Coming soon to a television set near you, three nights a week, all summer long, it’s Big Brother!
The iconic CBS reality show is returning to TV next week, with Season 28 set to premier on Thursday, July 9. While details of the season are still being kept heavily under wraps, fans have surely learned to expect the unexpected.
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Season 28 will actually make television history this summer as the first primetime series to reach 1,000 original episodes. Plus, the extensive schedule will feature more programming hours than any season in the franchise history.
In addition to the show’s weekly Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday episodes, it will also continue its companion series Big Brother: Unlocked, hosted by Big Brother alums Taylor Hale and Derric Levasseur as well as former The Talk co-host (and Big Brother superfan) Jerry O’Connell.
Big Brother: Unlocked will break down gameplay, evaluate the competition and share exclusive insider perspectives. The premiere episode will launch a new interactive fan vote that will affect the game, a new addition that will continue throughout the summer.
As far as what theme, drama and personalities Big Brother will bring this summer, the horizon is still very murky. Fans have been speculating that it could be an All-Star season — or a mix of new and returning players — after CBS’ announcement of the premiere date did not contain the usual “all new Houseguests” language.
After Big Brother fan-favorite legend Rachel Reilly returned last summer in a generally successful twist to the game, executive producer Allison Grodner told Entertainment Weekly last fall “you never know” if former players could cohabitate with first-timers again in the near future. “I mean, it worked out nicely, but we don’t necessarily like to repeat ourselves all the time either,” she said. “I think it was nice that there was a break and that we had complete newbie casts playing. And so it just depends.”
Big Brother has mixed new and old players in seven seasons, so it wouldn’t be a total shock to the BB universe if a fan-favorite or two were brought back for Season 28.
As we inch closer to next Thursday’s premiere date, fans are hoping for mere crumbs of context as to what to expect for Season 28.
Big Brother Season 28 will premiere with a special 90-minute episode on Thursday, July 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the season premiere of Big Brother: Unlocked on Friday, July 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. A 90-minute Sunday episode of the main series will cap off the opening weekend and Sunday, July 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
