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Big Brother (franchise)

Big Brother
International Logo of Big Brother.png
International logo of Big Brother
Also known as Secret Story
Celebrity/VIP Big Brother
Teen Big Brother
Genre Entertainment
Reality television
Created by John de Mol
Developed by John de Mol
Endemol
Composer(s) Vanacore Music
Country of origin Netherlands
Distributor Endemol
Release
Original network Veronica
Original release 16 September 1999 (1999-09-16) – present
External links
Big Brother on Endemol

Big Brother is a reality game show franchise created by John de Mol, originally broadcast in the Netherlands and subsequently syndicated internationally. As of 11 November 2016, there have been 387 seasons of Big Brother in over 54 franchise countries and regions.

In the show, contestants called "housemates" (or "house guests") live together in a specially-constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. Housemates are voted out (usually on a weekly basis) until only one remains and wins the cash prize. During their stay in the house, contestants are continuously monitored by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones.

English-language editions of the program are often referred to as "BB". Many Spanish-language editions of the program are called Gran Hermano (GH).

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. 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 UK 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 (who communicate with the housemates via the omnipresent authority figure known to them only as "Big Brother"). The tasks are designed to test their teamwork abilities and community spirit. In some countries, the housemates' shopping budget or weekly allowance (to buy food and other essentials) depends on the outcome of assigned tasks.

The term Big Brother originates from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, with its theme of continuous oppressive surveillance. The program also relies on other techniques, such as a stripped back-to-basic environment, evictions, weekly tasks and competitions set by Big Brother and the "Diary or Confession Room" where housemates convey their thoughts to camera and reveal their nominees for eviction.


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Wikipedia

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