Big Brother is a reality television show, where, in each series, a group of people live together in the Big Brother House, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 16 participants. The housemates try to win a cash prize by avoiding periodic evictions from the house. The idea for the show came during a brainstorm session at the production house of John de Mol Produkties (an independent part of Endemol) on September 4, 1997. The first Big Brother broadcast was in the Netherlands in 1999 on the Veronica TV channel. It has been a prime-time hit in almost 70 countries. The show’s name comes from George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Though each country has made its own adaptations and changes to the format, the general concept has stayed the same: “housemates” are confined to a specially designed house where their every action is recorded by cameras and microphones at all times and they are not permitted any contact with the outside world.

In most versions, at regular intervals, normally once weekly (introduced in the UK version, although in most early series it was every two weeks), the housemates are invited to vote to have one of a number of nominated housemates evicted from the House. In some cases, two housemates may be evicted simultaneously (a “double eviction”), or rarely, no housemates will be removed for that week. At the end of the game, the last remaining housemate is declared winner of that particular series and receives prizes, often including a large amount of money, a car, a holiday and (in some editions) a house.

From a sociological and demographic perspective, this format can be analyzed to see how people react when forced into close confinement with people who lie outside their comfort zone, since they may hold different opinions or ideals from other contestants, or simply be from a different group of people than a contestant is used to. Indeed, the format is ideally suited to such analysis because the viewer sees how a person reacts on the outside through the constant recording of their actions and also what they feel on the inside through the Diary Room. The results can often be violent or angry confrontations, providing entertainment to the public.

Besides living together under continuous observation, which is the major attraction of the contest, the program relies on four basic props: the stripped-bare back-to-basics environment in which they live, the evictions, the weekly tasks set by Big Brother and the “Diary Room”, in which the housemates individually convey their thoughts, feelings, frustrations and their nominees for eviction.

In the first season of most series of Big Brother, the house that the housemates had to live in was very basic. Although essential amenities such as running water, furniture and a limited ration of food were provided, luxury items were often forbidden. This added an element of survival to the show, increasing the potential for tensions within the house. Nowadays almost all series provide a modern house for the contest, with a jacuzzi, sauna, VIP suite, loft and other luxuries.

The housemates are required to do any housework as they see fit and are set 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 set are designed to test their team-working abilities and community spirit, and in some countries the housemates’ shopping budget or weekly allowance often depends on the outcome of any set tasks. The housemates have a weekly allowance with which they can buy food and other essentials.

At regular intervals, the housemates each privately nominate a number of fellow housemates that they wish to see evicted from the house. The housemates with the most nomination points are then announced and viewers are given the opportunity to vote via telephone for whom they wish to see evicted. The only known exception to this process is the American version in which the housemates themselves vote to evict each other. After the votes are tallied, the “evictee” leaves the house and is interviewed live by the host of the show, usually in front of a studio audience.

The series is notable for involving the Internet. Although the show typically broadcasts daily updates in the evening (which are sometimes criticized for their heavy editing), viewers can also watch a continuous, 24-hour feed from multiple cameras on the web. These websites were highly successful, even after some national series started charging for access to the video stream. In some countries, Internet broadcasting was supplemented by updates via email, WAP and SMS. The House is even shown live on satellite television, although in some countries, such as the UK, with a 10-15 minute delay to allow libellous or unacceptable content (such as references to people who are not taking part in the program and have therefore not consented to have personal information about them broadcast) to be removed.

Despite derision from many intellectuals and other critics, the show has been a commercial success around the world. More generally, the voyeuristic nature of the show, where contestants volunteer to surrender their privacy in return for minor celebrity status and a comparatively small cash prize, has attracted much scorn.[1] On numerous occasions, participants in the various series have become sexually involved with each other, sometimes engaging in intercourse in front of Big Brother’s cameras. This recorded material is typically not broadcast due to its explicit nature, as in the Australian and American editions. Other editions, however, such as the German and British versions, do broadcast it. The Internet stream also captures such moments, which has led to some controversy, with certain jurisdictions such as Greece attempting to have the show removed from the airwaves.[1]

Most international versions of the show remain quite similar to each other in that their main format remains true to the original fly on the wall, observational style, with the emphasis being on human relationships. This is taken to the extent where contestants are forbidden from discussing nominations or voting strategy altogether. The U.S. version, however, has since 2001 taken on a significantly different format from the others in their second season, with a far stronger emphasis on strategy, competition and voting.

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