Big Brother 1

**Big Brother 1** was the inaugural season of the show, *Big Brother*. It premiered with 10 strangers living in a house for three months. It concluded when Elisabeth Cash was crowned the winner with votes from America.

Season 1 of *Big Brother* is radically different from following American seasons of the series. Every week, Housemates would nominate two fellow housemates and the two or more housemates with the most nominations were eligible for banishment. American viewers could then call a 1-900 number and cast a vote to evict a HouseGuest. There was no Head of Household, Power of Veto, or Food Competitions, but rather the HouseGuests would have to complete Weekly Tasks (also called Week Long Challenges) to win rewards for the house.

There were 6 episodes every week: a one-hour live eviction show, and five 30-minute daily recaps.

## Background

### Development

Romer stated "The show is all about human interactions. It's people who are, loving each other, hating each other. They fight, they cry, they laugh -- all emotions, we'll see in the house." In a later interview, Romer added "The first thing people think of when they hear the Big Brother idea are adult, trashy things in the house. The major activity in the house [...] That's not what the show is about." The series was one of the first reality shows to air in the US, and required a crew of over 150 people.

### Hosts

The host of the show is the same host as *Sims: Survivor* and *Sims: The Amazing Race*; Seryza.

### Casting

Houseguests Ben and Natalie appeared on America's Got Talent. Marissa appeared on Hell's Kitchen. Trevor and Ethan had worked in modeling. Jeff made an appearance on a radio talk show. Ryan appeared on WWE. Elisabeth originally applied for *Sims: Survivor*, but was recruited for Big Brother. Helen was a motivation speaker for troubled teens and young adults. Stacy worked as a news reporter.

### Airing & Schedule

The series initially aired five nights per week, though a sixth episode was later added into the schedule. The addition of a sixth episode per week caused the live banishment episode to move to Wednesday instead of Thursday. Four of these episodes were half-hour daily recap episodes, while one episode was an hourly-long weekly recap; the sixth episode was the live banishment.

### Theme Song

The theme song for the series, known as "Live", was performed by Jonathan Clarke. It was played during the closing credits of each episode, and segments of the theme were played throughout the show.

### Live Feeds

Viewers of the series could also watch the live feeds in the house, which were available for free on the official website. The feed was edited for music copyrights and to protect the privacy of some contestants. The feeds also featured a disclaimer for users under the age of 21, due to unedited aspect to the feeds.

## The House

The house used for the first season was a one story house with two bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room, and one bathroom. The house was an estimated 1,800 square feet.

Throughout the house, there are a total of 28 cameras making all areas of the house visible to the cameras, and 60 microphones.During their stay in the house, the HouseGuests were required to wear microphones at all times, ensuring everything they said in the house was heard.
Throughout the house the walls are lined with two way mirrors, with a production team filming behind them. The bedrooms featured infrared imaging cameras, allowing the cameras to continue filming while the rooms were dark.

The design of the house included bad feng shui, clashing colors and positioning. The house featured bright colors as part of its theme, with the kitchen being a bright blue and the living room yellow. The two bedrooms in the house were identical, with both featuring a bunk bed and three single beds. The bathroom featured one toilet, one shower, a washboard and a washtub. The Red Room was where HouseGuests were required to share their thoughts on the events in the house, and were often given tasks. The backyard of the house featured a patio area where the HouseGuests could sit outside. The backyard also featured a chicken coop, and the HouseGuests were able to use the eggs from the chickens as food.

## Houseguests

 **Winner**

 **Runner-Up**

 **Third Place**

 **Banished**

 **Banished**

 **Banished**

 **Banished**

 **Banished**

 **Banished**

 **Banished**

## Game History

### Weeks 1 & 2

 **Nominee8% to banish**

 **Banished92% to banish**

On Day 1, Ben Westman, Elisabeth Cash, Ethan Alvarez, Helen Fox, Jeff Gulley, Marissa Tipton, Natalie Sharma, Ryan Simms, Stacy Brink, and Trevor Atwood entered the Big Brother House. On Day 8, HouseGuests were given their first weekly task. They were given the names of dozens of celebrities and had to state whether they were dead or alive. They were given days to attempt to recall the correct answers and would be quizzed about it at a later date. They wagered 20% of their weekly budget on this task, which they ultimately failed. Many of the HouseGuests felt pressure when it was their turn to give their answers. Day 10, the HouseGuests participated in their first round of nominations. Trevor and Natalie were announced as the nominees this week, with both of them receiving four nominations. The next day, the HouseGuests were later given their new task, which required them to ride a stationary exercise bike to achieve a total distance of 1,000 miles. They wagered 50% of their weekly budget on this task, which they passed. On Day 17, Trevor became the first HouseGuest to be banished from the house after he received 92% of the public vote.

### Weeks 3 & 4

 **Nominee8% to banish**

 **Banished92% to banish**

On Day 21, HouseGuests are given their new weekly challenge, in which they had days to practice making a set of dominoes fall down in a single session. They had to set up 12,100 dominoes to form the series logo and then make them all fall by knocking only one domino over. The group failed this task, which they wagered 20% on. On Day 23, HouseGuests participated in the second round of nominations. Ben and Jeff became the second set of nominated HouseGuests this season, with Ben receiving five nominations and Jeff receiving three nominations. On Day 30, Ben became the second HouseGuest to be banished from the house after he received 92% of the public vote.

### Weeks 5 & 6

 **Nominee 25% to banish**

 **Nominee35% to banish**

 **Banished40% to banish**

The HouseGuests were given their new weekly task, which required them to write a poem pertaining to the game. They would then have to jump rope together while the rope holders recited the poem. They had one chance to correctly complete the poem, and failure to do so would result in the group failing the task. They wagered 30% of their shopping budget on the task, which they passed. That night, it was revealed that Ethan, Helen, and Jeff had been marked for banishment due to a tie in the nomination process between Helen and Jeff. That same night, the HouseGuests received a pug named Arya. HouseGuests were later given their new weekly task, in which they were required to make eight raspberry and eight blueberry pies, and split into teams named after the various pies. The first team to eat all eight of their pies would choose how the weekly allowance was spent. Elisabeth, Helen, Jeff, and Natalie were on team raspberry and Ethan, Marissa, Ryan, and Stacy were on team blueberry. After eating all eight of their pies, team raspberry won the weekly task. On Day 44, Jeff became the third HouseGuest to be banished from the house as he had received 40% of the public vote.

### Weeks 7 & 8

 **Nominee21% to banish**

 **Banished79% to banish**

The HouseGuests were given their new weekly task, which required them to memorize all of the major highways in the country. They would then be required to state what highways would get them from one city to another. The group wagered 20% of their shopping budget on this task, which they passed. During their first luxury competition, HouseGuests competed in a sumo wrestling competition in an attempt to win a luxury massage. Ryan was the winner. On Day 51, the HouseGuests participated in their fourth round of nominations. Helen and Stacy became nominated, with both of them receiving three nominations. For their next weekly task, the HouseGuests were required to have two HouseGuests dancing at all times. When cued, all HouseGuests would be required to dance at the same time. They passed this task, which they wagered 20% of their weekly budget on. On Day 58, Helen became the fourth HouseGuest to be banished from the house after she received 79% of the public vote.

### Weeks 9 & 10

 **Nominee13% to banish**

 **Nominee30% to evict**

 **Banished57% to banish**

HouseGuests were given their new weekly task, which required them to build a puzzle that featured 4,928 pieces by the end of the week. The group wagered 50% of their weekly shopping budget on this task, which they failed. On Day 65, it was revealed that Ethan, Marissa, and Natalie had been marked for banishment. For their new weekly task, the HouseGuests had to train Arya to go through an obstacle course. The group passed this task, which they wagered 20% of their weekly budget on. The group passed this task, which they wagered 20% of their weekly budget on. During their second luxury competition, Stacy won the reward of going to the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. On Day 72, Marissa became the fifth HouseGuest to be banished from the house as she had received 57% of the public vote.

### Week 11

 **Nominee3% to banish**

 **Nominee10% to banish**

 **Nominee12% to banish**

 **Nominee18% to evict**

 **Banished57% to banish**

The HouseGuests were given their new weekly task, which required at least one HouseGuest to be juggling at all times. They were not permitted to drop more than two balls, or they would fail the task. The group wagered 30% on the task, which they ultimately failed. That same night, the group made their nominations live for the first time. It was revealed that there was a tie, and all five HouseGuests were marked for banishment. The HouseGuests were later given a new weekly task in which they had to write lyrics for the show's theme song, and were later required to record their song in the Red Room, which they passed. During their third luxury competition, the HouseGuests attempted to find Arya in the house, with the winner being able to present the weather from inside the house; Ryan was the winner. On Day 79, the five remaining HouseGuests were asked to select one of the previously banished HouseGuests to return to the house in a matter of days; they chose Ben. That night, Stacy became the sixth HouseGuest to be banished from the house as she had received 57% of the public vote.

### Week 12

 **Nominee10% to banish**

 **Nominee29% to banish**

 **Banished61% to banish**

The HouseGuests were given their new weekly task, in which they were required to determine whether or not specific news articles had actually appeared in the news or not. The group wagered 50% of their weekly shopping budget on the task, which they passed. On Day 82, the HouseGuests participated in their final round of nominations. Due to a tie in the voting, Ethan, Natalie, and Ryan were marked for banishmemt. Former HouseGuest Ben entered the house as a guest that same night, as the HouseGuests had selected him to return days prior. During their fourth and final luxury competition, Ryan was selected to become a saboteur in the house, and performed tasks such as setting time back on the potato clock. If one of the other three HouseGuests correctly guessed that Ryan was the saboteur, they would win a new flat screen television; Elisabeth won this prize. On Day 86, Ethan became the seventh HouseGuest to be banished from the house as he had received 61% of the public vote. Arya also exited the house that night, and was adopted by a couple upon her exit.

### Finale

 **Winner44% to win**

 **Runner-Up41% to win**

 **Third Place15% to win**

During the Finale, it was revealed that Ryan had come in third place, receiving 15% of the public vote to win, leaving Elisabeth and Natalie as the final two. Minutes later, it was revealed that Natalie had come in second place with 41% of the public vote, meaning Elisabeth had been crowned the winner with a total of 44% of the public vote.

## Trivia

* This was the first and only season where all members of the final three were eligible to win the season at the final vote.
* Thus far, this season has the smallest amount of total HouseGuests with 10, a figure unlikely to be beaten due to the current format of the show.
* This was the only season to have a dog in the Big Brother house. On week 3, the HouseGuests were given a dog named Arya who stayed in the house until Day 86.
* This is the first season where America voted for the winner.
* This season holds the record for having the most HouseGuests on the block with five, a figure unlikely to be beaten due to the current format of the show.