CBS.COM: THE ULTIMATE DESTINATION FOR "BIG BROTHER 6"

CBS's Official Website to Offer "Big Brother" Viewers a Wide Array of Bonus Features to Supplement and Enhance CBS's Three Weekly Broadcasts

For the First Time, A Head of Household Blog Will Provide Insight Into Life in the "Big Brother" House

Also New, The Head of Household Will Be Rewarded With a Digital Camera With Pictures Posted On CBS.com

CBS and RealNetworks Bring "Big Brother 6" to the Internet With 24/7 Live Video Channel For the Fifth Consecutive Year

"House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show" Returns For Its Second Season

Interactive "Big Brother Fantasy League" Offers Fans A Chance to Compete for Prizes

CBS.com, CBS's official website, will offer BIG BROTHER viewers a wide array of programming and bonus features this summer to supplement and enhance the Network's three weekly broadcasts, including for the first time a Head of Household Blog, in which a BIG BROTHER houseguest communicates directly to BIG BROTHER fans through CBS.com. BIG BROTHER 6 premieres on the CBS Television Network on Thursday, July 7 (8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT).

"This summer, CBS.com is going all out to provide BIG BROTHER fans the broadest and most exciting companion experience we've ever offered," said Larry Kramer, President, CBS Digital Media. "From the 24/7 live Internet feed to the new blog to the daily talk show, BIG BROTHER viewers will have unparalleled access to activities in the BIG BROTHER house and a new level of involvement with the show."

New to the BIG BROTHER Internet experience is the Head of Household Blog, where fans will be able to read first hand accounts from each week's Head of Household on life in the BIG BROTHER house and what it's like to be under the constant gaze of dozens of cameras and viewed live on the Internet.

CBS.com will also provide a digital camera to the Head of Household with the pictures to posted on CBS.com along with their Blog.

CBS.com also announced the return of two other popular features: HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW and the interactive BIG BROTHER Fantasy League.

Returning for its second season, HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW is a no-charge, half-hour, streaming video daily talk show about the summer reality series seen every Monday through Friday (1:00 PM/ET, 10:00 AM/PT) on CBS.com.

HOUSE CALLS is hosted by Marcellas Reynolds, a houseguest from "Big Brother 3," and Gretchen Massey, an on-air host of "The Gretchen Massey Show," which is broadcast Sunday nights on Infinity Radio's KLSX-FM Los Angeles. The two hosts interact with viewers through phone calls and e-mails, discuss events that transpire in the BIG BROTHER house, offer prognostications, analyze strategies and interview former BIG BROTHER houseguests as well as current houseguests following their eviction.

Also returning is the "BIG BROTHER Fantasy League" game where fans compete for prizes based on the events that transpire in the house.

The official BIG BROTHER website at CBS.com will also include detailed summaries of all the events that happen during each televised broadcast, a live 24/7 chat room, popularity and opinion polls, a virtual tour of the BIG BROTHER house, descriptions of the week's challenges, voting history pages, photo galleries and a houseguest section with complete profiles.

For the fifth consecutive season, CBS and RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), a global leader in network-delivered digital media, have joined forces to provide exclusive 24/7 live video channel from inside the BIG BROTHER 6 house. The webcast coverage debuts immediately following the premiere of BIG BROTHER 6 on July 7 (8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT), and will be accessible through the official BIG BROTHER 6 website at CBS.com and through the RealNetworks' Superpass™ subscription service website at www.real.com/bigbrother.

Subscribers to the 24/7 video stream can watch any one of four live camera feeds from inside the BIG BROTHER 6 house or catch all of the action at once with the special quad-cam view which allows fans to see four different video feeds simultaneously. Subscribers will also have access to an exclusive, subscribers-only web chat that will allow fans from across the country to converse about what they are seeing live on the feeds.

The entire three-month live 24/7 internet feed of BIG BROTHER 6 is available through RealNetworks' SuperPass subscription service, or fans may subscribe to receive the three-month broadcast for $29.99 or pay $12.99 per month with a free trial for everyone who signs up.

CBS/Endemol Entertainment will provide the content from the house, while RealNetworks' content delivery division, Real Broadcast Network, will deliver the 24/7 live streaming webcast feed.

To preserve the drama for BIG BROTHER 6 television viewers, CBS may block or delay the webcast for a limited number of real-time events that transpire in the house.

BIG BROTHER 6 will be broadcast three times a week on Tuesday (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), Thursday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) and Saturday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT).

Arnold Shapiro and Allison Grodner are the executive producers of BIG BROTHER 6 for Shapiro/Grodner Productions, in association with Endemol Entertainment.

About CBS.com
CBS.com, the official website of the CBS Television Network, has become the top web destination among all Network television websites. CBS.com has been the most trafficked website among its Entertainment competitors with more unique visitors every month for the past two years. With its proven success of intersecting traditional television with new media, CBS.com attracted a record high of more than 12 million unique visitors in May 2004 as a result of the "Survivor: All Stars" finale and online voting for America's Tribal Council. Home to the official websites for all CBS television series, CBS.com's notable sites include "Survivor," "CSI" and "CSI: Miami," "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" and "Late Show with David Letterman."

About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody® Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer® 10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.

CBS AND REALNETWORKS TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE 24/7 LIVE VIDEO CHANNEL OF “BIG BROTHER 6”

LOS ANGELES and SEATTLE, July 6, 2005 – CBS and RealNetworks®, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK), the leading creator of digital media services and software, today announced that they will offer an exclusive live video channel from the “Big Brother 6” house 24 hours a day that allows fans to watch houseguest activity in real time, much of which never appears on TV. The webcast, which premieres Thursday, July 7, immediately follows the East Coast broadcast of the show at 8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT and will be accessible through the official “Big Brother 6” website at www.CBS.com and through RealNetworks’ SuperPass™ subscription service website at www.real.com/bigbrother.

Fans can choose either a discounted three month subscription of $29.99 or a monthly subscription of $12.99 per month with a free trial for everyone who signs up. Subscribers to the 24/7 video stream can watch any one of four live camera feeds from inside the “Big Brother 6” house or catch all of the action at once with the special quad-cam view which allows fans to see four different video feeds simultaneously.

“‘The Big Brother 6’ live webcast with RealNetworks has become immensely popular as fans can check-in on the houseguests at anytime and see the action unfold,” said Brinley Turner, Vice President and General Manager, CBS.com. “Whether used as a companion to the prime time series or as live theatre in its own right, it’s a unique Internet experience that further connects the fan to the show.”

“Big Brother 6’ online demonstrates how the Internet and TV industries can work together to create a richer experience for consumers,” said Dan Sheeran, Senior Vice President, Premium Consumer Services, RealNetworks. “Online subscribers will enjoy ‘Big Brother 6’ on TV that much more by following the 24/7 action and connecting online with their fellow fans.”

“Big Brother 6” follows a group of people living together in a new house specially built for this edition and outfitted with 47 cameras and 78 microphones, the most in “Big Brother” history, recording their every move, 24 hours a day. One by one, the houseguests will vote each other out of the house. At the end of three months, the last remaining houseguest will receive the grand prize. In a new twist this year, each houseguest is paired with a secret partner from the outside world and the final houseguest will win $1,000,000, the biggest cash prize in “Big Brother” history, if they complete the game with their teammate. If the twosome does not make it to the final two, the winner will win $500,000.

“Big Brother” 24/7 is a member benefit of SuperPass which also includes news and entertainment video, free music downloads, free game downloads premium online radio with over 70 ad-free music stations, Real® PhotoVideo for sharing personal photos and video clips, and more.

To preserve the drama for “Big Brother 6” television viewers, CBS may block or delay the webcast for a limited number of real-time events that transpire in the house. Other components of the official “Big Brother 6” website will include detailed summaries of all the events that happen during each televised broadcast, a live 24/7 chat room, an interactive “Big Brother Fantasy League” game, popularity polls, opinion polls, a virtual tour of the “Big Brother” house, descriptions of the week’s challenges, voting history pages, photo galleries and a houseguest section with complete profiles.

ABOUT CBS.COM
CBS.com, the official website of the CBS Television Network, has become the top web destination among all Network television websites. CBS.com has been the most trafficked website among its Entertainment competitors with more unique visitors every month for the past two years. With its proven success of intersecting traditional television with new media, CBS.com attracted a record high of more than 12 million unique visitors in May 2004 as a result of the "Survivor: All Stars" finale and online voting for America's Tribal Council. Home to the official websites for all CBS television series, CBS.com's notable sites include "Survivor," "CSI" and "CSI: Miami," "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" and "Late Show with David Letterman."

ABOUT REALNETWORKS
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody® Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer®10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.

CBS REVEALS THE IDENTITIES OF THE 14 NEW HOUSEGUESTS COMPETING IN "BIG BROTHER 6"

Sixth Installment of Series Premieres on Thursday, July 7th on the CBS Television Network

All New "Big Brother 6" Twist Revealed

Houseguests Will Move into a Brand-New Home and Location

Julie Chen Returns as Host

CBS announced today the identities of the 14 houseguests who will compete in BIG BROTHER 6, as well as the new creative twist that will play out during the summer broadcasts.

This is the BIG BROTHER 6 Summer of Secrets. There are secrets in the house, secrets in the game, and this summer -- every houseguest has a secret.

For the first time, every houseguest will be entering the house and playing the game with a secret partner -- someone they know from the outside world. Friends, co-workers and significant others will play the Big Brother game as secret duos. The twist is that each secret team believes that they are the only pair in the house (pairings will be revealed to TV viewers during the first live broadcast on July 14). Each twosome knows that if they can keep their secret and end up being the last two people in the house, the winner will win $1,000,000, the biggest cash prize in Big Brother history, with the second place finisher winning $250,000. If a twosome does not make it to the final two, the winner will win $500,000.

"Big Brother" follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with dozens of cameras and microphones recording their every move 24 hours a day. One by one, the houseguests will vote each other out of the house. At the end of three months, the last remaining houseguest will receive the grand prize.

This season, houseguests will move into a brand-new two-story home, including a built-in pool and Jacuzzi in the backyard. Like the contestants that will inhabit it, the new house is also full of secrets and surprises that will be unveiled throughout the summer.

BIG BROTHER 6 debuts on Thursday, July 7 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Following the premiere, BIG BROTHER 6 will be broadcast each week on Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), Thursdays (8:00-9:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) and Saturdays (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT). The Thursday broadcast, hosted by Julie Chen, will feature the live eviction of one of the houseguests.

Following are the 14 houseguests, listed across in alphabetical order, who will compete in BIG BROTHER 6:

Maggie Ausburn, 26
Las Vegas, NV
Single
Emergency Room Nurse

Beau Beasley, 25
Pembroke Pines, FL
Single
Personal Shopper

Ivette Corredero, 25
Miami Beach, FL
Single
Waitress

Michael Donnellan, 28
Orange County, CA
Single
Artist

Ashlea Evans, 22
Plantation, FL
Single
Fashion Design Student

Howie Gordon, 34
Chicago, IL
Single
Meteorology Student

Sarah Hrejsa, 22
Chicago, IL
Single
Retail Manager

April Lewis, 30
Dallas, TX
Newlywed
Pharmaceutical Sales Rep.

Eric Littmann, 36
Boston, MA
Married Dad
Firefighter

Janelle Pierzina, 25
Miami Beach, FL
Single
VIP Cocktail Waitress

Rachel Plencner, 33
Parker, CO
Single
Horse Breeder

James Rhine, 29
Atlanta, GA
Single
Loss Prevention Manager

Kaysar Ridha, 24
Irvine, CA
Single
Graphic Designer

Jennifer Vasquez, 27
Plano, TX
Single
Arena Football League Dancer

BIG BROTHER 6 is produced by Arnold Shapiro & Allison Grodner Productions, in association with Endemol U.S.A.

Big Brother has been our Guilty Pleasure Of Summer since it started in 2000. What we enjoy so much more than the packaged shows that CBS airs is the live Internet feeds. It allows anyone with a Real Networks player to watch up to 4 different feeds live from the house 24/7... or thereabouts. The voyeur aspect of the feeds is unbelievable. Depending on who is up and what is going on, Carol and I could watch the house for hours. This year's crop of people weren't too bad, though they weren't the best we've seen over the years. We so addicted, we have a computer connected to our Sony 27" TV so we can watch with ease - the audio going out through the stereo system.

Anyway, it's over for the year. The winner this year - Drew Daniel of Urbana, Ohio gets over Michael "Cowboy" Ellis of Durant, Oklahoma.

Then, my favorite multiple-award-winning reality show - The Amazing Race - ended tonight as well. Tonight's show seemed like it was the most physical legs at the end of a race since the show started. Anyway, due to fog and luck, Chip & Kim McAllister wound up as the winners on The Amazing Bathmat in Dallas.

Fortunately, Amazing Race 6 will be starting in just a few weeks!

After a very stupid "Dumb and Dumber" POV meeting earlier in the week, where Jase won POV and took himself off, the nominees are now Marvin and Scott. In the strategically correct move, Scott is voted out 4-3.

The main event of the show, however, was the Twin Twist. (Wanna see the segment? I have a copy of it here as a DIVX AVI - be warned it's 36Mb)

With all of the houseguests in the living room, Julie Chen asked Diane a question: How many houseguests have played the game this year? Diane answers 13 and Julie tells here that the answer is incorrect - there have been 14. Everybody looks confused and Julie continues to remind the houseguests that the them this year is "Do Not Assume" and that one of the housemates has been playing the game with their identical twin. Drew and Diane, who both have twins, seem to be saying it's not them. Cowboy blurts out "It's Holly." (WTF? As a side note, the houseguests for the next couple of days, continue to talk about Holly and her "twin" and about the numerous times when she changed the way she acted while in the house. I have no freaking idea where this came from...) Even after Julie says that the twins have actually changed places 10 times, Cowboy is still convinced it's Holly. Throughout this, Adria is looking as confused as everyone else. Julie tells the group that the twins' goal was not to be discovered or evicted for 5 weeks. Tonight, they have reached their goal. Now the houseguests are thinking through this. Jase thinks that Scott has a twin (but, of course, that wouldn't fit with what Julie just said).

Natalie walks into the house through the Diary Room door and place goes nuts (It turns out Adria never talked about being an identical twin). What is most priceless is the look on Jase's face - he had just lost Scott, so his alliance was short one key person, and now another person enters the game - and they're not on Jase's side. You could just see how screwed he knew he was.

Anyway, HOH competition nets Jennifer as the winner, just about sealing Jase's fate in the house.

The winner of the reality show's annual you-get-to-leave-the-house-for-a-while challenge will step out of the "Big Brother" set and onto the set of "The Young and The Restless," CBS' long-running daytime serial. The contestant will share a scene in the Genoa City Athletic Club with "Y&R" stars Michelle Stafford and Christian LeBlanc.

Clip show - nothing earth shattering if you watch the live feeds. They are so screwed this week for food. Imagine one whole week of just: Milk, yogurt, sausage, bacon, and seafood. That's it. You're probably better off on PB&J.

Marvin nominated Lori & Holly for eviction. That may change with the POV.

In a unanimous vote, Mike is the first person evicted from the Big Brother 5 house. After playing a Majority Rules game, Marvin becomes the new HOH.

Well, we now know the new twist: Yes, Adria has a twin Natalie. Since Day Two, they have been trading places inside the house, playing as one person - Adria. Their 4th trade was shown live during tonight's show. The twin outside the house is also sequestered from the outside world, but does not see what's happening in the house. The Twist? If no one finds out by Week 5, both twins can play the game as individuals at the same time, thus earning the twin the right to go after the money.

Nothing really new in the house. Mike and Jennifer are still nominated for eviction. Scott wins Power of Veto (POV) and leaves the nominations as they are.

I've been watching the live feeds on and off lately. I have to say that I'm loving this group of people. They actually talk about things, want to stay active instead of taking afternoon naps.

It sound like there was some twin swapping over the weekend - Adria accidentally referred to herself as Natalie, her sister's name. Then, a diligent live feed capturer over at TV Clubhouse actually got a screen grab of the two of them together in the Diary Room. So I guess it's safe to say that at least one set of twins have been playing in the house... Take a look at the pictures of them at their website, The Fitness Twins!

Normally a Thursday live show, but it's all clips today since the houseguests have actually been in the house since the 30th of June. The houseguests won a Margarita building challenge to get their hottub unlocked. Yea. Project DNA unravels a little bit as Michael figures-out that Jennifer (aka Nokomis) is his half-sister, and proceeds to tell his posse before her tells her. It all goes down in a meeting that they call for the whole house in the living room, after which Big Brother calls the newly-found half siblings to the diary room to receive letters from their biological father, which they read to the house. It's interesting that there are people in the house that, even after the letters, don't believe the event at all.

In the first Nomination Ceremony of the season, HOH Jase nominates Mike and Jennifer.

A new crop of hamsters are back in the house! I can't talk much about the show, because I haven't formed any opinions yet. Well, that's not true. Lori made a stupid move by taking $10,000 cash and forcing the house to eat peanut butter & jelly in the very first challenge. Bad move. Oh, and Holly? Ditzy! She should go soon so we don't have to listen to her...

The house was also shown on Entertainment Tonight. The house layout is identical to all of the years prior, just re-vamped. The three bedrooms have themes: The Wood Room has 3 single beds (it's the open area near the Diary Room), The Cloud Room has 2 double beds and windows that open-up into the Wood Room., but the windows are actually liquid crystal and can be "glazed" just by flipping a switch. The last bedroom is the Cement Bedroom. Yes, everything is made of concrete, including the beds which have only a thin camping mattress pad on them! (It sleeps 4). This is the bedroom next to the bathroom, which looks the same.

The dining room looks the same. Between the dining room and living room, where there used to be bar stools and a ledge is now a fish tank. Actually, it's a shark tank as there's a few baby sharks in there. The living room couches are of course different, much squarer, with two green pieces for the nominees to sit in.

The Kitchen is larger, now with an island with chairs, a full size side-by-side refrigerator with ice & water dispenser, and it looks like multiple ovens.

The door to the backyard has been replaced with a sliding patio door. and it's further down as the kitchen is actually a bit bigger due to the new appliances).

The backyard still has the pool but has lost the basketball court. In it's place is a putting green. There's also two hammocks instead of one and a kick boxing station.

Now, the cast:

• Name: Adria Okins
  
  Age: 30
  
  Occupation: Web Designer
  
  Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.
• Name: Lori Valenti
  
  Age: 26
  
  Occupation: Yoga Instructor
  
  Hometown: Boston
• Name: Karen O'Neil Ganci
  
  Age: 30
  
  Occupation: Portrait Artist
  
  Hometown: Saddle Brook, N.J.
• Name: Jennifer Dedmon
  
  Age: 21
  
  Occupation: Restaurant Hostess
  
  Hometown: San Antonio
• Name: Diane Henry
  
  Age: 22
  
  Occupation: Cocktail Waitress
  
  Hometown: Burlington, Ky.
• Name: Holly King
  
  Age: Get a load of this - CBS is releasing her age as "in her 20s"
  
  Occupation: Model
  
  Hometown: Los Angeles
• Name: Scott Long
  
  Age: 26
  
  Occupation: Sales Representative
  
  Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Name: Drew Daniel
  
  Age: 22
  
  Occupation: Recent College Graduate
  
  Hometown: Urbana, Ohio
• Name: Michael Ellis
  
  Age: 23
  
  Occupation: Security Officer
  
  Hometown: Durant, Okla.
• Name: Marvin Latimer
  
  Age: 36
  
  Occupation: Mortician
  
  Hometown: Conway, S.C.
• Name: Mike Lubinski
  
  Age: 41
  
  Occupation: Commercial Painter
  
  Hometown: Eastpointe, Mich.
• Name: Will Wikle
  
  Age: 26
  
  Occupation: Registered Nurse
  
  Hometown: Tupelo, Miss.
• Name: Jase Wirey
  
  Age: 28
  
  Occupation: Volunteer Firefighter
  
  Hometown: Decatur, Ill.

HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW, a half-hour, streaming video daily talk show, will debut Wednesday, July 7 on CBS.com, one day after the fifth installment of BIG BROTHER premieres on CBS.

HOUSE CALLS, hosted by Marcellas Reynolds, a houseguest on "Big Brother 3," and Gretchen Massey, an on-air host on Infinity Radio's KLSX Los Angeles, will interact with viewers though phone calls and e-mails, discuss events that transpire in the Big Brother house, offer prognostications, analyze strategies, interview former "Big Brother" houseguests as well as current houseguests following their eviction.

HOUSE CALLS is believed to be the first live Internet talk show produced exclusively for a television network.

HOUSE CALLS will be broadcast live Monday through Friday (1:00 PM/ET, 10:00 AM/PT). The call in phone number is 323-CBS-1000.

"BIG BROTHER has been the model for convergence between the Internet and television and this innovative programming takes it one step further," said David Katz, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Interactive Ventures, CBS Television. "HOUSE CALLS will be another avenue for 'Big Brother's' loyal fans to offer opinions and dialog. This really puts the chat back into chat rooms."

HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW will be produced by Eye Net Works, a division of CBS.com.

I'm not watching the live feeds - they're not available outside the UK. Instead, I've been watching the broadcast shows. It's so popular there that there are shows every day of the week, the eviction show is live with a huge live audience (actually, it's just outside the house), one of the digital channels over there (E4) actually broadcasts the live feeds. To top this off, there's also a second show (Big Brother's Little Brother) that's aired almost daily. It's ridiculous.

Anyway, speaking of ridiculous, something historic (soft of) happened. It all started when 2 houseguests were removed from the house in what was thought to be an eviction. Instead, they just went into another room inside the house, where they lived for about 4 days, watching live feeds of their housemates. They were put back into the house (it's a long story on how... you could always go to the website and read about it), but a food fight erupted. That escalated into an honest to God fight, where the houseguests trashed the house. The staff had to call security into the house to restore the peace, and viewers called the police to help out. It was tense and intriguing to watch... too bad it was so hard to understand the diverse amount of heavy accents...

Here it is, the final episode of the season. The first segment is about Alison and Jun in the house alone, and how they're feeling after the final eviction. Then we see the jury amd Robert joined then while they were at CBS (aw, no Jury House for Robert). There's a lot of discussion on how the finalists played. This past weekend, the Jury asked a question of each finalist. (The girls were upset that they couldn't see the Jury during the Q&A.) The questions were tough and pointed. The girls twisted and squirmed in their chairs. The jusry didn't feel some of the answers were good, or even accurate or pertinent at times. Then we see the actual voting process - putting the keys of the winner into the box. After the votes were cast, the jury was sequestered again and shown the complete season of the show. (Prior to this, they never saw any Diary Room footage or any footage of private conversations talking about other people). Then, everyone (Jury and others) came together and confronted each other on their issues in the house as a "round table discussion". All of them are shown live with Julie Chen in her little studio outside the house. They pack up, walk across the bridge and go into the house to meet Jun & Ali, who look extremely nervous about having everyone back in the house. Each of the houseguests reveal their votes - Jun wins 6-1. Jun's boyfriend Bob is waiting for her outside the house, while Alison's parents are waiting for her. Everyone leaves the house. Julie interviews the girls, and they are not surprised that they were not congratulated by the jury after the votes were over. Alison gets a message from Donnie... but it's hard to say if it's positive. Julie and all the houseguests (minus Scott, of course, as he is an un-person to the show) say goodbye from the front of the house. The last shot is of the mime eating cookies and milk on the couch inside the house watching the show on the plasma screen...

And so ends Big Brother 4. Though it appears to be a ratings winner this year, I didn't feel the same about the show. In fact, toward the end, based on how the game was played and who was still left in the house, I was disappointed. Oh well, I guess we'll have Big Brother 5 next July...

We know that Alison won Round One of the HOH competition. We know that Jun won Round Two. We see how the Final 3 are coping with stress during the game (or not). We see how Robert threatens the girls with failure if he is not taken to the Final 2. We are treated to stories from family about how the Final 3 are playing the game The Final Round of the HOH competition is between Jun & Alison and they must guess what their ex's said about them (on tape from the Jury House) on eight questions, and then after a 4-4 tie, on to a tie breaker on how many days did they date their ex's. Alison answers 0, Jun answers 1 Million and Alison wins (Funny! Like they planned it!). We see Erika enter the Jury House (nice place) - in the same clothes she was evicted in. So Alison, in no surprise move, kicked Robert's ass out of the house.

Imagine the last three houseguests alone in the house. With a mime. For three hours. Lets just say that Ali has issues. Anyway, Robert wins a luxury competition to view a movie in the newly renovated media room (the old Desert bedroom) with a guest. Robert chose Ali. The movie is Runaway Jury (with John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman) which won't be out until next month! And they will be going to the Premiere at the Kodak theater! But for now, they're watching the movie before the public release tonight. While they were in the Desert Room watching the movie, the mime came back (and scared the hell out of Jun who was in the house "alone") and kept Jun company for an hour, while torturing Ali's stuffed animals. He left before the movie ended.

Well, we see stories about Robert and the women, the first 3 evicted houseguests (Amanda, Michelle, and David), we see Jee arrive at the Jury House (and Dana, even though she's screwing Justin every night (or so we think) STILL looks pissed-off), and we see Alison use the Power of Veto as she takes herself off of nomination for the third time, automatically putting Erika up as a nomination for eviction. As Erika sits down in the orange chair we see a commercial about applications are now being accepted for Big Brother 5. After the break, we see Alison tearfully evict Erika live to her face. DAMN. I didn't want to see that happen. Eventually, it's time for the final Head of Household competition. It's going to be in three parts (The first is tonight, with the winner going to Part 3. Part 2 is probably tomorrow, with the winner going to part 3. The two people in Part 3 battle to win the final HOH). Anyway, just as last year, this will be an endurance challenge where you must hold onto your key. This time, the remaining houseguests are standing on little houses. Not a big deal... for a little while. Then a snow machine kicks-in over the wall, throwing "snow" (or more likely shaved ice) onto the houseguests. Apparently it's coming down in chunks, some larger than your fist and it hurts. The show ends and we are left to find out the results by watching the live feeds on the internet.
Update: Well, this didn't last long - only about an hour and a half. First out was Jun, followed quickly by Robert. Alison wins the first part of the final HOH challenge.

It's Day 61 in the Big Brother House and oh, what a twisted game this has been... We saw an entire segment on how Robert lies. We saw a segment from the Jury House where we got TOO MUCH INFORMATION about Justin & Dana - <shudder>. Then we had a live Veto Ceremony where Alison uses the Veto on herself, so Jun puts up Robert in her place, all of which doesn't matter at Jee gets voted-off 2-0. In his goodbye message to Jee, Robert says "I'll do it for the Dream Team". Ugh. We found out that the last night of the show is now September 24. It got moved-up because CBS ordered a few more shows and so far the houseguests don't know that they will be in the house a little longer than they thought. Late this afternoon while I had the live feeds on, I saw aa little goof. The crew didn't go to the "Front of the House" camera (and play that godforsaken them music over and over) during a rehersal for tonight (yes, they actually reherse the live show). They had the camera on in the empty "Desert Room" and the producer was giving instructions to the houseguests over the house P.A. (I didn't get the good parts, but I did get a short piece here as an MP3). I found out that the housegusests, after the eviction, were put into the old Desert Room so the crew could setup the living room for the HOH challenge. So, they do the HOH challenge tonight, which is guessing the answers of questions that were given to the Jury House guests. Erika and Robert tie. The tie breaker question is a math question, with the winner being closest without going over. The question: from the time the exes entered the house until now, how many hours have you been in the house? Erika answers 1440, Robert answers 800. Correct answer: 1434. Erika is over by 6 hours so Robert gets HOH for the week. Crap.

Would you believe Big Brother 1's runner up Josh Souza!!!

Here's the proof!!!

Yes, another twist in the show. First, during the live eviction voting, Jack was evicted on a 2-1 vote, against HOH Jee's wishes. Over the course of the past day or two, the crew have been removing items out of the house. The HOH competition was a quiz to identify the items. Jun won it. Julie Chen, after a commercial break, calls Jun to the Diary Room to tell her that there's a limo outside and she's leaving the house. her only question was where? She's going to New York to be a guest at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City! Jun puts on a blindfold and leaves, with her housemates on the couch waiting for her. And waiting... and waiting...

Update: Sure enough, there's Jun on the Red Carpet during the VMA pe-show being interviewed by Gideon. She was also in "the Pit" for the whole show.

So who instructed the Housegusests on what to do with the gnomes? Who else - Marcellas Reynolds from Big Brother 3! Here's an MP3 of his instructions to the Houseguests!

Oh, who won? Same person that won HOH and POV also won this food challenge.

Bastard.

In a not too startling event, Justin is voted out of the house. In what was more startling to me was watching a segment on the Jury House where Dana has been staying. Holy crap this is a gorgeous place! It's not on the CBS lot as we had originally heard. Jee won the HOH competition tonight, which was a bocce ball/skee-ball event, and just about sealed the fate of either Jack or Erika.

At the end of the show, Julie Chen made this announcement to the houseguests and left them hanging:

"Well everyone, we told you from the very beginning you should never get too comfortable in the Big Brother house. Remember that our motto is 'Expect The Unexpected'. And everyone should know that the unexpected begins tomorrow. Goodnight houseguests."

What is it? How about isolating each houseguest to a room? How about "selling" Power of Veto to a houseguest? The stakes? How about PB&J for everyone else for a week? Two weeks? A month? How about geting POV before the nominations are made? How about an HOH taking the deal?

First, I'm sure you already have these feeds, but in case you don't, here are 5 broadband feeds that wont time-out after 30 minutes (because they're not feeds from CBS!)...

• Feed 1
• Feed 2
• Feed 3
• Feed 4
• Quad

Wakeup calls

• Good Morning Houseguests - it's time to get up for the day - 1
• Good Morning Houseguests - it's time to get up for the day - 2
• Robert - I SAID, IT'S TIME TO GET UP FOR THE DAY!

Diary Room

• Alison - please go to the Diary Room
• Erika - please go to the Diary Room - 1
• Erika - please go to the Diary Room - 2
• Jack - please go to the Diary Room - 1
• Jack - please go to the Diary Room -2
• Jun - please go to the Diary Room

Miscellaneous

• Thank you - 1
• Thank you - 2
• ...guests - Eviction Voting will begin in one hour (for some reason, the word "Houseguests got clipped when played)
• Houseguests - The lockdown is over. Please lift the solid outside shades.
• Jun - Please remove the protective window covers. (Those are screens that cover the windows by the basketball court to protect the glass from errant shots)

Well, I was at a baseball game tonight, but I had purchased a new Sony Walkman that has a TV band, so I listened to the show from my seat (trust me - it was more entertaining than watching the ball game). The twist for tonight is that the Eviction Voting (which is usually done in the house sometime on Tuesday) was done live on the show (with houseguests going into the Diary Room and casting their votes). Nathan was voted out 5-0. Then came the Head of Household competition - the "Steel Cage Match". It's a little convoluted, but basically it's an endurance challenge - stand in a cage with your housemates and be the last one standing. No food, no drink, no sleep. This started around 10 minutes before the hour (that would be about 6:50 BBT - Big Brother Time, which would be Pacific Time). The show ends, so to follow the competition, you had to go online and watch the live feeds.
Update: What did you miss? Well, around 10:17 BBT Jun finally can't take it anymore and asks Jack for his shirt which she wraps around her waist to cover her butt as she pulls down her pants to pee. Yes, she peed live on the web. At around 11:17 BBT Alison borrows Jacks shirt and pees as well. Ew. Just a few minutes later, Robert leaves the cage, says he has a migraine, goes inside and starts swearing about Jack being ready to fall and in general being his normal pissy self (if you ever watched the live feeds, you know what I'm talking about). At 11:35 BBT Jun leaves the cage. Not sure why. Now comes a lot of negotiating and strategizing with those people left in the cage. At 1:19AM BBT Jack leaves the cage, followed just 4 minutes later by Jee, and one minute later Alison leaves. Erika is the last in the cage and wins HOH.

This week was pretty bad for the houseguests. First, half of them are on a PB&J diet. Then Dana gets nominated for eviction, becomes the ice queen psycho bitch of the house who seems to be re-writing history. I think everyone knew she needed to go. Then the "3 Stooges" (Jee, Robert and Justin) are feeling pretty good after Justin wins the Head Of Household for the week.

The house is in chaos. They don't like what Nathan did this week. Dana nominated Alison and Jack for eviction. Nathan, who has become very close to Alison, won the Power of Veto and removed her from nomination, forcing Dana (who Jack says in tonight's show has "her brains in her panties" and "has as much sex appeal as a buzzard's crotch" (!)) to put up David. Alison and Nathan realize that they have become the target of the house, and practice non-stop to try to win the Head of Household competition. It's obvious that everyone likes David, but he's a really strong player. By a vote of 5-2, David is evicted from the house. Then, in Dana's own nightmare realized, Alison wins Head of Household. The only thing I feel is good about that is I think she'll get rid of people I don't like. God, these people are young.

Tonight, an awful lot of talk about how hot Nathan is, and then how hot Michelle is.

Then a Food Challenge: teams of two must put enough potatoes into a drum to be within 25 pounds of the partner's weight to win a food category. So, for the week, they won Snacks/Desserts(Scott/Amanda) - 18lbs off, Breads/Pastas/Cereals(Jee/Dana) - 23lbs off, and Beer/Wine/Soft Drinks/Juices(Justin/Alison) - 24lbs off. They're not going to have any Dairy (Jack/Jun) - 31lbs off, Meats/Poultry/Seafood(David/Michelle) - 38lbs off or Fruits/Vegetables(Robert/Erika) - 40lbs off.

I'm not happy with a LOT of people in this house - most of them are coming across as too "young". Anyway, Nathan nominates Amanda and Jee.

Well, the next edition of Big Brother has started. The house is still the same house, but redecorated. Much more colorful. No real feelings for the houseguests. They won their first food challenge. CBS got the reaction they had hoped when the 5 exes entered the house. An awful lot of people freaked over the situation. Should be interesting, but I'm not sure it's something I want to watch. We'll see.

Oh, here are the exes...

• Amanda Craig - Scott's Ex - 25, Bar Manager, Chicago, IL
• Jee Choe - Jun's Ex - 23, Bookkeeper, Elmhurst, NY
• Justin Giovinco - Alison's Ex - 22, Headhunter, Pittsburgh, PA
• Michelle Maradie - David's Ex - 19, College Student, Boca Raton, FL
• Robert Roman - Erika's Ex - 33, Restaurant Manager, Los Angeles, CA

Lets see what kind of crop we have...

• Alison Irwin - 22, Retail Manager from pittsburgh, PA. Her personal hero is Britney Spears, her favorite actress is Cameron Diaz, and she has a cat named "Meow Meow". Oh boy...
• Brandon Showalter - 28, Computer Engineer from Newport Beach, CA. His personal hero is The Rock, and his favorite TV shows are Jackass and Punk'd.
• Dana Varela - 28, Karate School Manager from Queens, NY.
• David Lane - 21, a former Army Ranger from Deerfield Beach, FL. His personal hero is Fred Flintstone.
• Erika Landin - 33, Pilates Instructor from Los Angeles, CA. Must be a transplant since her favorite sports teams are the Cubs, Bears, and Bulls.
• Jack Owens Jr. - 58, retired FBI Agent from Birmingham, AL, divorced.
• Jun Song - 27, Investment Manager from new York, NY. Her favorite outdoor activity is Laying out in Central Park.
• Nathan Marlow - 23, Personal Trainer from Edmond, OK. He's going to miss The O'Reilly Factor.
• Scott Weintraub - 33, a Waiter from Chicago, IL (oh, oh...). He's from Chicago but his favorite team is the Knicks? His favorite magazines are Slam, Playboy, and Penthouse, his favorite movie is Old School and he likes rap.

On this next edition of Big Brother, there will be 13 houseguests instead of 12. Of the 13, only 9 are "total strangers".

Huh?

Well, there is going to be 4 houseguests that are "exes" - former spouses, ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends of other houseguests. They may have parted on good terms or not. The exes were recruited after the 9 houseguests were cast. The houseguests all enter the house on July 4th, though the first airing of the show isn't until July 8 (this is pretty typical for the show - gives them time to edit things together before the scheduled air date), and they were sequestered on June 29. The house is - allegedly - newly constructed on the same lot as the old house.

Another possible twist - according to a rumor, only seven houseguests would vote for the winner and they would be sequestered after being evicted from the house. In fact, according to reports, they will be put into a second house where they will still be taped, and some of that footage will be added to the show. However, they will only be allowed to see selected portions of the show, and nothing from the Diary Room, so they cannot change their minds based on what they see there. (Sounds like that big Danielle backlash from last year got to the producers).

In another case of backlash, no one will be brought back after getting booted out (like Amy last year).

There are no houseguests that are married this time around, and they have the youngest and oldest houseguests to date (19 and 59).

Other rumors - The U.S. version will be seen in the U.K. (Why? Their ratings are down this year, why broadcast another version, unless their's is so boring? The U.K. version is also in the middle of something very cool - they're swapping one of their houseguests with one from Big Brother Africa, which is a huge ratings winner on that continent, as well as igniting a new understanding of the people of its many countries.)

Oh, and Real.com picked-up the live internet feeds again for this season.

Let's see how much of this is true next week...