Dan Gheesling won Big Brother 10 with the first-ever unanimous vote, and he came in second on Big Brother 14. And now he can help you do what he did: go from normal person to high-profile reality show cast member. I recently spent time talking with Dan about his web site and business, How to… continue reading
Big Brother 14
Big Brother 14 truly surprises, shifting from disaster to Dan, idiocy to Ian
While “satisfying” and “Big Brother” aren’t often used in the same sentence, Dan Gheesling and Ian Terry were an exceptionally satisfying Big Brother final two, and not just because they were obviously the smartest people in the house. Ian clearly deserved his win and the $500,000. He began the show as the superfan who embraced… continue reading
A recap of Big Brother’s recap episode
At first, I thought last night’s Big Brother 14 was going to be good: it started with Ian pacing and Danielle confronting Dan about his avalanche of lies and use of her as his strategic punching bag. In the Diary Room, her makeup and tears were streaked down her face and all over her shirt…. continue reading
Big Brother houseguests, Olympic gymnasts awkwardly meet, pretend they know each other
The most interesting and only notable part of Big Brother‘s special Wednesday elimination episode was Shane and Danielle’s trip out of the house to meet the U.S. Olympic gymnasts, although the fact that the challenge producers directly and blatantly ripped off a challenge from The Glass House is a close second. The visit was obvious… continue reading
Hallelujah: CBS moves Sunday start time to 7:30 on days with doubleheaders
CBS will officially start its Sunday prime-time lineup, beginning with 60 Minutes, at 7:30, on those days when there are doubleheader games. That affects both Big Brother and The Amazing Race. This is very smart and awesome of CBS, which frequently deals with variable delays. The network said in a press release that the days… continue reading
Big Brother needs more live double-eviction episodes
Big Brother burned through two more houseguests last night during another live double-eviction episode, and it proved that this format works extremely well for the show–so much that I think they need to increase them. The show works so much by formula by now (even super-fan and super journalist Joe Adalian called the show out… continue reading
Ian and Dan discuss Sucks, Jokers strategy, how Big Brother finals casting hasn’t changed in years
Yesterday, Big Brother feed watchers noticed a conversation between Dan and Ian about various web sites, during which they mentioned sites including reality blurred. (That they mentioned me is, of course, clear evidence that they have run out of things to talk about and/or they are bored out of their minds.) Ian said two things… continue reading
Stunning, cruel, and effective plan saves Dan, maybe even Big Brother 14
What Dan Gheesling did on Big Brother 14 to Danielle Murphree was undeniably cruel. It was also effective, brilliant, and made for compelling television that this season has been completely lacking. Let’s face it: We usually sit around watching Big Brother pretending that tiny strategic moves or dumb alliance names constitute “strategy” or even something… continue reading
Big Brother houseguests: smarter than Survivor’s cast?
Last night, the Big Brother houseguests evicted the second of their four coaches, Mike “Boogie” “Uncle Jerry” Malin. His eviction was orchestrated by Ian, who turned against his coach and managed to keep it a secret until his mentor–who Ian first watched on TV when he was 10–learned of it during their goodbye messages. Usually,… continue reading
Big Brother producer responds to leak story: “you are WRONG and should be ashamed of yourself”
Big Brother co-executive producer Jerry D’Alessandro responded to my story about the leak of the diary room audio, insisting that it was the result of “human error” and not manipulation of the game by producers. D’Alessandro has worked on Big Brother since its fifth season and has been a co-executive producer since last season. In… continue reading
Diary room audio leaks into Big Brother house: producers’ attempt to save Janelle?
A producer’s conversation with Big Brother coach turned player Dan in the Diary Room revealed his strategy to the rest of the houseguests, because the audio was broadcast in the house and may even have an impact on tonight’s vote, since it outed Dan’s role in Janelle’s backdoor nomination. Cue the conspiracy theories and/or sighs… continue reading
The Big Brother twist we all expected comes with unimaginable stupidity and unfairness
There has been a lot of colossal stupidity on the part of the Big Brother producers in the past 13 seasons, but nothing comes close to the bullshit they pulled tonight: saving two nominated players, erasing an HOH’s critical and actually interesting moves, and giving people who’ve had four weeks of immunity and the chance… continue reading
Big Brother coaches expect to enter the game
The four coaches on Big Brother 14 expect to enter the game, just as we expect (and not just because the show will run out of players before its Sept. 19 finale), because they’ve been tipped off by producers. On the live feeds from the house, Janelle has negotiated with producers to allow her to… continue reading
Big Brother thrusts and tongues its way through Sunday
Sunday’s episode of Big Brother was kind of meh; it feels like we’re in the boring home stretch when we’re only a few weeks in. Perhaps the coaches entering the game and decimating the newbies will make things interesting starting Thursday, but for now, we got a coach challenge that was one of the least… continue reading
Glass House vs. Big Brother: CBS, ABC disagree about whether lawsuit is over
The presidents of CBS and ABC disagree about whether or not the Big Brother versus The Glass House lawsuit is over. ABC thinks it is; CBS, who sued ABC, said it is not. ABC entertainment president Paul Lee told TV critics on Friday that their experiment with the series “was totally worth it” and added,… continue reading