Big Brother 26 | Don't Blink

Although we watched the Big Brother 26 finale a few nights after it aired live, it wasn’t because Sid and I were so ho-hum with the season that we didn’t care. Rather, a packed schedule was to blame for our short delay. But no matter if we watched it live or caught ourselves up a few days after the fact, we thoroughly enjoyed watching our 14th season together.

Sidney and I enjoyed watching Big Brother 26…it was the 14th season we watched together.

Well, to be fair, when it comes to #BB26, there was one thing I didn’t particularly enjoy: the theme. Although the AI twist was extremely timely and something that resonated with me as a marketer, the execution of the theme was finicky at best. Ainsley didn’t do it for me and all the deep fake applications with the houseguests came off as hokey.

But aside from a theme that had good intentions but didn’t deliver, I think the season was pretty solid. And that comes from a blogger who had his favorite houseguest voted out pre-jury. I was a BIG Tucker fan and was truly bummed when he was evicted. I admired how he played with reckless abandonment and the uncanny sense of humor he brought to the house. His move to use the Power of Veto on Angela instead of HIMSELF was unprecedented and ballsy, something that was so audacious that I actually respected it.

Oh wait, did I just mention Angela? Let me just address her now. Commonly referred to as a production “plant” by my wife and popular Big Brother blogs, it was interesting that a former “Dr. Phil” guest and “Price Is Right” contestant was thrown into the house. Her antics did entertain me but I would be lying if I said I never questioned her merits for being part of the cast.

On the other side of the coin, the two finalists, Chelsie and Makensy, certainly deserved to be in that house. They played such well-rounded games and earned their way to the final two. However, despite playing such a masterful game, Makensy made two painfully terrible decisions in the final week. My jaw dropped when she chose to bring Cam to finale night over Rubina. Next, she made the even worst decision of evicting Cam so she could have a jury showdown with Chelsie. WTF.

The Big Brother 26 champion was undoubtedly decided at that point. But even with Makensy sealing her fate with that boneheaded move, Chelsie still managed to impress. I expected that the jury would vote 5-2 in Chelsie’s favor, but her answers to the jury and closing statement were so persuasive and well-put together that I think she flipped Andrea and Leah to her side, effectively securing a 7-0 unanimous decision.

Congrats to Chelsie for playing an incredible game.

A few final random notes…

– I was relieved that the season was played with no controversy in terms of what people said in one-off conversations and that no one was kicked off the show for non-gameplay reasons.

– Watching Jerry O’Connell guest host an episode was kind of fun. I think he did a good job except for the eviction interview he gave to Quinn.

– Speaking of Quinn, he was probably my least favorite houseguest but he was a good player.

– Congrats to Tucker winning America’s Favorite Houseguest…he had my vote!

– The reaction when Julie Chen told the houseguests that Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden in the Presidential Election was priceless. It really put into perspective how long the jury/final two houseguests had been in the house.

Thank you CBS for another season of Big Brother and the opportunity for my wife and I to bond in this annual special way. Don’t Blink.

Hot! Hot! Hot! We are in the middle of summer here and the high 90s/low 100s temperatures certainly reflect it. However, I am lucky to have my in-laws visiting from South Carolina and they are loving mornings and evenings that bring actual relief along with a very forgiving shade. So let me get through these five topics so I can join them under our back yard patio umbrella.

Wedding Memes – On this date eight years ago, I did something that might have been pushing it. I took the photos from our wedding and made memes out of them. I know, I know…why use the beautiful, expensive images from your happiest day just for a few cheap laughs? Well, perhaps I don’t always think straight. Below is one of the memes I created but if you want to see the rest, tap here.

Telling myself not to screw it up the entire night before obviously paid off.

Watermelon Art – Last Saturday, we attended my nephew’s 7th birthday party. It was held at the YMCA pool and followed an aquatic life theme (my sister loves a good theme). Speaking of my sister, she carved and prepared this watermelon to resemble a shark. Pretty cool, right?

This watermelon was served at my nephew’s birthday party.

National Sour Candy Day – I won’t even consider entertaining National Sour Candy Day (at least in the form of indulging). Even as a kid, I was not a fan of candy that made your face pucker. My children, on the other hand, are a completely different story. For whatever reason they enjoy the sensation of their eyes watering when they eat something like sour gummi bears, a Warhead, or Sour Patch Kids. But as I have conveyed through both my top five favorite hard candies list and my top five Jelly Belly list, I steer far away from anything that is sour.

Give me chocolate any day but I detest sour candy.

Big Brother 26 – It’s that time again. The latest Big Brother season premiered last night and our family is dialed in. Yes, even Sloan is now a fan. Big Brother 26 will mark the 13th season that Sid and I have watched together (10 regular seasons plus 3 celebrity seasons). Not bad for someone who was once passionately anti-reality TV. I can’t give my picks on who I want to win yet because last night’s episode only revealed eight of the 16 houseguests.

Big Brother 26 kicked off on July 17, 2024.

Better Late Than Never – By this point, you can probably tell I don’t have much new material this week given all the past blog posts I have referenced and the fact that this will be the second “national day” that I recognize. But I just feel like it wouldn’t be right if I completely snubbed the special day of one of my favorite foods—mac and cheese. Although I won’t give it the individual blog post treatment I bestowed on hot dogs yesterday, I do want to recognize National Macaroni and Cheese Day that took place on July 14. My two favorite mac and cheese blog posts jump right out at me: we have the time I achieved a life goal of actually judging a macaroni and cheese cookoff AND the post in which I shared the often overlooked toppings that complement the best dish in the world.