Big Brother (USA TV series)
|
|
The American version of Big Brother has aired on CBS every summer since 2000. It is a reality show in which a number of strangers live in an isolated house and compete to win a $500,000 prize.
American Big Brother currently uses different rules than other countries' versions of the show. In the US version, viewers do not vote for eviction; all voting is done by houseguests. The US has seen five complete seasons; a sixth is planned. All have been shown by CBS.
For all five seasons the eviction-night host has been Julie Chen. The continuity announcer, who was an active part of illustrating the story in the first season but is now relegated to the opening and closing parts of the show, is Phil Proctor.
| Contents |
Season 1 (2000)
The first season, in the summer of 2000, aired seventy episodes from July 5 to September 29 and followed the same format as the international version, in that the viewing public voted by telephone for which contestant to be ejected from the game. Though it attracted a sizeable viewership, it failed to reach the popularity that Survivor achieved in the United States, so many considered Big Brother a failure. The viewer voting technique backfired, it seems, as the most unusual and controversial contestants were evicted early in the game.
William, who was later revealed to be working with the Nation of Islam, was evicted first after he called out fellow houseguest Brittany on her supposedly racist ways. Jordan was evicted as other houseguests found her career as a stripper to be tacky. Karen was voted out, ostensibly, when the audience sympathized with her when she went through a breakdown of sorts on the program, but did not like it when she admitted to wanting a divorce from her husband on live television.
Also, certain contestants' friends and family used organized voting campaigns to influence the outcome. Houseguest George had written on a poster instructing viewers to vote off Brittany instead (his family and friends gathered at a bar and did just this, offering others free drinks if they voted against Brittany).
Another aspect of the first season that the other seasons did not adopt was the use of an in-house psychiatrist. Dr. Drew Pinsky, most notably seen on Loveline, talked with Julie Chen and made notes about each houseguest's character.
Season 2 (2001)
The second season of the show aired twenty-nine episodes during the summer of 2001 from July 5 to September 20. The revised rules of the US show have been used in the four most recent seasons. Under these rules, viewers do not vote for housemates to be evicted. Each week, the housemates compete for the title of Head of Household (HOH). The contestant who wins this competition is given additional privileges, and also chooses two other housemates to nominate for eviction. The remaining housemates then vote their choice of the two nominees, and the one with the most votes is evicted.
Early in the second season, a houseguest, Justin, placed a knife to the throat of fellow houseguest Krista. Both competitors were under the influence of alcohol, but Justin was quickly disqualified and evicted.
Contestant Shannon became known for her temper. After a snit with fellow houseguest Autumn, she placed a bag of chips on Autumn's pillow to make Autumn feel that one of the houseguests thought she was fat, without a note, so that Autumn would not know who did it and would become paranoid. After a fight with fellow houseguest Hardy, Shannon stormed off to the bathroom, where she picked up his Water Pik and scrubbed the toilet with it, in an ostensible act of revenge. The voice of Big Brother alerted Hardy to Shannon's actions, however.
About two weeks before the end of the second season, the September 11 attacks pre-empted television for an entire week. In a move away from the rule of not letting the houseguests in on information from the outside world, the three remaining houseguests were told of the news. The "Big Brother" voice asked Monica to enter the diary room, and she was told that her cousin Tamitha was not found alive at the World Trade Center. The week after the attacks, the game continued as normal.
On finale night, the audience was updated that former houseguest Sheryl was diagnosed with breast cancer and needed to undergo chemotherapy, as well as the news that Monica's cousin Tamitha died at the World Trade Center.
Season 3 (2002)
In the third season, which aired thirty-two episodes during the summer of 2002 from July 10 to September 25, a new twist was added to the game, in that the houseguests (save for the Head of Household) could compete for a Power of Veto. At a weekly meeting, the winner could decide to veto a houseguest that the Head of Household had placed on the nomination block. This was used very rarely; its most notable use was when third-season houseguest Gerry Lancaster, after a long-winded, weepy speech, vetoed the nomination of the black, gay houseguest, Marcellas Reynolds, on the grounds that his houseguests were supposedly racist and anti-gay.
Another twist was called Expect the Unexpected, in which, for the first time, a houseguest would be allowed back in the house by a group vote. The first four evictees competed against one another in a series of questions asked by host Julie Chen; subsequently, the choices were narrowed down to two: Eric Ouellette and Amy Crews. The swing vote, unbeknownst to the audience before the live vote, was Lisa Donahue, who had developed a romantic alliance with Eric. Lisa voted for Amy and she was allowed back in the game. Some houseguests tried to kick Amy out immediately, in a plan called Operation Revolving Door. Amy won Head of Household the first day back, and the plan failed.
Reynolds was also involved in one of the most shocking moments of the third season. The Head of Household that week, Jason Guy, had nominated Reynolds and Amy Crews in a week where five contestants were reduced to four. In the final twist of the season, the last Power of Veto competition to be played had a special rule. If the nominee won the contest, they could save themselves from eviction, a rule that would become a staple in future seasons. When Marcellas won the veto contest, he had the option of saving himself. Trusting an alliance he seemed to have with Danielle Reyes, he chose not to use the veto. When Lisa Donahue and Danielle voted, Amy and Marcellas were tied 1-1, which meant Head of Household Jason had to break the tie. Guy voted to evict Marcellas, meaning had Marcellas used the veto, that outcome would have kept him in game and kept alive his chances at winning $500,000.
Season 4 (2003)
In the fourth season, which aired thirty-three episodes during the summer of 2003 from July 8 to September 24, the big twist for the year was The Ex-Factor. Eight houseguests were introduced, only to have five houseguests' exes compete against them in the game. This quickly became messy, as Scott, a houseguest who had his ex-girlfriend move into the house, had a violent outburst, and subsequently told the house that he had a sexually transmitted disease. He was disqualified and evicted from the game.
Another twist, introduced in the last veto contest of Big Brother 3, was the Golden Veto, in that if a nominated person won such a veto, they would be allowed to take themselves off consideration for voting, which was not allowed when the veto was introduced originally.
When the game narrowed to the final four, the final Veto competition winner, Alison, received the Diamond Veto, which allowed her to choose which houseguest would be evicted. Alison, who was nominated by Robert that week, took herself off the block in a live ceremony, leaving Jun and Erika on the block. As the only voter, she was forced to vote out a fellow female, and ousted Erika. Alison would go on to win the final Head of Household.
The casting twist of having houseguests and ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends in the house had a impact on the outcome of this season. None of the three houseguests without an "ex" finished in the top five, Jack Owens being the highest with a sixth place finish. However, six of the final seven were either houseguests who had ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends in the house, or were the ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends themselves.
Season 5 (2004)
The fifth season ran for thirty-one episodes during the summer of 2004, from July 6 to September 21. Like the previous season's Ex-Factor, this season also had a twist theme. It was called Project Do Not Assume or Project DNA for short and had two aspects. The first was that two of the contestants, Michael and Jennifer were half-siblings who were unaware of each other before the show. They discovered this in the second week and revealed it to the other houseguests.
The second Project DNA aspect was a pair of twins who switched places every few days, appearing as one person, Adria, to their housemates. If they weren't discovered after five weeks in the house, they would be able to live in the house simultaneously as individuals. The twins evaded eviction in the fourth week when Adria was nominated as a Veto replacement by the Head of Household, Drew. Host Julie Chen introduced Natalie to the other houseguests on Day 35 minutes following Scott's eviction.
The Golden Veto was tweaked slightly to increase the possibility that the veto would be exercised. Only a maximum of six players could participate in any veto contest: the two nominees and Head of Household all getting to select one person each. The winner was free to use or decline to use the veto as he or she saw fit, but with so few players playing, there were indeed more vetoes this season then in the previous two seasons combined.
An additional twist was a "Double Elimination Week" in the tenth week of the game, in which the entire process of selecting a Head of Household and Veto holder, and evicting a player all occurred twice in one week.
Season 5 also saw the introduction of a companion talk show on the web. "House Calls" aired weekdays during the entire season and was hosted by former Big Brother 3 houseguest Marcellas Reynolds and radio personality Gretchen Massey. The show featured telephone calls from viewers and interviews with evicted houseguests, houseguests from past seasons and the producers of "Big Brother" Arnold Shapiro and Allison Grodner.
Season 6 (2005)
The sixth season is scheduled to run during the summer of 2005, beginning on July 7.
Trivia
- In the five seasons of Big Brother, there have been a total of 61 different houseguests to play the game. Of those 61, there have been 49 evictions for 48 different houseguests. Seven occurred in the first season to reduce ten houseguests to a final three, the only season concluding with three finalists. In season two, twelve houseguests were reduced to a final two, a formula that has been used ever since. However, due to the expulsion of Justin Sebik, there were only nine evictions. In season three, twelve houseguests were reduced to two, but one houseguest, Amy Crews, was evicted on two occasions, making for a total of eleven evictions. In season four, thirteen houseguests began the game, but there were only ten evictions due to Scott Weintraub's expulsion. The fifth season of the series began with thirteen houseguests, and added a fourteenth, Natalie, with the "twin twist" playing itself out. That led to twelve evictions. The remaining eleven players either won their season's game or were a runner-up, but all made it to the final day of the season.
- The oldest houseguest in Big Brother history was Jack Owens, a retired FBI agent, who played in the fourth season at age 58. The youngest was 19 year-old Michelle Maradie, the ex-girlfriend of fellow houseguest David Lane, also in the fourth season.
- The oldest houseguest to become a season winner was Will Kirby, who was 28 years of age when he won the second season. The youngest houseguest to win was Eddie McGee, who won the first season at the age of 21.
- The most times a player has been nominated at some point during the week is six, also performed by Amy Crews in the third season. Amy also was "on the block" four weeks in a row in that same season, still a record.
- Drew Daniel holds the record for winning the most Head of Household contests when he won his fourth on September 17, 2004. Drew is also the only person to be HOH on two back-to-back occasions. Normally, the outgoing HOH cannot continue to hold power when someone has been evicted, but when the houseguests are reduced to three, everyone, including the most recent HOH, competes for the position.
- The first houseguest not to receive a single vote amongst her peers was Autumn Daly in the second week of the second season. She was evicted, allowing Kent Blackwelder to remain in the house by a 7-0 tally.
- The most lopsided eviction occurred during the first week of the fifth season. In that round, Jennifer Dedmon and Mike Lubinski were nominated for eviction, with Mike being voted out, 10-0.
- The most lopsided final vote occurred during the third season between finalists Danielle Reyes and Lisa Donahue. With all evicted houseguests able to compete in the final vote (the final process was slightly different in seasons two, three, and four, but remained the same in season five), Lisa won the one-sided final vote 9-1, with only Jason Guy voting Danielle to win the third season.
- The closest final vote was a one vote margin, which has only occurred once. Drew Daniel was the season five winner, defeating "Cowboy" Michael Ellis, 4-3.
- Only Danielle Reyes and Jason Guy, each from season three, went the entire season without being nominated in a nomination ceremony. But neither Danielle nor Jason won season three, finishing second and third, respectively, to winner Lisa Donahue.
- Only Alison Irwin of season four and Drew Daniel of season five have gone the entire season without facing the possibility of eviction when the voting was done. Alison's luck didn't carry over to her appearance on The Amazing Race 5 in 2004 with boyfriend Donny Patrick. Alison's team was eliminated second.
- Will Kirby, the season two winner, holds the distinction of being the only winner that has never won Head of Household since the format change that took place after the first season. Michael Ellis also made it to the last day of season five without being HOH, but lost the final vote to Drew Daniel.
American Big Brother on DVD
Bigbrother3dvd.jpg
Discs from the third season of the show, in its entirety as well as edits, have been released on Region 1 DVD. Highlights from the fourth season have also been released.
On the third season discs, the episodes were taken from tapes aired on CBS, and not from unedited versions, meaning that curse words spoken on the show, and nudity seen, was still beeped and blurred out, respectively. With the release of the fourth season highlights, it was announced that the clips would show unaired footage, ostensibly racier than what CBS would allow to air.
External links
- BigBrotherLink.com (http://www.bigbrotherlink.com)
- Big Brother 2 official CBS site (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother2)
- Big Brother 3 official CBS site (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother3)
- Big Brother 4 official CBS site (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother4)
- Big Brother 5 official CBS site (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother5)
- Big Brother 6 official CBS site (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother6)
- RealityFanForum.com (http://forum.realityfanforum.com/)
- RealityBBQ (http://www.realitybbq.com/)