Big Brother 11 is the eleventh season of the American reality television series "Big Brother". It is based upon the Netherlands series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. The series premiered on CBS on July 9, 2009, and lasted ten weeks until the live finale on September 15, 2009. The eleventh season saw a slight increase in ratings when compared to the past season of the series, which had some of the lowest ratings to date. The season premiered to a total of 6.59 million viewers, a slight increase from the previous season's launch. Despite this, it is the second lowest premiere for a season behind "Big Brother 10." The season finale had a total of 7.78 million viewers, continuing to average slightly above the past season. In total, the series averaged 7.19 million viewers, higher than that of the previous two seasons. "Big Brother 11" featured a total of 13 HouseGuests, one of which was a returning player from a previous season. The series ended after 73 days, in which HouseGuest Jordan Lloyd was crowned the winner and Natalie Martinez the runner-up.
Production.
Development.
"Big Brother 11" was produced by Endemol USA and Allison Grodner Productions with Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Scott Einziger returned as executive producers. This season of the program was announced on September 18, 2008, two days after the season finale of "Big Brother 10". Casting for the program began during the final week of "Big Brother 10" with potential applicants submitting video tape submissions. Open auditions began on April 1, 2009, in Michigan by local CBS affiliate WLNS-TV and continued across the nation in various cities including Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, Waverly, Iowa, and Columbus, Ohio. Applications and video tape submissions were due by May 4, 2009. Applicants chosen to be a finalist went to Los Angeles, California from which applicants were narrowed down to a pool of forty finalists. Julie Chen interviewed casting director Robyn Kass and former HouseGuests Mike Malin and Brian Hart about the upcoming season and their experiences going through casting on March 19, 2009. Julie Chen confirmed that she would continue to host "Big Brother" during her pregnancy despite tabloid rumors stating she would take maternity leave.
Prizes.
The 13 HouseGuests this season were competing for the main prize of $500,000. The winner of the series, determined by the previously evicted HouseGuests, would win the $500,000 prize, while the Runner-Up would receive a $50,000 prize. Other than the main prize, various luxuries and prizes were given out throughout the season.
The "America's Favorite HouseGuest", a popularity contest first introduced in season 7 returns. As the title implies, beginning this season, any HouseGuests, including the winner, is eligible for the $25,000 prize where the viewer's vote were the sole determinant of the award. While any HouseGuests are eligible, HouseGuests who either walked or forcibly removed from the game removes the eligibility for the award; Chima Simone was expelled during the season, making her ineligible to receive the prize.
Broadcast.
"Big Brother 11" was broadcast on CBS from July 9, 2009, to September 15, 2009. This season lasted a total of 73 days, making it the third shortest season of the series to date. This season featured no changes to the schedule that was used in the previous edition, with episodes airing on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Sunday each week. The Thursday episode, which aired at 9pm Eastern Time, featured the live eviction and subsequent Head of Household competition taking place. During the live eviction, the show was hosted by Julie Chen. The Sunday episode, which aired at 8pm Eastern Time, featured the food competition and nomination ceremony, as well as some highlights from the previous days. The Tuesday episode featured the Power of Veto competition and the Power of Veto ceremony, along with more highlights of recent events in the game. Some changes to the scheduling format were made. Chima's expulsion from the game, for example, led to various changes in the formatting of the television broadcasts, and led to the cancellation of the upcoming Double Eviction week. The series was broadcast on Global Television Network in Canada. For the first time in the history of the show, "Big Brother" had a two-hour live season finale, which aired on September 15, an increase from the usual hour.
Much like the previous editions, the live feeds were also available again for this season. HouseGuests enter the house a few days before the premiere, and the feeds are not live for the first few days. They later go live after the broadcast of the launch episode. This season saw the cancellation of the spin-off series '. This made it the first season since "Big Brother 4" to not feature the companion show, though various events and talk shows have been hosted by the live feed providers since the show's cancellation. This season did, however, see the return of the ' spin-off series, which aired on Showtime Too nightly from midnight to 3a.m. Eastern Time. The show served as a live feed into the house, and was edited only for slanderous statements and music copyrights. Much like the previous season, "Big Brother 11" is available for digital purchasing on iTunes and Amazon.com. "Big Brother" maintained an online platform with live subscription feeds from RealNetworks, a redesigned and relaunched website, online videos, full episodes, a fantasy game and segments on "Inside Dish with Ross Mathews". For the first time "Big Brother" launched two Twitter accounts; one featured updates from the production staff and one featured updates from the current Head of Household. Episodes of "Big Brother" continued to be streamed on CBS Mobile Channel on FLOTV. Mobile users were also able to interact and influence the show through SMS text messaging and, for the first time, a simulation game based on "Big Brother" was also available to mobile customers.
House.
As with each season since "Big Brother 6", the program was filmed at CBS Studios in Studio City, California. The production team was located in the second story of the House which included the story department, audio department and the switchers and shaders. The House was equipped with 52 cameras and 80 microphones to record the participants. The art department that created the competitions for the program was located outside the House. The House theme was eco-friendly and modern California living was released on June 29 during media day, where select members of the press were invited to spend 12 hours inside the House. Official pictures of the House interior were released by CBS on the same day, showing the living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, lounge room and backyard. The living room featured chipboard walls with fake plants along the side.
The spa that was featured in the House since season nine was removed and replaced with exercise bikes that when operated would power a light bulb. The former spa room featured recycled products like wood, plastic and aluminum turned into wallpaper. There was also a shipping container-based bathroom, an open kitchen that paid respects to the Pacific Rim and a portable garden where the HouseGuests would collect compost and grow their own herb garden was added to the backyard. The House included four bedrooms each varying in design and comfort. The Head of Household bedroom featured a penthouse design with a waterfall and a faux ocean front view while the first bedroom featured a VIP club lounge design, while the second bedroom resembled the bottom of a public pool and featured a slide and beds that were designed to look like flotation devices. The third room initially used by the HouseGuests was later turned into the Have-Not room, which was a simplistic gray bedroom with metal slabs used as beds.
Format.
The format remained largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests were incarcerated in the Big Brother House with no contact to and from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests took part in several compulsory challenges that determined who would win food, luxuries and power in the House. The winner of the Head of Household competition was immune from nominations and was instructed to nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest became Head of Household he or she was ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition.
The winner of the Power of Veto competition won the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercised the power, the Head of Household then had to nominate another HouseGuest for eviction.
On eviction night all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees voted to evict one of the two nominees. Before the voting began the nominees had the chance to say a final message to their fellow HouseGuests. This compulsory vote was conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of "Big Brother", the HouseGuests could discuss the nomination and eviction process open and freely. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House on Thursday and interviewed by Julie Chen. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother. The last seven evictees of the season form the Jury that voted for the winner on the season finale, they were known as the jury members. The jury members were sequestered in a separate house and were not allowed to watch the show except for segments that included all of the HouseGuests. The jury members were not shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that included strategy or details regarding nominations.
In a change from previous seasons, the food competitions were changed to Have vs. Have-Not competitions. HouseGuests were divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have Nots" depending on their performance in the competitions. HouseGuests that became "Have Nots" for the week were only allowed to eat slop and a weekly food restriction, chosen by the viewing public, cold showers and sleeping on metal beds. A new rule was revealed this season, in the event a HouseGuest that would be part of the jury to determine the winner voluntarily leaves the House or is expelled by Big Brother the American public replaced that HouseGuest on the jury and voted for the winner along with the remaining jury members.
HouseGuests.
Twelve of the thirteen HouseGuests were revealed during "The Early Show" on July 1, 2009, by Julie Chen. During the season premiere the Houseguests were split into four cliques and Jessie Godderz was revealed as the final Houseguest during the season premiere on July 9, 2009, after the Athletes clique won the first Head of Household competition.
Future appearances.
Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder competed on "The Amazing Race 16", then returned for "Big Brother 12" the following year to participate in a Power of Veto competition. They later returned to compete on "Big Brother 13" in 2011, then returned on "Big Brother 16", in which Jeff proposed to Jordan.
In 2020, Kevin Campbell returned to compete on "Big Brother: All-Stars".
Summary.
On Day 1, twelve HouseGuests entered the house. Following introductions, the HouseGuests learned of the season's twist, in which they would be playing as members of common high-school cliques. Despite this, HouseGuests continued to play the game as individuals and competed in competitions as individuals, were nominated as individuals, and were evicted as individuals. They also learned that if a member of their clique won Head of Household, they could not be nominated for eviction. Upon entering the backyard to compete in their first Head of Household competition, the HouseGuests learned what cliques they were placed in. HouseGuests Jeff, Natalie, and Russell were in the Athletes clique, while Chima, Michele, and Ronnie were in the Brains clique. Casey, Kevin, and Lydia were placed in the Offbeat clique, leaving Braden, Jordan, and Laura in the Popular clique. Following this, HouseGuests competed in "The Wedgie" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests wore a pair of over-sized underwear and held onto a toilet seat while being suspended by the underwear. The last HouseGuest remaining in the air would earn a fourth member for their clique, with this person becoming the first Head of Household of