Big Brother is returning to CBS and the 2024 TV schedule this summer, and fortunately, we already know some details about what's ahead for Season 26. For example, we can stop fan-casting former Houseguests who could've gone further, because the official release noted it'd be a cast of all-new players. What it didn't do is drop some knowledge that Julie Chen Moonves did on social media, which has led to confusion about what's going on.
The reality series has leaned on the thrill of a live move-in premiere, with live feeds going active on Night 1, but there's a fear the show will move away from that trend. It's now official that Big Brother will premiere across two nights as it has in previous seasons, which led to some assuming that taped premieres are back. That is, until the formerly robotic "Chen bot" made her post on socials, which now has me questioning what I thought I knew about this season.
Julie Chen Moonves' Post About Big Brother Raises Questions
Julie Chen Moonves is always her most active on social media whenever a new Big Brother season is approaching, and she's not above drumming up a little drama with her posts. She certainly did just that with a recent post on X, in which she revealed a bit of previously unknown information about the premiere. Take a look:
The countdown officially begins. See you all LIVE in JULY #BB26 pic.twitter.com/gGkysqdFH8May 7, 2024
Julie Chen Moonves has been known to use emojis as clues about the upcoming seasons of Big Brother, but this feels different. Highlighting the word "live" via all-caps feels like it's meant to stand out, especially when that detail is missing from the official press release.
It's an interesting reveal, especially considering it's also something one would think wouldn't work otherwise. Then again, the motto of the series is "expect the unexpected," so who am I to say what's possible?
Can Big Brother Do A Two-Night Premiere Live?
Big Brother has done live premieres and two-night premieres, but never both. This is tied to the move-in, considering all Houseguests usually enter simultaneously. The series has gotten into a trend of live premieres, which viewers have taken to because it means they can watch the live feeds with a Paramount+ subscription starting on Night 1.
Julie Chen Moonves making a point to say "live" in all caps in her post feels more important than her past vague-posting about the upcoming seasons. My assumption is that the Big Brother team knows fans follow the host and that she was deliberately given that wording to get theories rolling on how the show could have a live premiere over two nights. I should say again, though, that this is not in the press release, so maybe Julie was just going off-script and saying something that isn't necessarily true.
Assuming the latter isn't the case, I could see a scenario in which all the Houseguests enter on Night 1, and then the following night, there's an eviction or some important issue that has to be decided. For example, say the game started with the HOH getting the power to banish someone from the house, and they only had 24 hours to make a decision. It would make for an exciting first night of live feeds, I can say that much!
All this to say is I can see numerous scenarios in which a premiere can both be two nights and live. I imagine the show will have to streamline some elements like introducing the Houseguests, but maybe that could be knocked out in a preview special or by sending out cast lists to the media to share in advance. In fairness, it's not like those videos ever tell too much about how a Houseguest will play the game, so it wouldn't be a huge loss to miss out.
Big Brother is slated to premiere on CBS on two nights, starting Wednesday, July 17th, and Thursday, July 18th, at 9:00 p.m. ET. It might be time for me to start revisiting old seasons on Paramount+ and scouring the internet for clues as to this season's big theme.
