Big Brother 1 (U.S.)

Big Brother 1 is the official premiere season of Seth's Big Brother. It is the first full season for the series, after the initial pilot season was cancelled due to personal reasons. The series was originally intended to last for an estimated 75 days, though this idea was later scrapped due to a negative reaction. It ultimately lasted for 49 days, with Dylan being crowned the winner on the final day. In total, 13 HouseGuests competed to win. The original 12 HouseGuests entered the game on Day 1, while one intruder entered the game on Day 12. The season was met with some controversy due to various aspects of the format and numerous HouseGuests choosing to walk in the first half of the game. Despite these events, the game continued to play out as was normally planned. These issues led to a more thorough casting process for future seasons.

This season featured the "Bounty" twist, in which one HouseGuest each week has a bounty on them. If the HoH nominated and successfully evicted the Bounty, they would win immunity the following week. If the Bounty was nominated and survived eviction, the Bounty earned immunity. If the Veto winner saved the Bounty, the Veto winner had immunity for the week. The first two Bounties were chosen by the public, with the last two being decided by a specific contestant due to twists. The "Bounty" lasted until the fifth week, when it was officially discontinued. Various other twists occured throughout the game, including a "Charm Bracelet" power coming in to play, as well as a previously evicted HouseGuest returning to the game. Another twist was the inclusion of the Have-Not competition, featured in the televised version of the series; it would not occur in subsequent seasons.

HouseGuests from Big Brother 1 have returned to the game in various ways throughout the course of the series. HouseGuests Dylan and Matt returned in Big Brother 2 to compete against the new HouseGuests in a Power of Veto competition. During the finale of the second season, it was confirmed that Matt would become the co-host for the series, and would be present for the duration of the third season.

Development
The series originally premiered in October of 2012, and was slated to last for 30 days. This first season featured the original "Coins" twist, and had 13 HouseGuests total, one of which was an intruder. Due to personal issues with Seth, the series was cancelled on Day 6. The initial pilot season is no longer regarded as part of the Seth's Big Brother series, and is seen as a stand-alone series. Though Seth was unsure of whether to begin a new series or not, he eventually decided to. Big Brother 1 featured a wide variety of competitions, with the first half consisting of non-live competitions, due to the slow nature of the game. Most competitions used in the series were pre-planned, with an outline of the series being created before the premiere. Big Brother 1 featured one group, which is where all events took place. The first season was intended to last the length of a full Big Brother series, however, this idea was later scrapped midway through the season due to a negative response. The twist for the season, referred to as the "Bounty" twist, was developed only a few days before the actual premiere of the series. Seth claimed he felt the twist would cause "plenty of drama", as it could lead to some backstabbing in the game. The idea originated from an idea Seth found on a Big Brother forum, which would reward money to HouseGuests for nominating certain HouseGuests, voted on by the public. Seth further adapted the twist to fit the rules of Tengaged and Seth's Big Brother, thus the "Bounty" twist was formed. Following the positive reception of the twist, Seth stated he would like most Seth's Big Brother seasons to feature an original twist.

Casting
The first round of auditions for the series began on November 15, 2012, in which potential HouseGuests were asked basic questions about their time spent on Tengaged. The second round of auditions asked more in depth questions about HouseGuests and their gameplay style. This included questions about their favorite Big Brother players, as well as questions that asked them how they would react in a certain scenario. The third round of auditions required HouseGuests to read and accept the rules and regulations of the series, which also served as an activity test for the potential HouseGuests. The final cast was selected on November 20, 2012 and were privately informed that they had been selected to appear in the series. Twelve HouseGuests were initially intended to play the game, however, when Daniel chose to walk from the game he was replaced with an intruder, Pamela. No other intruders entered the house, and this is the only season to have an intruder enter the game.

Schedule
In terms of scheduling, Big Brother 1 differs greatly from later seasons. The first few weeks of the game had no official schedule, due to the fact that most competitions in the series were non-live. Seth scheduled the first live competition for 7 PM Eastern, however, this time proved to be problematic due to other game obligations on Seth's part. Following the announcement that the game would be sped up, most competitions and evictions began occurring at 8 PM Eastern, a time which proved to be successful for both Seth and the HouseGuests. This time would be used for all events in subsequent seasons, with only a few exceptions. Though no official time was selected, the group did maintain a schedule throughout the first half. Every Wednesday, the house participated in a live eviction, and were given a non-live Head of Household competition later that night. On Thursdays, the HouseGuests would participate in the nomination ceremony, as well as a Have-Not competition. Friday nights were the Power of Veto competition, which was usually non-live as well. Saturday featured no events, and allowed the HouseGuests time to discuss recent events and make plans for the Veto. On Sunday, HouseGuests participated in the Power of Veto ceremony, where a decision would be made as to whether the Veto was to be used or not. On Mondays, HouseGuests had a Monday Meeting, where they discussed the events of the previous week. This was also where the nominees gave their final plea, and the voting process began. Tuesday's featured no events, and allowed HouseGuests time to cast their eviction votes. Later seasons would not use this schedule.

Format
Tengaged contestants who apply for the series will be notified of whether they made the series or not. Each week, the HouseGuests took part in several compulsory challenges that determined who would win 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. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House and will be intereviewed by Seth, who hosts the series. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother.undefinedThe 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. None of the HouseGuests are aware of how the voting process went until after the season. Those playing the game had to abide by numerous rules to continue in the game. All competing HouseGuests were required to vote for eviction, and could be punished if they failed to do so. They were also required to post in the forums every two days, otherwise expulsion could be used as a punishment. HouseGuests were required to participate in non-live competitions, though appearing at live competitions was not required. Another rule to the game was that HouseGuests would compete in the Have-Not competition, with the losing team receiving penalties in the HoH and PoV competitions. If a HouseGuest were to be banned from Tengaged, even for the shortest amount of time, they would be expelled from the game. Showing up to evictions was not a rule, but was greatly encouraged.

The game featured numerous twists throughout the season. The main twist, announced on Day 1, was the Bounty twist, in which each week one HouseGuest was automatically marked as the bounty. If the bounty was nominated and evicted that week, the Head of Household would be immune from eviction the following week. If the bounty was nominated and survived the eviction, they would be immune from the following eviction. Should someone win the Veto and remove the bounty from the block, then the PoV holder would be immune the following week. If a nominee saved themself with the Veto, or the bounty was not nominated at all, then no one becomes immune the following week. This twist was in effect for the first four weeks, but was then discontinued as the Jury of Seven had formed. Another game changing twist occured on Day 21, when HouseGuest Conor won the competition that unleashed the Charm Bracelet into the house. The charm bracelet could only be held by a HouseGuest for one week at a time, with the holder giving it to another HouseGuest at the end of that week. The holder of this power would receive an advantage in the HoH and PoV competition, though it would provide neither an advantage or disadvantage if the holder was a Have-Not that week. Conor, as the winner of the power, was the only HouseGuest eligible to keep it for two consecutive weeks. The charm bracelet was only in play for two weeks, but was discontinued after the first two holders both won HoH during their respective weeks as the holder, proving that it was too great of an advantage. Yet another twist occured in the game on Day 26, when newly crowned HoH Conor chose to open Pandora's Box. He was given two options, open either Box 1 or Box 2; he chose the latter of the two. It was revealed the following day that the first box had contained a secret power, while the second box held the most recently evicted HouseGuest Dylan. Since Conor opened the second box, Dylan re-entered the game the following week. As he did not compete in the Head of Household competition, Dylan was immune from that weeks eviction.

Summary
The day before the series began, a poll featuring the original 12 HouseGuests opened, though the reason for the poll was unknown at the time. During the season premiere, the HouseGuests learned of the "Bounty Twist", in which each week one HouseGuest would have a bounty marked. If the HoH nominates and evicts the bounty, they earn immunity the following week. If the PoV holder saves the bounty, they earn immunity the following week. If the Bounty is nominated for eviction but survives the vote, then they will earn immunity. The Bounty for the first week was announced as Hannah, who had earned 33% of the vote it the poll posted before the season began. During the first HoH competition, "Who's In Charge?", one HouseGuest was secretly given a key, and each competing HouseGuest had to attempt to guess who held the key. Andrew became the first HoH of the season, being the first one to correctly guess that Jake had the key. On Day 2, HouseGuests were split into three teams of four for the first Have-Not competition. After the "Big Brother Trivia" competition, the team of Andrew, Jake, Kyle and Pop came in last place, thus became the first Have-Nots of the season.. As Andrew was HoH, he was not a Have-Not for the week.

Later on Day 2, Hannah and Nathaniel were revealed as the first nominees of the season. On Day 3, HouseGuests competed in the "The Cat and the Veto" competition, a play on the Dr. Seuss book "The Cat In the Hat". For the competition, HouseGuests had to solve riddles that dealt with popular Big Brother phrases. Each phrase was worth a certain amount of veto points, and getting the riddle correct would result in the HouseGuest receiving those points. Throughout the questions were prizes which HouseGuests could take in exchange for veto points. Being the only person to get a perfect score, Hannah won the Power of Veto. Two of the questions featured caused controversy with HouseGuest Nathaniel, who was from Canada. The questions, which revolved around Pandora's Box and the Coup d'Etat, dealt with a topic Nathaniel stated he had not learned in high school. Despite his complaints, the outcome was not changed. On Day 4, during the first Monday Meeting, Hannah chose to save herself from eviction that week; Dylan was named the replacement nominee. On Day 6, Nathaniel become the first HouseGuest to be evicted by a vote of seven to two. He only received the votes of Conor and Jake.

Following the eviction, Dylan won the "Majority Rules" Head of Household competition, in which HouseGuests had to answer questions while staying in the majority vote. After his win, it was confirmed that Andrew was the bounty for that week. On Day 7, HouseGuests split into two teams to compete in the "Speak Up" Have-Not competition. AJ, Andrew, Daniel, Hannah, and Matt became the Have-Nots for the week. Later that night, Dylan chose to nominate Andrew, the week's bounty, and Daniel for eviction. On Day 8, Conor won the "Bluff Me a Veto" competition, which required HouseGuests to wager Veto Chips on which of two statements made by a HouseGuest was false. With 7 chips, he had the most and won the Veto. The following day, Conor chose to use the Power of Veto to save Andrew from the block. As Andrew was the Bounty for the week, this ensured Conor's safety for the following week, meaning he could not be nominated or evicted the following week; Jake was named the replacement nominee. On Day 11, Daniel chose to walk from the game, choosing to focus on his personal life. Later that night, an intruder named Pamela entered the house, with a mystery twist revolving around her appearance.

On Day 13, HouseGuests competed in the "Before or After" Head of Household competition, in which they had to recall whether one event happened before or after another event. With a total score of seven out of eight, Ashley became the new Head of Household. It was then revealed that Pamela, as a new HouseGuest, would choose that week's bounty, with Conor and Dylan being immune as they held the PoV and HoH, respectively. Pamela named Matt the Bounty for that week. On Day 14, AJ and Andrew were nominated for eviction. The following day, HouseGuests competed in the "Pop Goes the Veto" competition, in which they had to be the last person remaining with balloons. On Day 16, Dylan was crowned the winner of the Power of Veto, being the only person with balloons remaining. This makes him the first HouseGuest to win two competitions in the game thus far. On Day 17, he chose to remove AJ from the block, with Matt going up as the replacement nominee. On Day 20, the vote came down to a tie, with Ashley casting the sole vote to evict Andrew.

The Head of Household competition was later revealed to be endurance, thus would begin that Friday, Day 22 in the house. On Day 21, HouseGuests competed in the "Blog Hunters" competition, in which they searched the blogs of Tengaged users in hopes of gaining the most points. The winner of the competition would receive a surprise, which wasn't revealed until after the competition. Dylan won immunity from the upcoming eviction during the competition, while Pop won the ability to nullify someone's eviction vote. Conor was the eventual winner of the competition, earning a score of 29 out of 30. He won the Charm Bracelet, in which the holder would receive an advantage in both the weekly HoH and PoV competitions. With the exception of Conor, the Charm Bracelet must be passed on each week, and one person cannot have it two consecutive weeks. HouseGuests began the "Hold On Tight!" endurance competition on Day 22, in which they had to post within a two minute time limit to confirm they were still present in the game. It was then revealed that the new HoH would select three Have-Nots, while the runner-up would choose the bounty for the week. The competition lasted for roughly one hour, with Conor being the winner of the competition. He chose to make Ashley, Dylan and Matt the Have-Nots for the week, with Pamela choosing to make Ashley the Bounty for the week. On Day 23, he nominated Hannah and Kyle for eviction. Later that day, HouseGuests competed in the "How Bad Do You Want It?" Veto competition. Before the results of the competition were revealed, however, Hannah chose to walk from the game. Pamela chose to walk the following day.

Due to Hannah and Pamela's decision to walk from the game, a rule change was implemented into the game in that it would now move on a "quick game" platform, with an eviction occurring every three to four days in the game. On Day 24, HouseGuests competed in the "As Days Go By.." HoH competition, in which the competing HouseGuests had to state which day an event in the game occurred. Ashley was the eventual winner, being the first person to get all of the questions correct. Later that night, he nominated AJ and Pop for eviction. On Day 25, Conor won the "Memory Wall" PoV competition, which required players to try and guess which BB HouseGuest was being referenced to in a set of clues. He chose to remove AJ from the block, with Dylan being named the replacement nominee. Following a confrontation between Ashley, Dylan, AJ and Matt, Dylan was evicted in a vote of five to zero on Day 26. This made him the first HouseGuest to be unanimously evicted from the game.

Following Dylan's eviction, Conor won the "Getting Schooled" HoH competition, in which trivia questions were asked that pertained to the Big Brother game. Following this, Conor chose to open Pandora's Box, and was given the option to either open Box 1 or Box 2; he chose the latter. The following day, it was revealed that the first box held a secret power, which Conor had not earned. The second box featured a previously evicted HouseGuest, causing Dylan to re-enter the game. Conor chose to nominate Jake and Pop that week, hoping to inspire them both to become more active players. Kyle was the winner of the PoV competition after it came down to him and Dylan in a tie-breaker question. Ultimately, Kyle chose to leave both Jake and Pop nominated, ensuring that one of them would be evicted. On Day 32, Jake was evicted in a vote of three to two. Due to the Christmas holiday, there were no events for either Day 33 or Day 34; the game continued as normal days later.

On Day 35, HouseGuests competed in the "Race to HoH" endurance competition, in which they had to take cups from one end of the backyard to another in an attempt to fill up their bowls. Ashley was the winner, becoming the first person to win three HoH competitions. He chose to nominate Conor and Pop a few minutes later, feeling that Conor could possibly make the finale and that Pop didn't deserve to be in the game. On Day 36, Dylan won the "Big Brother Piggy Bank" competition, in which HouseGuests dispersed coins amongst one another with the hopes of being the HouseGuest who comes closest to 20 coins. In a tie-breaker round, Dylan beat Ashley and earned his second Power of Veto win, choosing to leave nominations the same. On Day 38, Conor was evicted in a three to one vote. In the Double Eviction, AJ won the "Battle of the Sexes" HoH competition, in which those competing had to state whether a male or female HouseGuest made a certain statement. This gave him his first HoH win, which is also his first win total. Due to the Double Eviction, AJ immediately nominated Dylan and Matt for eviction. HouseGuests then competed in the "Veto In a Haystack" Power of Veto competition, in which they had to search through blogs to find two comments, which would get them the points to win. When Dylan won the competition, he removed himself from the block and was replaced with Kyle. Minutes later, Kyle was evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of two to zero.

Following the eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Decoder" competition, in which they had to solve clues to figure out a hidden phrase. Ashley was the winner of the competition, earning him his fourth consecutive Head of Household win of the season. He chose to nominate Matt and Pop for eviction. In the "Power Couples" Power of Veto competition, HouseGuests had to figure out what two names of former Seth's Big Brother HouseGuests had been combined to form a new name. Ashley was the winner of this competition, making him the first person to hold the title of HoH and Power of Veto winner at the same time. He ultimately chose to use the Power of Veto on Matt; AJ was the replacement nominee. On Day 43, AJ was evicted in a unanimous two to zero vote. The following day, Pop was the winner of the "Christmas in January" HoH competition, in which HouseGuests exchanged boxes that had certain amounts of points in them. In the competition, Matt won an automatic jury vote should he make Final Two, though this only would work on him. Pop chose to nominate Dylan and Ashley for eviction, as he felt they were the biggest threats. On Day 45, Dylan won the "Memory Lane" Power of Veto competition, and chose to remove himself from the block; Matt was the only eligible HouseGuest, and thus was named the replacement nominee. Dylan immediately had to cast his vote to evict, and he chose to evict Matt from the game. Dylan was later crowned the Final HoH, and chose to evict Pop on Day 48. On Day 49, Dylan was crowned the winner in a unanimous six to zero jury vote.

Feedback
Since it's premiere, Big Brother 1 received generally mixed reviews. Throughout the first few weeks, the series seen as "boring" and dull, due to the slow nature of the series. Following the change in format, the game became slightly better received by the players. HouseGuest Matt has went on to praise the season and the series as a whole, and often urges others to apply for the series. He later referred to it as "One of the best group games ever" in a blog. Eventual winner Dylan has also went on to praise the season, and appeared in Big Brother 2 along with Matt for a Power of Veto competition. He referred to the series as "cool," and later stated he had the "time of [his] life." HouseGuest Ashley is also involved in the process of the show, and makes the logos for all subsequent seasons. HouseGuests such as Pamela and Hannah have both expressed boredom with the series, with both of them later choosing to walk from the game. Since it's finale, Seth has often expressed displeasure with Big Brother 1, and feels that he was inexperienced at the time. During the first episode of Big Brother: The Big Mash-Up, Seth stated that Big Brother 1 was similar to the ninth edition of the real series, in the sense that it should not be spoken of, and later stating "we pretend it never happened."

Accolades
Big Brother 1 earned a total of two nominations at the 11th Tengaged Outstanding Group Awards, being nominated for "Best Host" and "Best Big Brother Group." Ultimately, both awards were lost, with 'Best Group' going to "Survivorfan's Big Brother 1" and the 'Best Host' award going to "Benlinus." Despite not winning any awards, Seth stated he was pleased to have been nominated, commenting "There are a lot of groups out there who weren't nominated for anything, so I'm just glad people like my series enough to get it on the nominations list." This is the second highest amount of nominations a season was behind, only behind Big Brother 2.

Controversy & criticism
The first half of the game was plagued with HouseGuests choosing to walk from the game for various reasons. In the second week, nominated HouseGuest Daniel chose to walk from the game, choosing instead to focus on his personal life instead of Tengaged. Following this, intruder Pamela entered the game the following day. On Day 22, HouseGuest Pamela chose to walk from the game, stating that she wasn't sure if she would remain on Tengaged or not. Later that day, however, she returned to the game. On Day 23, nominated HouseGuest Hannah chose to walk from the game, stating that she no longer wanted to play Group Games on the site. The following day, Pamela chose to walk from the game yet again, this time calling the game "boring", though she later apologized to Seth in a private message. Neither Hannah or Pamela were replaced, though their decisions to walk did affect the decision to allow a previously evicted HouseGuest to return to the game, which ultimately was revealed to be Dylan. Initially set to last for a length of two months, this decision proved to be problematic for the game. Numerous HouseGuests expressed displeasure with the length of the game, which had one eviction held every Wednesday, thus making the game last an estimated 75 days. The game's length ultimately led to Pamela's decision to walk from the game, which she later explained privately to Seth. Due to the negative response to the length of the game, it was announced on Day 24 that the game would be sped up, with an eviction occuring every 2 to 4 days in the game. The "fast game" format would be carried on in future seasons. Since this season, however, Seth has stated he prefers the fast format to the slower paced version of the game, citing the fast version as more "entertaining."