Big Brother FAQ

Tom,

I'm very excited to answer your Big Brother questions. This must be how the Jehovah's Witnesses feel when finally someone wants the pamphlet. Anyway, where do I begin?

Thursday episodes are live. That's when someone gets voted out, and also when they crown a new "Head of Household" (or "HOH"). Tuesday and Sunday episodes are edited from the previous couple days of footage.

The HOH nominates two people for eviction. Then comes the Veto -- there's a competition and someone gets the power to save one of the nominees. The power is rarely used, unfortunately, because people don't want to go against the HOH's wishes. (If the Veto is used, the HOH must nominate another person to take the saved person's place on the chopping block.) Finally, by secret ballot, the houseguests vote out one of the two nominees.

The competitions you asked about are for HOH, Veto power, food, and sometimes for perks (like a phone call from home).

What sets BB apart from other reality shows for me is the fact that it's live, so unlike in Survivor or The Real World, which are long done filming by the time we see anything, the producers can't craft any storylines or anything. That can lead to unpredictability...

In earlier seasons, there were all kinds of spontaneous or accidental happenings, such as trespassers throwing things over the wall of the otherwise-isolated BB house, or planes flying overhead with banners revealing game secrets (who's stabbing who in the back, who threw whose toothbrush in which toilet, etc.). The cast in Season 1 was so boring and agreeable, that the producers offered $25,000 for someone to voluntarily leave the house so they could replace that houseguest with a floozy Las Vegas bartenderess. But no one would take the money -- time with their friends was worth more than $25,000, they said, refusing briefcase after briefcase of CBS's desperate cash. The producers, I imagine, were tearing their hair out as ratings continued to plummet. It may have been the greatest moment of television I've ever seen (the houseguests' rebellion was, yes indeedy, broadcast live). Because the rebellion denied any opening for the floozy, the producers instead sent in a three-legged dog. I kid you not.

After 8 seasons, the producers have gotten much better at imposing their totalitarian regime. They've also made sure to cast interesting people. And by interesting I mean nasty and horny. In the early seasons, there were a lot of old people, married people, etc. Now they're almost all beautiful and single. I want to feel bad about this beautisizing of society, but how can I argue with it when fratboy Nick's rippling pecs are blown up to 30 inches on my widescreen television? The answer is, I can't.

Any other questions?

Ben