With everything bad that’s been going on in 2020, I didn’t think that the one thing that could salvage it was a new season of Big Brother.
And yet, here we are.
They had us convinced that returnees on BB22 was not in the cards. I mean, just look at producers pump out these casting calls and generating a huge turnout. These new faces are the future of Big Brother. This blind recruiting has worked out so well for us in the past. I don’t see any scenario how this method could fail us now.
And at the exact moment when they forget to follow their own motto, the COVID-19 pandemic shuts everything down and halts casting for this season as soon as casting starts picking up steam. This pandemic has been brutal on TV show productions, scripted or unscripted, and some of them have already said that they are unable to resume in time for their normal premieres. Sure, Hollywood has given TV shows the green light to resume production since June. But even then, there’s a lot of planning that has to be considered in order to keep everyone safe. Big Brother became one of the few shows to understand how to operate under the safety protocols. Heck, the show’s premise revolves around a quarantine, so they’d be perfect to set the bar. But then, there’s also the factor of casting. They would have to go through everyone that they’ve looked at from the small pool they have, and reopening the casting calls now would give them very little time to pull off for a summer show. Then, whether the stay-at-home made them re-evaluate their priorities or Allison Grodner found Jesus, they actually started listening to the fans’ fantasies about an all-stars season. After some major consideration, they finally told themselves, “Maybe this could work.” After all, when you look at it, it makes perfect sense. Recruiting past players for the show’s second all-returnee season eliminates the challenge of pulling a cast of newbies out of their ass in a small window of opportunity, because they’re easier to recruit and still have their contacts saved by producers. Plus, doing this the right way will restore faith and trust with the fans, and they’ll also get a shining light in a year that’s been unforgiving thus far. Restoring faith and a smooth pre-production process. That’s all it takes to meet the Big Brother rituals in 2020. Well, that and a special occasion. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the American version premiering on TV, and if there was any appropriate time to do an all-star season, it’s right now.
Reality TV Guide 