Season 26 of CBS’s long-running reality show “Big Brother” premiered in July, and its audience is more excited about this season’s trajectory than they’ve been in years. There’s something special about the season 26 cast, and whether it be their lack of knowledge about the intricacies of the game or just their overall unpredictable nature, fans are taking notice and hoping the show could be permanently reverting to its old-school roots.
“Big Brother” has been a cornerstone of CBS and summertime television since 2000. The U.S. version of “Big Brother” is based on the Dutch show of the same name, which originated the reality TV show format where contestants live together in an isolated house and vouch for a large monetary prize by evicting one another. Along with shows like “Survivor,” “Big Brother” ushered in the era of reality television dominance.
“Big Brother” has developed such a strong and devoted fanbase in large part due to its live feed component. The “Big Brother” live feeds offer viewers a 24/7 look into the daily lives of the houseguests via dozens of cameras and hundreds of microphones. This differentiates “Big Brother” from virtually every other reality TV show.
Season 26 has surprised viewers with its various callbacks to the show’s beloved old-school style with many fans naming it the best season in years. The cast is entertaining, the competitions are more equitable and the producers seem to have finally devised “twists” that add legitimate drama and excitement to the game.
The cast’s first stand-out star is a 50-year-old mom named Angela Murray. Angela’s interactions with her fellow houseguests have proven fascinating. Her personality and tendency towards paranoia have created multiple laugh-out-loud moments for the show, and the season’s only halfway through.
Another stand out star this season, Tucker Des Lauriers, reminds fans of old-school players that exhibited a sort of fearlessness that’s been largely absent from recent seasons. He’s made some shocking moves that could alter the fabric of the “Big Brother” game forever. Though Tucker was just evicted from the show, his legacy seems to be cementing quickly. Dr. Will Kirby, a legend of the show and “Big Brother’s” first true winner recently commented on the show (which he rarely does), calling Tucker one of the most interesting players the show’s seen in years.
More recent editions of “Big Brother” tend to have a younger cast, which means there’s less diversity in terms of both demographics and personality when compared to the show’s older seasons.
It’s also important to note that within the past few years, CBS has launched an initiative to make their reality shows more diverse by casting at least 50 percent people of color. This is in response to criticism that “Big Brother” lacked diversity, and its multiple bigotry scandals. This new initiative has led to a production with better representation, and higher entertainment value.
Modern “Big Brother” has also been criticized for its lack of equitable competition, with the majority favoring physically bigger and fitter players. Over the past few seasons, the proportion of male-to-female competition winners has been lopsided. A lot of the show’s recent winners have “won out,” meaning their dominance in the competitions towards the end of the game provided them a direct path to the finale.
It’s clear that “Big Brother” producers are actively making the season 26 competitions much more equitable, proven by the competition winners being majority women so far. Clearly, a game where winning is not wholly dictated by physical dominance, is much more dynamic and intriguing.
It’s also interesting to note, in recent iterations of the show, the house quickly factions off into large alliances which halts dynamic gameplay. But thankfully, with the new changes, the house’s structure has been changing on a dime. Each week seems to be a totally new game, offering each player a real shot at the $750,000 grand prize.
Many fans attribute this season’s increased excitement to its most prominent twist, the “AI Arena”. In most seasons, two houseguests are put on the block for eviction. The veto is played early in the week and the two finalized nominees are known for days before the live eviction. This season, however, three people are nominated for eviction. The three nominees then play in a live competition, the “AI Arena”, directly before their fellow houseguests cast their votes to evict.
The players weigh their options and prepare for multiple outcomes throughout the week. Since the players have no way of knowing which two people will ultimately be on the block when it comes time to vote, they have to remain at least cordial with all nominees. This then leads to extremely emotional evictions on the live episodes.
Another theory as to why this season seems to be such a standout is the group’s collective lack of knowledge of the history of the “Big Brother” game. In the previous seasons, it was often the case that super fans, or at least fans, were cast for the show. This led to a certain meta to the game due to the players’ grasp of the established “Big Brother” strategy, which detracts from the organic nature of many of earlier seasons where players would learn the game as they go. So, similar to old-school seasons, Season 26 viewers get to watch this cast full of “recruits” adapt and improve as the season goes on.
Reaching the midpoint of the season, its first half is an indication that the second half could shape up to be even better. And hopefully, Season 26 could be a real turning point for the show, ushering in another much more satisfying era of “Big Brother.”