Big Brother (US)

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Big Brother US
Presenters and Shows
Julie Chen
Host
Big Brother 2000-present
Gretchen Massey
Host
House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show 2005-present
Big Brother 8 housemates
This is the current season

Current houseguests:

Not in house:


Big Brother is a reality show in which a number of strangers live in an isolated studio-like house that is filled with cameras and compete to win a cash prize. The American version of Big Brother has aired on CBS every summer since 2000, which debuted just several weeks after the immensely-popular Survivor. The series is taken from Endemol's popular Big Brother format, and is produced by Endemol USA. The show is executively-produced by Alison Grodner & Rich Meehan. Arnold Shapiro (who formerly produced Rescue 911) stepped down as executive producer following All-Stars and now serves as executive consultant.

Since its second season, the American Big Brother continues to use different rules from other countries' versions of the show. In the U.S. version, viewers do not vote for eviction; all voting is done by houseguests. There have been seven complete seasons of the U.S. version of the show; all have been broadcast on CBS. Another difference, at least between the U.S. and U.K. versions, is that there has not been a season of celebrity contestants.

For all seasons, the eviction-night is hosted by Julie Chen, wife of CBS President Les Moonves and co-host of the network's The Early Show. In the first season (2000), Chen was widely ridiculed in the media for her wooden delivery, stilted interaction with the studio audience, weak interviews with evictees on the live programs, and her overuse of the phrase "But first..." This led fans to affectionately dub her "the Chenbot", a moniker which Chen is aware of and readily accepts. The continuity announcer for the first five seasons was Phil Proctor. He played an active role in the first season introducing every scene, but with the major changes to the program after the initial series, he was relegated to the opening and closing of each episode. For season six, Proctor was replaced by Clayton Halsey. This decision was made so late that Proctor had already toured the new set.

The weekly live show was substantially changed after the first season. Originally, the live show featured a studio audience along with guest commentators Dr. Drew Pinsky, best known for Loveline on MTV, and (sponsor) America Online "Internet Advisor" Regina Lewis. Julie Chen now presents the live eviction show from an empty studio overlooking the entrance to the house.

Contents

[edit] Seasons

  1. Big Brother 1 (2000)
  2. Big Brother 2 (2001)
  3. Big Brother 3 (2002)
  4. Big Brother 4 (2003)
  5. Big Brother 5 (2004)
  6. Big Brother 6 (2005)
  7. Big Brother 7: All-Stars (2006)
  8. Big Brother 8 (2007)

[edit] House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show

House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show
Genre Reality TV
Starring Gretchen Massey
Production
Running time Approx. 30 minutes Monday-Thursday, approx. 50 minutes Fridays
Broadcast
Original channel Live internet talk show
Original run 2004 – present

House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show is a live Internet talk show hosted by Gretchen Massey. Talks of creating of a Big Brother talk show were in negotiations since at least Big Brother 2, due to the success of Big Brother's Little Brother in the United Kingdom. The program focuses on events in the Big Brother house as well as taking phone calls from viewers. The show started in 2004 during Big Brother 5, and became quite popular. House Calls was renewed for a second season to correspond with Big Brother 6. The show returned again in 2006 during Big Brother 7: All-Stars, but without Reynolds as co-host, who was participating as a contestant in the Big Brother house. The program regularly features specials guests, such as Joe Adalian, the TV editor of Daily Variety. Contestants on Big Brother are bound by contract to appear on the webcast the Friday after their live eviction. The show airs Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. PT and 1 p.m. ET. All episodes of House Calls will be available at the CBS website. For season seven, because of Reynolds' absence, a guest host appears for a week. For season eight, Gretchen Massey will be the solo host of House Calls with a format change since Reynolds will no longer be on the show.

The popularity of House Calls has spawned other internet talk shows, including Survivor Live for Survivor, Finish Line for The Amazing Race, Talk Model for America's Next Top Model, and various Aftershows on MTV Overdrive for MTV programming.

[edit] Central Twists

Ever since the show began, Big Brother has had a central twist every season. The twists are:

  • Season 1: The premise of the show -- America watching in on a group of people -- is introduced.
  • Season 2: The new format is introduced -- a Head of Household nominates two houseguests and the other houseguests vote on which nominee is evicted.
  • Season 3: The Power of Veto is introduced, allowing houseguests to change the Head of Household's nominations.
  • Season 4: The X-Factor - Five of the houseguests are joined by their ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends.
  • Season 5: Project DNA: Do Not Assume - A set of identical twins secretly play as one houseguest, switching places intermittently in secret. Two other houseguests find out that they are related.
  • Season 6: The Summer of Secrets - Each houseguest has a secret partner. If a set of partners makes it to the Final 2, the winner wins $1,000,000 and the runner up receives $250,000.
  • Season 7: All Stars - 14 former houseguests get to play the game again.
  • Season 8: Six of the houseguests learn they will be playing against enemies from their past. One houseguest, known as America's Player, must perform certain tasks given by viewers of the show for financial rewards.

[edit] Competitions

Competitions have been part of the show since season two. Various competitions force the houseguests to work together, in teams, or against each other for prizes or power. There are three different styles of games: endurance contests test which houseguest can last the longest doing a certain task (such as holding a key); games of skill test the houseguests' athleticism, ingenuity, or luck; and quizzes test the houseguests' knowledge of each other and the house. All three styles are used to varying degrees in the weekly competitions. Sometimes, a recycled competition that has appeared in a previous season is used. For example, the game "Majority Rules" (in which the houseguests have to answer questions with opinions while trying to stay with the majority until the tie-breaker question), which debuted in season five, has been recycled into the sixth season and the eighth season, each time being played for Head of Household.

[edit] Head of Household (HoH)

After each eviction (except the first week), houseguests compete to become the Head of Household. Due to the live show's time limit, quizzes are normally used for this competition. Games of skill also appear as HoH competitions occasionally, while the endurance contest is only used two to three times a season.

The HoH receives perks such as their own private bedroom, photos or gifts from home, and laundry service. The winner also chooses two houseguests to nominate for eviction. If one of the nominees is removed via the Power of Veto, the Head of Household names a replacement nominee. The HoH reigns until the next eviction in which he or she may not vote except to break a tie. The houseguest may not participate in the following HoH competition unless only three houseguests are remain.

The final HoH competition occurs when only three houseguests remain. The competition is held in three parts. For the first stage, the houseguests compete in an endurance contest requiring the houseguests to hang on to their keys in the face of some unusual circumstance. (The circumstances were sitting on a waterbed in season two, a fake thunderstorm in season three, a "blizzard" in season 4, an "earthquake" in season 5, an oversized safe's spinning dial in season 6, and a "volcano" in season 7.) The second stage is commonly a game of skill between the losers of the previous stage. The winners of first and second stage face off in a quiz where the participants must guess what departed houseguests thought. The winner of the third stage becomes the last HoH while the two other houseguests are automatically nominated. As none of the trio are eligible to vote, the last HoH breaks the 0-0 tie and chooses who to evict.

Although normally one houseguest normally retains the Head of Household rewards and responsibilites for the week, exceptions have occurred. In a "double eviction" week, the first HoH only reigns for a short period (between an hour and three days) while the second HoH reigns for the rest of the week. When this occurs, the first HoH is normally not provided the benefits such as use of the HoH bedroom. Another exception is when two houseguests were co-Heads of Household the first week of Big Brother: All-Stars. The co-HoHs had to agree on two nominees or else become the nominees themselves and lose their HoH priviledges. The winner of the Power of Veto competition would break a tie on the eviction vote if it had occured that week.

[edit] Power of Veto (PoV)

Main article: Power of Veto (Big Brother)

The winner of the Power of Veto competition can choose to veto one of the Head of Household's initial nominations. The winner is also protected from becoming a replacement nominee for the week. This competition is more often a game of skill instead of a quiz or endurance contest.

The Power of Veto has changed twice since its introduction in season three. Originally, the Power of Veto was silver, all the houseguests participated in the competition, and the holder of the Power of Veto could not remove himself or herself from being nominated. When only five houseguests remained in season three, the Power of Veto became the Golden Power of Veto. In addition to the color change, nominees could now veto themselves if they won this power. The Golden Power of Veto was the standard veto starting in season four. The Diamond Power of Veto gave the power to veto a nomination and name the replacement nominee (instead of the HoH), but it only appeared once -- the last veto competition of season four.

The rules regarding the Power of Veto competition have also changed twice. Originally, all houseguests would compete. Starting with season five, a maximum of six people could compete. The Head of Household and the two nominees each choose one other person to play. This led to the introduction of "backdooring", a major change in Big Brother strategy. The six participants would all agree to use the power of veto. This would allow the HoH to name his/her true target as a replacement nominee without giving the target a chance to win veto for him/herself. However, the PoV competition rules changed again during season seven. The three additional players are now picked at random from a bag of balls with the houseguest's names on it. A ball labeled "Houseguest's Choice" is included to give the HoH and nominees a chance of picking a participant. The random selection of participants reduced, but did not eliminate, the possibility of backdooring someone into being nominated.

The winner of the PoV competition normally has one or two days before the Veto Ceremony is held. At the Veto Ceremony, the winner gives a final chance for the nominees to explain why their nominations should be vetoed. The winner then makes the decision of which nominee to veto or to not use the power at all. If a nominee is vetoed, the HoH names a replacement nominee. The nominations cannot be changed again; the remaining houseguests vote on who should be evicted during the Thursday eviction show.

[edit] Food Competition

Food competitions allow the houseguests to win food for the week. Most food competitions are games of skill, although the houseguests may be working individually, in teams, or as one group. As part of the Head of Household benefits package, the HoH hosts the Food Competition and can eat any food the winners would earn. Winners eat a variety of food during the week. Losers go on food restriction, which usually lasts until after the next eviction and HoH competition. However, food competitions may not be held every week. For example, no food competitions were played the latter half of season six.

During seasons two through six, the food restriction was a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, milk, water, and condiments. Starting in All Stars, the sandwiches were replaced with "Big Brother Slop". The slop looks like oatmeal, has essential nutrients, and is not appetizing. The houseguests can win "passes" to escape food restriction once. The PB&J Pass was available twice in season six, and the Slop Pass has appeared once so far in season eight. The passes are transferable until used or its holder is evicted, so trading the pass became a tool in strategy.

When all houseguests compete as one group, the competition changes slightly. The competition is not for all food or food restriction for the whole week. Instead, the houseguests may compete to earn different food groups. Alternatively, the houseguests may compete to earn the full food diet for each day of the week.

[edit] Luxury Competitions

The Luxury Competitions allow the houseguests to win special prizes. They usually involve games of skill. Examples of previous luxuries earned include margarita parties, movie screenings, and access to newspaper clippings. This competition occurred frequently in the earlier seasons. In more recent seasons, Luxury Competitions are now held less frequently as the show began giving prizes away during the Head of Household and Power of Veto competitions. An example of this is the backyard's hot tub. The first Luxury Competition in seasons two through five were to earn the key to the hot tub. However, the hot tub's key was hidden in the Head of Household room in season six, and the hot tub was not locked at all in seasons seven and eight.

[edit] America's Choice

America's Choice allows the viewing public to select a houseguest to receive a special opportunity not available to other houseguests. Voting is done through the CBS website and text messaging. Though houseguests do not actively compete for the reward, it is essentially a reward based on viewers' opinions of the houseguests. America's Choice contests begin midway through each season and occur weekly. Previous contests have allowed houseguests to make a mobile phone call to family, have a walk-on role for a CBS soap opera, and conduct an internet chat with fans. In season six, the first America's Choice contest was to vote a previously evicted houseguest back into the house. America's Choice is not always a choice between contestants to earn a special opportunity. Sometimes viewers are asked what challenge the houseguests should play or what kind of appliance would be given to the houseguests. In season eight, America's Choice spun off into America's Player, where Eric was chosen to fulfill tasks voted on by the public for financial reward.

AC Wins What Won
Janelle Pierzina 5 Phone call home
Set visit to Two and a Half Men
Entry into BB All Stars House
Big Brother Prom Queen
$25,000 Jury Prize
Robert Roman 3 Letter from home
Phone call home
Internet chat with fans
Kaysar Ridha 2 Re-entry into BB6 house
Entry into BB All Stars House
Bunky Miller 1 Letter from home
Hardy Hill 1 Phone call home
Krista Stegall 1 Birthday Dinner Date
Will Kirby 1 Internet chat with fans
Danielle Reyes 1 Video from home
Jason Guy 1 Letter from home
Lisa Donahue 1 Internet chat with fans
Marcellas Reynolds 1 Private dinner date
Marvin Latimer 1 Walk on role in the Young & the Restless
Michael Ellis 1 Phone call home
Diane Henry 1 Entry into BB All Stars House
Erika Landin 1 Entry into BB All Stars House
Nakomis Dedmon 1 Entry into BB All Stars House
Howie Gordon 1 Entry into BB All Stars House
James Rhine 1 Entry into BB All Stars House
Jase Wirey 1 Entry into BB All Stars House

[edit] Items of note

This is a trivia section.
The section could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

This section has been tagged since July 2007.

The following are some of the most notable events including records, for seasons one through eight.

[edit] General Trivia

  • As of July 20, 2006, Danielle Reyes and Will Kirby attained one hundred days in the Big Brother house between their respective original seasons along with the All Star season. Since then, "Chicken" George Boswell, Diane Henry, Janelle Pierzina, Marcellas Reynolds, Erika Landin, Howie Gordon, James Rhine and Mike Malin have attained the 100-day mark as well. Fellow BB7 All Stars houseguests Alison Irwin & Jennifer "Nakomis" Dedmon barely missed the mark when Alison was evicted first in BB7 after just 11 days, and Jennifer 2nd after 18 days, bringing both their totals to 93 days. Should either of them have survived their respective evictions, they would have both obtained 100 days.
  • Will Kirby holds the most days playing the game with 147, followed by Janelle Pierzina with 143, Danielle Reyes with 142, Erika Landin with 140 and George Boswell with 138 days.
  • By the end of the eighth season, there was a total of 89 different houseguests to play the game, with no new houseguests in season seven. Of those 89, there will have been at least 79 evictions for 68 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 2, 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 3, 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 4, 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. In the sixth season, there were 13 evictions for 12 people, with Kaysar Ridha being evicted twice. The seventh season began with 14 houseguests, with only Danielle Reyes, Will Kirby, and Alison Irwin not having been evicted in their respective previous season. All three of them were evicted during the season. The eighth season began with 14 houseguests, 5 have been evicted so far.
  • As of the end of the seventh season, 10 finalists have made it to the end of the season without eviction. The five of the seven winners: Eddie McGee, Lisa Donahue, Jun Song, Drew Daniel, Maggie Ausburn and five of the eight runners-up (two from season one): Josh Souza, Curtis Kin, Nicole Nilson, Michael "Cowboy" Ellis, Ivette Corredero.
  • Only Amy Crews in season three and Kaysar Ridha in season six were allowed to re-enter the house with a second chance to win their season's contest. Unfortunately for both, neither one won their respective season, as Amy re-entered Week 6, and was evicted Week 10, and Kaysar re-entered Week 5, but was evicted Week 6. In the fifth week of season seven, Kaysar was evicted a third time, making him the only houseguest evicted three times, taking him two seasons to accomplish the feat.
  • 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. Michelle will most likely hold this record, since the minimum age to become a houseguest has since been raised to 21. 20-year-old Daniele Donato of season eight, however, slipped through the cracks for the "Nemeses" twist. Daniele's brother has confirmed though that Daniele will turn 21 in August.
  • The record for most total individual contests (HoH, POV, and America's Choice; not including Luxury and Food Competitions, which are for the most part group efforts) won by one person is held by Janelle Pierzina with seventeen. She won six in season six (two HoHs, two POVs, and two America's Choices), and eleven more in season seven (one shared HoH, three solo HoH, five POVs, and two America's Choice). The eleven in season 7 and the seventeen overall are both the most won by any person.
  • With houseguests being brought back into the house, many marks were set in the opening weeks of the all-star season for feats in multiple seasons. Janelle Pierzina became, along with Jase Wirey, the first HoHs of multiple seasons. Janelle also became the first POV holder and multi-time HoH holder in multiple seasons, completing all of these feats within the first 25 days of season seven. Alison Irwin was the first houseguest nominated in different seasons, but it wasn't until Jennifer "Nakomis" Dedmon, the season's second eviction, until someone had been evicted in two different seasons. With the third eviction of season seven, Jase Wirey holds the dubious mark of missing the jury or being a finalist (by making the final nine) in his first season, season five, and missing the jury again in season seven. With his 12th and 10th place finishes, respectively, Jase is also the first player in show history to score double-digit finishes (tenth or worse) in two different seasons. In week four, Diane Henry was nominated for a second time, making her the first houseguest to be nominated more than once in multiple seasons. In week five, Janelle Pierzina added to her long list of feats in Big Brother USA by winning the Power Of Veto a second time, making her the first multi-holder of the POV in two seasons. At the end of the week, Kaysar Ridha duplicated Wirey's feat of missing the jury in both their respective season and the all-star season. Ridha was also the first houseguest to miss the jury by one spot in both seasons, the first houseguest to finish in the same position each season (tenth in season six and seven), and the first houseguest in season seven who didn't finish worse than their respective original season. On Day 47, Howie Gordon was evicted, making him the first sequestered juror in multiple seasons.
  • As well as houseguests doing things in two different seasons, houseguests have also done things in the all-star season seven that they didn't do in the previous season they had appeared in. Danielle Reyes was formally nominated in the first week, something she didn't officially face in her season, season three. Alison Irwin not only faced the possibility of being evicted for the first time (having been vetoed off the three times she was "on the block"), but was evicted, two things that didn't happen to her in season four. "Chicken" George Boswell and Mike "Boogie" Malin have each won Power Of Veto contests, something they couldn't have done in their seasons because such competitions didn't start taking place until season three. Then, on Day 46, George Boswell won Head of Household, something Boswell couldn't have done in season one there was no Head of Household - the Head of Household did not debut until season two. Also on that night, Marcellas Reynolds became the first member of season seven's sequestered jury. Reynolds had a vote into who won the third season, but the sequestering of juries didn't begin until season four. Will Kirby, Danielle Reyes and George Boswell will also be serving on the Big Brother jury for the first time, with Danielle and Will getting their first evictions ever on Days 60 and 65 respectively. Will Kirby has also lost the game for the first time ever.
  • In the All-Star season, the 3 players who did not do better or worse were Janelle, George and James. Kaysar also shares this feat, but he was evicted twice in season 6.
  • Season 6 was the first to have four females in the final four. After Howie Gordon's eviction, four females remained in the game: Janelle Pierzina, Ivette Corredero, April Lewis and Maggie Ausburn. It was also the first time that there had been an all same sex final four in Big Brother America history. The first season of the series was also the first one have an all same sex final three, which was three males.
  • The CBS broadcast on June 21, 2006 to introduce the 20 houseguests the audience voted for in six of the twelve positions was notable for two reasons. It was the first time a Big Brother show had aired on the network in June, and that it was the first time in Big Brother USA history that an episode didn't have houseguests in the Big Brother house in some form.
  • Big Brother 8 is the first season in which the houseguests were living in the house in June. They moved into the house the evening of June 30, 2007.

[edit] Head of Household Trivia

  • Janelle Pierzina holds the record for winning the most Head of Household (HoH) contests in the span of two seasons, and tying Drew Daniel with the most HoHs won in a single season. She won two HoH competitions in the sixth season. During the seventh season, she won four HoH competitions, for a grand total of seven. Janelle's first three HoH weeks of season 7 came within the season's first six weeks, making her the fastest houseguest to win not only two HoHs (in four weeks), but the fastest to three HoH wins (in six weeks).
  • Drew Daniel (during season 5) and Janelle Pierzina (during season 7) tie the record for winning the most Head of Household (HoH) contests in one season, with a total of four.
  • The first Head Of Household in season seven wasn't one person, but two co-holders. Jase Wirey and Janelle Pierzina were the co-winners of the HoH title in the first round of the season, and had to agree on who to nominate. Had they failed, they both would have been nominated and stripped of their duties. Had a tie occurred in the voting to evict, Pierzina would have been the tie-breaking vote due to her veto win.
  • In the sixth week of season seven, there were also two Head Of Households, but instead of the two sharing power, one merely replaced the other. It appeared to the CBS TV audience watching the Big Brother live show on August 10, 2006 that Erika Landin had won Head Of Household, but during the contest, Howie Gordon had openly complained that there was a technical glitch with his signaling device that didn't allow his answer to be shown. When Mike Malin pressed his button during one of the questions, nothing lit up and he was not eliminated. Unlike Howie Gordon's situation, the fact that it appeared he had not buzzed in went unnoticed by host Julie Chen. The contest continued, with Landin outlasting James Rhine. Later that night, the producers decided to strip Landin due to the technical glitches, and another contest was held, won by Janelle Pierzina.
  • Mike "Boogie" Malin was the first ever winner of two different contests. In the very first week of season two, he captured the first ever Head Of Household. In week six of season seven, the Coup D'Etat was introduced, also won by Malin, a returning houseguest for the all-star season.
  • Will Kirby, the season two winner, holds the distinction of being the only winner that has never won any Head of Households or Vetos. Michael Ellis also made it to the last day of season five without being HoH (he won a Veto, though), but lost the final vote to Drew Daniel.
  • Big Brother 6 holds the record for going longest without a double Head of Household win by any of the contestants with nine consecutive times, starting at the beginning of the game. Rachel Plencner, Eric Littman, Kaysar Ridha, Maggie Ausburn, Howie Gordon, Jennifer Vasquez, Janelle Pierzina, Beau Beasley, and April Lewis all won HoH before Howie Gordon became a repeat winner. Big Brother 8 has 6 consecutive times so far. With Kail Harbick, Jen Johnson, Dick Donato, Dustin Erikstrup, Daniele Donato and Jessica Hughbanks.
  • Big Brother 6 also holds the record for having the most number of different contestants who became HoH at some point, with a total of ten. Those ten are the nine HoH mentioned above (Rachel, Eric, Kaysar, Maggie, Howie, Jennifer, Janelle, Beau, and April), as well as Ivette Corredero. James Rhine was not one of them, but he would eventually become HoH for the first time in Big Brother All-Stars.
  • Big Brother 5 and Big Brother 2 on the other hand, had the least number of unique Heads of Household. Only Jase, Marvin, Drew, Diane, Nakomis and Adria served as the Head of Household throughout season 5, and only Mike, Krista, Hardy, Kent, Nicole and Monica throughout season 2.
  • Lisa Donahue of season 3 is the only houseguest to win the first HoH Competition and be the winner of the season. All other first HoH'S (Mike Malin, Nathan Marlow, Jase Wirey, Rachel Plencher, Janelle Pierzina and Kail Harbick), were all evicted at some point or another. Although, Malin did win Season 7, All-Stars.
  • During season 7, there have been two separate occasions in which two Heads of Household reigned over a period of less than 6 hours. The first occasion was on day 39. Danielle finished her HoH reign on this day, handing over the key to Erika after she won the HoH competition. However, when the competition was deemed to be faulty, Janelle took the reins. Finally, on day 60, Erika finished her reign as HoH, after which Janelle assumed the reins. However, Janelle's reign was extremely brief as it was a double eviction night. Later that evening, Mike took the reins as the third HoH of the day.
  • Janelle Pierzina and Nicole Nilson-Schaffrich are the only houseguests who have ever hosted a Head of Household competition.
  • On two occasions did a house guest win HoH twice in a row. The first being Drew Daniel in Season Five, and the second being Mike Malin in Season Seven. Both occurred in the Final Three, the only occasion where the previous HoH can compete for the power.
  • Since the current final HoH format debuted (in season 2), Mike Malin is the first person to have not won part 1 of the final HoH Competition, but won the competition overall. Past final HoHs (Lisa, Alison, Drew and Ivette) all won part one of the competition.
  • Big Brother 8 holds the record for the slowest time it has taken a male houseguest to win the Head of Household. On Day 20, male houseguest Dick Donato finally won, ending the streak. Dustin Erikstrup followed Donato as HoH on Day 27.
  • Kail Harbick and Jameka Cameron from Big Brother 8 are the only houseguests that gave up the right to play in five consecutive HOH competitions to win a veto. Neither one of them were successful in winning that week's veto. This would mark the 3rd time that more than one houseguest didn't compete in an HOH. The first time that happened was All Stars when both Jase Wirey and Janelle Pierzina sat out due to winning the co-HOH positions the previous week. The second time happened in Season 8 where Dick Donato, Dustin Erikstrup and Jessica Hughbanks were locked in the HOH room while the other 11 played in the first HOH compeition. They were granted immunity for sitting out.

[edit] Nomination Trivia

  • The most times a Head of Household nominated a specific houseguest is 3, and this has happened 4 times. In Big Brother 2, Hardy Ames Hill did this to Will Kirby in weeks 3, 5 and 8. In Big Brother 5, Drew Daniel did this to Nakomis Dedmon in weeks 3, 9 and 10 and also to Diane Henry in weeks 9, 10 and 11 (once by default because Drew won the Final HOH putting both Diane Henry and Michael Ellis on the chopping block). Finally, Janelle Pierzina did this to Erika Landin in All Stars in weeks 4, 6 and 8.
  • The most times a player has been nominated at some point during the game is nine. Janelle Pierzina of seasons 6 and 7 was nominated by Eric Littman, Maggie Ausburn, Ivette Corredero, April Lewis and Jennifer Vasquez during season 6 and by Mike Malin (x2), Danielle Reyes, and Erika Landin in season 7.
  • The most times a player has been nominated in the course of one season is Amy Crews of Season 3 and Erika Landin of All Stars with 6. Amy was nominated by Lisa Donahue, Roddy Mancuso, Danielle Reyes, Marcellas Reynolds, and twice by Jason Guy. Erika Landin was nominated by Janelle three times, Mike Malin twice (one by default due to him winning the Final 3 Head of Household) and George Boswell.
  • Only Danielle Reyes and Jason Guy, each from Season 3, 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. However, when Danielle re-entered the house for season seven, she was placed up as a nominee in the very first round of nominations, leaving Jason as the only houseguest in the show's history never to have been nominated or marked for banishment (as it was called in the first season). Danielle eventually finished sixth, being evicted on Day 60 of season seven.
  • Only Alison Irwin of Season 4 and Drew Daniel of Season 5 have gone their entire season without facing the possibility of eviction after nominations and Veto were done. However, when Alison re-entered the house for the seventh season, she was nominated, not saved by the Power of Veto, and was evicted, making Drew the only person to not face the possibility of eviction after nominations and Veto.
  • The most people on the block in any one round in Big Brother history was six. In the fourth round of the first season of Big Brother, Eddie McGee, Josh Souza, Curtis Kin, Cassandra Waldon, George Boswell, and Brittany Petros were all nominated, with Petros being evicted. Since the rules changed when Big Brother 2 began in 2001, this is unlikely to be duplicated.
  • Going into season seven, none of the original group of nominees up for eviction has ever won their season. Nicole Nilson-Schaffrich came the closest to winning after defeating Sheryl Braxton in the opening vote to stay in the house, and stayed in until the final night, losing the final vote to Will Kirby.
  • Janelle Pierzina and April Lewis are the only HoHs who have changed their own nominations through the use of the Power of Veto. Pierzina initially nominated Maggie Ausburn and Jennifer Vasquez for eviction in season 6, won the Power of Veto, saved Ausburn, and nominated Ivette Corredero in her place. April Lewis initially nominated Pierzina and Howie Gordon for eviction, won the Power of Veto, saved Pierzina, and nominated James in her place.
  • As of Season 8, there have been 12 occasions where the same pair of individuals sat on the nomination block together:
    • In Big Brother 3, Amy Crews and Marcellas Reynolds were nominated together in week 3. Crews left the house, but returned in a surprise twist in week 5. In Week 9, they sat on the block together again, but Reynolds ended up leaving this time.
    • In Big Brother 4, Jun Song and Alison Irwin were nominated together in week 9, yet Irwin won the Veto and vetoed her nomination. They later sat together as the final 2 houseguests.
    • In Big Brother 5, Diane Henry and Marvin Latimer were nominated together in week 5. Henry was vetoed, and both of them stayed while Jase Wirey was evicted. Later, in week 9, they were once again nominated together, with Diane winning the Veto again. The former outcome created Big Brother's first ever "backdoor", with the new rule that only six players could compete for the veto competition.
    • In Big Brother 5, Drew Daniel and Michael Ellis were nominated together in week 9, but when Diane Henry vetoed Drew Daniel, it allowed Drew and Michael to make the final 2 together.
    • In Big Brother 5, Diane Henry and Nakomis Dedmon were nominated together in week 10 of. They were also nominated together on All Stars in week 2 which makes the first time the same pair of houseguests were nominated in different seasons. In both cases, Dedmon was evicted.
    • In Big Brother 6, Kaysar Ridha and James Rhine were nominated together in week 4; however, Rhine vetoed his nomination, being replaced with Janelle Pierzina. In All Stars, interestingly enough, Ridha was the replacement nominee for Pierzina and sat on the block with Rhine in week 5.
    • In Big Brother 6, Kaysar Ridha and Janelle Pierzina were nominated together in week 4. Ridha was evicted, re-entered the house, and the same scenario occurred in week 6.
    • In Big Brother 6, Howie Gordon and Janelle Pierzina were nominated together in week 8, but Pierzina was vetoed and both stayed in the game when James Rhine was evicted. However, they were nominated again together the next week and Gordon was evicted.
    • In Big Brother 6, Janelle Pierzina nominated Maggie Ausburn and Ivette Corredero together in week 10, but Corredero won the Veto and she voted out April Lewis. Eventually, both of them made it to the final 2.
    • In Big Brother: All Stars, Mike Malin and Erika Landin were nominated together in week 4, but Malin vetoed his nomination. Diane Henry replaced his nomination and was voted out. They ended up being in the final 2.
    • In Big Brother: All Stars, James Rhine and Janelle Pierzina were nominated together in week 5. Pierzina vetoed her nomination, and Kaysar Ridha was nominated and evicted from the house. In week 7, they also were nominated together and Pierzina again won the veto. This time, George Boswell went on the block and James was sent home.
    • In Big Brother 8: Kail Harbick and Jen Johnson were nominated together in week 3. However, Jen Johnson vetoed her nomination and Mike Dutz was eventually was put up and evicted. In week 4, they were nominated again, yet Jameka Cameron veteoed Jen's nomination, eventually being replaced by Nick Starcevic. When Starcevic was evicted, it marked the first time that the same pair of pre-veto nominees survived eviction in two separate weeks. In week 5, they were nominated again by Daniele Donato. Johnson won the Power of Veto and removed herself from the block. Jen was replaced by Eric Stein. Unfortunately for Kail, she was evicted. This marked the first and only time a pair of nominees were nominated for 3 weeks.
  • Janelle Pierzina, James Rhine and Kaysar Ridha were the three weekly nominees not only in week 4 of season 6 with Maggie Ausburn as HOH, but also in week 5 of season 7 with Danielle as HOH.
  • Starting in Season 4 when Big Brother started sequestering juries, Season 4 holds the record for most people that were not nominated before reaching the jury, which is five. Dana Varela, Nathan Marlow, Justin Giovinco, Robert Roman and Jun Song all made it to the jury without being nominated. Season 7: All Stars holds the record for fewest people that were not nominated at any point before making it into the jury, which is two. Marcellas Reynolds and Howie Gordon were the only two people that never faced being nominated before the jury. However, both of them were the 1st and 2nd jury members.

[edit] Power of Veto Trivia

  • The record for the most times a player has won the Power of Veto contest is currently held by Janelle Pierzina, of seasons 6 and 7, with 7. Janelle won the Veto twice in season 6 and five times in season seven.
  • The record for the most times that a houseguest has been saved by the Power of Veto is six. Janelle Pierzina was saved by herself and by April Lewis during season 6. She saved herself four times during season seven.
  • The most times the Power of Veto has been used in one season is 9 times during season 7. It was used by Janelle on four occasions, and once each by George Boswell, Mike Malin, Danielle Reyes, James Rhine and Erika Landin. All of these uses of the Veto were to save themselves, marking the first season since the PoV debut that the Veto has not been used by one person to save another.
  • Big Brother 8 holds the record for the fastest season to have a repeat Veto winner. Daniele Donato won the Veto the first and the second week in the house.
  • Big Brother 8 holds the record of the fastest time the Veto has been used on the same person., the veto was used on Jen Johnson in weeks 3, 4, and 5.
  • Big Brother 8 holds the record for the slowest time it has taken a male houseguest to win the Power of Veto. As of day 41, no male has won the Veto, with Jen Johnson winning for the second time in the 5th week. There have been only three people to win the Power of Veto so far: Daniele Donato, Jameka Cameron, and Jen Johnson.
  • George Boswell, Kaysar Ridha and Janelle Pierzina are the only houseguests that gave up the right to play a future veto in order to win that week's veto. George and Kaysar gave up their right in week 3, and Janelle gave it up in week 5.

[edit] Eviction/Final Vote Trivia

  • Jennifer Vasquez, Beau Beasley, Marvin Latimer, Howie Gordon and Monica Bailey are the only five Big Brother contestants who were evicted during pre-taped episodes. Howie, Jennifer, Beau and Marvin all left the house during double eviction weeks, in which the eviction was pre-taped 24 hours in advance. As for Monica, the eviction scheduled to take place on September 13, 2001 was pre-empted by the terrorist attacks of September 11. Her eviction instead took place on September 15 and was aired on television on September 18. Howie was evicted live during season 6 and pre-taped during season 7.
  • When Michael Donnellan and Eric Littmann were evicted second and third, respectively, in the sixth season, it marked the first time in Big Brother that two men had been evicted so quickly. In previous years, the first three out always included at least two women. Season 8 marks the first time that 3 of the first 4 evicted houseguests have been male. With Joe Barber, Mike Dutz, and Nick Starcevic being evicted second, third, and fourth, respectively.
  • The most times a player has won an eviction vote (in other words, nominated, not vetoed off, but not the one evicted) is currently five. Curtis Kin was the first to do this, going 5-0 in season one before finishing third. (Fellow housemate Eddie McGee went four straight weeks marked for banishment and won each vote, still a record mark.)
  • The mark for the most times a player has won an eviction vote in multiple seasons is seven, held by Erika Landin, her only loss coming in the round of four in season four.
  • The most lopsided eviction occurred during the first week of the fifth season. In that round, Nakomis Dedmon and Mike Lubinski were nominated for eviction, with Lubinski being voted out, 10-0. The fourth season could have tied this record, but because contestant Scott was expelled before voting day, houseguest Amanda Craig was evicted 9-0. Lubinski is also the only player to be the oldest in his or her season to be evicted first in the game's seven seasons.
  • 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, Lisa won the one-sided final vote 9-1, with only Jason Guy voting Danielle to win the third season. The most lopsided vote with the jury format occurred during the fourth season between Alison Irwin and Jun Song. Jun won the game 6-1, with only Nathan Marlow voting for Alison to win. Also, in the All-Star season, Mike "Boogie" Malin defeated Erika Landin 6-1, with only Marcellas Reynolds voting for Erika to win.
  • The closest final vote was a one vote margin, which has occurred twice. Drew Daniel was the first to win by a one-vote margin when he defeated Michael "Cowboy" Ellis 4-3 to end Season 5. One season later, Maggie Ausburn defeated Ivette Corredero by the same 4-3 vote to win season six.
  • In each complete season since the format change, six houseguests per season were evicted in a unanimous decision. Autumn, Shannon, Kent, Krista, Hardy and Monica in season 2, Amy (twice), Josh, Gerry, Roddy, and Jason in season 3, Amanda, Dana, Nathan, Jee, Erika and Robert in season 4, Mike, Adria, Marvin, Karen, Nakomis and Diane in season 5, and Kaysar, Rachel, James, Beau, April and Janelle in season 6 were all evicted without opposition. Season 7 continued this pattern. Jase, Marcellas, Danielle, George, Will and Janelle have been unanimously evicted.

[edit] Timeline of Notable Events

[edit] Season 1 (2000)

  • First set of nominees: William Collins and Jean Jordan
  • First player to survive an eviction: Jean Jordan
  • First evicted houseguest: William Collins
  • First winner: Eddie McGee
  • The cast actually considered walking off the show.[citation needed]

[edit] Season 2 (2001)

  • First nominees under the new format: Nicole Nilson Schaffrich and Sheryl Braxton
  • First expelled houseguest: Justin Sebik
  • First Head of Household: Mike "Boogie" Malin
  • First unanimously evicted houseguest: Autumn Daly
  • First Head of Household to vote to break a tie: Hardy Ames-Hill
  • First houseguest to be evicted after HoH tiebreaker: Bill "Bunky" Miller
  • First season with two finalists
  • Most unanimous voting results: 4
  • Biggest comeback: Nicole Nilson Schaffrich, Escaped eviction in Week 1, Runner Up of Big Brother 2
  • The game was disrupted due to the September 11, 2001 attacks; producers suspended the rule about participants not being informed of outside world events because of Monica having a family member who worked at the trade towers.
  • First winner under the new format: Will Kirby

[edit] Season 3 (2002)

  • First season with a Power of Veto
  • First Power of Veto winner: Gerry Lancaster
  • First non-usage of Power of Veto: Danielle Reyes
  • First houseguest to be evicted twice: Amy Crews
  • First houseguest to be allowed back into the house: Amy Crews
  • First Head of Household to also hold Power of Veto in the same week: Jason Guy
  • First season with a Golden Power of Veto
  • First person to win the Golden Power of Veto: Marcellas Reynolds
  • First person not to use a Golden Power of Veto on themselves (when possible): Marcellas Reynolds
  • First person to be evicted by not using a Golden Power of Veto on themselves: Marcellas Reynolds
  • Most lopsided jury vote: 9-1
  • Winner: Lisa Donahue

[edit] Season 4 (2003)

  • Youngest houseguest: Michelle Maradie, 19
  • Oldest houseguest: Jack Owens: 58
  • First season where all Power of Veto competitions are Golden Power of Veto competitions
  • First usage of a Golden Power of Veto: by Nathan Marlow, saving Alison Irwin
  • First jury to be sequestered
  • First and only season with a Diamond Veto
  • First person to win the Diamond Veto: Alison Irwin
  • Winner: Jun Song

[edit] Season 5 (2004)

  • First season where Power of Veto competitions only involve a maximum of six people
  • First season with related houseguests
  • First double elimination week
  • First season with a talk show: House Calls
  • Most houseguests: 14
  • Last season to use the original house
  • Winner: Drew Daniel

[edit] Season 6 (2005)

[edit] Season 7: All-Stars (2006)

[edit] Season 8 (2007)

  • Showtime Too partners to show televised live feeds as Big Brother: After Dark
  • First time a Big Brother nudity scene was shown on television: Zach Swerdzewski, as well as Amber Tomcavage were shown completely naked on Big Brother: After Dark
  • Most people from the same state: 4; Zach Swerdzewski, Dick Donato, Daniele Donato, and Jen Johnson are all from California.
  • First father-and-daughter pair: Dick and Daniele Donato
  • First time that there have been no live animals in the house
  • First former ex-boyfriends: Dustin Erikstrup and Joe Barber
  • First former best friends: Carol Journey and Jessica Hughbanks
  • Only contestant to be controlled by viewers: Eric Stein
  • First time houseguests are given complete immunity for a week without a competition: Dick Donato, Dustin Erikstrup, and Jessica Hughbanks (Day 1-13)
  • First time since season one that the public plays a part in who is evicted
  • First time the same two people are pre-veto nominees three times in a row: Jen Johnson and Kail Harbick
  • First time that a pair of pre-veto nominees survive two evictions: Jen Johnson and Kail Harbick, Day 27 and Day 34
  • Most consecutive saves for one houseguest through the Power of Veto: Jen Johnson was saved three consecutive weeks.
  • Most consecutive single person post veto nominee: Kail Harbick has been nominated 3 consectutive weeks after the Power of Veto was used. She was finally evicted during the same week.
  • Largest Big Brother alliance: The Late Night Crew had 7 members for approximately 9 days, some members left, some new members joined.

[edit] Big Brother on DVD

The complete season of Season 3, in a DVD box set.
The complete season of Season 3, in a DVD box set.

A 9-disc set from the third season of the show, in its entirety as well as edits, have been released on Region 1 DVD. A supplementary included is the house guests' original casting tapes. These casting tapes are taken from preliminary interviews rather than the tapes that the house guests sent in.

A 2-disc Highlights set from the fourth season has 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.

It doesn't appear that any other seasons of the show will be released on DVD. It has been reported that Jase from season 5 appeared on "House Calls" and said that CBS doesn't want to release the sets because there are too many episodes in each season.

[edit] Big Brother Game

Virtual Me is a new game being developed by EA it will allow people to play games like Big Brother [1].

[edit] Notes

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This section has been tagged since August 2007.

The first season of Big Brother had such a completely different format it cannot be considered the same show as the seasons that would follow it.[citation needed] In the first season, similar to the international formats of the show, the format was more of a social experiment meant for viewers at home to observe. The contestants had little power over each other since the home audience decided their fate, so it was up to them to create drama on their own. Ironically, the two most controversial contestants on the season, Will and Jordan, were the first two to be eliminated. This meant that the remaining players, for the most part, got along with each other, leaving little conflict to be witnessed by viewers.

Producers did their best to spice up the show with gimmicks such as a huge domino set for the players to fiddle with as well as adding barnyard animals to the house's backyard. These tactics seem downright mundane compared to the overly dramatic antics that would befall later seasons[citation needed] and did little to improve the show's ratings. Initially hyped as the perfect companion series to the surging Survivor, which had premiered just a few weeks before, viewers soon tired of the boring antics of the show. However ratings perked up enough by the finale, especially among younger viewers, that the show was renewed the following summer. Beginning with Big Brother 2, CBS completely replaced the creative team behind the show and turned it into the Survivor-esque game that is played today. And at the start of season 3, CBS.com started the uncensored 24/7 live feed from the house, available to subscribers. In order to get more people to purchase access to the live feed, CBS added new cameras in the bedrooms and bathroom to increase the chances of nudity from the houseguests.[citation needed] This plan worked; every houseguest that season, except Danielle and Lori, had nude scenes on the live feed.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://ea.gamespress.com/link.asp?i=757&r=5114&r2=3075

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Big Brother in the United States
Big Brother 2000  · 2001  · 2002  · 2003  · 2004  · 2005  · 2006  · 2007
Spin-Offs House Calls  · After Dark
Presenters Julie Chen  · Gretchen Massey  · Marcellas Reynolds (2004-2005)
Winners Eddie McGee · Will Kirby · Lisa Donahue · Jun Song · Drew Daniel · Maggie Ausburn · Mike Malin
v • d • e
Big Brother


Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_%28US%29"
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