With Big Brother recently entering season 24 in the US, you might wonder how this show has managed to stay on the air for so long. It turns out that there are some very good reasons for its ongoing popularity. The following are some of the key ways that it has stayed so well-loved among the public for such a long time.
People Love the Idea
The idea of putting a bunch of strangers in a house and isolating them for weeks sounded weird at first. When we first heard of Big Brother back in about the year 2000, many of us thought it would be a flop. It seemed like a novelty idea that would soon lose its appeal once we got bored of watching the house guests sitting around all day long not doing much.
Yet, it turned out to be an inspired idea for television. The genuine drama of watching the contestants battle for the prize money turns it into fascinating viewing. Some people watch the action unfold as it happens, while others prefer to catch up on the major events at the end of the day or over the weekend.
This wasn’t the first reality show launched in the US, as An American Family and The American Sportsman were both on the air long before Big Brother. Yet, in a sense, it was this series that made reality shows truly mainstream, as its enormous success led to a number of other shows popping up.
Of course, some people hate Big Brother and blame it for introducing us to the huge number of reality shows that now fill the screen. But there are more than enough fans of this format for it to remain successful into the 24th series and probably for a lot longer too.
It Has Evolved
The basic idea behind Big Brother has remained the same from the very first season in 2000 through to season 24 in 2022. We still watch a group of house guests who are thrown together in a house and then isolated for a long period while we watch on.
However, there have been some major changes that have helped it to retain popularity for so long. Perhaps the most noticeable is the way that the prize money for the overall winner has increased from $500,000 to $750,000 in recent years.
Other changes include rules that make the house more culturally diverse. We can also see more companion shows now, allowing us to delve more deeply into the house and try to understand better what strategies each contestant is using. Spin-offs like Celebrity Big Brother have also helped keep the show interesting and ever-changing.
In fact, the first American series back in 2000 closely resembled the original idea from the Netherlands. While it was a success in the US, the producers decided to make major changes for the second series onwards, to turn it into more of a competitive, strategy-based show that would appeal more to American viewers.
The truth is that most of the changes introduced at that early stage have remained in place since then, with minor changes such as the Triple Eviction Night and Pandora’s Box introduced to keep the feeling of evolution going.
We Can Now Feel More Involved
The world has changed in a lot of ways since Big Brother was first aired in the US at the start of this century. For example, we now look for TV shows that we can feel more involved in, rather than just something to watch for a couple of hours and then forget about until next week.
The internet certainly helps in this respect, as we can join online communities and discuss all of the contestants and their strategies whenever we feel like it. Those companion shows also help us to feel that the show is something that we can dip in and out of at any time of the week. We longer need to wait patiently for the next show, as we can access content and opinions at any time.
It’s also worth noting the effect of online Big Brother betting odds. This didn’t exist in 2000, but now fans of the show can go into an online sportsbook and look for the latest bets on Big Brother. These typically include wagers on who will win the current series, as well as more unusual bets such as whether a marriage proposal will occur during the show.
All of these different ways of getting involved help us to feel part of the show, which is one of the key ideas of Big Brother. We can still watch the house guests and enjoy the conflicts and drama that go on, but we’ve also been increasingly drawn into their world and now get to feel that it’s a more rounded experience.
