Big Brother 8 (American season)

Template:Future television episode Template:Big Brother housemates Big Brother 8 is the eighth season of the US version of the reality TV-show Big Brother on CBS. The season was announced on February 1st, 2007. Julie Chen returned for this season as host. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan have been announced as executive producers. Arnold Shapiro stepped down as producer following last season's All-Stars edition, but serves as executive consultant on the show. Casting calls ran until May 5, 2007. A preview was shown on the The Early Show on July 5, 2007, the day of the premiere. The show airs three times a week; Sundays at 8 PM (EDT), Tuesdays at 9 PM, and Thursdays, which is broadcast live, at 8 PM.

CBS' cable/satellite premium network Showtime Too is carrying a spinoff of the series called Big Brother: After Dark, which airs nightly live from 9 PM—12 AM (PDT). This program features house activity happening between those times, and is edited only for slanderous statements and music copyrights.

It has also been confirmed that former HouseGuest and presenter of the online talk show, House Calls, Marcellas Reynolds, will not be returning to host the daytime chat show after CBS announced budget cuts, although his co-presenter, Gretchen Massey, will continue as host of the program. The program broadcasts live at cbs.com every weekday at 1 PM (EDT), where viewers call-in with questions and discussion about the show. On Fridays, the evicted houseguest will appear on the show.

Chronology

Each week in the Big Brother house is summarized in this table. A typical week begins with the Head of Household competition during the live Thursday episode and ends with the eviction of a houseguest during the following Thursday's episode. The next "week" immediately starts after the eviction with the next Head of Household competition. Evictions, competitons, America's Player tasks, and other noteworthy events for a particular week are noted.

Week 1	Entrances	On Day 1, eleven HouseGuests entered the Big Brother house. On Day 1, the nemeses — Dick, Dustin, and Jessica — entered the house via the Head of Household room before the other HouseGuests arrived.
	Events	The nemeses were able to watch, from an upstairs room via a TV monitor, the other HouseGuests without their knowledge for their first hours in the Big Brother house. Since they were unable to compete in the Head of Household competition, the nemeses were safe from nominations for the first week. Kail formed the first alliance of the season with Nick, Zach, and Mike, unofficially named "Mrs. Robinson and the Three Boys". As Head of Household, Kail nominated Amber and Carol for eviction because they were the first pair eliminated from the HoH competition. Daniele chose not to use the Power of Veto. Eric's first task as America's Player was to make up a dramatic story about his past and tell it to one houseguest. The majority of viewers voted to target Kail. His task was successful. For the second America's Player task, the viewers voted for which nominee should receive Eric's eviction vote. The public chose Carol, and Eric voted for Carol to be evicted, therefore he was successful.
	Competitions	For the first Head of Household competition, “Mushroom Madness”, the eleven houseguests downstairs competed in teams. Nick was immediately eliminated because he didn’t get a teammate in time. One person from each team then answered true-or-false questions while the other sat awkwardly on spinning mushrooms. Every wrong answer resulted in the mushroom spinning faster. Kail outlasted the other mushroom riders, and she and her teammate, Eric, advanced to the tie-breaker round. The three “nemesis” houseguests, who watched the action from upstairs, were given the decision of who to crown HoH, and they chose Kail. The first food competition, "Butter Me Up", involved splitting the houseguests into two teams, Red (Amber, Dustin, Dick, Mike, Carol, and Jen) and Blue (Joe, Daniele, Jameka, Eric, Nick, Zach and Jessica). Each team had to cover their bodies in movie theater butter and wipe it off each other into a vat of popcorn. The team with the most butter collected in the vat at the end of ten minutes won food for the week, while the losing team had to eat “Big Brother slop”, which made its debut in Big Brother 7: All Stars. The Red Team won with 77 pounds of butter, while the Blue Team lost with 37 pounds. Jameka, Nick, Daniele, Kail, Amber and Carol competed in the first Veto competition, "Hide and Seek". One by one, the houseguests hid vetos throughout the house. Then, each reentered the house and tried to find someone else’s veto within a time limit. Once five vetos were found, it was revealed that Daniele’s veto, which was hidden in a bucket of slop, was the one not found, making her the winner.
	Exits	On Day 13, Carol was evicted by a landslide vote of 10 to 1. Only Jen voted to evict Amber.
Week 2	Events	As Head of Household, Jen nominated Dick and Daniele for eviction on Day 14, stating they brought negativity to the house. Nick admitted that he likes Daniele, even going as far to tell her about the Mrs. Robinson alliance. More drama erupted right before the Veto competition when Jen threatened Amber by warning that if she won the Veto and used it, she would put Dustin, her biggest ally, on the block. The news spread and soon almost everyone got involved in a big spat. Daniele used the Power of Veto to save herself. Following the desires of the HouseGuests, Jen nominated Joe in Daniele's place. As America's Player, Eric's third task was to convince Jen to nominate the viewers' choice, Jessica. Eric failed to complete this task. Eric's fourth task was to pretend to sleepwalk and crawl into bed with the viewers' choice, Joe. Eric did "sleepwalk" into Joe's bed, but chose to leave rather than wait for Joe to kick him out. Thus, he failed the task. Even though Kail was one of the people who pitched Joe as a replacement nominee, she started a campaign to keep him in the house. Soon Dick found out and not-so-quietly confronted Kail. The fifth task for America's Player, the viewers voted for which nominee should receive Eric's eviction vote. The public chose Joe, which Eric had to vote for to be evicted. Joe was evicted, therefore Eric was successful.
	Competitions	In the second HoH competition, "Majority Rules", the houseguests had to answer multiple-choice questions about two houseguests based not on their own personal opinion, but on how they thought the majority would answer. The minority of voters were eliminated each round. In a tie-breaker question between Joe, Dustin, Jen, and Eric asking how many gallons of water the giant teacup held, Jen was closest, with 41, to the correct number, 9, making her the winner of the competition. The food competition, "Name that Pie", was set in the style of a game show. The players were divided into the Red (Daniele, Jameka, Amber, Kail, Joe, and Jessica) and Blue (Eric, Dick, Mike, Zach, Nick, and Dustin) teams. In each round, one contestant from each team had to bid for the lowest number of bites it would take them to identify the two ingredients in a pie. The ingredients ranged from berries to clams. The lowest bidder would win a point for the team by answering correctly, while an incorrect answer gave the opposing team a point. In the end, the Blue Team scored the seven points needed, putting the Red Team on slop. For the Power of Veto competion the backyard was decorated in a Christmas theme, named, “Cutthroat Christmas”. Jen, Joe, Dick, Daniele, Mike, and Amber participated. The competition was basically a game of curling in which the player who slid their curling stone furthest from the target in each round was eliminated. Then they could choose a present from under the Christmas tree or steal another player’s gift. Joe won a Slop Pass, Jen won a red unitard which she was required to wear for a week, Mike won a "date night" (and subsequently chose Amber), Dick won a plasma TV, and Amber had to be handcuffed to another player for one day and chose Kail. In the end, Danielle won the Veto for the second week in a row.
	Exits	On Day 20, Joe was evicted by a landslide vote of 9 to 1. Only Kail voted to evict Dick.
Week 3	Events
	Competitions	The HoH competition, “Getting Schooled”, had a classroom theme, since some houseguests said that with Jen in power, the past week was like high school. The HouseGuests were asked true-or-false questions about the season so far in school subjects such as math and history. Those who answered correctly advanced to the next question, while those who answered incorrectly were eliminated. Dick beat Daniele and Mike in a tie-breaker question asking how many hours Jen had worn her unitard to win the competition (the answer was 125 hours with Dick guessing 120 to win).
	Exits

Houseguests

The list of HouseGuests was announced during The Early Show on June 28, 2007. The twist this year is "Biggest Nemesis", as six of the HouseGuests have moved into the house with their enemies, and have been revealed as Joe/Dustin (ex-boyfriends), Daniele/Dick (estranged daugther/father), and Carol/Jessica (ex-best friends). The other twist is HouseGuest Eric as "America's Player".

Amber

Amber Tomcavage (born March 17, 1980) (maiden name Siyavus) is a 27-year-old cocktail waitress at Caesar's Palace casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a divorced mother, and says her ex-husband is one of her best friends.

Carol

Carol Journey (born March 3, 1986) is a 21-year-old student from Lawrence, Kansas, born and raised in Haysville, Kansas. Carol attends the University of Kansas and is part of their dance team. She is the daughter of Kansas State Senator Phil Journey. Jessica and Carol were best friends as young teens, but had a falling out and went their separate ways.

Daniele

Daniele Donato (born August 20, 1986) is a 20-year-old Hooters waitress from Huntington Beach, California. Dick is her estranged father, with whom she hadn't spoken in over two years before entering the house.

Dick

Richard "Evel Dick" Donato (born June 24, 1963) is a 44-year-old bar manager from Los Angeles, California. Daniele is his estranged daughter. Dick has claimed to be an acquaintance with numerous famous celebrities, one in particular being Cher, with whom he claims to have had dinner. He has stated that he has dated Jerri Manthey of Survivor fame, and although he broke up with her he says they remain friends.

Dustin

Dustin Erikstrup (born January 21, 1985) is a 22-year-old shoe salesman from Chicago, Illinois. Dustin and Joe used to be a couple, and had a bitter breakup.

Eric

Eric Stein (born January 25, 1980) is a 27-year-old talent management assistant from New York, New York. He grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York and attended Boston University. He is "America's Player", reminding us that we can't spell AmERICa without "Eric".

Jameka

Jameka Cameron (born July 20, 1978) is a 29-year-old school counselor from Waldorf, Maryland and attended Elizabeth City State University.

Jen

Jen Johnson (born April 25, 1984) is a 23-year-old nanny from ha Beverly Hills, California. She is also a model. Her previous television appearances include playing for the NY Euphoria in the 2006 Lingerie Bowl. She is also a self-proclaimed computer nerd.

Jessica

Jessica Hughbanks (born December 22, 1985) is a 21-year-old Wichita State University student, Wichita Wild Indoor Football and Wichita Thunder dance team member from Haysville, Kansas. Jessica and Carol were best friends as young teens, but had a falling out (apparently over an unpaid debt of $5) and went their separate ways. After graduation she hopes for a career in voice over work for cartoon characters.

Joe

Joe Barber (born September 28, 1983) is a 23-year-old receptionist from and is very gayChicago, Illinois. Joe and Dustin used to be a couple, but had a bitter breakup. On Day 20, Joe became the second HouseGuest evicted from Big Brother 8 by a vote of 9 to 1.

Kail

Kail Harbick (born October 5, 1969) is a 37-year-old business owner from McKenzie Bridge, Oregon who works as a real estate agent for Prudential Financial. In addition to her estate business, she and her husband own a bar in Blue River, Oregon. A devout fan of Big Brother, Kail had previously applied for the show twice before this season.

Mike

Mike Dutz (born August 20, 1980) is a 26-year-old painting contractor from Three Lakes, Wisconsin, and is a model with BMG Model & Talent Agency. He has appeared on the Lifetime show Gay, Straight or Taken?.

Nick

Nick Starcevic (born March 5, 1982) is a 25-year-old former college, He had plastic surgery on his toes. Nick has the world smallest penis and is in americans greatest book! American football player from Kimball, Minnesota, and was once crowned MTV's "Spring Break King" while on vacation in Cancun. He played college football at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, and spent time playing football for a Finnish team in a European league.

Zach

Zach Swerdzewski (born April 17, 1977) is a 30-year-old graphic designer from Burbank, California, and owns a company called Dolphin Crash. He has been seen wearing several shirts with the company's name on it during the game. He has no game play with the ladies.

Big Brother House

The houseplan of the Big Brother 8 house.

House pictures were released on June 27, 2007. The house has an Alice in Wonderland theme and contains an oversized bedroom and a small bedroom. The small bedroom features a very small doorway and five beds which are only five feet long, while the oversized bedroom features shoulder-height beds and enormous drawers which need a ladder to reach. The backyard contains animal shaped topiaries and a spinning teacup, as in the big brother house zach has changed his name to bob. while the bathroom's shower features a showerhead shaped like a lion's head.

Interactive options

This year, there are two options for viewers of Big Brother to become more involved with the game. They are CBS' "America's Player" and Canadian broadcaster Global TV's "Big Brother interactive." It is unknown whether "America's Choice" used in previous seasons will continue this year.

America's Player

At the end of each show (starting July 8), Eric is asked to complete a task that America specifies by voting on CBS.com or by text messaging, and for every five tasks Eric completes, he is rewarded with US$10,000. The tasks include trying to pitch nominees to the HoH and even voting to evict, which is only considered a successful task if who the viewers chose actually is evicted. Eric has completed three out of five tasks, which means he is two successes away from his first $10,000. His original game plan of "floating" might be thwarted completely by this twist, or could improve it. Despite the title "America's Player," Canadians will still be allowed to vote online. Allison Grodner, the executive producer, chuckled while telling Global TV "We are certainly not trying to exclude any of our viewers so we will call this...the 'Canadian-American Player'."

Big Brother interactive

This year Canadian Broadcast network, Global TV, will be introducing an interactive Two-Screen Solutions game on their website, Big Brother 'In The House'. Viewers will be able to make real-time predictions as well as answer trivia and instant recall questions while watching the show. The Big Brother fan with the most points each week will win a TV, and the fan with the most points throughout the season will win tickets to the wrap party.

Ratings

Big Brother 8 will air episodes three times a week, with shows airing Sundays at 8 PM (EDT), Tuesdays 9 PM, and Thursday 8 PM. The first episode premiered on July 5, 2007 with 7.401 million viewers (4.8/9 viewing audience), down from last year's 5.2/9 launch. However, the following show on Sunday did much worse in the ratings, scoring a 3.9/7 viewing figure, losing nearly 1 million viewers since the previous episode. The first Tuesday's show, however, was more successful with viewers, managing a 4.5/7 rating. The following Tuesday's show had the same rating. As with the previous seasons, live streaming video feeds are available for purchase through RealNetworks. All ratings are from Nielsen Media Research and Zap2it.

	Week 0 (Launch)	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10
Sunday	no show	6.05m 3.9/7	6.51m 4.2/8
Tuesday	no show	6.98m 4.5/7	6.98m 4.5/7
Thursday	7.401m 4.8/9	6.51m 4.2/8
Weekly average	7.401m 4.8/9	6.51m 4.2/7	6.74m 4.2/8
Running average	7.401m 4.8/9	6.96m 4.6/8	6.74m 4.4/8
Season average	6.88m 4.4/8

Voting history

The following is a table showing how each housemate voted to evict throughout his of her time in the house. The Head of Household and the nominees are not allowed to vote, but in the event of a tie, the Head of Household will break it. Twists to the normal nominations process are noted, such as immunity from nomination and eviction (referred to as "exempt") and double evictions.

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Results
Head of Household	Kail	Jen	Dick
Nominations (pre-veto)	Amber Carol	Daniele Dick	Jen Kail
Veto Winner	Daniele	Daniele
Nominations (post-veto)	Amber Carol	Dick Joe
Amber	Nominated	Joe
Daniele	Carol	Joe
Dick	Carol	Nominated	Head of Household
Dustin	Carol	Joe
Eric	Carol	Joe
Jameka	Carol	Joe
Jen	Amber	Head of Household	Nominated
Jessica	Carol	Joe
Kail	Head of Household	Dick	Nominated
Mike	Carol	Joe
Nick	Carol	Joe
Zach	Carol	Joe
Joe	Carol	Nominated	Evicted (Day 20)
Carol	Nominated	Evicted (Day 13)
Nomination note	See note 1	See note 2
Evicted	Carol 10 of 11 votes	Joe 9 of 10 votes

Template:Fnb     The nemeses (Dick, Dustin, and Jessica) were unable to participate in the Head of Household competition. Therefore, they were exempt from nomination but still able to vote for eviction. They were able to view the competition and selected Kail to win as she and Eric were the two finalists in the competition. America's Player, Eric, will have to vote which houseguest to evict (Amber or Carol), by votes from the viewers. The public voted for Carol, so he voted to evict Carol.

Template:Fnb America's Player, Eric, will have to vote which houseguest to evict by votes from the viewers. The public voted for Joe to be evicted. However, in order for this to count as a completed task the houseguest that America wants Eric to evict must leave.

See also

• Big Brother: After Dark

External links

• CBS Official Site
• Global Official Site