The hit CBS reality show, “Big Brother” is gearing up for its 22nd season. The show has gotten so popular that it has versions all over the world and even celebrity versions.
For those of you who don’t know, “Big Brother” is a reality game / competition show where a select group of people are picked to become houseguests and are cut off from the outside world for a whole summer. They compete in mental, physical, and social competitions in order to win the grand prize of $500,000.
Certainly, in 22 seasons, the game has changed a bit and that’s probably why it’s lasted this long, but some things were so essential to the game that it is actually a whole different ballgame now. Here are 5 old school things we miss from “Big Brother.”
Food / Luxury Competitions
In the very early seasons, “Big Brother” used to come up with great twists that kept the game interesting. Food and luxury comps were some of them. Now, as soon as they enter the house, they are able to access the hot tub, pool, workout equipment, etc. It used to be that they had to work together in a competition to win those items for the Summer. They also used to have to fight for their food for the week. It determined who would be able to eat what food. This was used from Big Brother 2 until Big Brother 10.
Nominations Wheel
Also known as The Key Wheel. There was nothing better than having the houseguests turn the key and say, “(Name), you are safe” while the other houseguests were sweating waiting for their name to be called. The huge key wheel was replaced by the nomination block in season 16. This was due to the competition they implemented called Battle of the Block. After two Head of Households (HOHs) were crowned, four nominees were put on the eviction block instead of two. Therefore, two little boxes with just the nominees’ names were brought into the competition. Battle of the Block allowed two of those nominees to take themselves off the block by competing in a competition. BotB was brought back for season 17 and ended after that, but the key wheel never returned.
Non-Bitter Juries
It seems like ever since Big Brother 18, the Jury has been extremely bitter when it came to voting for the winner. They took it personally instead of looking at it from a game perspective. The Jury usually consists of the last 7 to 9 houseguests who were voted out before the final two. Vote for who you think played the best game, not who you want to win or who was the nicest player. This is “Big Brother.” You’re not supposed to be nice. If you backstabbed and played all sides of the house and are sitting in those final two chairs, you deserve to win (like Paul Abrahamian).
Julie Interviewing the HOH Before Eviction
Right before evictions, the HOH would be sent up to their room to talk to Julie. They were able to speak freely because no one could hear them. Julie would ask them questions about who their target was, how they felt about their HOH reign, and more. Sometimes, it gave an insight into what they were thinking without the Diary Room scripting. This one isn’t huge, but it would be nice to still have, especially in season 20 when the voted flipped every week.
True Have-Nots
The Have/Have not competitions determined who got to eat slop, take cold showers, and sleep on uncomfortable beds for the week. A few years ago, they got rid of that and the HOH would pick who was a Have Not, which caused some problems between houseguests. After last season, when the winner, Jackson Michie, cheated by eating food that he was not allowed to, the whole Have-Not ordeal shut down and stopped for the rest of the season.
We also miss the old outro music. Did you notice it changed last season? There is no word on if the game will still be played this Summer due to the pandemic, but we will be here when it picks back up.
What else do you miss from the good old days of the game? Join the conversation on Twitter @TopFiveMust.