‘Big Brother’ Producer Explains First Ever Live Move-In Episode

Big Brother producers are always trying to throw new twists and turns at their houseguests and viewers, and Season 22 is no different. This summer, fans will be treated to a live move-in episode, something never done before on the hit competition series. Traditionally, the move-in episode is pre-recorded with a studio audience and is hosted by Julie Chen. In addition to being a live episode, the houseguests will be revealed to the viewers for the first time, after a frustrating delay.

Longtime Big Brother producer Allison Grodner spoke with Entertainment Weekly on Friday and dished on what can be expected with the move-in episode.

“For the first time ever, we are having a two-hour all-live premiere, which means that everything is happening as it’s happening. And it’s going to be expect the unexpected and a roller coaster ride for everybody. But in order to do this, we certainly have made this an incredibly active jam-packed two hours that is going to keep these all-stars really busy. So there’s a lot going on. It’s completely different than a regular premiere,” she revealed.

Grodner also revealed that there won’t be any diary room sessions in the first episode which has never happened before either. Since the move-in is live, there is no room for editing or any interviews to occur.

Julie is going to play a large part in the first episode as well and will act as a “guide” for the two-hour event.

It’s going to be “really exciting” Grodner claimed, but there is plenty of room for error doing something that’s never been done before. The producer did not reveal if there was going to be a short five-second or so delay, but with most live programs there generally is.

A lot of the decision going into doing this live episode revolved around the cast. If it wasn’t all former houseguests who were returning to play, viewers probably would have just had the regular run-of-the-mill move-in. Since most of these returnees have played more than once, they know the procedure that goes along with the show which greatly helps production.

“We realized we could really take the chance to do this because it’s an all-stars cast and an all-stars cast that understands the process of Big Brother.”

“Expect the unexpected” has never been a truer statement when it comes to Season 22 and its wild premiere. Fans can expect some hiccups, but host Julie Chen will likely wrangle in all the chaos in what should be a groundbreaking episode.