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Initially shown in the Netherlands in September 1999, and subsequently cloned across the world, the "housemates" are confined inside a specially designed house, and not permitted any contact with the outside world: no TV, radio, telephone, internet or other media are available to the housemates, not even writing materials. Private chats with a psychologist are a special exception. At weekly intervals, the public is invited to vote to evict one of the contestants. The last remaining is the winner. It is similar to the balloon problem where a balloon is sinking and someone has to be forced to bail out in order to keep the balloon afloat.
The programme is based around four basic elements: the stripped-bare back to basics environment in which they live, the evictions system, the weekly tasks set by 'Big Brother', and the "diary room", in which the housemates individually convey their thoughts, feelings, frustrations and their eviction nominees.
The hostel in which they reside for the duration of the competition is very basic. Although essential amenities such as running water, furniture and a limited ration of food is provided, luxury items are forbidden. This adds an element of survival into the show, thus increasing the potential for tensions within the house.
To fill in time, the residents have various chores to maintain the house, and are set apparently random tasks by the producers of the show, who communicate with the housemates through one (unseen) individual issuing commands, termed "Big Brother". The tasks are designed to test their team-working abilities and community spirit. The housemates have a weekly allowance with which they can buy food and other essentials. To obtain a greater allowance, they may gamble some of their initial amount on the success of the completion of tasks. Of course, their allowance is lessened if they fail to complete the weekly task.
Each week, the housemates each privately nominate two people who they wish to see removed from the house more than the other residents. The three (two in the United Kingdom - unless there is a tie, when it can be three or more) with the most nominations are then named on the television show, and viewers can call a special premium rate telephone number or send a premium rate text message to vote for whom they want to evict. The substantial profits from the calls and text messages are split between the phone companies and the producers.
After the votes are tallied, the "evictee" leaves the house and is interviewed on-camera by the host of the show, usually in front of a live studio audience. The last remaining housemate is declared the winner and receives a substantial sum in prize money, the amount of which has varied widely around the world.
The series is notable for involving the Internet. Although the main show, typically broadcast daily with a weekly roundup, is by necessity heavily edited, 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, the Internet broadcasting was supplemented by updates via email, WAP and SMS. In the UK, the house is even shown live on satellite television (with a 10-15 minute delay to permit muting of unacceptable content). Indeed, John de Mol has said: "We aren't really a television producer at all anymore. We are a content provider for multiple platforms."[1]
In the UK there have been two 'Celebrity Big Brother' series, which have drawn huge viewing figures and raised money for charity.
Despite derision from many intellectuals and other critics, the show has been a commercial success around the world. Criticisms typically are based on the ironic aspects of George Orwell's dystopic vision of Nineteen Eighty-Four being consciously aped by producers for public entertainment. More generally, the voyeuristic nature of the show, where contestants volunteer to surrender their privacy in return for minor celebrityFor the 1998 movie, see Celebrity (1998 movie). A celebrity is a famous person. The etymological origin of the word is "one who is celebrated. An alternative definition of a celebrity is a person who is famous for being famous (regardless of what first br status and a comparatively small cash prize, has attracted much scorn.
While any pretences to be a cultural experiment are dubious, reports of the different results of the show around the world have been mildly interesting from a pop- anthropologyAnthropology (from the Greek word ANTHROPOLOGIA consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo . It is holistic in two senses: it is concerned with all humans at all times, and with all dimensions of humanity. Central to anthropology is the concept of standpoint; in AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count after a few weeks it became clear that most of the remaining housemates liked each other and had no particular desire to evict each other, whereas other versions have involved plotting in the vein of Survivor. Some European versions have been filled with sex-crazed housemates, whereas the Anglo-Saxon versions have been mostly sex-free, although two couples indulged in oral sex during the third British series (one of the pairings later married) and the second and fifth British series were both marked by emerging romances between contestants. The amount of sex shown on the televised versions varies from country to country depending on censorship rules, with some countries editing out all sex and nudity, and others allowing the show to verge on the pornographic.
The majority of winners have been men, although a number of countries have now had a female winner. In Sweden, however, the reverse applies. Although a number of countries have (knowingly) included transsexual contestants, only one has won.
An interesting development in Big Brother is that German scientists have discovered that former contestants may be at risk from Post Container Stress Disorder , a condition sometimes suffered by those who leave the armed forces. Indeed, in the second Polish edition, one of housemates was taken to a psychiatric hospital.
The format has also spawned novels, in particular Ben Elton's book Dead Famous about the televised death of a housemate.