Warning! The following contains spoilers for Night 1 of the Big Brother Season 26 premiere! Stream it with a Paramount+ subscription or read at your own risk.
Big Brother Season 26 is finally here, and those who tuned in got a brief introduction to eight of the Houseguests competing this season and that much talked-about twist involving a mysterious 17th Houseguest. Turns out all my theories about the 17th Houseguest weren't quite on the mark, as the vote for Ainsley to join the game was basically just a setup for the introductory challenge. The first Houseguests competed, and it was all well and good, but I already see a problem with this format ahead of Night 2.
I've been wary of championing a two-night premiere over a live move-in, even if the episode's quality was better. Part of that was tied to the delayed start time of the live feeds, and the other is now evident at the episode's end. Let's talk it out, and discuss the pros and cons of doing a premiere this way versus live.
The Second Night Of The Premiere Will Just Feel Like A Repeat Of The First With Different People
If you were unable to watch or stream Big Brother on the first night, don't worry! Based on what we learned from Julie Chen Moonves at the end of the episode, it's looking like tomorrow will play out basically the exact same way. While the Houseguests will be different, they will vote on whether or not to let Ainsley in the game, hear the reveal she's actually the house AI, and then compete in a reward or punishment challenge based on how they voted.
There's a chance there could be some other twists in store, but in the name of fairness, I'd have to assume that's how Big Brother will play it. While it's fair to the Houseguests, we at home will now be sitting through an episode that, from start to finish, is the same as what we saw the night before. Not exactly the most exciting premiere, but I could end up being wrong.
Is A Two-Night Premiere Better Than A Live Move-In?
If I'm judging this episode's format vs. the sloppy live move-in premiere of Big Brother Season 22 in which so many things went wrong, I'm taking the latter. As a longtime fan, the value in a two-night premiere for me would be an episode that was more entertaining and less rushed. The pacing was certainly better, I'll admit, but I can genuinely say I didn't feel any more entertained than usual. Knowing I'm in for watching the exact same thing tomorrow night, I'm even less enthused.
Ultimately, the trade-off is that we don't have Night 1 live feeds, and in addition to losing key features on that front, here's what we're looking at. The feeds will go live after the second episode ends on the West Coast. If the rumors that the Houseguests moved in on Tuesday are accurate, we've missed around 48 hours or possibly more of live feeds. In previous seasons, we've seen this is where alliances are formed, tensions begin, and as former Houseguest Cory Wurtenberger pointed out, many other things critical to understanding the season happen. To find out that we'll be playing catch-up early Friday morning just so we could watch more or less the same episode twice was a punch in the gut, so I can't say I'm a huge fan of it.
Fortunately, there are a lot of other promising twists and entertaining Houseguests on the way, so I'm far from writing off Big Brother Season 26 just yet. I'll be watching CBS on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET with many other fans, and wondering how the next batch will react to the AI, and who will get those mysterious upgrades and downgrades.
