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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 1, 2007.[1] Julie Chen returned for this season as host. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan are 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 aired three times a week; Sundays at 8 p.m. (EDT / PDT), Tuesdays at 9 p.m., and Thursdays, which was broadcast live, at 8 p.m.
CBS's cable/satellite premium network Showtime Too carried a spin-off of the series called Big Brother: After Dark, which aired nightly from 12 midnight—3 a.m. (EDT / PDT). The show was live for the viewers on the East coast, however viewers on the West coast viewed it on a broadcast delay. This program featured house activity happening between the local hours of 9 p.m.-12 midnight in the House, and was edited only for slanderous statements and music copyrights.[2]
Winner Dick, and Runner-Up Daniele returned to compete in Big Brother 13, where they placed 14th and 8th respectively.
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Former HouseGuest and presenter of the online talk show, House Calls, Marcellas Reynolds, did not return to host the daytime chat show after CBS announced budget cuts, although his co-presenter, Gretchen Massey, continued as host of the program. The program was broadcast live at CBS.com every weekday at 1 p.m. (EDT), where viewers would call in with questions and discussion about the show. On Fridays, the evicted HouseGuest would appear on the show.
Beginning with Amber's eviction, CBS would not allow HouseGuests who were on the Jury to be interviewed by House Calls[3] or the media[4] until the end of the show. Big Brother and CBS issued a statement addressing the situation:
We have made jury members of Big Brother available to the press the past few seasons always with the proviso that their questions not inform the ejected HouseGuest of influences outside his or her personal experience in the House. This season several cast members have made either offensive statements or exhibited controversial behavior, we respect journalist interests and rights to pose questions about these statements but believe at the same time doing so could provide information that influences the final vote and potential outcome of this twelve week competition. For that reason the remaining jurors will not be made available to the media for the duration of the program. They will be made available to the press after the Big Brother finale on September 18.[3][4]
The HouseGuests compete for a top 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. Most of the time the prizes were given out during Veto competitions or Luxury competitions.
In week two, during the second Power of Veto competition, Dick won a plasma TV.[5] On Day 23, during the fourth Power of Veto competition, Dustin won $5,000 and a trip for two to Barbados. On Day 30, during the fifth Power of Veto competition, a prize of $10,000 was offered to anyone who would step down from the competition, but no one did. On Day 44, during the sixth Power of Veto competition, Daniele and Amber won a secret trip outside the House, which was later revealed to them that it was to New York City to compete on the CBS game show Power of Ten; Amber won $1,000, and Daniele did not win any money. On Day 50, during the first Luxury competition, Amber, Daniele, Jameka, and Jessica won a two-minute shopping spree of designer clothes inside the House. In the HoH competition on Day 62, a prize was rewarded to whoever could fill a jar the fastest with tea. The prize was a three-minute phone call home. Eric won this prize, but chose to give it to Jessica, who chose to call her brother.
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.[6] 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.[7][8] 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 second 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.[8][9]
On eviction night, all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees vote to evict one of the two nominees.[8] 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.[10] Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely.[8] 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.[10] HouseGuests may voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who break the rules may be expelled from the house by Big Brother.[11][12] The final seven HouseGests 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.[13]
House pictures were released on June 27, 2007. The house has an Alice in Wonderland theme and contains an over sized bedroom and a small bedroom. The small bedroom features a very small doorway and five beds which are only five feet long, while the over sized bedroom features shoulder-height beds and enormous drawers which need a ladder to reach. A third bedroom is decorated all in red, and two large, round beds sit in the center of the room. The walkway to the Head of Household room is a modernist inspired enchanted forest.[14] The living room features several colored mirrors, varying in shape and size. The living room is connected to the kitchen, which is connected to the HoH stairway and a hallway. There is one door in the hallway, which features a gym available to the Houseguest. The hallway then leads to the bathroom, which features a lavish blue wall, and a shower which features a lion-shaped water spout.[14]
The backyard contains animal-shaped topiaries, flowers, a swimming pool, and a spinning teacup, which the Houseguest can sit in. As revealed during the "Majority Rules" competition, the teacup holds nine gallons of water, which the Houseguest place their feet in. Workout equipment can also be found outside. There are also multiple lawn chairs that the Houseguest may use to lay out in the sun. There is also a large couch under a roof by the sliding glass door that the Houseguest may use in case of rain.
On the first night, eleven new Houseguest entered the house. After getting to know one another, they learned that three other Houseguest were already in the House. It was then revealed to the public that Dick, Dustin, and Jessica watched the eleven HouseGuests via the spy screen in the HoH bedroom. The three Houseguest were hidden upstairs because they were part of the special twist this season, which pitted three groups of 'enemies' against one another. It was revealed that Dick & Daniele were an estranged father and daughter, Dustin & Joe were ex-boyfriends, and Jessica & Carol were ex-best friends. The eleven Houseguest then paired off for their first Head of Household competition. The pairs were Carol and Amber, Daniele and Mike, Zack and Jen, Jameka and Joe, and Kail and Eric. As there was an odd number of Houseguest competing, one of them had to sit out, in which Nick decided to do. The Head of Household competition, called "Mushroom Madness", saw the pairs split into the "riders" and the "sitters". The riders rode a spinning mushroom while the sitters sat and answer a series of true-or-false questions. For every wrong answer, that team's mushroom will spin faster and if a player fell off, that team would be eliminated. After Joe fell off of his mushroom, Kail and Eric were the winners of the competition. The eleven then learned that the three Houseguest upstairs could not be nominated in the first week, as they did not compete for the title of HoH. They also learned that the three upstairs would pick who became the first Head of Household, Eric or Kail. The group decided that since Kail had been the one to ride the mushroom, she should have HoH. After the competition, the eleven went inside, and the other three Houseguest were finally introduced. At the end of the first episode, another twist of the season was revealed. Eric was revealed to be America's Player, who will do the bidding of viewers who've voted on tasks via text message or through CBS.com.
On Day 3, the Houseguest competed for food. The competition, called "Butter Me Up", saw the House split into the red and blue teams. The red team consisted of Amber, Carol, Dick, Dustin, Jen, and Mike while the blue team had Daniele, Eric, Jameka, Jessica, Joe, Nick, and Zach. Each team had to pour butter on themselves with a giant butter dispenser and transfer it across a red carpet and into a box of popcorn. The team with the heaviest box of popcorn would win food for the week, while the losing team were restricted to slop. The red team collected 77 pounds over the blue team's 37 pounds and won food for the week. On Day 5, Kail nominated Amber and Carol for eviction, after her alliance of Zach, Nick and Mike gave her the idea. The decision was based on the fact that Amber and Carol were the first team eliminated from the Head of Household competition. On Day 7, the House competed for the Power of Veto. Kail, as HoH, and Amber and Carol, as the nominees, automatically got to play for the power. During the random draw, Kail got "Houseguest Choice", and picked Daniele, Carol drew Nick's name, and Amber drew Jameka. During the competition, called "Hide and Seek Veto", players had one minute to hide a veto box inside the Big Brother house. When all six veto boxes were hidden, one by one, the players had a time limit to find another player's veto box. The player whose veto box was not found would win the Power of Veto. When it came down to Kail and Daniele, Daniele found Kail's Veto box, making Daniele the winner of the first Power of Veto competition. Meanwhile, Jen was beginning to get on her fellow Houseguest nerves, leading to her having confrontations with Dick and Nick. Despite Daniele considering using the Veto to backdoor Jen, on Day 9 Daniele chose to leave the nominations intact. On Day 12, Carol was evicted by a vote of 10 to 1, only receiving the vote of Jen.
On Day 12, Jen won the Head of Household competition "Majority Rules" in which players were asked a series of questions about which of two HouseGuests would adhere to certain situations. The object was not to base the answer on personal opinions, but how they thought the majority would answer. The minority of the voters were eliminated each round. If there was a tie, no one would be eliminated. Dustin, Eric, Jen, and Joe exhausted to the tie-breaker round, where Jen won with the closest number.[15] The following day, the House competed for food in the "Name That Pie" competition. HouseGuests split into the red and blue teams. The red team consisted of Amber, Daniele, Jameka, Jessica, Joe, and Kail while the blue team had Dick, Dustin, Eric, Mike, Nick and Zach. Each team bid how many bites it would take to identify the two ingredients in a pie. The ingredients ranged from blueberry to tofu. If a player correctly identified the pie, they win a point for the team, but if they were unable to identify the pie, they would win a point for the opposing team. When the score became six to six, the blue team got the final point and won food for the week. On Day 14, Jen nominated Daniele and Dick for eviction, deeming them as the most negative people in the House. On Day 15, the Houseguest competed for the Power of Veto. During the random drawing, Amber, Mike and Joe were chosen to play for the power. During the competition, called "Cutthroat Christmas", players had to slide a curling stone down an icy path toward a red line. Each round, the least accurate slider would be eliminated from the game and choose a present from under a giant Christmas tree. The last player standing got the pick of the prizes won. Daniele won the Power of Veto, Amber won a chance to be handcuffed to another HouseGuest, Dick won a plasma TV, Mike won a date with another HouseGuest, Jen won a red unitard, and Joe won a slop pass. On Day 17, Daniele used the Veto on herself, and Jen put Joe up in her place. On Day 20, Joe was evicted by a vote of 9 to 1, only receiving the vote of Kail.
On Day 20, Dick won the Head of Household competition Getting Schooled, in which players were asked a series of true-or-false questions in subjects like geography, math, and history that pertained to the Big Brother house and game. A wrong answer resulted in elimination, unless everyone got the question wrong. In a tie-breaker between Daniele, Dick, and Mike, Dick was closest to the correct answer without going over and became the new Head of Household. The following day, the House competed for food in the Mission InPastaBowl competition, which saw the House working as a whole for food. HouseGuests paired off to jump into two bowls of giant pasta which contained meatballs with different types of food written on them. The pairs had match up a specific "meatball" from tub A and tub B. When the two houseguests matched their meatballs, they won that food for the week. When the time ran out, the House would win any food collected in the competition. On Day 21, Jen and Kail were nominated for eviction. On Day 22, Dick, Kail and Jen drew Jessica, Nick and Zach's names at the random drawing, meaning they would compete for the Veto. During the Mad Hatter competition, players had to stand on a pedestal while balancing a martini glass on a giant hat, while wearing thick amounts of clothing. If the martini glass fell or if the HouseGuest stepped down, they would be eliminated. The last HouseGuest standing would win the Golden Power of Veto. To make it interesting, the remaining HouseGuests would wear various costumes to distract the HouseGuests from the game. After it came down to Dick and Jen, Dick stepped down and allowed Jen to win the Veto, as he had decided to put Mike up. On Day 24, Jen saved herself with the Power of Veto, and Mike became the replacement nominee. On Day 27, Mike was evicted by a vote of 7 to 2, with only Zach and Eric (as America's Player) voting to keep him.
On Day 27, Dustin won the Head of Household Competition Eliminator, in which players were asked a series of questions, to which the correct answer would be on of the three evicted HouseGuests. If a player was correct, they would get to eliminate a player from the game. But an incorrect answer would result in the HouseGuest getting eliminated themselves. The following day the House competed in the food competition Humpty Scramble, in which the HouseGuests paired off and had to find a series of colored puzzle pieces that matched their clothing and piece them together to make an egg. The first team that successfully completed their puzzle would not only win food, but put five people on slop. Jameka and Jessica were the first to put their egg puzzle together and put Dick, Jen, Kail, Nick, and Zach on slop. On Day 28, Dustin nominated Jen and Kail for eviction, making it the second week in a row the duo were nominated together. While drawing for the Veto competition, Dustin drew Daniele's name, Jen drew Jameka's name, and Kail drew Jessica's name. Jameka, a strong Christian, felt that if her ball was pulled during the draw, she was meant to use the Power to save the person who had drawn her name. During the competition "Vincent Van Veto", players had to depict common Big Brother phrases in a series of picture puzzles. A correct answer would result in a HouseGuest gaining Big Brother bucks, but an incorrect answer would result in elimination. The player with the most Big Brother bucks, or is the last player standing would win the Power of Veto. After Jen missed the last question, Jameka became the winner of the Power of Veto. After the competition, many Houseguest, including Jameka, felt that Jen had thrown the competition so that Jameka would win. Dick later called her out on the event, to which she denied it. On Day 31, Jameka chose to use the Power of Veto on Jen, and Nick was nominated in her place, after Eric had convinced everyone Nick had voted to evict Kail the week before. On Day 34, Nick was evicted by a vote of 6 to 2, receiving the votes of Zach and Eric (as America's Player).
On Day 34, the Houseguest competed in the Endurance Head of Household, called Times Up, in which houseguests hung upside down on rocking pendulums. If a player fell off their pendulum, or their torso was raised above the bar, they would be eliminated. The last player standing would be the new Head of Household. After nearly two hours, Kail agreed to give Daniele the title of HoH in return for her safety. On Day 35, Kail and Jen were nominated together for the third week in a row. Daniele confirmed to Kail that she was just a pawn, and she did, indeed have a backdoor plan in mind. Daniele felt that Eric was the one responsible for casting the second vote against Kail, which everyone attributed to her best friend Nick. While picking players for the Veto Competition, Daniele drew Jameka's name, Jen drew Dustin's name, and Kail drew Zach's name. The competition titled The Numbers Don't Lie saw players having to bid how many hours they would be willing to do a horrid task. Each task would get more and more difficult. If a player had the lowest, they would be eliminated, but if a player was in the middle, they would not have to do the task. Jen won the Power of Veto after she agreed to wearing a bunny suit for 120 hours, along with Daniele, Kail, and Zach, dump smelly funk on herself for 24 times every hour,along with Daniele, Jameka, Kail, and Zach eat slop for 720 hours, along with Kail, and receive only half of the $500,000 prize money in the event she won Big Brother. Jameka and Kail gave up the right to compete in the next 5 HoH competitions, but failed to win the veto. On Day 38, Jen used the Power of Veto on herself, and Daniele put Eric up, just as she had planned. Despite the Donato's wishes, however, their former allies turned on them, and on Day 41, Kail was evicted by a close vote of 4 to 3, receiving the votes of Jen, Dick and Zach.
On Day 41, Jessica won the Let's Make a Duel competition, in which the houseguests faced off two at a time and had to guess which evicted HouseGuest made certain statements in the Diary Room. The player who buzzed in first and answered correctly stayed in the game, while their opponent was eliminated. The person who remained chose the next two HouseGuests to compete. The following day, during the House of Rock food competition, the HouseGuests split into two teams. The first, called the Redhouse Rockers, consisted of Daniele, Dick, Dustin, and Jen while the Big Brother Blues had Amber, Eric, Jameka, and Zach. The object was to smash open guitars to look for dollar signs. The team who gains 20 "dollars" first, would win food for the week. The Big Brother Blues won the competition. Dick had found a slop pass and gave it to Jen to win her vote. On Day 42, Dick and Daniele were nominated for eviction. During the Veto competition Shot for Shot, players had to drink concoctions to secure shots in a croquet game. The player who scored the most points in the croquet game, would win the Power of Veto. Dick beat Dustin out by one point and won the Power of Veto. On day 45, he chose to use the Power of Veto to safe his daughter, Daniele. This was the first time the Veto winner was on the block and did not save themselves since Big Brother 3, in which Marcellas infamously chose to leave himself on the block and was evicted. Jessica put Dustin up as a replacement nominee, as he had requested. After Eric learned America wanted Dustin out, he began campaigning for Dick to stay, and on Day 48 Dustin was evicted by a 4 to 2 vote, receiving the votes of Jameka and Amber.
On Day 48, Daniele won the Strange Visitors HoH Competition, in which the night before the eviction, the HouseGuests were visited by a series of odd characters, including the Mad Hatter. The visitors said and did things that pertained to the HoH competition. The contestants were asked a series of true-or-false questions about the visitors. If a HouseGuest was incorrect, they would be eliminated, unless everyone got it wrong. After winning the title, Dick and Daniele made a final four deal with showmantic partners Eric and Jessica, thus the "Little Julie Chens" alliance was formed. On Day 49, Daniele nominated Amber and Jameka for eviction. During the Slop Pong food competition, the House split into the read and blue teams. The red team consisted of Dick, Eric, Jessica, and Zach while the blue team had Amber, Daniele, Jameka, and Jen. Donning togas, the HouseGuests had to shoot a volleyball across a net and into ten trash cans on the other side. The team that reaches ten before the other, would win food for the week. The red team beat out the blue team in a close game. Daniele was not put on slop as she was HoH. On Day 50, Daniele and Amber won a special prize during the Power of Veto competition, and they later learned it was a chance to compete on the new reality game show Power of 10. Daniele won the Golden Power of Veto. On Day 52, Daniele chose to change her nominations by removing Amber from the block and nominating Jen in her place. On Day 52, Jen was penalized for going against the slop restriction and was given a penalty eviction vote against her. Later that day, she also engaged in a controversial fight with houseguest Dick, in which she was burned by one of his cigarettes. On Day 55, Jen was evicted by a unanimous vote of 6 to 0.
On Day 55, Jessica won the Head of Household competition Tanks For the Memories, in which the HouseGuests were asked a series of A-or-B questions based on the first five evicted HouseGuests' opinion. If a player was incorrect, Jen, the recent evictee, would press a button and they would plunge into a 250 gallon tank, unless everyone got it wrong. The following day, the men and women split up to compete for a special luxury prize. The women won, and earned a two minute shopping spree. On Day 56, Jessica nominated Amber and Zach for eviction. On Day 57, everyone except for Dick competed for the Veto. The competition, called Catscratch Veto, in which the HouseGuests listened to the Cat say the answer to a riddle and the HouseGuests had to find the answer on a fake rat. Each round a player was eliminated if they did not arrive at the pedestal in time or they were incorrect. The last HouseGuest standing would win the Power of Veto. Eric won his first competition and the Veto Power for the week. On Day 59, he chose not to use the Power of Veto. On Day 62, Amber was evicted by a vote of 3 to 1, with Jameka casting the sole vote to keep her.
On Day 62, Zach won the competition Big Brother Tea Party, in which the HouseGuests had to walk across a slippery path, transferring a 6 ounce cup of tea from a tea pitcher to a jar. The HouseGuest who fills their tea up to 55 gallons in the jar before any other HouseGuest would become the new Head of Household. He then nominated Jameka and Jessica for eviction. On Day 64, previous houseguest Janelle entered the House to host the Veto competition called The Janelle-O-Vision, in which players were spun on a pink chair and had to depict which two HouseGuests' face made a mixed face swirl. The player with the most swirls would win the Power of Veto. With seven swirls correct, Daniele won her fourth Power of Veto of the season. On Day 66, she chose to keep the nominations intact. On Day 69, Jessica was evicted by a vote of 2 to 1, receiving the vote of America's Player, Eric. After her eviction, the houseguest learned it would be a double eviction. On Day 69, Dick won the Head of Household competition Before or After, in which HouseGuests stood on a multiple staircase and were asked a series of questions to see if an event occurred before or after another event. The player with the most points in the end, would win the HoH title for the hour. He immediately had to pick his nominees, and chose Eric and Jameka. Zach then went on to win the Niagara Balls Veto competition, in which the HouseGuests put on pads and were dumped on by a series of colorful balls from a chute. The player who collects five green balls and place them in their chute would win the Power of Veto. He then chose not to use the Power of Veto. During the second eviction of the night, the second half of the Eric and Jessica showmance was sent home by a vote of 2 to 0.
On Day 69, Zach won the Head of Household competition Picture This, in which the competing houseguest had studied picture stills on the Memory Wall before entering the competition. Each HouseGuest stood on a nine-step staircase and answered a series of questions about the photos. The answer was always a number. The player who stood at the ninth step would win the Head of Household position. Both Zach and Daniele made it to the top step, but Zach beat her in the tie-breaker round, becoming the new HoH after only being out of the position for a few hours. After he won, him and Jameka agreed to try to evict Dick or Daniele, and on Day 70 the father-daughter duo were nominated for the third time. On Day 71, during the final Power of Veto competition, called Big Brother Decoder, the final four HouseGuests had to match a clue to a HouseGuest's face that interlocked with another HouseGuest's face. Once that is done, the HouseGuest must twist the knob and match the HouseGuest with the corresponding number. The first HouseGuest to correctly label the many seconds they've been in the Big Brother house will win the Power of Veto. Daniele was the first to crack the code and won her fifth Power of Veto. This meant that Daniele is tied with Janelle for the highest number of Veto's won in a single season. On Day 74, Daniele chose to use the Power of Veto on her father instead of herself, making it the second time this season, and the third in Big Brother History, that a nominee won the Golden Power of Veto and left themselves on the block. Dick immediately cast the sole vote against Jameka, and she was subsequently evicted.
On Day 74, the Final Three competed in the first part of the Final Head of Household competition. The endurance competition, called The Bunny Hop, saw the final three HouseGuests standing atop a pedestal, holding their key to the Big Brother house. In pouring rain, the players had to hop over a rabbit turnstile until they were the last HouseGuest standing. Daniele was the first to fall, breaking the turnstile in the process, while Dick got down after seven hours and thirty-two minutes, leaving Zach the winner of Round One. On Day 75, during the second part of the competition, Dick and Daniele competed in the Chain of Commands competition, in which they had to jump in a tank, collect puzzle pieces and place them in the correct order in a series of slots. The puzzle made a path that led from the first Head of Household to the last. The order was: Kail, Jen, Dick, Dustin, Daniele, Jessica, Daniele, Jessica, Zach, Dick, and Zach. Dick won with the fastest time and went on to face Zach in Round Three. On Day 76, Dick and Zach competed for the title of HoH in the Jury Statements competition, in which Dick and Zach were asked to finish a statement from each of the six jury members by answering with A or B. Dick was the winner of the final HoH competition, and immediately evicted Zach from the house, making Dick and Daniele the Final Two.
On Day 77, the final two HouseGuests attended a three-hour session in which the jury members, connected via satellite from the jury house, asked the pair questions about the game and why the jury members should give either of them their respective votes. On Day 81, during the live season finale, Dick won the game with a vote of 5 to 2, with Daniele only receiving the votes of Jen and Jameka.
This season, there were two options for viewers of Big Brother to become more involved with the game. They were CBS' "America's Player" and Canadian broadcaster Global TV's "Big Brother interactive."
At the end of each show (starting July 8), Eric was asked to complete a task that America specified by voting on CBS.com or by text messaging. For every five tasks Eric completed, he was rewarded with $10,000 (USD).[16] Viewers were able to vote on tasks from the end of an episode until midnight Pacific Time. The Thursday task involved pitching nominees to the Head of Household (HoH), the Sunday task was something interesting that might not affect the strategic game play, and the Tuesday task was swaying the opinion of the other HouseGuests on who to evict (unless it is he who is nominated). Once Eric received the task, he had to make a meaningful effort to complete the task. However, he could have decided how to complete the task. In addition, Eric cast his eviction vote for whom America chose to evict.[17] Eric was a jury member on finale night, and the viewers voted that Dick should receive Eric's vote to win the game.
The title "America's Player" did lead to a bit of confusion, since Canadians were still 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'."[18] or as Canadian fans might say, the "Viewer's Player".
Every week Eric was given three tasks he must attempt to complete. He was given the task in the Diary Room shortly after voting ended, which is midnight Pacific Time on nights that CBS airs episodes: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. As of Week 7, all tasks that were given on Thursday night dealt with Friday's nominations, all tasks given on Tuesday night dealt with Thursday's eviction, and Sunday's tasks varied but did not deal with either nominations or evictions.
Thursday's Task: If Eric had won the HoH competition on Thursday night then he would have automatically completed the Nomination Task. In this case the top vote getting in CBS's AP poll would have been nominated along with a second player of Eric's choosing on Friday night, and Eric's task would have been complete. When Eric did not win the HoH competition, then he had to convince the HoH to nominate the AP poll winner on Friday; however, if the HoH did not put up the player Eric/America was targeting on Friday, then Eric had a second chance to complete this task at the Veto Ceremony. Eric completed all but the last of his nomination tasks.
Tuesday's Task: When Eric was nominated for Thursday's eviction, his Tuesday night task was to flatter and do whatever it takes to make sure a specific person did not vote to evict him, and he completed this task if that person voted to evict the other nominee. When Eric was not nominated, then his Tuesday night task was to target one of the two nominees for eviction. Eric automatically voted for the winner of the AP poll, and he completed the task if the majority of HouseGuests voted to evict the same player he had been instructed to target. Eric successfully completed five of the eight tasks involving persuading the house to evict a nominee. The one time Eric was on the block and had to flatter Dick to secure their vote, he chose not to.
Sunday's Task: Sunday's tasks dealt with Eric's relationships in the House, or were attempts to shake things up in the House. They varied greatly in difficulty and consequences for Eric.
Out of 28 tasks Eric completed 21, and failed 7, earning him a total of $40,000.[19]
| Task No. | Date given | Description | Options | America's selection | Result |
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| 1 | Sun, Jul 8 | It's time for Eric to reveal his soft side by making up a traumatic story about his past. Of all the HouseGuests, who should Eric pour his heart out to? |
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Completed A1 |
| 2 | Tue, Jul 10 | Which of the two nominees do you want America's Player to vote out of the Big Brother House? |
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Completed A2 |
| 3 | Thu, Jul 12 | Of the remaining HouseGuests, who should Eric try to get nominated? |
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Failed A3 |
| 4 | Sun, Jul 15 | The HouseGuests each have their quirks, and Eric is about to develop a case of sleepwalking. Into which HouseGuest's bed should he crawl tonight? |
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Failed A4 |
| 5 | Tue, Jul 17 | Which of the two nominees do you want Eric to get evicted from the Big Brother House? |
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Completed A2 |
| 6 | Thu, Jul 19 | Eric may not be Head of Household, but he can still influence the nominations. Who should Eric get nominated? |
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Completed A3 |
| 7 | Sun, Jul 22 | Eric needs to instigate some drama in the Big Brother House. This week, he's a secret vandal. Whose personal property should he covertly target? |
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Completed A5 |
| 8 | Tue, Jul 24 | Which of the two nominees do you want Eric to get evicted from the Big Brother House? |
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Failed A2 |
| 9 | Thu, Jul 26 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
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Completed A3 |
| 10 | Sun, Jul 29 | Which catchphrase should Eric start in the Big Brother House? |
"Booyakah" "I'd do that for a dollar!" |
|
Completed A6 |
| 11 | Tue, Jul 31 | Which of the two nominees do you want Eric to get evicted from the Big Brother House? |
|
|
Failed A2 |
| 12 | Thu, Aug 2 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
|
|
Completed A3 |
| 13 | Sun, Aug 5 | Eric is going to promise another HouseGuest that he will go to the Final Two with them. It's up to Eric, though, whether this promise is the truth or a lie. To whom do you want Eric to make this promise? |
|
|
Completed A10 |
| 14 | Tue, Aug 7 | Which HouseGuest should Eric flatter incessantly in order to ensure his safety? |
(except Daniele and Kail) |
|
Failed A7 |
| 15 | Thu, Aug 9 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
|
|
Completed |
| 16 | Sun, Aug 12 | To which HouseGuest should Eric give the silent treatment? |
|
|
Failed A8 |
| 17 | Tue, Aug 14 | Which one of the two nominees do you want Eric to get evicted from the Big Brother House? |
|
|
Completed A2 |
| 18 | Thu, Aug 16 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
|
|
Completed A3 |
| 19 | Sun, Aug 19 | It's time for America's Player to share a special moment with another HouseGuest. To whom should Eric give this childhood woobieA9? |
|
|
Completed |
| 20 | Tue, Aug 21 | Which one of the two nominees should Eric get evicted? |
|
|
Completed A2 |
| 21 | Thu, Aug 23 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
|
|
Completed A3 |
| 22 | Sun, Aug 26 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to kiss? |
|
|
Completed A10 |
| 23 | Tue, Aug 28 | Which one of the two nominees should Eric get evicted? |
|
|
Completed A2 |
| 24 | Thu, Aug 30 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
|
|
Completed A3 |
| 25 | Sun, Sep 2 | Which HouseGuest should Eric mimic? |
|
|
Completed A11 |
| 26 | Tue, Sep 4 | Which one of the two nominees should Eric get evicted? |
|
|
Failed A2 |
| 27 | Thu, Sep 6 | Which HouseGuest do you want Eric to get nominated? |
|
|
Failed A3, A12 |
| 28 | Thu, Sep 13 | Who do you want Eric to campaign and vote for to win Big Brother 8? |
|
|
Completed |
This year Canadian Broadcast network, Global TV, introduced an interactive Two-Screen Solutions game on their website, Big Brother 'In The House',[20] using NanoGaming technology. Viewers were 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 won a TV, and the fan with the most points throughout the season won tickets to the wrap party. The contest started on Thursday, July 5, 2007 and ended on Thursday, August 30, 2007.[21]
A record of the votes cast, stored in a voting-table, shows how each HouseGuest voted to evict throughout his or her time in the house. The Head of Household and the nominees were not allowed to vote, but in the event of a tie, the Head of Household broke it. Twists to the normal nominations process are noted, such as immunity from nomination and eviction (referred to as "exempt") and double evictions. The last seven evictees of the season were part of the Jury of Big Brother 8, who voted for the winner during the Finale.
Six of the fourteen HouseGuests entered the house with a "nemesis", a person from his or her past with whom he or she had feuded. These nemeses are indicated by matching colors in the chart. Beyond the personal effects of their histories and relationships, there was no direct effect on the mechanics of the game; nemeses were free to work with or against each other as they saw fit. Eric, who was America's Player, is represented by light blue.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Eviction votes received | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 62 | Day 69 | Day 76 | Finale | ||||||||||||
| Head of Household | Kail | Jen | Dick | Dustin | Daniele | Jessica | Daniele | Jessica | Zach | Dick | Zach | Dick | (none) | ||
| Nominations (pre-veto) |
Amber Carol |
Daniele Dick |
Jen Kail |
Jen Kail |
Jen Kail |
Daniele Dick |
Amber Jameka |
Amber Zach |
Jameka Jessica |
Eric Jameka |
Daniele Dick |
Daniele Zach |
|||
| Veto Winner | Daniele | Daniele | Jen | Jameka | Jen | Dick | Daniele | Eric | Daniele | Zach | Daniele | (none) | |||
| Nominations (post-veto) |
Amber Carol |
Dick Joe |
Kail Mike |
Kail Nick |
Eric Kail |
Dick Dustin |
Jameka Jen |
Amber Zach |
Jameka Jessica |
Eric Jameka |
Daniele Jameka |
||||
| Dick | Carol | Nominated | Head of Household |
Nick | Eric | Nominated | Jen | Amber | Jessica | Head of Household |
Jameka | Zach | Winner $500,000 |
3 | |
| Daniele | Carol | Joe | Mike | Nick | Head of Household |
Dustin | Head of Household |
Amber | Jessica | Eric | Nominated | Nominated | Runner-Up $50,000 |
0 | |
| Zach | Carol | Joe | Kail | Kail | Eric | Dustin | Jen | Nominated | Head of Household |
Eric | Head of Household |
Evicted (Day 76) |
Dick | 2 | |
| Jameka | Carol | Joe | Mike | Nick | Kail | Dick | Nominated | Zach | Nominated | Nominated | Nominated | Evicted (Day 74) |
Daniele | 2 | |
| Eric | Carol | Joe | Kail | Kail | Nominated | Dustin | Jen | Amber | Jameka | Nominated | Evicted (Day 69) |
Dick | 5 | ||
| Jessica | Carol | Joe | Mike | Nick | Kail | Head of Household |
Jen | Head of Household |
Nominated | Evicted (Day 69) |
Dick | 2 | |||
| Amber | Nominated | Joe | Mike | Nick | Kail | Dick | Jen | Nominated | Evicted (Day 62) |
Dick | 4 | ||||
| Jen | Amber | Head of Household |
Mike | Nick | Eric | Dustin | Nominated | Evicted (Day 55) |
Daniele | 66 | |||||
| Dustin | Carol | Joe | Mike | Head of Household |
Kail | Nominated | Evicted (Day 48) |
Dick | 4 | ||||||
| Kail | Head of Household |
Dick | Nominated | Nominated | Nominated | Evicted (Day 41) |
8 | ||||||||
| Nick | Carol | Joe | Mike | Nominated | Evicted (Day 34) |
6 | |||||||||
| Mike | Carol | Joe | Nominated | Evicted (Day 27) |
7 | ||||||||||
| Joe | Carol | Nominated | Evicted (Day 20) |
9 | |||||||||||
| Carol | Nominated | Evicted (Day 12) |
10 | ||||||||||||
| Notes | See notes 1, 2 |
See note 2 |
See note 3 |
See note 4 |
See notes 2, 5 |
See notes 2, 5, 6 |
See notes 2, 5 |
See notes 3, 5, 7 |
See notes 4, 5, 7 |
See note 8 |
See notes 8, 9 |
See note 10 |
|||
| Evicted | Carol 10 of 11 votes to evict |
Joe 9 of 10 votes to evict |
Mike 7 of 9 votes to evict |
Nick 6 of 8 votes to evict |
Kail 4 of 7 votes to evict |
Dustin 4 of 6 votes to evict |
Jen 5 of 5 votes to evict |
Amber 3 of 4 votes to evict |
Jessica 2 of 3 votes to evict |
Eric 2 of 2 votes to evict |
Jameka Dick's choice to evict |
Zach Dick's choice to evict |
Daniele
2 votes |
||
| Dick
5 votes |
|||||||||||||||
Big Brother 8 aired episodes three times a week, with shows airing Sundays at 8 p.m. (EDT), Tuesdays 9 p.m., and Thursday 8 p.m. 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.[24] 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.[25] The first Tuesday's show, however, was more successful with viewers, managing a 4.5/7 rating.[26] The following Tuesday's show had the same rating.[27] Tuesday shows are typically the highest rated among the three episodes every week, with Thursday in second and Sunday, a competitive night in television, in last among all three recap shows. Sunday, August 5's episode, became the first edition of the season that rated higher than the launch show and the first of the season to receive a 5.0 in preliminary ratings points.[28] On August 23 another record was set: the first episode with 10% of the viewing audience and the first episode to read 5.3 in rating points and 8.1 million viewers, thus becoming the highest rated episode of the season.[29][30] Another record was broken August 30, being the first episode to read 6.0 in rating points, being the first episode this season to pull 11% of the viewing audience.[31] It was also the first episode to break the 9m viewer mark, with 9.42m viewers.[31][32]
HouseGuest Richard "Evel Dick" came under some controversy for his loud abusive behavior towards female HouseGuests; especially Jen. This culminated in an event in which Dick poured iced tea on Jen's head while she was engaged in an argument with HouseGuests Nick and Dick's daughter Daniele. This led some fans and the National Organization for Women to call for his expulsion from the house.[33]
Another HouseGuest, Amber, garnered national attention after making what were considered anti-Semitic statements.[34] Hollywood news conglomeration Defamer criticized Amber's sentiments.[35] Notably, aggregate TMZ reported about Amber's remarks, especially those about being able to recognize a Jew by the size of their nose or their last name.[36] Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League told the website:
"It's offensive. It's part of the unintended consequences of the communications revolution. Anybody can say what they do - but reality shows are now giving license to these expressions of anti-Semitism. Now, all of a sudden, the world is privy to their bigotry and it's on national television... then enhanced on YouTube. What they've done is distributed anti-Semitism – which started as a private conversation – and by putting it on a reality TV show broadcast it to the world at large. I want CBS to understand they are facilitating anti-Semitism. They should act responsibly to the community; they are legitimizing bigoted conversation."[36]
This impelled CBS to release a statement about the controversy:
"BIG BROTHER is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 - and seeing every moment of their lives. At times, the Houseguests reveal prejudices and other beliefs that we do not condone. We certainly find the statements made by Amber Siyavus on the live Internet feed to be offensive and they will not be part of any future broadcast on the CBS Television Network. Any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by a Houseguest appearing on BIG BROTHER 8, either on any live feed from the House or the broadcast, are those of the individual(s) speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program."[36]
The Associated Press will decline to interview Amber and Jameka if they are members of the Jury, due to the fact that they are not allowed to ask both contestants about Amber's comments. A CBS spokesperson reported that asking Amber or Jameka about Amber's comments could influence the jury voters and affect the integrity of the game.[30]
On Day 52 Jen, who was named as a replacement nominee for Amber, packed and scattered her belongings through the House, destroyed and bleached Dick's cigarettes.[37] Big Brother later informed Dick they would replace the cigarettes. Jen began to cook food while on a slop restriction[37] Later that night, Jen went outside and ate food while on slop.[23] Big Brother told Jen she would receive a penalty nomination, she must be a nominee for the entire week and cannot win HoH or Veto for Week 8 if she survived Week 7.[38] This was found unfair to Jameka, the other Week 7 nominee, and the penalty nomination was removed.[39] Jen would instead receive a penalty eviction vote for Week 7 plus any votes cast against her by her fellow HouseGuests.[23]
Later, Dick lit a cigarette and blew smoke in Jen's direction while she was eating. Jen asked for Dick to stop, but he did not. Jen then reached to get the cigarette from Dick several times and was burned by the cigarette. Jen began to yell that Dick burned her on purpose. This incident ended with Dick yelling at Jen: “Go home, just go home.” Jameka pulled Jen away from the confrontation and to the bathroom.[23] Neither Jen or Dick were expelled from the House and Jen was evicted on Day 55. Jen said to the Associated Press: "I definitely think he should have been kicked out, but obviously he was definitely entertainment for the show, so that's why he was not."[30]
Due to the controversy surrounding offensive remarks and controversial behavior made by several HouseGuests, this season CBS did not allow the media[4] or even companion show House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show[3] to interview evicted HouseGuests who are a part of the jury of seven to vote for the winner of Big Brother 8 beginning with Amber. They were allowed to interview the HouseGuests after Big Brother 8 was over.[3][4]
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