Big Brother Reality Television Series

Big Brother is an American version of the Big Brother reality television show based on the Dutch television series of the same name originally created in 1997 by John de Mol. The show is based on a group of strangers, known as HouseGuests, living together twenty-four hours a day in the "Big Brother" house, isolated from the outside world but under constant surveillance with no privacy for three months. In eleven seasons of the show, 130 different people have entered the Big Brother house so far.

The HouseGuests compete for the chance to win a $500,000 grand prize by avoiding weekly eviction, until the last HouseGuest remains at the end of the season that can claim the $500,000 grand prize. The American series is hosted by television personality Julie Chen. Produced by Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan, it currently airs in the United States on CBS and in Canada on Global respectively.

Big Brother 1, known at the time as Big Brother 2000 (much like the international versions, which do not use numbers to classify each season, but the year they were broadcast), is the debut season of the American version of the international reality show Big Brother. It was the first series to be broadcast in English, premiering only days before the British version (however in the British version, the housemates had gone into the house 5 days prior to the start of Big Brother in the US). Seventy episodes aired from July 5 to September 29, 2000. Julie Chen, a host of CBS This Morning and The Early Show, was named the host.

Interestingly, although the success of Category: Survivor: Borneo - in the summer of 2000 is generally seen as the forerunner to the reality show trend which followed, Big Brother was the only other major network reality show to be airing at that same time.

The second season of Big Brother, the American reality TV show aired twenty-nine episodes during the summer of 2001 from July 5 to September 20. The show marked a major change in format and rules from the previous debut season.

The third season of Big Brother, the American reality TV show, aired 32 episodes during the summer of 2002, from July 10 to September 25. In this season, a new twist was added to the game, in that the HouseGuests could compete for a Power of Veto. At a weekly meeting, the winner could decide to veto a HouseGuest that the Head of Household had placed on the nomination block. In this season, it was not possible for a nominee to use the veto on themselves until the "Golden Power of Veto" was introduced. This was the first and only season to have every evicted HouseGuest on the jury. In Season 2, Justin was not allowed to vote for a winner, due to his expulsion from the game.

Along with Big Brother 4, it has been released on DVD. However, Big Brother 3 is the only one to be released as a complete season set.

In the fourth season of Big Brother, the American reality television show, aired thirty-three episodes during the summer of 2003 from July 8 to September 24. This season winner's was Jun Song, who beat her on-off ally Alison Irwin in the Final 2 by a 6-1 vote. This season holds the record for largest premiere at 9.69 million viewers. Also the 31st episode, which features Robert's eviction, holds the record for largest single episode viewership in Big Brother history at 10.99 million. Major alliances of this season include the Elite Eight (Dana, Alison, Jack, Erika, David, Jun, Nathan, Scott), the Three Stooges (Justin, Jee, Robert) which extended to Jun to make the Dream Team, and the girl power group that Alison, Jun, and Erika formed near the end.

The fifth season of Big Brother, the American reality TV show, ran for thirty-one episodes from July 6 to September 21, 2004. This season's finale was the highest in Big Brother history, with 10.54 million viewers.

The sixth season of CBS's American version of Big Brother consisted of thirty episodes which aired from July 7 to September 20, 2005. It was again hosted by Julie Chen.

This was the first season to be filmed in the newly remodeled Big Brother house, located in a CBS sound stage.

The seasons twist was that each houseguest was secretly partnered with another houseguest (totalling seven pairs) they had known prior to entering the Big Brother house. These partners played the game as individuals, but if both managed to make it to the final two, the winner would receive $1 million while the runner up would receive $250,000. The final partner to be broken up was Ivette Corredero and Beau Beasley who had managed to make it to the final six together. This season's winner was Maggie Ausburn, who defeated her close ally and friend Ivette Corredero by a 4-3 jury vote.

Big Brother 7: All-Stars is the seventh season of the United States reality television series Big Brother. It aired on CBS from July 6 to September 12, 2006. Julie Chen continued as host as she had in previous seasons.

Although the rules remained basically the same, the 14 contestants chosen had all appeared in previous seasons of the show.

Big Brother 8 is the eighth season of the US version of the reality TV-show Big Brother on CBS. The season was announced on February 1, 2007.[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958462.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=big+brother CBS still says yes to 'Big Brother'] Variety Julie Chen returned for this season as host. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan are executive producers. Arnold Shapiro stepped down as producer following last season's All-Stars edition, but serves as executive consultant on the show. Casting calls ran until May 5, 2007. A preview was shown on the The Early Show on July 5, 2007, the day of the premiere. The show aired three times a week; Sundays at 8 p.m. (EDT / PDT), Tuesdays at 9 p.m., and Thursdays, which was broadcast live, at 8 p.m.

CBS's cable/satellite premium network Showtime Too carried a spin-off of the series called Category: Big Brother: After Dark - , which aired nightly from 12 midnight?3 a.m. (EDT / PDT). The show was live for the viewers on the East coast, however viewers on the West coast viewed it on a broadcast delay. This program featured house activity happening between the local hours of 9 p.m.-12 midnight in the House, and was edited only for slanderous statements and music copyrights.[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966623.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 CBS plans 'Big Brother' spin-off] Variety

Big Brother 9 (also known as '''Big Brother: Til Death Do You Part''') is the ninth edition of the American reality television series

Big Brother, that aired on the CBS television network on February 12, 2008 to April 27, 2008. Julie Chen returned as host, and Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan were the executive producers. The show was produced by Endemol USA and Alison Grodner Productions.

This was the first season in the shows history to air in winter, during the regular television season, a move prompted by the network's lack of programming options caused by the Writer's Strike. It was also the first season to be simply called Big Brother, without mention of the season number or the year it was aired.

There were sixteen HouseGuests competing for the grand prize, an increase over previous seasons. Two previous evicted HouseGuests returned to the game, Sharon returned on Day 7 to replace Neil who left earlier that day. James was given the opportunity to return on Day 35 by votes from the other HouseGuests. This is the first season to feature two previous evictees returning to the House and the third overall to have evicted HouseGuests return.

Big Brother 10 is the tenth season of the American reality television series

Big Brother The show premiered July 13, 2008 on the CBS television network, airing three times a week; Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), and Thursdays at 8 p.m (live ET/delayed PT). Julie Chen returned as host, and Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Scott Einziger were the executive producers. The show was produced by Endemol USA and Allison Grodner Productions. The finale was Tuesday, September 16, 2008.

This was the second edition of the show to air in the same year. Originally, only one summer edition was due to air, but the 2007?2008 Writers Guild of America strike prompted CBS to air an additional season, Big Brother 9, from February to April during the regular television season and Big Brother 10 for the summer of 2008.

Big Brother 10 was noted as a "back to basics" season by both CBS and the production team. As part of the back to basics format, live audiences returned for the Thursday eviction shows (something not featured since season 1), there were thirteen HouseGuests, and they were once again complete strangers (after several seasons of having some HouseGuests already know each other).

Big Brother 10 lasted just 71 days, nearly a week and a half shorter than most seasons, making this the shortest season of the American series of Big Brother.

Big Brother 11 was the eleventh season of the American reality television series, Big Brother which premiered July 9, 2009 with the season finale airing September 15, 2009 on the CBS television network. The show aired three times a week: Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), and Thursdays at 8 p.m (live ET/delayed PT). The season lasted 73 days, an increase of two days over the previous season. Julie Chen returned as host, and Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Scott Einziger are the executive producers. The show is produced by Endemol USA and Allison Grodner Productions.