Big Brother
News (Page 10)

It was a busy night of reality TV.

First, the two crews on Pirate Master got on board for the sixth time this season. Who ended up walking the plank and who is still around the claim the ultimate booty?

Check out our episode guide now and see for yourself.

Then, Big Brother 8 premiered. A show known for its twists and its turns did not disappoint. But why did one of the contestants end the evening in tears?

There's just one way to know for sure. Read through the Big Brother 8 recap now.

CBS has revealed the identities of the 14 houseguests who will be competing in Big Brother 8 and announced a new interactive twist that will give viewers the chance to control the actions of one of the long-running reality show's eighth-season houseguests.

During Big Brother 8's premiere broadcast next, some of the initial houseguests will be surprised to learn that - similar to Big Brother 4's "X Factor" twist - a "rival, enemy, or someone with whom they have unfinished business" will also be entering the Big Brother house the eighth-season contestants will call home all summer.

And if the added pressure of being reintroduced to someone CBS says they "hoped never to see again or someone with whom there is an extreme amount of tension" isn't enough for the houseguests, they'll also have to deal with a new interactive element that will allow Big Brother's home viewing audience to dish out orders like they're the game's Head of Household.

According to CBS, one of the 14 houseguests has been chosen as "America's Player," and beginning with the show's second broadcast on Sunday, July 8, each Big Brother 8 episode will end with the home viewing audience being asked to vote via text messaging or the Internet on an assignment that the as-of-yet still-unidentified "America's Player" houseguest will have to complete.

The task could range from flirting with or voting out one of the other guests. Regardless, "America's Player" must work in secret and at least make an attempt at completing the task asked of them. If the houseguest can successfully complete the task, he'll be monetarily rewarded.

In addition to its usual thrice-weekly broadcasting schedule, this season's Big Brother 8 will also feature a new previously announced live feed that will air nightly on CBS' Showtime Too cable network. Titled Big Brother: After Dark, the spinoff will air nightly from 12AM to 3AM ET and feature footage from the same live camera feeds that are made available to subscribers of the show's 24/7 live Internet feeds.

Big Brother's eighth-season cast consists of seven men and seven women ranging in age from 20- to 44-years-old, with eight of them 26-years-old or younger. In addition, four of the eighth-season houseguests call California home; six hail from the West Coast; and only one of the 14 is married.

Big Brother 8's inclusion of a 20-year-old houseguest marks only the second time in eight seasons that, given alcohol is frequently made available to the show's houseguests, an American Big Brother edition has included a contestant younger than the country's legal drinking age.

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CBS still hasn't revealed the details of this summer's new Big Brother twists. But executive producer Alison Grodner predicts at least one of the eighth-season changes will become an instant favorite with the long-running summer reality show's viewers.

"This year, there will be something die-hard fans will love," Grodner teased to Daily Variety - and Reality TV World relayed - about a new still-undisclosed play-along-at-home component that will be part of Big Brother 8. "It will give them the opportunity to participate even more than they have in the past."

Big Brother 8 will premiere on Thursday, July 5 at 8PM ET/PT. After its debut, the show will air on Sundays and Thursdays at 8PM ET/PT and Tuesdays at 9PM ET/PT.

In addition to its thrice-weekly CBS broadcasts, Big Brother 8's broadcast run will also include Big Brother: After Dark, a new 12AM to 3AM ET spinoff that will air nightly on Showtime Too. Big Brother: After Dark will feature footage from the same live camera feeds that are made available to subscribers of the show's 24/7 live Internet feeds.

"The show has always been kind of ubiquitous, even before it became cool to do that," CBS reality programming and new media head Ghen Maynard said. "This year, there are going to be some new things that make the show even more ubiquitous and interactive."

In addition to its After Dark spinoff and the live, streaming Internet feeds that the show has featured since its initial Summer 2000 season, CBS is also planning to give Big Brother fans the opportunity to monitor and influence activity in the Los Angeles-area house via text messaging.

Similar to soaking in some sun at the beach or playing a game of wiffle ball in the backyard, Grodner believes that, after seven years, the long-running CBS reality series has become a staple of summer.

"It's not just about sitting down and watching television," Grodner told Variety. "We're a summer event that's always with you. I don't think any other show has that sort of reach."

Big Brother will be even more omnipresent than usual this summer.

The long-running reality show's three-nights-a-week CBS broadcast schedule will be accompanied by a live, unedited feed that will air nightly on one of CBS' cable subsidiaries.

CBS has announced that Big Brother 8 will premiere Thursday, July 5, while its Sunday and Tuesday editions are scheduled to debut on July 8 and July 10.

In addition to airing three times weekly on CBS, Big Brother 8 will also feature a live, unedited feed that will broadcast nightly on Showtime Too, a secondary channel of Showtime, the pay cable network that became a CBS Corporation subsidiary after CBS split from Viacom in 2005.

Titled Big Brother: After Dark, the spin-off will air nightly from midnight to 3 a.m. and feature footage from the same live camera feeds that are made available to subscribers of the show's 24/7 live Internet feeds.

"That's primetime for the Big Brother house," executive producer Allison Grodner told Variety. "It's when our house guests are most wide awake and having fun, talking about strategy and playing the game."

Although After Dark's feed will reportedly be interrupted if the houseguests "say anything slanderous or that violates music copyrights," the fact that the Big Brother footage will be airing on Showtime - a cable network that's not subject to FCC restrictions - means that profanity and nudity will be broadcast.

"People are going to see quite a bit," Grodner said.

In addition to its new After Dark spin-off and return of the show's traditional live Internet feeds offering, Big Brother's eighth season will also feature the return of House Calls, the Gretchen Massey-hosted Internet talk show that CBS.com debuted during the show's fifth season in 2004, and Julie Chen, the CBS news anchor who has hosted all eight seasons of the show.

With Big Brother 8 taking over CBS' Thursdays at 8 p.m.time period, Pirate Master, Mark Burnett's new reality competition, will relocate to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. beginning July 10.

Reality TV producer Endemol is launching Virtual Me in partnership with EA to kick off the new season of its CBS locked-in-a-house show Big Brother.

The experiment in broadcast-to-virtual synergies offers home viewers a chance to play the game with other avatars at VirtualMe.com.

The site, expected to go live this summer in conjunction with Big Brother, will allow home viewers to create their own houses and play the game with competing avatars.

In a statement, Endemol Chief Creative Officer Peter Bazalgette said: "We're told that people are starting to spend more time online than they are watching TV. Both markets are now important and this has huge implications for content creators."

The alliance with EA reperesents another move into the New Media space by the Dutch broadcast stalwart, which recently began producing content for Break.com and has plans for more Virtual Me companion programs for Deal or No Deal and 1 vs 100.

As we prepare for yet another season of Big Brother in the U.S., let's hear what a former contestant has to say about getting onto the show.

Another reality TV site just sat down with Jun Song. Here are excerpts from the interview ...

TVGrapevine.com: For the benefit of your many fans, what is happening in your life now?
Jun Song: I am still working in finance but no longer on the investments side. Love my work, it's in training and development for financial advisers and sales managers. I am dating but single, and looking for a date to Dana's wedding? Haha…seriously though…everything's pretty great and I can't wait for another hot summer! I think my life is what I have made/molded it the past few years, fun but full of chaos.

TVGrapevine.com: Big Brother just finished its city by city cattle calls and will be beginning its Hollywood interviews this week for those they liked during the cattle calls. What will the Big Brother applicant be faced with?

Jun Song: Producers will try to vacuum suck your lifestories out of you, but for good reason. I mean hey, they are the best at what they do because they get it done. Also, expect to be thoroughly examined both physically (medically) and psychologically. Big Brother 8 hopefuls should also expect to be watched at all times, even if there are no visible producers/handlers in plain view...follow the rules folks, don't screw yourself out of a fair chance.

Many people think it's all a big joke, but coming from a winner, half a million bucks for three months of work is not so bad, haha. You will also be "alone" for long periods of time so make sure you pack plenty of reading or bring along some DVDs. Also, when they are shooting promos and television commercials for the upcoming searson, be prepared to utter words that you never would voluntarily. Unfortunately because of marketing and consistency in messaging, there will be times when you are fed certain soundbites. But it's all in the name of entertainment!

TVGrapevine.com: Do they fly economy?
Jun Song: Yes, you fly economy. The only time I didn't was when I flew back and forth the week I won HOH and walked the red carpet at the VMAs. I was flown first class roundtrip. You have to remember, when you are interviewing, they are making an investment in you so don't expect it too be too glamorous. It is good enough though...great car servicing perks and a small daily stipend in cash.

TVGrapevine.com: What sort of hotel do they stay at?
Jun Song: I mentioned brining DVDs with you during the auditioning process. This is during finals. If/once you are "kidnapped" and sequestered then you can't bring anything with you anyway. There are no hotel stays during semifinals...those are usually in your area because the producers/handlers do the traveling. Keep in mind I was season 4, so for all I know the hotel ratings have gone up a notch, however they might have gone down too. Who the heck knows the budget year to year.

My year, the hotel during finals was between 3 and 4 stars I'd say (pool, gym, great breakfasts, etc.). They definitely kick it up a notch during sequestering (Quiet, secluded, extra large and comfy rooms). Probably sequester time is like jail but without conjugal visits...so the hotel HAS to be a little nicer :).

TVGrapevine.com: Do the many applicants meet each other during the process?
Jun Song: You end up "seeing" some of the other applicants during finals, it's inevitable. However, you are under NO CIRCUMSTANCES to communicate with them in any way (or anyone working/staying at the hotel. Obviously if you're eating 5 tables away from other finalists you have a chance to pick up little habits they have. I mean really, I hate to sound pompous, but you have to play the game and every challenge before it actually starts.

I knew Erika's breasts were fake and she ate very little judging from her eating habits during meals, and I knew that Nathan was a gym rat because I would see his excitement when he walked to the gym. I felt Dana's "NYer" attitude from across the room because she would smirk at things I also thought were funny (aka Erika's pink friggin' pageboy cap).

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Will Marcellas Reynolds be back on the Web for Big Brother 8?

Let's find out, courtesy of the former Big Brother contestant himself:

I've been really busy working and raising money for my fave charit,y Project Angel Food. You have to watch my episode of The Tyra Banks Show on April, 30th [to learn more about it].

I assume I'll be back for House Calls [the CBS.com show that analyzes the current season of Big Brother]. I never hear until end of May. Gretchen Massey and I both have contracts for two more seasons so we'll see what happens. I've got a real big gig coming (I hope) so I may not be able to do it! Keep your fingers crossed for that one!

Meanwhile, it was just announced that Marcellas will be hosting LA Pride 2007 on the Main Stage, June 9 and 10. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Terri Nun of Berlin and Frenchie Davis of American Idol and Broadway's Rent will all be there.

A British judge dismissed claims by a Big Brother 4 housemate that two publications libeled her by portraying her as a man posing as a woman.

Lisa Jeynes, who was in the 2003 reality show series, sued Love It! magazine and News of the World last year, seeking up to $300,000 in damages. Her complaint was with the headline "BB's Lisa 'the geezer.' My fake boobs fell out on date with James Hewitt!"

Jeynes, 38, contended that headline, against a backdrop of rumors that there would be a transsexual contestant, damaged her, the London Press Gazette reported Wednesday. However, attorneys for the publications argued in London's High Court that the case should be tossed because Jeynes' claim was "far-fetched" when the words were read in proper context.

The judge agreed.

"That would be to read far too much into those words," he said.

The judge refused to grant her permission to appeal the case, saying it was unlikely to be successful but she could take that step independently. Jeynes, who had been a shop manager and model but currently is living on benefits, faces court costs of about $13,500, the Press Gazette said.