Big Brother 16 (American season)

Big Brother 16 is the sixteenth season of the American reality television series Big Brother. The new season premiered on June 25, 2014 on CBS making it the earliest premiere date for a summer season Big Brother in the U.S. It is the first season to be broadcast in high definition, the final television series to do so among the major broadcast networks (as Let's Make a Deal on CBS Daytime switched earlier for tapings beginning June 2014). The season premiere was a two-night event, with the premiere episode airing on June 25 and the next episode airing on June 26.

Season development

Big Brother 16 was officially announced on September 12, 2013, a week before the finale of the previous season. In March 2014, casting began with applicants being to able to apply online or attend open casting calls throughout the country.

On May 19, 2014, CBS released a teaser commercial for Season 16 including small clips from past seasons, including diary room moments saying Big Brother famous phrases such as "Expect the Unexpected". A new commercial was released teasing a 2-night "move-in event."

Big Brother 16 is the first ever season of the series to be broadcast in high definition. Plans to finally transition the show to HD were made as early as three years prior, but were hampered by logistical challenges due to the nature of Big Brother's format, the amount of video footage that would have to be stored and processed, the need to install HD-capable cameras, wiring, and post-production equipment, along with enhancing the design of the house. Big Brother was the last primetime program, and the second-last program across the five major networks (behind CBS daytime show Let's Make a Deal, which began HD production for its 2014-15 season) to still be broadcast in 4:3 standard definition. Producers also noted that the HD cameras would also give them a variety of new shots and angles to use in the production.

Website The Hollywood Reporter interviewed house designer Scott Storey who revealed that the theme was "Urban Treehouse" saying: "This year’s theme is urban treehouse. A note from the network was that they wanted it to feel urban, young and playful and urban treehouse seemed like a perfect place to start".

Press interviews were filmed on June 17 and the cast was announced on June 19. The HouseGuests moved into the house on June 20, 2014. The show premiered in two parts in two nights on June 25 and June 26, 2014. On the first episode, eight of the sixteen houseguests - Amber, Cody, Devin, Donny, Frankie, Joey, Nicole and Paola - were introduced, shown entering the house and took part in the first Head of Household competition of the season, while the second episode introduced the final eight HouseGuests who moved into the house and competed in the second Head of Household competition, while the Team America and Battle of the Block twists were revealed.

Format

Further information: Big Brother (U.S.) § Format

The format has changed slightly from previous seasons. The contestants, who are referred to as "HouseGuests", are sequestered in the Big Brother House with no contact to or from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests take part in several compulsory challenges that determine who will win food, luxuries, and power in the House. The winner of the weekly Head of Household competition, who was formally guaranteed safety, can now be overthrown thanks to a new competition called the "Battle of the Block". The two winners of the Head of Household competition each week will pick two nominees, who then go head-to-head in this competition. The winning team is guaranteed a week of safety and overthrows the Head of Household who nominated them. The nominees chosen by the other Head of Household then become the nominations for the week. After a HouseGuest becomes Head of Household, he or she is ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. HouseGuests usually also take part in weekly Have vs. Have-Not competitions in which they are divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have-Nots" depending on their performance in the competition. HouseGuests that become "Have-Nots" for the week have to eat "Big Brother slop" along with a weekly food restriction (chosen by the viewing public), take cold showers, and sleep on cold beds in a freezer-like bedroom. The winner of the Power of Veto competition wins the right to revoke the nomination of one of the nominated HouseGuests. If the Veto winner uses this power, the Head of Household must immediately nominate another HouseGuest for eviction.

On eviction night, all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the nominees vote to evict one of the two nominees on the chopping block. This compulsory vote is conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen and the Houseguest. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household casts the deciding vote, announcing it in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike most other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely. The nominee with the greatest number of votes will be evicted from the House on the weekly live broadcast, exiting to an adjacent studio to be interviewed by Chen, after which the cycle begins again. HouseGuests may voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who break the rules may be expelled from the house by Big Brother. The final nine HouseGuests evicted during the season will vote for the winner on the season finale. These "Jury Members" will be sequestered in a separate house and will not be allowed to watch the show except for competitions and ceremonies that include all of the remaining HouseGuests. The jury members will not be shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that may include strategy or details regarding nominations.

Twists

Battle of the Block

On June 18, 2014, Julie Chen announced a few twists on The Talk. In comparison to previous seasons of Big Brother which featured a single Head of Household, this season would involve two Heads of Household. Each HoH would have their own suite. Each Head of Household would nominate two other housemates, which also increases the total nominees to four, two more nominees than the majority of other seasons. However, both Heads of Household would not be safe. A new competition entitled "Battle of the Block" features both pairs of nominees competing to win safety. The winning pair would be removed from the block, with the Head of Household who nominated them dethroned. The dethroned Head of Household would later be eligible to be nominated after the Power of Veto has been used, however the Battle of the Block winners are safe for the rest of the week.

Team America

Host Julie Chen introduced "Team America" during the first premiere show. This twist involves three HouseGuests, chosen by public vote, who would form a secret alliance in the house and would work together to perform secret missions throughout the season. For every successfully completed mission, each member of the Team would receive $5,000. Before the season began, fans were asked to vote for which HouseGuest they would want to form an alliance with, based on short biographies written by the HouseGuests themselves. The houseguests with the most amount of votes would become the first member of "Team America," with the winner of this poll being revealed in the second premiere show. Team America was adapted from the "America's Player" twist from Big Brother 8 and Big Brother 10.

On the second premiere show, Julie announced that Joey was voted by the viewers as the first member of Team America, and that the second member would be revealed on the first live show. On that live show, Joey was evicted, and Donny was revealed as the new member of Team America. On the July 9 episode, it was announced that Derrick and Frankie would join Donny to complete the Team America alliance, and the viewing audience was asked to vote between two tasks, one of which would be given to Team America as their first mission.

Task results

Joey was evicted before Team America's assembly was completed, and thus received no tasks. Derrick, Donny and Frankie completed two tasks, earning $10,000 each.

Task No.	Options	America's selection	Details	Result
1	A. Get two HouseGuests to kiss and then spread rumors that they are in a showmance B. Get three other HouseGuests to spread a rumor that someone in the game is related to a past HouseGuest	B	Team America spread the rumor that Zach was related to Amanda Zuckerman from Big Brother 15.	Completed
2	A. Campaign to nominate someone they believe is a floater B. Campaign to nominate someone they believe is a physical threat	B	Team America agreed that Amber was a physical threat; Frankie, as Head of Household, nominated Amber for eviction.	Completed

Summary

On Day 1, Julie introduced eight of the sixteen HouseGuests who are moving in first. Amongst the eight were two former pro athletes, a recent nursing grad, a make-up artist, a school groundskeeper, a model, a DJ, and the older brother of a pop star. They immediately suspected a twist once only half of them were standing on Day 1. Once entering the house Paola and Devin then saw an opportunity to make an eight person alliance against the others who will be entering on Day 2, which later became "The Crazy 8's". Afterwards, Paola started to flirt with Cody to get him as an ally. Devin made a side alliance with Donny calling themselves the "Double D's". The four girls later formed an "El Cuatro" alliance after Amber and Paola were adamant about a female winning this season. Later on, the eight HouseGuests competed in the first HoH competition: Go Fly a Kite. The goal was to hold your balance on the rotating log while trying to keep your kite from crushing the sand castle. Frankie won and became the first HoH. Afterwards, Julie told the eight that when the other eight arrive, another HoH would reign and that neither HoH would be safe just yet. Following this announcement, Julie informed the public that they would be select three people to form an alliance called "Team America". Those three will be chosen by poll and will be given tasks by the American public. Upon successful completion, each HouseGuest would receive $5,000.

Later on Day 1, Julie introduced the remaining eight HouseGuests who had yet to move in. This included an event coordinator, a hunting guide, a photographer, a barista, a police officer, a minister, a pedicab driver, and a recent college graduate. Once everyone moved inside the house, the two groups begin to naturally coalesce, with Frankie even wanting Victoria on his side as an ally. Later on, Julie called everyone into the backyard for the second group's HoH competition: Over the Coal. The goal of this competition is that the HouseGuests must hold on to rotating stiff to be the last one standing and the second HoH. The girls quickly fell off one by one, with Zach and Derrick following suit afterwards. Caleb ultimately became the last man standing, becoming the second HoH. Soon after, Julie informed the HouseGuests about how the dual-HoH twist would work this summer; both Frankie and Caleb will make their own separate nominations, which means that a total of four nominees will be up on the block. Following the nominations, those four will compete as duos in the Battle of the Block competition, where they are given the opportunity to remove themselves from the block. The duo that wins the competition will be removed from the block and immune from being named the replacement nominee if the veto is used that week, whereas the HoH who nominated them will be dethroned and eligible to be the replacement nominee.

After the HoH rooms were revealed, Caleb and Frankie quickly went to strategizing. They decided to form an all-guy alliance with Devin, Derrick, Cody, and Zach called the "Bomb Squad". Elsewhere, Christine and Nicole hit it off and formed an alliance of their own. After wanting to balance out the all-male alliance and have the numbers on his side, Devin told Amber and Christine about the Bomb Squad and made them full members of the alliance. Devin did not do this with the alliance's supervision, making his allies skeptical of his gameplay. They were also concerned with Devin's paranoia, after Devin suggested that Donny was an intimidating force to be reckoned with. When it came down to nominations, Frankie thought it would be best to nominate the people who fell off first during the HoH competitions. In addition, both Caleb and Frankie agreed to each nominate two people from the group they did not enter with to avoid bringing any attention to themselves. During the nomination ceremony, Caleb won the draw and made his nominations first; he selected Donny and Paola after both fell first during their HoH competition. Despite forming a solid bond with Victoria, Frankie nominated her along with Brittany for being the first two who fell off during their HoH competition.

After the nomination ceremony, the four nominees participated in the first ever "Battle of the Block" competition, the Big Brother Bash. The objective was for one person to swing and get water in the glass cup so they could throw it into another glass cup held by the other person; that person would swing backward to dump it into a glass vase full of berries. The first duo to do this will win immunity, come off the block, and dethrone the HoH who nominated them. Following Brittany and Victoria's win, Caleb became the first official HoH of the summer while Donny and Paola were both put on the chopping block. On Day 7, the first veto competition of the season, Miami Lice, took place. Cody, Victoria, and Zach were picked to play. With only Donny and Zach spelling valid words, Donny won the Power of Veto. He removed himself from the block and Caleb named Joey as the replacement nominee. On Day 14, Joey became the first HouseGuest to be evicted from the house by a unanimous vote of 13-0.

Later that night, the HOH competition called BB Rager was played, where the object was to walk across a balance beam and successfully carry six kegs to the other side. Amber was crowned the first HOH with seven girls competing, and Cody was originally crowned the second HOH with seven guys competing. However, after reviewing the tape, it was realized that Cody was disqualified and Devin was subsequently crowned the second HOH. After the live eviction, it was revealed on Big Brother After Dark that nominations would be held the same day.

On the same night Devin and Amber received their HoH room and read their letters. Seeing his daughter Devin felt bad his he started to play this game and went to apologize to Donny. Then afterwards held an house meeting telling everyone how he accused Donny and forced Caleb to nominate him. When it was over that made Brittany think that what Caleb said was a lie that the reason she and the other previous nominees were nominated as of they fell off first. When Devin went to chat with the Bomb Squad, Frankie and Caleb told him that what he said was throwing Caleb under the bus. They also informed him on what Brittany said making her his prime target. At the nomination ceremony Devin went first and nominated Paola and Brittany then Amber nominated Hayden and Nicole. Before the Battle of the Block, Devin asked for Paola to throw it promising she will be safe. On Day 14, Hayden and Nicole competed against Paola and Brittany in the We Did What?! Battle of the Block competition. In the competition, the nominees were asked a question. They were then shown a slideshow and had to search for the answer in the slides. If a houseguest buzzed in with the correct answer, they scored a point for their team. After each round, the team who scored the point would give a distraction to the other team, such as beer goggles and a leaky beer helmet. An incorrect answer resulted in the other team gaining a point, and their team receiving the distraction. The first team to four points would win the Battle, take themselves off the block, be safe for the week, and dethrone the HOH who nominated them. Hayden and Nicole won the Battle of the Block, resulting in Amber being dethroned, Devin being the HOH for the week, and Brittany and Paola remaining on block. Later in the week, Caleb revealed to Devin that the members of the Bomb Squad were planning on keeping Brittany over Paola, which caused Devin to have yet another house meeting where Zach admitted to wanting Devin out of the house. At the veto competition, Zach, Derrick and Amber were chosen to compete with Devin becoming the victor. Brittany pleaded to Devin to use the veto on her, noting their similarities for being single parents. At the veto meeting, Devin removed Brittany and nominated Zach in her place. On Day 21, Paola was evicted from the house by a 10-2 vote.

Later that night, HouseGuests played the HOH competition, Underwater Polo, in which the goal was to knock a ball into the highest number goal, numbered 1 to 29, on the end of the field. Nicole and Derrick became the new HOHs with Nicole scoring a perfect 29 and Derrick scoring a near-perfect 28. Nicole nominated Amber and Donny for eviction and Derrick selected Caleb and Jocasta. Amber and Donny then took on Caleb and Jocasta in the Abraca-BOB-ra Battle of the Block competition. For the competition, one houseguest would run across the yard to a bin containing puzzle pieces. When someone ran across the yard, their partner was raised up in the air next to their puzzle board. The first duo to complete their puzzle and hit the button would win the Battle of the Block, be immune from this week's eviction, make their HOH wear a frog costume for the rest of the week, and dethrone them in the process. Donny and Amber prevailed, saved themselves for the week, made Nicole wear the frog costume, and left Caleb and Jocasta on the block with Derrick as the sole HOH for the week.

HouseGuests

Main article: List of Big Brother 16 HouseGuests (U.S.)

Name	Age on entry	Occupation	Residence
Amber Borzotra	26	Esthetician	North Hollywood, California
Brittany Martinez	29	Event coordinator	Torrance, California
Caleb Reynolds	26	Adventure hunting guide	Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Christine Brecht	23	Barista	Tucson, Arizona
Cody Calafiore	23	Sales account executive	Howell, New Jersey
Derrick Levasseur	30	Police officer	Providence, Rhode Island
Devin Shepherd	26	Motorcycle sales manager	San Antonio, Texas
Donny Thompson	42	Groundskeeper	Albemarle, North Carolina
Frankie Grande	31	YouTube personality	New York, New York
Hayden Voss	21	Pedicab driver	Long Beach, California
Jocasta Odom	33	Minister	Lovejoy, Georgia
Joey Van Pelt	27	Make-up artist	Seattle, Washington
Nicole Franzel	21	Nursing graduate	Ubly, Michigan
Paola Shea	27	DJ	Astoria, New York
Victoria Rafaeli	22	Photographer	Weston, Florida
Zach Rance	23	College graduate	Palm Beach, Florida

Have-Nots

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12
Have-Nots	Brittany, Cody, Hayden, Joey	Brittany, Derrick, Victoria, Zach	Amber, Caleb, Devin, Hayden	none

Voting history

		Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12		Eviction votes received
														Finale
Head(s) of Household		Frankie	Amber	Nicole	Cody									(none)
		Caleb	Devin	Derrick	Frankie
Nominations (pre-veto)		Brittany Victoria	Hayden Nicole	Amber Donny	Brittany Victoria
		Donny Paola	Brittany Paola	Caleb Jocasta	Amber Jocasta
Battle of the Block Winners		Brittany Victoria	Hayden Nicole	Amber Donny	Amber Jocasta
Veto Winner		Donny	Devin	Donny									(none)
Nominations (post-veto)		Joey Paola	Paola Zach	Caleb Devin
Amber		Joey	Paola	Devin
Brittany		Joey	Paola	Devin	Nominated
Caleb		Head of Household	Paola	Nominated											0
Christine		Joey	Paola	Devin
Cody		Joey	Paola	Devin	Head of Household
	Derrick	Joey	Paola	Head of Household
	Donny	Joey	Zach	Devin
	Frankie	Joey	Paola	Devin
Hayden		Joey	Paola	Devin
Jocasta		Joey	Zach	Devin
Nicole		Joey	Paola	Devin
Victoria		Joey	Paola	Devin	Nominated
Zach		Joey	Nominated	Devin											2
Devin		Joey	Head of Household	Nominated	Evicted (Day 28)										11
Paola		Nominated	Nominated	Evicted (Day 21)											10
	Joey	Nominated	Evicted (Day 14)												13
Notes		1, 2	1, 2, 3	2
Evicted		Joey 13 of 13 votes to evict	Paola 10 of 12 votes to evict	Devin 11 of 11 votes to evict

Notes

• ^Note 1 :   This HouseGuest became a member of Team America following a public vote and is eligible to win $5,000 for each task completed.
• ^Note 2 :   These HouseGuests won the "Battle of the Block" competition, therefore securing immunity for the week and dethroning the Head of Household who nominated them.
• ^Note 3 : Cody was initially announced as the winner of the second Head of Household competition for Week 2, but Devin was subsequently declared the winner after a review of the footage showed Cody committing a foul.

Reception

Viewing figures

#	Air Date	United States				Source
		18–49 (rating/share)	Viewers (millions)	Rank (timeslot)	Rank (night)
1	Wednesday, June 25	2.3/9	6.71	1	1
2	Thursday, June 26	2.3/8	6.56	1	1
3	Sunday, June 29	1.8/6	5.68	1	1
4	Wednesday, July 2	1.8/7	5.67	2	2
5	Thursday, July 3	1.6/6	4.83	1	2
6	Sunday, July 6	1.9/7	6.01	1	2
7	Wednesday, July 9	1.9/7	6.03	1	3
8	Thursday, July 10	2.1/7	6.20	1	2
9	Sunday, July 13	2.2/7	6.63	1	2
10	Wednesday, July 16	2.1/8	6.22	1	2

References

External links

• CBS Official Site
• Global TV Official Site
• Official Casting Website