Big Brother is an American television reality competition show based on the Dutch reality show of the same name created by producer John de Mol Jr. in 1997. The series takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The American series launched on July 5, 2000 on CBS, and since the discontinuation of the Spanish version in 2022, is the longest-running adaptation in the Big Brother franchise.

The show broadly follows the premise of other versions, in which a group of contestants known as "HouseGuests" live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world for a cash prize of $500,000 (or $750,000 in the 23rd season onwards). The HouseGuests are continuously monitored during their stay in the house by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones. Throughout the course of the competition, HouseGuests are evicted by being voted out of the competition. In its inaugural season (which followed the original Dutch format and audience voting determined evictees and the eventual winner), ratings declined and critical reaction grew increasingly negative, prompting the series to be revamped for the second season, which focused on competition and gameplay.

The twenty-fifth season premiered on August 2, 2023. On May 7, 2024 CBS renewed the series for a twenty-sixth season which will premiere on July 17, 2024. The show produced three spin-offs: Big Brother: Over the Top, which aired for one season and was the first reality game show to air exclusively on a streaming platform, in Fall 2016 on CBS' streaming service, CBS All Access (Paramount+); Celebrity Big Brother, which first aired on CBS in February 2018.; and Big Brother Reindeer Games, which aired for one season on CBS in December 2023.

History

Series

The series was bought by CBS in early 2000 for an estimated $20 million. The American version of the series officially premiered on July 5, 2000, when the original ten housemates entered the house. Since its inception, the show has been hosted by television personality Julie Chen Moonves. It is produced by Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan for Fly on the Wall Entertainment and Endemol Shine North America (formerly Endemol USA). The success of the series has spawned several spin-offs. The series airs once a year, during the summer, except for the ninth season, which aired in the spring of 2008, and the Over the Top spinoff series broadcasting in fall 2016. Currently, 25 seasons of the show have aired, along with one digital season. Season 22 premiered on August 5, 2020. The show has aired a total of 897 episodes since it premiered, with the September 5, 2013, airing marking the 500th episode. To date, there have been a total of 321 HouseGuests compete in the series. Upon entering the house, the HouseGuests must abide by the house rules; HouseGuests can anytime leave the house without permission or be forcibly removed from the game if they broke any rules, such as exhibiting violent and disruptive behavior. In both cases, these HouseGuests are not allowed to return to the house and are usually incorporated with a penalty such as not allowed to be involved in a jury.

In an effort to promote diversity, CBS announced a new rule for Big Brother that 50% of all contestants must be BIPOC for the 2021–2022 broadcast season.

Companion shows

Since its premiere, there have been numerous companion programs about the show. In 2004, the web series House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show (2004–2008) began airing. The series, which lasted for thirty minutes and aired on weeknights, allowed fans to call in and discuss the events of the game. This made House Calls the first live Internet talk show produced exclusively for a television network. The series was initially hosted by Gretchen Massey and Big Brother 3 HouseGuest Marcellas Reynolds during its first two seasons. Beginning with the show's third season, a new co-host was featured on the series each day, with some returning more than once. During the show's fifth and sixth seasons, each co-host was given a designated day of the week to host alongside Gretchen. Following the show's sixth season, it was confirmed that it would not be renewed. Big Brother: After Dark, a second companion series, was debuted in 2007 and aired on Showtime Too nightly from 12:00 midnight-3:00am Eastern Time. The series continued this schedule until 2013, at which point it was moved to TVGN (now Pop), where it remains today. Former HouseGuest Jeff Schroeder began hosting the Big Brother: Live Chat online discussion show in 2012, where he interviewed the HouseGuests both before they enter the house and following their evictions. He also performed post-finale backyard interviews with the cast. On August 10, 2017, Schroeder announced that he was moving to Colorado and would no longer be able to do the interviews. For Big Brother 20, the "Live Chat" was replaced by Off the Block with Ross and Marissa. Hosted by former Celebrity HouseGuests Marissa Jaret Winokur and Ross Mathews, the show is set to air on Fridays on Facebook following the live eviction.

Spin-offs

There have been three spin-off editions of Big Brother. In October 2016, CBS premiered a spin-off web series, Big Brother: Over the Top, as an original series for CBS All Access. Unlike the flagship, television version, it was broadcast exclusively online with a shorter, 10-week season. The second spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother, aired its first season on CBS on February 7, 2018. Celebrity Big Brother was renewed for a second season, which premiered on January 21, 2019, and concluded on February 13. However, on January 1, 2020, CBS announced there would not be a Celebrity Big Brother in 2020. In September 2021, CBS announced that the celebrity edition of the show would be returning for a third season on February 2, 2022. In November 2023, CBS announced that there would be a special holiday spin-off called Big Brother Reindeer Games set to air for six days across two weeks starting on December 11, 2023. The season would feature nine returning players dubbed as Big Brother Legends and was entirely pre-taped and did not feature live feeds, nor did host Julie Chen Moonves return.

Though not actual spin-offs, both the English and French versions of Big Brother in Canada are, to date, the only franchises to fully adopt the American format; the 2020 revival of Big Brother Australia also uses the American format, but still relies on the Australian public to decide the eventual winner. Other franchises, such as Big Brother Brasil, have also adopted individual elements of the American format while still maintaining the international public vote format for weekly evictions and final vote.

Series overview

Format

Big Brother is a reality game show in which a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuests, live in a custom-built "house" (a set built on a CBS stage in Los Angeles, Stage 18 since season 6), under constant video surveillance. While in the house, the contestants are completely isolated from the outside world, without any contact with those not in the house. This rule could be bypassed in the event of a medical injury, a family emergency, or death. The format of the series is viewed as a social experiment that requires HouseGuests to interact with others who may have differing ideals, beliefs, and prejudices. Although it is a competition, the series allows viewers to witness the relationships formed in the house and the behavior of the HouseGuests. While locked in the house, the HouseGuests are free to quit the game, though they will not be allowed re-entry. Should a HouseGuest break the rules of the game, they could be expelled from the house and barred from return. The contestants compete for a grand prize of $750,000 ($500,000 prior to season 23).

Season 1

The premiere season resembled the original Dutch version of the show — a format adapted by most versions. Because it emphasized the social experiment aspects of the premise, the competitive aspects were minimized: HouseGuests did not compete for power or safety, and the nominations process were not discussed by the HouseGuests.

Every two weeks, each HouseGuest participated in a mandatory vote called Nomination, which decided a list of HouseGuests that are eligible to be nominated for eviction (also known as "Marked for Banishment"). Each HouseGuest secretly nominated two of the fellow ones, providing full reasons for their nominations; in the event of a tie, the two or more HouseGuests with the most nomination votes became nominated for eviction. Towards the end of the season, the nominations process reverted to a weekly process.

After the nominations were finalized, a voting window opened for the American public to vote for which HouseGuest to be evicted (or "banished") through televoting; the HouseGuest with the most votes from the public was then evicted from the house. This process continued until three HouseGuests remained, in which the final vote was changed to determine the winner. The HouseGuest with the most public votes from that point won the $500,000 prize, while the runners-up left with $100,000 (for 2nd place) and $50,000 (for 3rd place) respectively.

The first season received negative reactions from both critics and viewers.

Season 2–present

Having spent millions on the series, CBS announced a second season of the series with major changes occurring to the format, putting more emphasis on competition and strategy bearing resemblance to another one of its shows, Survivor.

At the start of each week, the HouseGuests compete in three competitions: Head of Household (Introduced in season 2), Power of Veto (Introduced in season 3), and Have-Not (Introduced in season 7). For the Head of Household competition, HouseGuests compete for immunity from eviction and the power to nominate two HouseGuests for the eviction, and often receive privileges such as their own personal bedroom and free laundry service; however, the incumbent Head of Household. is not allowed to compete in the following week's competition, meaning that a HouseGuest cannot hold the title for a second consecutive week, except for the final week or any other stated circumstances. For the Power of Veto competition, all HouseGuests, including the reigning Head of Household and the two nominees, compete for the right to save one HouseGuest from the eviction and replace it with another, which continues until three HouseGuests remain. For the Have-Not competition, losing HouseGuests are penalized with a "Have-Not" diet by eating slop and must sleep in a special bedroom for the remainder of the week.

Evictions

A major feature, which began in season 2, made all HouseGuests evict one another, instead of having the American public casting their votes on who to evict.

At the end of the week, all HouseGuests except for three (the Head of Household and the two nominees) cast a vote, one by one, privately inside the Diary Room (also called Confession Room in other international versions of the show), to determine which one of the two nominees should be evicted; the HouseGuest receiving a majority of the eligible HouseGuest's votes is evicted from the house (or, in other words, eliminated from the game) during a live episode; if there is a tie in the voting, the reigning Head of Household then casts the deciding vote. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely. Once the HouseGuest is evicted, the host then informs the evictee to take a few moments in bidding farewell messages to any remaining HouseGuests and gather his or her personal belongings before leaving the house.

Variants

Some eviction ceremonies have at least one week with a different variant which was first seen since season 5.

A notable variant, called "Double Eviction", has been done in two forms. The first, dubbed "Double Eviction Week" (or "Fast Forward Week"), had all weeklong events occur in an accelerated format, so that two HouseGuests are evicted over a week; the "Double Eviction Week" has become a staple of the show, particularly in the penultimate week featuring the Final 5 and Final 4 evictions. The second, "Double Eviction Night", introduced in season 7, had the events of the week occur over the course of the Live Eviction episode, with the event also becoming a staple of the show.

Season 22 introduced the "Triple Eviction Night", where two weeks' worth of game events are played within an extended Live Eviction episode so that three HouseGuests are evicted; the "Triple Eviction Night" was previously used on Big Brother Canada with a different format – where a single live round was played, with three Nominees and two HouseGuests being evicted within a single round.

Another variant is "Eviction Competition" (as seen in seasons 14 and 18), in which HouseGuests compete in a series of competitions for survival in the house, and the HouseGuest who finished last may face automatic eviction; if it is a team competition, all the members from the losing team are eligible for eviction as if they are nominated. An Eviction Competition was also proposed as a twist in the premiere of season 19 but was not held as the majority opted for an eviction vote instead of a competition.

The Big Brother Jury

The "Big Brother Jury", another major feature introduced in season 2, plays a key role in voting for the winner of the season between the final two HouseGuests.

First Format

The first format, used in seasons 2 and 3, featured all evicted HouseGuests, except for those who either quit or were expelled, that became eligible to vote.

Before the final votes could be made, on the night before Finale Night, each of the evicted HouseGuests asked one question apiece to the final two (who can only hear their voices but not see them) in determining how they might vote for them, after which each of the final two HouseGuests made their final appeal. Then, each of the evicted HouseGuests secretly chose one of two gold keys, each containing a different name of the HouseGuest that they want to win, and then inserted the chosen key into one of twelve slots on the voting box.

Then, on Finale Night, before the evicted HouseGuests reveal their votes, each of the final two HouseGuests had one last chance to change its outcome by choosing to eliminate one of the keys from the box, thus nullifying that evicted HouseGuest's vote; the final two had to make their choices carefully without any knowing of how anyone voted. The rest of the keys were then pulled from the box, one by one, in no-particular order, by the remaining evicted HouseGuests, each revealing their choice to win (versus stating their choice to evict, as in all other votes); the HouseGuest that received the most votes from the evicted HouseGuests, after all the votes have been revealed regardless of outcome, was then declared the winner of Big Brother and received the grand prize.

Second Format

Due to the possibility of a tie and a vote from the American public would be decisive during the first format, the jury was revamped to its current form, allowing only the seven recently evicted HouseGuests (known as the Jury of Seven), beginning in season 4, before increasing that number to nine (Jury of Nine), beginning in season 15; the jury selection gets underway about halfway through the game. In this format, the evicted HouseGuests become members of the jury who then get to live in a very different house (known as the "Jury House"); while in the Jury House, the jury members saw all group events and competitions but are not shown any Diary Room interviews or any other footage that may include strategy or details regarding nominations.

Before the jury members cast their final votes, they each asked three questions which can be directed to any one of the final two HouseGuests, with the exception of the last recently evicted HouseGuest, who can give out only one. The final two HouseGuests then each made their final pleas to the jury on why they deserved to win the game. Then, one by one, in order of their evictions, each of the jury members securely inserted the key with the name of the HouseGuest that they want to win into the slots on the voting box, providing a final brief statement to any one of final two before doing so without revealing their choice. The host then pulls out the keys from the box revealing whom each juror chose to win; the HouseGuest that received the required number of votes from the jury (four from seasons 4 thru 14, five from season 15 onwards) is then declared the winner of Big Brother and receives the grand prize.

Any HouseGuest who either quit or got expelled once the game has reached the halfway point results in the loss of a jury member; in this situation, the American public would be serving as a juror in their place.

Twists to the game

To keep the series intriguing, each season typically features a new twist to the format of the game. This began in season 3 with the famous "Expect the Unexpected" twist.

Other seasons featured smaller twists that have had a smaller impact on the game, usually affecting a single week. The most notable example was Pandora's Box, a twist that originated in season 11. The twist sees the Head of Household for that week being tempted by the box and can choose to either open the box or leave it. Should that Head of Household choose to open it, either good or bad consequences could be unleashed, which would cause an impact on all HouseGuests.

Similar variants have been applied in later seasons, such as the Den of Temptation introduced in season 19, the Coup d'État, introduced in season 7, which allowed the holder to remove one or both nominees from the block on eviction night, as well as choose who is nominated in their place, and the Diamond Power of Veto, introduced in season 12, which allowed the user to remove one HouseGuest from the block and choose the replacement nominee. Season 14 also had a Diamond Power of Veto, but that twist carried the same function as a standard Power of Veto.

In some seasons, such as seasons 8, 10 and 16, the public voted for a set of HouseGuests who would work with the public. On each pre-determined period throughout the entire season, the public voted for one of usually two possible actions the HouseGuests would want to perform, and HouseGuests would earn prize money if they were able to complete the action.

Many seasons have featured twists in which evicted HouseGuests (except for HouseGuests who either quit or were expelled) can win reentry into the house, either by public vote or competition. Normally, this involves sequestering each eliminated contestant individually or in the jury house (depending on whether the twist occurred pre-jury or post-jury, respectively).

America's Favorite HouseGuest

Since season 7, viewers of Big Brother cast a vote to decide the fan favorite HouseGuest for a cash award of $25,000 in every season except Over-The-Top. The results are announced following the finale of the respective season.

During its debut, the award was only eligible to the Jury of Seven (hence the award was called America's Favorite Juror or America's Choice Jury Prize), before expanding the eligibility to all HouseGuests (including the season's winner, with the exception of any HouseGuests who either quit or were expelled from the game), beginning in season 11. The voting percentages were revealed live until dropped in season 17.

Jeff Schroeder, who participated in seasons 11 and 13, is the only HouseGuest to have won the award twice.

Broadcast

Since its launch in the United States, Big Brother has aired on CBS. The show is simulcast in Canada on Global. The fourth and ninth seasons have both aired in the United Kingdom, the latter airing in the Spring season. The first season featured a total of six episodes per week, though all future installments would air three nights per week. Of these three episodes, the weekly eviction episode is the only one that is live; this is the only episode to feature host Julie Chen. This show generally airs on Thursdays. To date, there have been a total of 820 episodes of the series to air. With the exception of the ninth season, the series typically airs once a year during the summer season. Big Brother was the final primetime show to make the switch to high-definition television: the first 15 seasons aired in standard definition, with the sixteenth season being the first to be produced in HDTV. However, the live internet feeds would not broadcast in HD until Big Brother 17. Before the series made the transfer, it was the last remaining regularly scheduled prime-time series to remain in standard definition. CBS released the entire third season as a nine-disc set on Region 1 DVD. This made it the first season to receive an official release, and has since become a rare item to find. The fourth season saw the release of a two-disc highlights DVD, featuring previously unseen footage deemed too racy for the main broadcast. To date, these are the only seasons to see a physical release. Beginning with the seventh season, all future seasons are available for purchase on digital retail sites. With the 15th season, TVGN (now Pop) began airing re-runs of the series at later dates, making it the first season to be aired following its premiere; this continued with the 16th season. Subscribers to CBS All Access are able to stream the complete run of Big Brother—including the differently-formatted first season—and an episode of Big Brother 2 that did not air in most markets due to ongoing coverage of the September 11 attacks. CBS aired the spin-off series Celebrity Big Brother from February 7–25, 2018. It was the first spin-off to air on the broadcast network and the second season overall to air in the winter television season (the other being season 9). The celebrity edition aired in a concentrated run with fewer episodes, but with multiple episodes each week.

Live Internet feeds

One of the main aspects of the series is the live feeds, in which viewers can view inside the house at any time. The live feeds have been a part of the series since its inception, initially being offered as a free service during the first season. From the second season onward, a subscription to the live feeds has been required, with the price ranging each year. The first season's feeds were available on the show's official site, hosted by AOL. From the second season to the 14th season, the feeds were available through RealNetworks either as a subscription or as a free addition for Gold members.

Since 2016, the live feeds have aired on CBS All Access (known as Paramount+ since March 2021), again requiring a subscription from users. Though advertised as being available at any time, the feeds are shut off during the weekly nomination ceremony, Power of Veto ceremony, and the competitions and evictions for that week; this is to provide suspense for the series. Slanderous statements and singing of copyrighted music are also blocked for legal reasons.

In 2023, the live feeds launched on Pluto TV with limited commercial interruption, marking the first time they have been offered for free since the first season.

Competitions

Head of Household (HOH)

The Head of Household competition is held at the beginning of each week and is most often occurred during the live eviction episode. Most often, the first Head of Household competition will require HouseGuests to participate either in pairs or in teams. While the fourth, fifth and eighth seasons had the HouseGuests competing in pairs, seasons 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 all saw HouseGuests participated as group. The live Head of Household competitions are typically quiz-based, and will see HouseGuests eliminated in each round. Competitions such as "Majority Rules" have been used numerous times, with the game being played in the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th seasons; a variation of the competition was used in the seventh season. Some competitions will attempt to cause drama in the house, such as the "En Garde" Head of Household competition, in which the winner of each round selected the next two to face off against one another. This competition was later used in the 10th through 16th seasons. Various competitions throughout the season will be endurance, requiring HouseGuests to be the last one remaining in the competition. Endurance competitions are often held after game changing announcements, such as when a previously evicted HouseGuest returns. Various endurance competitions may have punished or rewarded contestants who either fall off first or last. Skill-based competitions also appear frequently throughout the season, some of which may last for numerous hours. Skill competitions, such as the 13th season's "Big Brother Open", are finished during the live eviction broadcast. The final Head of Household competition of each season features three rounds; the first is endurance-based, the second is skill-based (often with a memory component), and the final is quiz-based (usually narrated by the Jury members). One of the Head of Household's duties is to nominate two HouseGuests for eviction; in the case of Final three, the Head will instead vote to evict one of the remaining two HouseGuests since these HouseGuests are nominated by default.

Power of Veto (PoV)

The Power of Veto is a power first introduced in Big Brother 3. During its first season, it did not allow a nominated HouseGuest to use it on themselves. The final Power of Veto that season was the Golden Power of Veto and allowed a nominated HouseGuest to remove themselves from the block. Following this, the Golden Power of Veto was used in all subsequent seasons. The Diamond Power of Veto, used in Big Brother 12, allowed one HouseGuest to remove themselves from the block. as well as choose the replacement nominee only moments before the live eviction. Power of Veto competitions differ drastically from the Head of Household competition, with PoV competitions being more skill-based in nature. Competitions such as the "Pop Goes the Veto!" competition, which required HouseGuests to find letter tiles and spell the longest word, have been used in numerous consecutive seasons. Competitions such as the "Big Brother Boardwalk" competition see HouseGuests attempting to guess how much of an item there is; this is one of various competitions that do not require HouseGuests to compete in a physical-based competition. The "How Bad Do You Want It?" Power of Veto competition, first introduced in the seventh season, saw HouseGuests taking punishments in exchange for advancing in the competition. Variations of this competition have been used in numerous subsequent seasons.

Food and luxury

Food and luxury competitions have been a part of the series since it first premiered. In early seasons, the losers of the food competition would be placed on a peanut butter and jelly diet and would not be permitted to eat any other foods.

Beginning with Season 7, the losers of the Have-Not competition were required to eat "Big Brother Slop" for food, and sleep in a special "Have-Not" room with cold showers and most discomforts such as hard pillows and beds for a week. Slop has proven to be an issue for some HouseGuests; in both cases on Season 9, hypoglycemic HouseGuest Amanda Hansen fainted and had a seizure after only a few days of being on the slop diet, while HouseGuest Allison Nichols had an allergic reaction to the slop; both women were medically evacuated from the house, though they returned the following morning. In some seasons, a HouseGuest can also win a Never-Not Pass which they would be immune from being a Have-Not for the season's remainder.

Since the second All-stars season, subsequent weeks forego "Have-Not" competitions and instead, either the Head-of-Household or the previous recipients of "Have-Nots" decide the next "Have-Nots" for the week, with the exception of a few weeks which reset the process, such as weeks without a "Have-Not" phase or a competition is held. The choice of deciding the "Have-Not" can be of any HouseGuests except for the reigning Head of Household or the incumbents, or one team in the case of teams (first seen in Season 23).

HouseGuests can be penalized for not following Have-Not rules, which is usually incorporated with a penalty vote for eviction, or in some cases, an additional day of a Have-Not. A controversy occurred during Season 21 where eventual winner Jackson Michie also broke the rule, but was not issued a penalty due to the obstruction of the camera view behind the shower walls while eating non-slop, resulting in the Have-Not being unseen for the remainder of that season.

The HouseGuests also frequently compete in luxury competitions during their time in the house, with most frequently, the right to watch a film or television show in the house, or a small cash prize. When competitions for films or television shows occur, an actor or actress from the series may enter the house to host the competition or speak with the HouseGuests. Actors such as Jeremy Piven, David Hasselhoff, and Neil Patrick Harris have all entered the house to participate in luxury competitions or rewards.

Battle of the Block

The Battle of the Block was first introduced during season 16 and was reintroduced during the following season's premiere. Instead of the normal singular Head of Household (HOH), two HOHs were named for that week. Each would then nominate a pair of nominees. These two pairs of nominees would compete against each other in a competition. The winning pair would receive immunity and if nominated, the incumbent HOH that nominated them would be dethroned and losing immunity, allowing the other HOH sole power for the rest of the week. There were eight Battle of the Block competitions in season 16 and five in season 17. Battle of the Block did not return after season 18.

Battle Back

The Battle Back Competition allows an evicted HouseGuest to return into the house and play as if they were never actually evicted. While elements of this competition first appeared in Season 15, it was officially introduced in Season 18 and has appeared in subsequent seasons except Seasons 22–24. The losers in each Battle Back faces permanent eviction, and the winner in the final Battle Back competition won re-entry. A variant of a Battle Back also appear in Season 20 where the recent evicted HouseGuest competed in a single challenge (due to a twist) to determine whether the HouseGuest was allowed re-entry if successful.

Another variant also happened on Season 18; dubbed as "Round Trip Ticket", the ticket would allow the HouseGuest who picked it to re-enter the house immediately following eviction (for a certain time); HouseGuests are told not to open the ticket until their eviction, and doing so before the eviction will void the effect.

Critical responses

Since its inception, Big Brother has been criticized following reports of "HIB" (Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying), violence in the house, obscene language, breach of integrity, and the physical and mental strain of appearing on the series. Several seasons have also been criticized for racism and discrimination, most notably season 15 and season 21. On September 9, 2018, Chen's husband, Les Moonves, resigned as President of CBS after a second wave of reports of sexual misconduct allegations against him. On September 13, Chen closed out that evening's episode by saying, "From outside the Big Brother house with Brent, I'm Julie Chen Moonves. Good night." As Chen had previously never used Moonves professionally, many saw the move as Chen standing in solidarity with her husband. Following her resignation from The Talk on September 18 after eight years as co-host, there was speculation on whether Chen would continue as host of Big Brother. Chen did return to host the following year, and has become increasingly spiritual and religious on and off the program in the wake of such revelations.

See also

• The Glass House
• Opposite Worlds
• Love Island (American TV series)
• The Truman Show

Accolades

Big Brother was nominated for Best Competition Show at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards.