Big Brother 2000

From Big Brother USA

Big Brother 2000 is the official title given to the first season of the US version of Big Brother. Because of the radical change in production staff and overall format of the show from Season 2 onwards, this season has been referred to as "Big Brother 1" in any subsequent seasons, and is rarely if ever mentioned on-air. It was the first series to be broadcast in English, premiering only days before the British version. Seventy episodes aired from July 5 to September 29, 2000. Julie Chen was named the host.

In similar format to the original, the house was considered a "back to basics" lockdown center, with no clocks and no access to outside information. The house's construction, design, decor and even the program's theme song and set were meant to adhere as close as possible to the original Dutch version of "Big Brother" that ran in late 1999. HouseGuests were set weekly tasks in which they wagered portions of their grocery budget on their completion of the tasks.

The biggest difference between this and any other Big Brother season is the ability for the home audience to vote to evict, or banish, the players, by calling a premium rate nmber.

Contents 1 Format 2 Features present only during this season 3 Nomination Table 4 Nominations table 5 Gradual decline

[edit] Format

Although later seasons of the show followed a radically different format, the debut season of Big Brother followed the same format as the other international versions of the show.

Each week the HouseGuests would nominate two fellow HouseGuests for banishment. The two HouseGuests with the most nominations were then put up for a vote by the viewing public who selected which HouseGuest to be banished, via a 900 number. However, problems with the public voting system included the fact that the most controversial contestants were banished (evicted) early in the game, leaving the least colorful contestants in the house. Also, the 900 number allowed for mass voting and in one memorable week contestant George's family and his hometown of Rockford, Illinois organized a mass-voting campaign to flood the phone lines in his favor.

Unlike in later seasons, the HouseGuests did not compete against each other for food or positions of power. Rather they had to undergo various tasks of endurance or problem-solving, such as puzzles, or dancing for a full day without stopping, and if successful it resulted in a reward.

[edit] Features present only during this season

• Big Brother 2000 aired six nights a week: four half hour highlights shows, one hourlong live studio audience show (alternating between nominations and banishments) and one hourlong recap including new footage and highlights.

• The 24-hour live feeds were free and accessible through the show's AOL-sponsored and hosted website.

• For the first two weeks (approximation), Julie was joined on-camera by a co-host, Ian O'Malley. He was prominently featured in the premiere, giving viewers the house tour. However his participation in future episodes was drastically reduced, and he was quietly dropped from the show after a few weeks.
  

  

  The outside of the BB house was reminiscent of a desert.

• The house was sparsely decorated, with furniture and fixtures from IKEA stores. Walls were painted in flat, primary colors, and the outer permiter of the house was nothing more than a white-walled structure amongst arid, gravelly paths.

• Narrator Dave Walsh would briefly introduce each segment of the show, plus tease commercial breaks during live shows. He was hired back to narrate the second episode of Big Brother 2 but was not brought back after that.

• During live shows, Julie was joined in studio by AOL Online Advisor Regina Lewis, who would discuss audience participation and viewer polls via the show's website. Relationship expert Dr. Drew Pinsky would also shed light on the psyches of the HouseGuests as the weeks progressed.

• Discussions between HouseGuests and Big Brother (in the form of voices from several different production assistants) were sometimes featured on-air. Big Brother's voice would also inform HouseGuests about the results of weekly tasks.

• The theme song for this season was called Live (song). An instrumental, sax-heavy version was played during the titles and commercial breaks, while a softer]], lyrical version sung by Jonathan Clarke, was played in the background over the closing credits.

• The backyard area had a vegetable patch and a chicken coop. HouseGuests were expected to maintain both so they could have fresh eggs and veggies at their demand. The backyard was also uncovered, and several fans and media hounds took advantage, disrupting the game in such ways as flying message banners via airplane over the house and lobbing tennis balls stuffed with newspaper clippings (some fake) over the walls.

[edit] Nomination Table

[edit] Nominations table

	Week 2	Week 4	Week 6	Week 8	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12
							Day 82	Finale
Eddie	Jordan, William	Curtis, Jordan	Curtis, Jamie	Curtis, Jamie	Cassandra, Curtis	George, Jamie	Curtis, Jamie	Winner $500,000
Josh	Brittany, Curtis	Curtis, George	Curtis, Karen	Cassandra, Curtis	Cassandra, Curtis	Curtis, George	Curtis, Jamie	Runner-Up $100,000
Curtis	Karen, William	Eddie, Karen	Eddie, Josh	Eddie, Josh	Eddie, George	Eddie, George	Eddie, Josh	2nd Runner-Up $50,000
Jamie	Jordan, William	Curtis, Eddie	Josh, Karen	Eddie, George	Cassandra, Eddie	Eddie, George	Eddie, Josh	Banished (Day 85)
George	Jordan, William	Curtis, Jordan	Cassandra, Josh	Brittany, Josh	Curtis, Josh	Curtis, Jamie	Banished (Day 78)
Cassandra	Brittany, Eddie	Eddie, Jordan	Brittany, Karen	Brittany, George	Eddie, Jamie	Banished (Day 71)
Brittany	Jordan, William	Curtis, Jordan	Cassandra, Josh	Cassandra, George	Banished (Day 57)
Karen	Jordan, William	Curtis, Jordan	Cassandra, Josh	Banished (Day 43)
Jordan	Eddie, Karen	Eddie, Karen	Banished (Day 29)
William	Brittany, Eddie	Banished (Day 16)
Notes	None		See note 1	See notes 2,3	See note 4	See note 5	See notes 3,6	See note 7
Marked for banishment	Jordan, William	Curtis, Jordan	Cassandra, Josh, Karen	Brittany, Cassandra, Curtis, Eddie, George, Josh	Cassandra, Curtis, Eddie	Curtis, Eddie, George, Jamie	Curtis, Eddie, Jamie, Josh	Curtis, Eddie, Josh
Banished	William 73% to banish	Jordan 78% to banish	Karen 76% to banish	Brittany 34%[1] to banish	Cassandra 46% to banish	George 51% to banish	Jamie ??% to banish	Curtis 13% to win
								Josh 28% to win
								Eddie 59% to win

[edit] Gradual decline

Initial viewership of Big Brother 2000 was strong, but after the banishment of the two most colorful HouseGuests, ratings began a steady drop. Midway through the series, audiences and critics alike were voicing their opinions about the "Big Boring" show. Producer Paul Romer hoped to spice up the proceedings on Day 64 by bribing one of the HouseGuests with $20,000 to leave and replace them with a new, more interesting HouseGuest. Romer bragged in the media that they would have no problem getting a contestant to leave. On the Wednesday live show, viewers were introduced to Beth, an alternate from the casting process who described herself as being "opinionated" and "a bitch." Despite prodding from Julie Chen to take what began as $20,000, and was increased to $50,000, none of the HouseGuests would take the money and leave the game.

During the week of the finale, ads began airing calling for applications to appear on Big Brother 2. They included the same logo and clips from the season. However, desperate to boost the ratings, CBS executives fired most of Endemol's production staff, and contracted Arnold Shapiro Productions to retool the show. The result is the format that US audiences know today.

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