Big Brother TV Show

From LoveToKnow Reality-TV

The Big Brother TV show is a reality TV program on CBS hosted by Julie Chen.

Big Brother TV Show Overview

The show has been on the air in the United States since 2000, adapted from the original series that began in the Netherlands in 1999. Since then, nearly 70 different countries and regions have produced their own versions of Big Brother. The title of the show comes from George Orwell's book 1984, in which citizens are constantly watched by Big Brother.

The premise of the American version of Big Brother is to have a group of strangers move into a house and live together for the summer. The house is fitted with dozens of cameras and microphones that capture every moment. The contestants are deprived of any outside contact, including telephone calls, television and even music.

Each week, during a series of competitions, two houseguests are nominated for eviction. The rest of the houseguests vote for who should be sent packing. In the end, the winner of the game is chosen by a jury made up of evicted houseguests, and the winner gets $500,000 in prize money.

Head of Household

The most important power position in the game of Big Brother is the Head of Household, which is also referred to as HoH. After each eviction, a Head of Household competition is held, and the winner of this competition earns the right to make the two nominations for eviction.

The HoH also gets to stay in their own private bedroom, and gets a basket of goodies from his or her loved ones back home. The basket normally includes clothing, food and drink, photos, and a CD of music that can only be enjoyed in the Head of Household room.

The Power of Veto

On the Big Brother TV show nothing is ever certain, including the nominations for eviction. Nominees have the chance to save themselves by winning the Power of Veto (PoV) competition. Whoever wins the veto gets to remove one person, including themselves, from the chopping block.

If the Power of Veto is used, it is then up to the current Head of Household to nominate someone else for eviction.

Live Evictions

During most weeks, the evictions are aired live. The Head of Household -as well as the two nominees- are not allowed to vote, and the rest of the houseguests are called in one by one to deliver their votes privately to the host, Julie Chen. After all of the votes have been cast, Chen announces the name of the evicted houseguest. The evicted houseguest then has one minute to gather his or her belongings, say goodbye, and exit the house.

Big Brother Live Feeds

Big Brother is unique in that viewers can watch what's happening on the show live, in real time, 24 hours a day. By subscribing to the live feed online, you can see what's going on in the house any time you want to. The only exceptions are during competitions and occasionally when twists are involved; at these times, the feeds are blacked out to preserve the integrity of the broadcasts.

The live feeds are also broadcast on the Showtime 2 network every night from 12am to 3am, on a show called Big Brother: After Dark.

Themes and Twists

Each season of Big Brother has a different theme, which is reflected in the house decor, competitions, and sometimes even with the houseguests themselves. While the premise of the show is that a group of strangers are competing, oftentimes a few of them actually know each other before moving in. Here are some examples of these twists and themes from Big Brother.

Season 4, The Ex-Factor – Ten of the houseguests were former couples who had broken up.

Season 5, Project DNA – DNA stood for "Do Not Assume," but was also reflected in the contestant pool when a set of identical twins, Natalie and Adria, competed as one player, swapping out for one another during the game. In addition, two other houseguests, Nakomis and Michael, discovered that they were half-brother and half-sister.

Season 7, All Stars – Houseguests from past seasons were voted into the house by viewers and given the chance to play again.

Season 8 – There was an enemy twist in season 8, during which three of the houseguests learned that their arch-rivals would be entering the house and playing against them. This season also introduced "America's Player," who was guided by viewer votes in all of his decisions in the house.