Big Brother (franchise)
Big Brother is a reality competition television franchise created by John de Mol Jr., first broadcast in the Netherlands in 1999 and subsequently syndicated internationally beginning in 2000. The show features contestants called "housemates" or "HouseGuests" who live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. The show has been cited as having had widespread influence on the status of television and celebrity.
The name is inspired by Big Brother from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the housemates 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, they are voted out of the house until only one remains and wins the grand prize.
, there have been 508 seasons of Big Brother in over 63 franchise countries and regions. English-language editions of the program are often referred to by its initials BB.
Premise
At regular intervals, the housemates privately nominate a number of their fellow housemates whom they wish to be evicted from the house. The housemates with the most nominations are then announced, and viewers are given the opportunity to vote via telephone for the nominee they wish to be evicted or saved from eviction. The last person remaining is declared the winner.Some more recent editions have since included additional methods of voting, such as voting through social media and smartphone applications. Occasionally, non-standard votes occur, where two houseguests are evicted at once or no one is voted out. In the earlier series of Big Brother, there were 10 contestants with evictions every two weeks. However, the British version introduced a larger number of contestants with weekly evictions. Most versions of Big Brother follow the weekly eviction format, broadcast over approximately three months for 16 contestants.
The contestants are required to do housework and are assigned tasks by the producers of the show. The tasks are designed to test their teamwork abilities and community spirit. In some countries, the housemates' shopping budget or weekly allowance depends on the outcome of assigned tasks.
History
Name
The term Big Brother originates from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, with its theme of continuous oppressive surveillance.Creation
The first version of Big Brother was broadcast in 1999 on Veronica in the Netherlands. In the first season of Big Brother, the house was very basic. Although essential amenities such as running water, furniture, and a limited ration of food were provided, luxury items were often forbidden. This added a survivalist element to the show, increasing the potential for social tension. Nearly all later series provide a modern house for the contest with a Jacuzzi, sauna, VIP suite, loft, and other luxuries.International expansion
The format has become an international TV franchise. While each country or region has its own variation, the common theme is that the contestants are confined to the house and have their every action recorded by cameras and microphones and that no contact with the outside world is permitted.Most international versions of the show remain quite similar: their main format remains true to the original fly on the wall observational style with an emphasis on human relationships, to the extent that contestants are usually forbidden from discussing nominations or voting strategy. In 2001, the American version adopted a different format since the second season, where the contestants are encouraged to strategize to advance in the game; in this format, the contestants themselves vote to evict each other and a jury of evicted contestants vote for the winner. Occasionally, individual game twists and format changes may allow for some viewer voting, usually to give a game advantage to the Housemates selected by the viewer vote. Big Brother Canada, introduced in 2013, also follows the American format, while the Australian series also used an American-styled format when the series was rebooted in 2020, with the winner being decided by Australia's vote among the Finalist.
Other international versions have included aspects of the American format. In 2011, the British version controversially adopted the discussion of nominations before reversing this rule after a poll by Big Brother broadcaster Channel 5.
Reception
Overview
From a sociological and demographic perspective, Big Brother allows an analysis of how people react when forced into close confinement with people outside of their comfort zone. The viewer has the opportunity to see how a person reacts from the outside and the inside. The Diary Room is where contestants can privately express their feelings about the game, strategy and the other contestants. The results range from violent or angry confrontations to genuine and tender connections.In 2011, Brazilian sociologist Silvia Viana Rodrigues wrote a thesis at the University of São Paulo analyzing reality shows as spectacles that proliferate rituals of suffering. She analyzes such rituals in various cultural products from Hollywood and Brazilian television, with special attention to Big Brother Brasil. When investigating the openly eliminatory and cruel face of the game, Silvia Viana points out that such characteristics are liable to be entertainment with great and crucial public engagement because such processes of elimination, competition, exclusion, the affirmation of the war of all against all, of self-management and personal self-control through socio-emotional skills, entrepreneurship, the banality of evil, the naturalization of torture, the "battle for survival" logic and the incorporation of Nazi language and elements are already part of contemporary social life, especially in the context of work under neoliberalism. The thesis was later published as a book.
In 2010, Bruno Roberto Campanella, a Brazilian communication scholar known for his studies on media reception and fan culture, he defended at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro the doctoral thesis Perspectives of Everyday Life: A Study of Fans of the Television Program Big Brother Brasil, in which he analyzed, through digital ethnography, the interactions and interpretations of Big Brother Brasil fans in online environments.
The research addresses themes such as authenticity, mediated everyday life, and the relationship between public and private spheres in reality television. The study gained public visibility and was featured by Rede Globo in an interview published on its institutional platform dedicated to academic outreach. There is no record of a professional or consultancy relationship with the program.
The show is notable for involving the Internet. Although the show typically broadcasts daily updates during the evening, viewers can also watch a continuous feed from multiple cameras on the Web in most countries. These websites were successful, even after some national series began charging for access to the video stream. In some countries, Internet broadcasting was supplemented by updates via email, WAP and SMS. The house is shown live on satellite television, although in some countries there is a 10–15 minutes delay to allow libelous or unacceptable content to be removed.
Contestants occasionally develop sexual relationships; the level of sexual explicitness allowed to be shown in broadcast and Internet-feed varies according to the country's broadcasting standards.
Isolation
Big Brother contestants are isolated in the house, without access to television, radio, or the Internet. They are not permitted routine communication with the outside world. This was an important issue for most earlier series of the show. In more-recent series, contestants are occasionally allowed to view televised events. In most versions of the program, books and writing materials are also forbidden, although exceptions are sometimes made for religious materials such as the Bible, Tanakh or the Qur'an. Some versions ban all writing implements, even items that can be used to write. Despite the housemates' isolation, some contestants are occasionally allowed to leave the house as part of tasks. Contestants are permitted to leave the house in an emergency.News from the outside world may occasionally be given as a reward. Additionally, news of extraordinary events from the outside world may be given to the Housemates if such information is considered important, such notable past examples include that of national election results, the September 11 attacks, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contestants have regularly scheduled interactions with the show's host on eviction nights. Throughout each day, the program's producer, in the "Big Brother" voice, issues directives and commands to contestants. Some versions of the show allow private counselling sessions with a psychologist. These are allowed at any time and are often conducted by telephone from the Diary Room.
Season 16 of the Australian adaption of Big Brother has the house located inside the Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld, allowing patrons on certain rides to see into the house garden, with some overhead yelling to the housemates. Previous series at Dreamworld had the house located outside the theme parks grounds, separating the housemates from park visitors.