5 changes Big Brother should make

Big Brother has changed much through the years and here are five ideas for changes to the US version of the show which may make it more entertaining and a bit more chess-like like Survivor.

Allow Foreign Players

To play Big Brother in the US, you have to be an American citizen and this stops the US franchise from getting some colorful people from around the world in the Studio City, California house. It is usually customary for the various Big Brothers that air in so many countries to exclusively have natives from that country, but that is not a rule for all and there are many exceptions.

Big Brother Canada 6 had famous Big Brother UK alum Nikki Grahame in its cast, with the English star and runner-up in Ultimate Big Brother in 2010 finishing in 6th place in Canada. Big Brother Canada still had Live Feeds back then and Nikki made some wonderful and memorable TV with her emotional outbursts.  

Allowing English-speaking participants from Canada, the UK, or Australia would provide a fun depth. Two seasons ago, Australian DJ Bowie Jane Ball was a houseguest, but she lived in Los Angeles after being a native of Melbourne. 

No more Slop

For the first six seasons of Big Brother, the punishment for losing the weekly food competition was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but on Big Brother 7: All-Stars the PBJ was replaced by that thing they call “Slop.” On Big Brother 11, production added Slop to the weekly Have-Not punishments and we have been stuck with it since.

Granted, it is fun watching houseguests squirming and complaining about being hungry or “being on Slop,” and the creative ways houseguests have tried to make this gruel makes for good television.

The problem with slop now is that it has lost its novelty after so many years. Players don’t use it much as a strategy anymore and the houseguests care little about who is on Slop for the week about as much as the audience at home.

Instead of a bland food punishment, maybe give the weekly winner the chance to order out food and have it delivered to the house and be able to ask two housemates to share in the meal with him/her, like we see done on Survivor most seasons.

Slop was funny at first and sometimes used to weaken opponents, but now it is played out and doesn’t add much to the game itself save for watching them complain about it.

Increase the Jury to 11 people

The number of members in the Jury in the US version of Big Brother has changed through the years, starting with no Jury at all (Season 1), to a high of 10 in Big Brother 3, settling on nine from Big Brother 15 to Big Brother 24, and then reverting back to seven on Big Brother 25.

It may be harder logistically and more expensive to keep evicted houseguests in a separate rental, but having a Jury of 11 would let more of those evicted still have a part of the game many spent years of their lives trying just to make.

And having more in the Jury House would make the clips from that house more entertaining with more in the Jury House than in the Big Brother house at some point.

Like Survivor, the more votes would open up the flow of Finale Night for more drama, and by having so many votes, it would be hard to think that the houseguest who wins didn’t deserve it. Also with 11, there would be no chance of a tie or need for a public tie-breaking vote.

Have a hidden immunity idol or idols in the BB house

One of the coolest things about Survivor is how they will have hidden Immunity Idols around the island, giving the castaways a chance to find one of these which are like an insurance policy to avoid being voted out. Players wondering if others have Immunity Idols and confiding in others that they have one have become part of the modern Survivor game.

Big Brother has experimented with some ways of saving one’s self, including the weekly Power of Veto competitions, but to hide an Immunity Idol (or two) somewhere in the house or in the backyard would add some spice and another layer to the game.

Like Survivor, BB players would be able to give this idol or use it on a fellow houseguest. And like Survivor, maybe having an expiration date on it is needed so one gets to take it to the end and then ruin the suspense and fairness of who wins.

It would be too weird to get to the Final 3, have the final Head of Household competition winner say he or she was evicting you, only to say you have an Immunity Idol and are guaranteeing yourself a spot in the Final 2. Or maybe that would be classic Big Brother?  

Bring back the eviction key wheel

Eradicating Team Ants once and for all was an idea but the thought of a Big Brother season without these little buggers made me sad, so here is a better idea Bubba: bring back the old eviction key wheel.

Nothing could beat the drama of seeing houseguests pull one key from the wheel and announce who the HoH chose to save and watching the HoH schlep that big wheel out to the kitchen table was always a treat.

The camerawork of the final 3 waiting to see who the last one safe was always drama and there was much more suspense and tension with the wheel compared to the video wall showing the pictures of the week’s two nominees.

The actual order the HoH put the keys in also provided some suspense in that the player could save allies stress by having their key(s) pulled first or early, while a houseguest the HoH wanted to see squirm would be the last to get his/her key pulled.

It may take four to five minutes, but this is the whole point of the show and the weekly HoH and PoV competitions anyway—to see who will survive the week, who is being put up for eviction, and what their faces look like when they realize they have been nominated. The more suspense and houseguests not knowing ahead of time, the better.

Too much of the show has become predictable with everyone wanting to know ahead of time who is being nominated and that they are safe. These monster-sized alliances in recent years have made it seem like most houseguests have a sense of entitlement when it comes to knowing what’s going on each week.

By Thursday, the suspense is often void with everyone in the house knowing exactly what is happening. Bringing back the eviction key wheel may help keep the HoH’s final two nominees more of a secret until Thursday nights.