Big Brother

USA:

Big Brother is a reality show that houses contestants for up to three months for a $500,000 prize. Currently there are 52 cameras and 130 microphones capturing every move. There are three episodes that air over the course of a week, one of them being an eviction episode. This episode is usually live. The other two episodes feature a food competition, the power of veto competition and an update of house events through-out the week.

The First & Second Seasons:

The first season of Big Brother was nothing like what the show is today. During their first season, each house guest would go to the Diary Room to nominate another house guest to be up for eviction. The two house guests with the most votes against would be up for a public vote, where viewers would call in to place their vote for the house guest they wanted to evict from the house. At the end of the season, viewers also voted for the winner.

This format was abandoned during their second season. Instead, they introduced a ‘game’ Head of Household. The winner of this game was given the responsibility to nominate two house guests for eviction. Instead of having the public viewers vote for the evicted house guest, the cast would be evicting one of their own. At the end of the season, the house guests would vote one of their own as the winner.

This format mostly stayed the same to this day, with the exception of the addition of the Power of Veto.

Power of Veto

The Power of Veto was introduced in the third season. This new game gave the winner the power to remove another house guest from being evicted. At the end of season 3, they introduced the ‘Golden’ Power of Veto. The winner of this was able to save them self from eviction or someone else. This format was introduced into season four and on.

Big Brother General:

Big Brother first aired in the Netherlands back in 1999. The show’s inspiration came from the George Orwell’s novel, 1984. After a decade on air, Big Brother now airs in almost 70 different countries. While, each country has it’s own format, each features a cast stuck in a house for three months to have their lives taped, with no outside contact. Competitions for safety, food and luxuries are also popular among the show. Also, in some countries, viewers vote on who is evicted from the house rather than having the house guests vote.

While every move and word spoken is recorded, the show features one room of seclusion where a house guest can speak openly and privately, often called the Diary Room. Here they can divulge secret feelings, rant or even express their strategy to surviving in the house.

Another popular feature common among series is having a Live Stream, either on television or via the internet, of the house 24-7. Viewers can pay to be a fly on the wall and see the show uncensored.

Big Brother has been a global success and hopefully will be around for many seasons to come!