Big Brother 1 (US)

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***Big Brother 1***, also known as ***Big Brother 2000***, was the first season of the American reality television series *Big Brother*. It began on July 5, 2000 and aired on CBS for 88 days, concluding on September 29, 2000 when TBD was crowned the winner with votes from America.

Season 1 of *Big Brother* is radically different from following American seasons of the series. It was a near-exact port of the hit Netherlands series of the same name. 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 each week: a one-hour live eviction show, and five 30-minute daily recaps.

## Background

### Development

The series first launched in the Netherlands, with editions in countries such as Germany proving to be hits with the public. Following the international success of the series, a bidding war for the rights to series engaged between CBS, ABC, and a cable network, with the series initially set to last 100 days. Ultimately, it was confirmed that the show had been picked up by CBS for an estimated $20 million.

On the concept, executive producer Paul 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 the sexual things, the nudity, the sexual 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 first season of Big Brother featured two hosts, Julie Chen as the main host, and Ian O'Malley as a co-host.

### Casting

The cast for the series was revealed during the premiere. HouseGuest William was revealed to be a member of the Black Panther Party, while Jamie was crowned Miss Washington USA the year prior to her participation on the show. HouseGuests Curtis and Josh had done modeling prior to entering the house. Jean Jordan had been an exotic dancer before entering the house, while Karen and George were married and had children. Cassandra and William were both African-American.

Series creator John de Mol later stated "*The 10 people in our house, you can relate to them. It's the girl next door, it's the guy in the grocery store [...] It's ordinary people, and I think that Big Brother proves ordinary people can be interesting.*"

### Airing & Schedule

The first season of Big Brother premiered on July 5, 2000. The premiere was filmed on July 4, 2000. 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.

During the live banishment, the HouseGuest who exits the house was subject to an interview with host Julie Chen. The first season had a total of 70 episodes, the most for any season to date. This season lasted for a total of 88 days.

### 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, and was located at the CBS Studio Center in Hollywood, California.

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

 **Banished**

## Potential Houseguest

After Week 9 in the Big Brother house, it was revealed that the six remaining houseguests would be offered $20,000 at the live eviction show. If one of the houseguests took the offer, then they would have to walk from the game. If a houseguest took the money and walked, they would be replaced by Beth Thieme.

## Game History

 1 & 2
 3 & 4