Revisiting Big Brother season 1: Where it all began

Everything, over time, tends to get better and improvement makes people that much more attentive to what is going on. That is no different with reality television.

Big Brother has been around for 24 years and has 26 seasons under its belt. Season 1 was not good, but it introduced us to a new reality show that would go through a number of changes that would help make it into the perfect show it has become. With that said, we look back at how it all got started with season 1 of Big Brother.

The houseguests included William Collins (politician), Jean Jordan (exotic dancer), Karen Fowler (mother), Brittany Petros (actress), Cassandra Waldon (UN communications director), "Chicken" George Boswell (roofer), Jamie Kern (model), Curtis Kin (lawyer), Josh Souza (civil engineering student), and Eddie McGee (entertainment industry).

The show was originally called Big Brother 2000, as it was dated to when the series first aired. Season 1 would last 88 days before a winner was crowned. Julie Chen hosted the first season and has remained with the show ever since, but her co-hose Ian O' Malley would be released one month after the season started.

The house setup was interesting. Inside the Big Brother house were 28 cameras and 60 microphones. The house was one floor with two bedrooms, one kitchen, a dining room, and one bathroom. The mirrors were two-way mirrors and behind the mirrors was the production crew. The houseguests were required to wear microphones at all times so conversations could be heard throughout the house. The bedrooms all had cameras, and they all allowed filming to continue while the rooms were dark. The beds for the houseguests were the same for each bedroom, consisting of one bunk bed and three single beds. The bathroom consisted of one toilet, one shower, a washtub, and one washboard. They did have one room to share thoughts on events that have happened in the house and that room was referred to as the red room.

Season 1 would be won by Eddie McGee with Josh Souza coming in second. The season premiere of the show would have an amazing 22 million viewers, but that number would fluctuate before coming down at season's end. McGee was extremely outspoken during the first season and would make it known he was there to win the money and not make friends. After leaving Big Brother, he turned to acting.

Boswell returned to Big Brother for Big Brother: All-Stars and was the only original houseguest to make a special appearance during a later season.

The show was far different from the game we know today with no houseguest voted evictions, no Head of Household or Veto competitions, and very little gameplay. Still, the show paved the way for what would become the game we all know and love -- none of which would have been possible if not for the season that began it all.