Production
Development
Following the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, the trade magazine '' Variety'' reported that CBS, in response, was considering airing a winter edition of ''Big Brother'', and that the network started cast auditions. Several sites speculated that the winter edition could have been an American version of ''Celebrity Big Brother'' but this was untrue as CBS released a statement that the next edition of ''Big Brother'' would be a regular season following the format of past editions. The season was announced on November 15, 2007 with open casting calls being held from November 17, 2007 to December 8, 2007. The finalists for the season were chosen on December 27, 2007.Prizes
The HouseGuests compete for a grand prize of $500,000 and a runner-up prize of $50,000. In addition to the grand prize and the runner-up prize, various smaller prizes were offered throughout the game, a majority during Power of Veto competitions or Luxury competitions. In week one, during the Power Couple competition "Falling for You"; Jen & Parker won $10,000. During the Power of Veto competition "Color of Veto" on Day 30; Adam won a motorcycle and Ryan won $10,000. On Day 43 during a Luxury competition, Chelsia, Joshuah, Sharon and Sheila won an advanced screening of the Columbia Pictures film '' 21''. On Day 45, Chelsia won a $21,000 VIP trip to Las Vegas before the screening of the film '' 21'', in which her popcorn bucket had a golden ticket for the prize. On Day 44, when '' Big Brother 8'' contestant "Evel Dick" Donato returned to the ''Big Brother'' House to host the Power of Veto competition "Club Evel", if a player scored more than Dick's score of 33 from last season, he or she would have also won a classicBroadcast
On December 3, 2007, CBS announced ''Big Brother'' would return on February 12, 2008 with three episodes airing on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This was a change from the previous season, which had aired on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays. The Wednesday episode, which aired at 8pm Eastern Time, featured the live eviction and subsequent Head of Household competition taking place. During the live eviction, the show was hosted byHouse
House pictures were released on February 6, 2008. The house has an outdoors theme due to this being the first season to air during the winter season. The house also includes a theme of love, in alignment with the season's twist. Throughout the house, there are numerous love quotes written byFormat
The format remains largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests are sequestered in the Big Brother House with no contact to or from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests take part in several compulsory challenges that determine who will win food, luxuries, and power in the House. The winner of the weekly Head of Household competition is immune from nominations and must nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest becomes Head of Household, he or she is ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. HouseGuests also take part in competitions to earn food for the week. The losing team will be forced to eat Big Brother Slop for the week. This is the third season to feature Slop as the punishment food, as it was originally peanut butter and jelly. The winner of the Power of Veto competition wins the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercises the power, the Head of Household must then nominate another HouseGuest for eviction. On eviction night, all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees vote to evict one of the two nominees. This compulsory vote is conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household must cast the deciding vote, announcing it in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of ''Big Brother'', the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely. The nominee with the greater number of votes will be evicted from the House on the live Thursday broadcast, exiting to an adjacent studio to be interviewed by Chen. HouseGuests may voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who break the rules may be expelled from the house by Big Brother. The final seven HouseGuests evicted during the season will vote for the winner on the season finale. These "Jury Members" will be sequestered in a separate house and will not be allowed to watch the show except for competitions and ceremonies that include all of the remaining HouseGuests. The jury members will not be shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that include strategy or details regarding nominations. This season featured numerous twists to the format. The main twist this season saw the HouseGuests competing as couples; they competed as couples, were nominated as couples, and were evicted as couples. This twist went on until the third week, when the couples were told they could officially play as individuals. Another twist this season saw a previously evicted HouseGuest returning to the game on Day 35, with the returning HouseGuest decided partly by the HouseGuests themselves. This season also introduced the Power Couple twist, in which the winners of this title were required to evict one couple from the house in a matter of a few days.HouseGuests
Future appearance
Matt McDonald participated in a food competition for the '' following season'', which featured a representative from each previous season Matt McDonald also participated in Season 6, episode 16 of ''Summary
On Day 1, the original sixteen HouseGuests entered the house. HouseGuests Jen and Ryan, a couple outside of the house, were aware of each other's presence while ex-couple Jacob and Sharon were surprised to find one another in the house. Following their entrance, the HouseGuests learned of the season's twist, in which they would be partnered with their "soulmate" and compete as a couple. The HouseGuests then learned the identity of their soulmates; Adam & Sheila were paired together, while Alex & Amanda, Allison & Ryan, Chelsia & James, Jacob & Sharon, Jen & Parker, Joshuah & Neil, and Matt & Natalie were paired together. HouseGuests Adam & Sheila immediately began to clash, annoying their fellow HouseGuests. The couples then learned of the Power Couple twist, in which the winner of this title would choose to evict one of the couples from the house in a matter of days. HouseGuests then competed in the "Falling For You" Power Couple competition. For this competition, one person from each couple was hooked onto a zipline, while their partner had to hold onto them while being suspended in the air. The last couple remaining suspended without falling would be the winning team. Midway through the competition, it was revealed that if a couple managed to get a pillow laying below them and went on to win the competition, they would earn a $10,000 prize. Ultimately, Jen & Parker won the Power Couple competition, as well as the $10,000 prize. On Day 2, in an attempt to cause drama, Jacob began telling some of the HouseGuests that Parker was a "snake" and not to trust him. When Jen found out, she informed Parker of this, leading to a confrontation during which Jacob claimed he had been told this by another HouseGuest. Sharon, in an attempt to save herself and her partner, implied to Parker that Ryan had made the statement. Fearing that Parker would vote to evict Ryan, Jen informed Parker that she and Ryan were a couple outside of the house; Ryan then told Allison, as he felt it was unfair for her not to know. On Day 3, Jen & Parker cast the sole vote to evict Jacob & Sharon from the house. Following Jacob & Sharon's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Do You Know Your Partner?" Head of Household competition. For this competition, '' Big Brother 8'' HouseGuests Eric Stein and Jessica Hughbanks returned to host. The HouseGuests were required to answer questions about their partners preferences in a relationship; the team with the most points at the end of the competition would be the winner. Alex & Amanda were the winners, becoming the first couple to win Head of Household. Fearing Allison was going to tell the house about Jen and Ryan's relationship, Jen & Parker decided to tell the other HouseGuests about their relationship. Though believing the others would appreciate their honesty, the HouseGuests were upset by their relationship. Following this, Alex & Amanda and Matt & Natalie formed an alliance, vowing to be the last remaining couples. Allison and Sheila, believing Allison would be evicted that week, lied to Joshuah and Chelsia stating that they were a lesbian couple, and had known each other before entering the house. On Day 7, Alex & Amanda chose to nominate Allison & Ryan and Jen & Parker for eviction. Later that day, Neil chose to walk from the game due to an unspecified urgent personal matter; Joshuah was given the option to bring either Jacob or Sharon back as his partner, and he chose Sharon. When picking the fourth couple to compete for the Power of Veto competition, Matt & Natalie were selected to compete; Joshuah was selected to host. On Day 9, HouseGuests competed in the "In Sickness and in Health" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, one member of each couple was strapped to a spinning heart while holding onto a button. Their partner was required to spin the heart, and the first couple to reach 300 spins without letting go of their button would be the winning couple. Matt & Natalie were the winners of the Power of Veto. On Day 11, Matt & Natalie chose to not to use the Power of Veto on either nominated couple. On Day 14, Jen & Parker became the second couple to be evicted from the house in a vote of three to one. Following Jen & Parker's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Democracy" Head of Household competition. For this competition, the couples were given the option of two punishments or prizes for the house, and had to attempt to answer in the majority; answering in the majority would give the couple a point, though the answer selected would impact the house. Chelsia and James were the winners. Shortly afterwards, James made a promise to Matt that he would not be nominated that week. On Day 15, HouseGuests competed in the "What a Catch!" food competition. For this competition, the couples split into two teams of three; one half of each couple held nets into the air, while the opposing team attempted to fill up their nets with dead fish. The last team remaining would be the winners, while the losers were on slop for the week. The team of Adam & Sheila, Alex & Amanda, and Chelsia & James were the losers, thus were on slop for the week. Later that day, Chelsia & James chose to nominate Alex & Amanda and Matt & Natalie for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Joshuah & Sharon were the couple selected to compete; Adam was selected to host. On Day 16, HouseGuests competed in the "Communication Breakdown" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, the couples were required to find cables in a storage area packed among thousands of peanuts found in barrels; they then had to get the correct sized cables to connect their four electrical poles to their individual generator, and the first couple to finish were the winners. Joshuah & Sharon were the winners of the Power of Veto, and also earned the house information from outside the house. That night, Allison had an allergic reaction, while Amanda fainted and had a seizure due to low blood sugar. Both were medically evacuated from the house for the night, and returned the following morning. On Day 18, Joshuah & Sharon chose not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee. Despite the house planning to evict Alex & Amanda, Allison later began convincing Joshuah & Sharon to evict Matt & Natalie from the house, feeling they were the stronger couple. Despite this being the plan, Allison informed Joshuah & Sharon minutes before the eviction that she and Ryan would not be going through with the plan. On Day 21, Alex & Amanda became the third couple to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of three to zero. Following Alex & Amanda's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Words of Love" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests competed in heats; the men went first, and were followed by the women. The HouseGuests were asked questions about the various quotes hanging on the walls of the house. If a HouseGuest answered a question correctly, they would eliminate one HouseGuest from the competition; the man and woman who won each round would then face off in the final round, with the winner earning both them and their partner the title of Head of Household for the week. Joshuah & Sharon were the winners. Shortly following their win, Joshuah and Allison engaged in numerous verbal arguments due to Joshuah being mad at Allison for changing her vote last minute, as well as the lesbian lie she had told earlier in the game. Due to these arguments, Allison debated quitting the game, though was later convinced in the Diary Room to stay; she did, however, have a restraining order placed on Joshuah, and he was forbidden to be within five feet of her. On Day 22, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Aspara-Guess!" food competition. For this competition, the men were required to guess the weight of their partners and then gather enough asparagus to weigh the same amount. If they got within ten pounds of their partner's weight, the HouseGuests won the two major food groups that couple represented. Later that day, Joshuah & Sharon chose to nominate Allison & Ryan and Matt & Natalie for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Adam & Sheila were selected to compete; James was selected to host. On Day 23, HouseGuests competed in the "Cupid is as Cupid Does" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, the couples were required to solve a puzzle by lifting the women into the air through a harness, while the men ran the puzzle pieces to them. Matt & Natalie were the winners of the Power of Veto. On Day 24, the HouseGuests learned that sometime in the coming weeks an alarm would go off in the house, and this meant that a twist would occur. On Day 25, Matt & Natalie chose to use the Power of Veto to remove themselves from the block, with Adam & Sheila being nominated in their place. On Day 28, Allison and Ryan were announced as the fourth couple to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of two to zero. Before they could exit the house, however, the alarm went off, and the HouseGuests learned that they were officially playing the game as individuals. The HouseGuests then learned that they would be voting to evict either Allison or Ryan from the house, rather than the both of them being evicted. Allison then became the first individual HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of six to zero. Following Allison's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Time After Time" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were asked true or false questions as to whether one event occurred before or after another event. Ryan was the winner. Shortly afterwards, Adam, James, Matt, and Ryan formed an alliance, and chose to target Sharon that week. On Day 29, HouseGuests competed in the "A Little 'Fon Will 'Due' Ya!" food competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were separated into two teams, and were required to get into two pools of chocolate one at a time and spell out words with the letters inside. The team with the most correctly spelled words would win the competition, but would only win the food items they had spelled. The team of Chelsia, Joshuah, Sharon, and Sheila were the losers, thus were put on the slop diet for the week. That same day, Ryan chose to nominate Sharon and Chelsia for eviction. Following this, Chelsia, James, Joshuah, Sharon, and Sheila devised a plan to get Ryan to backdoor Matt that week, and they told Natalie in hopes of getting her to agree with the plan. Despite initially agreeing, she later informed Matt of this plan. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Adam, Sheila, and Joshuah were selected to compete; Matt was selected to host. On Day 30, HouseGuests competed in the "Color of Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests used an over-sized pool stick to shoot their ball as close as possible to the center of the pool table. The HouseGuest furthest away each round was eliminated, and would be able to select a prize. Ryan was the winner of the competition, however, chose to take a prize and allowed Chelsia to win the Power of Veto. Despite Ryan agreeing to the plan to backdoor Matt, Sheila later became offended by Chelsia and attempted to convince Ryan to keep Matt in the game. On Day 32, Chelsia chose to use the Power of Veto to remove herself from the block, with James being nominated in her place. On Day 35, James became the seventh HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of five to one. Following this, it was revealed that the viewers had voted for one HouseGuest to return to the game, and that the current HouseGuests would vote to either bring back America's selection or the recently evicted James; though not revealed to the HouseGuests, Alex was selected by the viewers to return. James was later voted back into the house in a vote of five to three. Following these events, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Disco" endurance Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests stood atop gold discs attached to the tops of hanging disco balls and were spun around continuously while holding on with the chains used to attach the disco balls to the metal structure. The last HouseGuest remaining on their ball without falling would become the new Head of Household. When James and Natalie were the last two remaining, James promised Natalie that both she and Matt would be safe if she allowed him to win Head of Household. This led to Natalie dropping out of the competition, making James the winner. James, upset that three people had voted for him not to return, attempted to figure out who had voted for Alex to return. Though Ryan and Sheila confessed to their votes, Matt continued to deny that he had cast the third vote. On Day 36, James chose to nominate Ryan and Sheila for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Matt, Chelsia, and Joshuah were selected to compete; Natalie was selected to host. On Day 37, HouseGuests competed in the "Trapped in the Cage" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, players were required to walk along a series of balance beams in an attempt to transfer 500 blocks from a cage to their tube. They could only move two blocks at a time, and dropping a block or falling would result in their elimination; the first HouseGuest to successfully get their blocks into their tube would win. James was the winner, making him the first HouseGuest this season to win both Head of Household and Power of Veto in the same week. Despite James wanting to backdoor Adam, Sharon later convinced James that Matt had been the third vote and should be evicted that week. On Day 39, James chose to use the Power of Veto to remove Sheila from the block, with Matt being nominated in her place. On Day 42, Matt became the eighth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house when James broke a tie in Ryan's favor. He became the first member of the Jury of Seven. Following Matt's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "En Garde" Head of Household competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests faced off two at a time and attempted to be the first to correctly answer which evicted HouseGuest made a statement in the Diary Room. The winner of each round would select the next two to face off, with the last remaining HouseGuest becoming the winner. Adam was the winner. On Day 43, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Blackjack" luxury competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were dealt cards with the faces of the current HouseGuests, as well as a number, printed on them. To get points, the HouseGuests had to buzz in and state which three cards would add up to 21, thus earning a chip. The winner would earn the right to see the film '' 21'', along with three other HouseGuests of their choice. Though Ryan won the competition, he later competed in a bonus round and lost the right to the prize and film. This led to Chelsia, Joshuah, Sharon, and Sheila winning the competition. That same day, Adam chose to nominate Chelsia and James for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Joshuah, Sheila, and Sharon were selected to compete. Former HouseGuest "Evel"Episodes
Voting history
Color key: ;NotesReception
Ratings
''Big Brother 9'' airs three episodes a week, with shows airing Sundays at 8p.m. (EST), Tuesdays 9p.m., and Wednesdays 8p.m. The live eviction show was moved to Wednesdays due to '' Survivor: Micronesia'' airing Thursdays 8p.m. This is the first season of ''Big Brother'' to air during an official television season, and the second to air concurrently with a season of ''U.S. viewing figures
This is ratings information for the season. "Rating" is the estimated percentage of all televisions tuned to the show, and "share" is the percentage of all televisions ''in use'' that are tuned in. "Overnight Viewers" is the estimated number viewers that watched a program either while it was broadcast or watched via DVR on the same day the program was broadcast. "Live+7 Viewers" is the estimated number of viewers that watched a program while it was broadcast or via DVR within 7 days of original broadcast.. "Increase over Live" is the percentage of increase between the number of viewers who watched a program "Live" versus "Live+7". Unless otherwise cited, the overnight rating and share information comes from Zap2It and viewer and ranking information comes from CalendarLive. The following week, the numbers are updated with the final Nielsen numbers from TVWeek.com. DVR information is from TV by the Numbers.Seasonal ranking
Based on average total viewers per episode of ''Big Brother 9'' on CBS: *Season performance is through 4/20/08.Weekly ratings
*"n/a" = No information available. Delays because of CBS Sports: *UK television ratings
This is ratings information for the season that broadcasts in the United Kingdom on E4. Ratings below are overnight figures froControversy and criticism
Autism United, a national autism group, demanded an apology from CBS over controversial remarks made by HouseGuestReferences
External links
* – official American site (Archived) * – official Canadian site (Archived) * {{coord, 34, 8, 40.12, N, 118, 23, 20.71, W, display=title 2008 American television seasons 09 Television controversies in the United States