Three times a week

Let the Summer Obsession begin. In the last ten seasons I have not missed one episode of Big Brother, the hottest Summer Reality Show on CBS. You may wonder what the big deal is in not missing one episode. Well, the show is on three times a week, so I can't even begin to tally the countless hours I have invested in watching Head of Household Competitions, Power of Veto Ceremonies and Food Competitions. I have seen 100s of contestants come and go and watched the weekly food turn from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to (yuck) slop over the years.

When this show started ten years ago, DVR was not around which means if I wasn't home to watch, I would record the show on my VCR. Not to mention when the show was pre-empted for a football or basketball game that ran into over time, Big Brother was not shown until 1:00am or 3:00am. This left me with two options. Stay awake all night or hope the tape would last until the completion of the episode so I could watch it in the morning. Being I would let it record all night because I had no idea how the timer worked on my VCR this was quite annoying. Yes, these are the crazy lengths I went to in watching Big Brother. I will give you a moment to ponder how pathetic I am..

Anyway, for non Big Brother Fans let me give you a quick over view of the show. 12 or 13 "strangers" are kept in a lavish house for 3 months. No contact with the outside world, including newspapers, books or TV. Each week they compete in food competitions, luxury opportunities (use of the jacuzzi or yummy dinners and parties) and for control of the House aka the Head of Household position.

The Head of Household then nominates two people to be "on the block." One of the two people on the block are then voted out of the house each week. Prior to elimination, there is a Power of Veto competition where someone can remove themselves or another person from being kicked out during that week. It is a game of trust, lies, alliances and grueling mental and physical competitions.

In Seasons past, Big Brother writers have entertained us with many twists and turns. Ex girlfriends and boyfriends have been brought into the house without each other knowing, estranged family members have reunited by force, sometimes best friends have been allowed in and can't let the others find out that they are working together.

My favorite twist is "America's Player" in which viewers get to vote online on what actions a person in the house should take. For each challenge they succeed in, unbeknowsnt to the other house guests they win money. In the past, America has made the player sleep walk and cuddle with another house guest while whispering crazy things in their ear or even promote the exile of another housemate all because viewers are telling them to do so. At the end of the3 months the final two house guests are weighed and measured by kicked out players and they come back to vote on who will win $500,000.

The thing I love most about this show is that it is done in real time. We are watching things that happened in the last two days. Hence why it is on television three times a week. Showtime even features an after dark show where you can watch live feeds of what is going on in the house.

This is the ONLY show where I avoid all spoilers and winners of competitions because it takes all the fun out of watching the actual show. If I was going to sign up for any reality show me and my friend Jay always say this would be the one to go for. We have spent countless summers obsessing over the house guests.

My fave player of all time is of course Dr. (Evil) Will who was not only gorgeous, charming and witty but stated over and over that he was lying and playing them all yet he still won the game and then later came in second during the all stars edition. He was a Big Brother genius!

I have avoided most commercials for this Season but just learned that the theme is "High School." Supposedly the featured strangers will have been categorized as a nerd, jock, player, etc back in their high school days leading to major drama in the house I am sure. Can't wait for the Summer fun to begin!!