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‘Big Brother: Over The Top’ Spoilers: Will Live Feed Viewers Have Too Much Power Over New Cast, HOH, POV Competitions, And Evictions?

By Cia Young
Published on: 11:33 PST, Sep 15, 2016

Big Brother: Over the Top (incorrectly labeled Big Brother 19, which is scheduled to air the summer of 2017) is slated to begin in just under two weeks and fans are no doubt excited about the unprecedented digital format and how the game will be played online.

Nevertheless, there are those who believe that viewers may be given too much power during the online show over what takes place regarding houseguests, Head of Household (HOH) challenges, Power of Veto (POV) competitions, and possibly even cast member evictions.

Fans will recall that the very first season of Big Brother, also hosted by Julie Chen, was very different from today’s modern version with the viewing audience given sole eviction power.

Each of the 10 Big Brother 1 houseguests chose two people for nomination and the two with the most votes then faced the public vote for eviction. This left the viewing audience in charge of which cast mate would be sent packing. There was no jury, so the evicted houseguest’s game ended there.

The United Kingdom has successfully maintained this format, which was dropped in the U.S. because it garnered low ratings. This scenario, apparently unpopular in the U.S., transformed the American version of Big Brother into what it is today, according to the Huffington Post.

The Big Brother: Over the Top format was a topic of discussion on a recent Reality TV RHAP-Ups podcast, hosted by Jordan Parhar. Live feed correspondent Brent Wolgamott stated that many fans are fearful the viewing audience will have a vote regarding which houseguest will be evicted. He noted that this notion is currently just a rumor and nothing has been confirmed as to how evictions will be handled regarding the show’s digital format.

Live feed correspondent Alex Kidwell chimed in, saying, “I did read on CBS.com that fans will vote in an unprecedented way that gives them more power than ever before…”

Brent added,

“So… let’s assume for the sake of argument that… fans will have a vote… as if we’re a houseguest in the game and we can’t be evicted, okay. So, that would be terrible because people would not want to make any moves… where you might risk a tie or something. If you don’t know what the audience is going to do, you can’t make that move. So it just prevents people from making moves based on an unknown quantity, and that’s not a good thing. So hopefully they don’t do that.”

Brent continued by asserting that he hopes the fans can impact the game in “other ways,” such as giving cast members advantages, but he is leery of what production will come up with for Big Brother: Over the Top.

Secret missions and other such tasks would be fine with Alex, who noted that his problem is with fans voting on the strategy of the game.

Brent argued, “I don’t want it [Big Brother: Over the Top] to be Big Brother U.K… Because the interesting people are the ones who are going to be evicted.”

Alex agreed with Brent, opining that in Big Brother U.K., if a houseguest is unattractive, that player has little chance of surviving the game when the viewing audience is voting on who stays and who is evicted. He stated the U.K. version of Big Brother has become something he no longer enjoys because of its format.

Live feed correspondent Taran Armstrong noted that if fans have a major influence on the Big Brother: Over the Top game, there will likely be unbridled campaigning to America by houseguests going on.

Taran said this has already been a factor in Big Brother 18, as a number of cast members have been seen campaigning to the nation on live feed cameras, saying things like, “America, please, I swear… all I need is one vote, and you know how great I am… I have a daughter and I really need the money and just please vote for me. I’ve played such an honest game…”

Podcast host Jordan also questioned how many people are actually going to be watching Big Brother: Over the Top, which will only be available on CBS All Access, the network’s streaming service. He further wondered if fans watching BBOTT will actually vote when asked to.

Alex indicated that CBS must not know its fan base, because many fans, who also religiously watch the live feeds, probably don’t participate in voting on various aspects of the game. To prove his stance, Alex noted he’s a diehard fan and has never voted for anything regarding the Big Brother game, while Jordan, Brent, and Taran agreed, as dedicated fans, they hadn’t voted either.

Alex further stated that the casual audience member seems to be who is voting when certain options come up on Big Brother to do so. Thus, Alex stated he feels like Big Brother: Over the Top may be sowing the “seeds of disaster” with this new interactive design.

In the meantime, there still remains two episodes of Big Brother 18; however, live feed spoilers reveal that Paul Abrahamian has won the first round in the final three HOH competition over Nicole Franzel and James Huling, according to Joker’s Updates.

Big Brother 18 is airing once again on Friday beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, with the 90-minute finale airing Wednesday, September 21, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Only a week later, on September 28 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time, the all-digital Big Brother: Over the Top or BBOTT will begin streaming on CBS All Access.

[Featured Image by CBS]

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