Big Brother behind the scenes

Julie Chen, host of Big Brother 20, with the BB20 house's front door behind her. (Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS)

by Andy Dehnart 26 Jun. 2018 | 8:58 pm

With Big Brother season 20 debuting Wednesday, and the BB20 cast and BB20 theme/twist having been announced, it’s the lull before the summer reality storm seems like the perfect time to peek behind the curtain to explore what happens behind the scenes.

Read on for stories about everything from casting to CBS CEO’s thoughts about the show.

The Big Brother casting process

Before someone enters the house to compete $500,000, they have to make it through finals casting, an arduous process that lasts more than a week.

The Big Brother casting process is similar to that of Survivor and other reality shows: Casting selects a number of people to come to L.A. for interviews with casting producers and CBS executives, and other things like psychological testing.

I interviewed a person who went through it, and detailed the entire finals casting process in this story, which includes copies of documents that Big Brother finalists are sent.

Fun fact: My story and those documents have actually been discussed on Big Brother itself.

On the Big Brother 14 live feeds, eventual winner Ian Terry told former winner Dan Gheesling about reality blurred, and receiving documents that were “exactly the same, typos and all,” as he said. Watch:

The Big Brother house

While the design of the house changes every year (here’s what’s different for BB20’s house), the house has used a soundstage at CBS Studio Center, also known as the Radford lot, since season two.

Julie’s studio and the house are both in stage 18, as is the control room and the back yard.

The houseguests are confined to the space for the duration of the game, of course. But Big Brother contestants can go outside, kind of.

During season 12, CBS opened the house to a tour for TV critics. Our tour started from the yard, which is not as open or expansive as it seems on TV.

Big Brother house, BB18, new pool, Yosemite

The Big Brother pool allows producers to cover it and use the entire back yard for challenges. (Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS)

Then we continued into the control room and into the camera cross—the space behind the mirrors where camera operators do their work. (That’s how George Clooney secretly toured the house during season two.)

I wrote about what it’s like behind the house’s walls and in the Big Brother control room,

Then we went from behind the scenes into the house itself, as the houseguests were in the back yard participating in a challenge. We saw everything from smelly food to hair extensions.

Speaking of food: Houseguests who are have lost challenges or are otherwise being punished have to eat only something the show calls “slop.”

What is it? Here’s what Big Brother slop is made of, which includes a list of the condiments BB houseguests can put on slop. (By the way, it tastes like bland, metallic oatmeal.)

The Big Brother contract and rules

All potential finalists are sent Big Brother’s contract, which is actually multiple documents in one: 36 pages that include releases for medical information and documents that family members sign.

The contract also specifies some rules and also how much Big Brother contestants are paid.

Read the full Big Brother cast contract.

Big Brother’s producers and CBS’ CEO answer questions

One way to learn about what happens behind the scenes is to ask the people who are responsible for producing the show. Its producers and network executives—even the person who runs CBS—have given insight throughout the show’s history.

Big Brother executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan. (Photos from Fly on the Wall Entertainment)

During season 12, after TV critics toured the house, executive producer and showrunner Allison Grodner talked to TV critics about the show. Among the things she said:

Big Brother is “the least manipulated reality show out there”
Producers “embrace” and “love having” live feed watchers
They do not show sex because the show is “conservative”

I interviewed Grodner and her producing partner, Rich Meehan, a few times, and have asked them about things including:

Finally, CBS CEO Les Moonves—who is married to Big Brother host Julie Chen—has talked publicly about the show.

Specifically, he defended it during the season of bigotry, BB15. He also said he watched every episode of Big Brother.

Two years later, he criticized the casting of BB17.

Thoughts and ideas about BB

I’ve published quite a few essays and arguments about the show over the years—some written by me, and some written by others. Here are a selection of those: