Big Brother Season 24 - Here's What We Can Tell Fans So Far
This year, Xavier Prather — a model-turned-attorney — made history as the first Black winner of CBS' hit reality show "Big Brother" in its 23 seasons. Xavier and the five other Black house guests formed an alliance called "The Cookout," who worked together to vote out the other house guests and become the last ones standing. Xavier spoke about his win and what it meant to the Black community on "CBS Mornings," saying, "The goal for this season was representation. To show little black boys and little black girls like, 'Hey, to be successful in society you don't have to, you know, be a successful athlete or like some outstanding entertainer.'" He continued, "You can be an upstanding citizen while also making sure you're staying true to your blackness, and I think that's something that was important for American society to see."
Even though this season just wrapped up, fans are already eagerly awaiting the next one. So, what's the deal with "Big Brother" Season 24? Here's everything we know.
When will 'Big Brother' Season 24 premiere?
There is no official date set yet for the premiere of "Big Brother" Season 24, but it is definitely happening, as the casting call has already been posted. Season 23 premiered in July and aired three nights a week: Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, with evictions airing on Thursday, according to Newsweek. All three episodes were one hour and aired at 8 p.m. In addition to the three weekly shows, 24-hour live feeds were also available on Paramount+.
While three episodes a week may seem like a lot, it's nothing compared to how the show began. Back in 2000, Season 1 aired a whopping five episodes a week, adding a sixth later in the season, per Hidden Remote. Season 1 of "Big Brother" is the "most-shown" of all the American seasons, airing 70 episodes in just 88 days. Talk about overwhelming!
Subsequent seasons of "Big Brother" have taken on the three-episode-per-week format. But with the 24-hour live feed filling in the gaps, the show might as well be on seven days a week.
Who will be cast on 'Big Brother' Season 24?
As casting for "Big Brother" Season 24 is still open, we have no idea who will be on it. But we do know that 50% of the cast will be non-white thanks to CBS' diversity initiative in unscripted programming. According to Deadline, CBS announced in November 2020 that moving forward, "50% of its casts for its unscripted shows must be Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC)" and devoted a minimum of 25% of its unscripted development budget to BIPOC creators. "The reality TV genre is an area that's especially underrepresented, and needs to be more inclusive across development, casting, production and all phases of storytelling," George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS Entertainment Group, said at the time.
This came in the wake of controversy surrounding "Big Brother"; specifically, when contestant Kemi claimed producers "tried to goad her into playing the part of a sassy black woman," as reported by Deadline. A Black former "Survivor" contestant named Julia Carter penned a 4,600-word essay about her shared experience on and disappointment with the CBS show, writing, "Casting a few Black faces each season simply isn't enough. Include them in the story. Stop giving them stereotypical edits that perpetuate the same stereotypes that many of us come on the show to combat."
It appears that host Julie Chen Moonves will definitely be back for Season 24, though, as her picture is displayed at the top of the casting website.
Will there be another Black alliance on Season 24 of 'Big Brother'?
It will be very interesting to see how Season 24 of "Big Brother" plays out following The Cookout alliance and the controversy that surrounded it. While alliances are nothing new in "Big Brother," this was the first time there were enough Black contestants to create an alliance and ensure that one of them walked away with the grand prize. While it made for compelling storytelling, not all viewers were amused. According to the Los Angeles Times, some fans were quick to accuse The Cookout of "reverse racism," with one fan writing, "If this were an all-white alliance, CBS would be breaking it up." But TV critic Andy Dehnart shot that notion down, noting, "Over the course of 23 seasons, this show has had more than its share of all-white alliances."
Despite The Cookout's ultimate victory, CBS did not escape flack for the way it handled racial issues this season. Namely, host Julie Chen Moonves declined to mention The Cookout to the white house guests who were evicted. A series spokesperson defended her, saying that mentioning The Cookout "did not play an important part of the evicted Houseguest's story." The show has also gotten backlash in the past for glossing over racial controversies that have been captured on the 24-hour live feeds, but edited out of the network broadcasts. Dehnart told the paper, "That's the most important thing — to have representation behind the camera."
Has CBS made efforts to diversify beyond the cast? We'll have to see.