Right now, the writing and acting strikes impacting Hollywood are turning traditional broadcast networks toward their “reality” staples. Fox is going almost entirely unscripted this fall, and CBS is bringing back Big Brother for another big bucks battle among many strangers, and, while it normally starts in July, the 25th season officially kicks off in August, and now many are wondering just how authentic the show is.
To be blunt, the answer is complicated. While the interpersonal dynamics depicted in the house are real, other parts of the show are given a polish by the production crew behind the scenes. The moments at the start of each season where houseguests are “surprised” with their keys are clearly fake, as the presence of a camera crew and the over-the-top reactions you can see in previous guest montages on YouTube show. As well, while everyone playing the game knows what happens during nominations and the veto ceremonies, the person leading them still reads from a written sheet to explain how it all works to the audience, and as audience members have confirmed, Julie Chen does read copy from a teleprompter.
So, knowing these aspects of media manipulation are present, the other question is, just how much of the game we see playing out each summer is genuine to what is actually happening within the house? Most of the time, it appears to be true to the actual twists and turns, but, the diary room where contestants go to give thoughts to production about what is happening is a product of manipulation much of the time. Christine from Big Brother 16 reveals in a 2020 tweet all of her dialogue was pre-written by the show’s fifth week and says she even reportedly got a condescending nickname for not liking her given lines.
Earlier seasons like Big Brother 8 have also seen issues surrounding cheating like when Dick admitted to having his son pass him messages through code in a letter. He was allowed to stay in the game and subsequently won, and in Big Brother 21, a player was caught eating non-approved food as a have-not.
So, ultimately, while the long-running franchise can be enjoyable, and in some cases, genuinely compelling (Dick and Daniele reconnecting albeit briefly during the eighth season was interesting), it should also be taken with a grain of salt. The project is designed to entertain and make money before anything else.