is. He comes across like a clone of former contestant BB16 Hayden Voss. Just without the surfer accent. He has potential though.

James Hulling
Age: 31
Occupation: Retail Associate
Calls himself the ‘Hillbilly Asian’. He is a former correctional officer. And he has a Taylor Swift cutout in his bedroom. That’s all I got. Hopefully this was just nerves and he’ll show more charisma during the show because he was a snore during his preseason interviews.

Jason Roy
Age: 25
Occupation: Supermarket Cashier
Says that he wants to be the “gay glue” for an all-girl alliance. Dude’s accent is amazing. If he can control his mouth and not grate on his housemates' nerves I could see him lasting for a bit.

John McGuire
Age: 27
Occupation: Dentist
The self-proclaimed “Rockstar Dentist”. He has the laugh that only a deaf dog could enjoy. BUT, he seems fun. He's another one that if he doesn't drive his housemates batty early in the game he could last awhile.

Steve Moses
Age: 22
Occupation: College student
He scoffs at BB14 winner Ian Terry comparisons. He seems like the type that could go either way. If he can make it past the first few evictions, he could be in the house for the long haul.

[ new page = Possible Spoilers and Random Tidbits ]
Possible Spoilers and Random Tidbits

Want a sneak peek of the inside of the house?

Possible Mystery Contestants?
After house pics were released last week, many speculated as to whether there would really be 16 houseguests instead of the previously announced 14. Now, just hours ahead of the premiere, there seems to be hope for extra contestants entering the house.

CBS posted a new video of the 14 contestants, where they wrote down random sayings on post-it notes that were then shown throughout the video. And an unannounced name, Jackie, was suspiciously present as well as another extra note. And it’s been speculated for weeks that The Amazing Race contestant, Jeffrey Weldon, will possibly take part in this season's Big Brother as a big CBS cross-promotional deal. And who was his TAR partner? JACKIE Ibarra.

Now, because of this and the duos sudden disappearance from social media, BB fans think that they BOTH could be contestants.

We’ll just have to wait and see!

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