Will ‘Big Brother’ be a house of boredom?

Summer's supposed to be a quiet time for new TV seasons. That's not always so for reality shows. "America's Got Talent" premieres June 21, and the "Big Brother" casting special also airs that night. "Rock Star: Supernova" premieres July 5, "Project Runway 3" on July 12, and the show many of you have been eagerly awaiting, boxing reality show "The Contender," returns to the ring July 18.

Have a question for us? Check our archives ( link is here ), if it's already been asked, you may be able to get an answer right away. If not, send it in.

Q: I have been a loyal “Big Brother” watcher since the first season and am very excited for this summer’s All Stars competition. ...  I know that in the first season America voted the controversial people out first, leaving perhaps the less interesting people inside and drawing away viewers.  ... Do you think America has proven itself worthy of the power of choice again? (Remember, we voted Kaysar back in!)  —Greg

A: The answer, I think, is no. In America, we seem to love to hate people, but we also love to pretend that we don’t love to hate them, if that makes sense.

The first season was a disaster for the reason you describe: After a few weeks of voting by viewers, every interesting cast member had been booted, and we were left with boring people who, by virtue of the fact that they went slightly insane, did manage to entertain us.

The show has gotten stale on some level, although with the new house and twists last summer, the show did recover from that a boring fourth season. Ultimately, though, we need our own version in the US, because the audiences are so different. It’s not always best to leave our entertainment in our hands.

Voting Kaysar back into the house last summer was a good move, in that it totally caused the “Friendship” alliance to implode (they couldn’t understand why viewers hated them). However, Kaysar’s return was short-lived, because, as it turned out, he ultimately wasn’t a very smart player. He had one brilliant move in the game, but after that, he just couldn’t follow through.

The possibility that America will populate the “Big Brother All-Stars” house with boring losers led producers to only allow us to pick half of the houseguests; the other six will be chosen by producers, and you can bet that they’ll be ones who are likely to increase the drama.    —A.D.

Q: Is there any chance of a Reality Awards show to develop like the Emmys? Categories like Most Villainy Villain, Most Endearing, Most Annoying, Lamest Cast, Most Blurred Scenes, Most Bleeped Dialogue, Most Original Diatribe, Biggest Meltdown.    —Cindy, Orlando

A:Andy says: A show exactly like you described almost aired on ABC in 2003. Produced by veteran Emmy producer Don Mischer, the show was going to honor shows in categories such as “Best Series,” “Most Memorable Moment,” and “Best Twist.”

But the show never made it to the air. A month and a half after ABC announced plans for the ceremony, it was pulled, because the other networks wouldn’t allow clips form their shows to be used on ABC.

1. More Entertainment stories
   1. Will Smith shines in 'Men in Black III'
      

      REVIEW: If you're not a fan of Will Smith's smooth-talking Agent J in the "Men in Black" franchise, don't see the third mo...

   2. Can WWII film hidden by Army help veterans?
   3. Happy 35th anniversary, 'Star Wars'!
   4. Tim McGraw giving homes, hope to veterans
   5. Phillip Phillips has a double double name name

Mischer said then that “producers of shows were very much behind this, but for whatever reason, the networks weren’t.” Here’s are the reasons one network executive gave Variety: “I don’t think it was a legitimate awards show,” the exec said. “I’m not sure what the value of the promotion is when you’re talking about the Hottest Hot Tub Scene. That’s not the kind of exposure we need.”

With no reality awards in our immediate future, we do have the Emmys do offer reality TV-related categories, although they’re kind of awkward groupings of shows, and none are as creative as the categories you suggested.  

Gael says: However, we at Ask the Experts have been discussing doing an online awards show of our own very similar to this. Look for it in an upcoming column, date to be decided.

Q: When will more cycles of America’s Next Top Model be released on DVD? Cycle 1 has been out for over a year, but what about cycles 2-6? I can hardly wait to collect them all.    —Anonymous

A: UPN's manager for media relations tells us there's no word yet on the schedule for future DVDs.

TVShowsOnDVD.com is the best resource if you want to stay updated on this kind of information — you can register (it's free) and then vote for the shows you want to see come out on DVD. The site also collects news on upcoming releases, but it has nothing yet on upcoming seasons of “ANTM.”   —G.F.C.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is MSNBC.com's Television Editor. Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.