''Big Brother'' (also known as in ro, Fratele cel Mare, ) is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

version of the international

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

franchise ''Big Brother'' produced by

Endemol Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality ...

. A group of people (called the Housemates) live together in an isolated house. They don't have TV, the Internet, newspapers or watches. 24 hours a day, their life is recorded by

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

s in all the rooms in the House. The Housemates are completely

isolated Isolation is the near or complete lack of social contact by an individual. Isolation or isolated may also refer to: Sociology and psychology *Isolation (health care), various measures taken to prevent contagious diseases from being spread **Is ...

from the outside world. Every week, each of them must enter the Diary Room and nominate two of the other people for public eviction. The two or more housemates with most negative votes become nominated. For almost a week the TV viewers have to decide which of them to be evicted, voting via

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or phone calls. Every week the Housemates have a weekly task. Depending on whether they successfully complete the task or not, their shopping budget is increased or decreased. During the final week, the viewers vote for which of the remaining people in the House they want to win the show. The person with the most positive votes becomes a winner and receives a big money prize. In the first season was the prize US$50,000 and in the second season was the prize €75,000. The show in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

lasted for two seasons. Both aired on Prima TV.

History

Production

Prima TV acquired the format of ''Big Brother'' and announced on 2 December 2002 that it will be launched in the early months of 2003. A team of eleven people was sent to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

for the Hungarian version of ''Big Brother'', for four months to learn how the show will work.

Spin-offs

Following the end of the first season, a show called ''Big Brother – Revanșa'' () aired on Prima TV, which consisted of several housemates discussing for half an hour what happened during their time in the house and what they plan to do after the show finished.

Big Brother 1 (2003)

The first season started on 16 March 2003 and ended on 6 July 2003, lasting for 112 days. It was hosted by Andreea Raicu and Virgil Ianţu. The winner was Sorin Fișteag "Soso". The house was located in the area of Semănătoarea. In June 2003, Laura Stanciu, the spokesperson for the show, released a book which contains behind-the-scenes information about the season.

Housemates

Nominations table

Public nominations: The first housemate in each box was nominated for two points, and the second housemate was nominated for one point.

Big Brother 2 (2004)

The second season was produced by Endemol and aired from March 13, 2004 to June 14, 2004, lasting for 91 days. It was hosted by Andreea Raicu and Virgil Ianţu. The winner was Iustin.

Housemates

Nominations table

Reception and cancellation

The show quickly gained the attention of the

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (dis ...

, claiming that they have warned the producers regarding shows which "promote prostitution and violence." Furthermore, the contestants in the first season were "shy" and "reluctant" to perform suggestive actions, with one contestant being dubbed "the girl with the cape" due to the fact that she wore a cape each time she showered. News outlets believed that pre-recorded material was used for the first season rather than live recordings; their affirmations would be later confirmed by the show's spokesperson. The latter claimed that pre-recorded material was indeed used as it was "impossible to broadcast it live due to the bad weather at the time." The ratings for the first season were "disappointing", as the show did not live up to the viewers's expectations, most likely due to the suggestions that the

National Audiovisual Council The National Audiovisual Council ( Romanian: Consiliul Național al Audiovizualului, CNA) is the official regulatory agency for the audio-visual market (radio, television) in Romania. Television broadcasts and cable television, frequency allocat ...

proposed to the producers to "keep the show civil." To make things worse, the season's grand finale was eclipsed by the screening of the Indian film '' Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' on Antena 1. The show ended up, however, being a financial success. During the second season, some contestants engaged in racy activities. Their actions were met with backlash by the Orthodox Church, the National Audiovisual Council and several political figures, which criticized the show for "promoting prostitution." The National Audiovisual Council also requested for Prima TV to show their decision for sanctioning the show due to violating the Audiovisual Act by "broadcasting pornographic content." Distrust was also created between the network and some viewers, who believed their online votes were not counted. Following the sanctions imposed by the National Audiovisual Council, the breaching of autochthonous regulations and fluctuating ratings, Prima TV "did not see why they should keep a show like this with high production costs." After the show's cancellation, the network aimed to re-brand itself. In 2014, Prima TV had announced that they acquired the format of ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

'', which worked similarly the way Big Brother did and that it would air during the fall of that year. Although, in October, Cristian Burci, the owner of Prima TV, stated that "the show will be scheduled to air either at the end of the year or next year." Subsequently, the show was "postponed indefinitely" due to the "financial issues that Burci was facing."

References

{{Big Brother

2003 Romanian television series debuts 2004 Romanian television series endings 2000s Romanian television series Romanian reality television series Prima TV original programming