Big Brother All-Stars begins in less than a week and executive producer Allison Grodner is finally speaking publicly about how the season is going to work.
CBS recently announced that the season premiere is going to include a live move-in this summer. That will be a big wrinkle in the format that could provide a lot of excitement on premiere night.
The start date is also when CBS viewers may find out, for the first time, if any of the casting rumors are correct. Is TV Guide advertising the right names?
Allison Grodner speaks with Entertainment Weekly
According to Dalton Ross from Entertainment Weekly, EP Allison Grodner called into EW Live (SiriusXM, channel 109) to discuss the new season of the show.
It’s a big deal because this is finally some confirmation of what’s coming up.
In the interview, Allison spoke at length about the challenges of putting the season together. It wasn’t always a sure-bet that Big Brother 22 was going to take place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Grodner told EW that “Well, it wasn’t easy. That is absolutely correct. And truthfully, I think up until recently when we did make the announcement — even though we’re prepared and we’ve been working for months and everything — you never know.”
She also addressed how the cast and crew are in a bubble this summer to limit contact with the outside world.
It is easier for a show like this to work under those conditions because it is a closed set with almost quarantine-like safety measures already in place.
Big Brother All-Stars changes
There are going to be some noticeable differences to the presentation of Big Brother All-Stars, even though Allison seemed to indicate that there were efforts to make sure that viewers didn’t really notice much.
The first big change for viewers is that there is no studio audience. This means when host Julie Chen Moonves is out front, she is only talking to the camera and not to people watching the show being taped.
Allison also noted that they “have a brand-new front of the house for Julie” that is going to spice things up a bit.
Along with the aesthetic change out front, there could be some noticeable differences to how challenges are constructed and presented due to the limited resources on hand during the pandemic.
In addition to the physical changes, Allison also stated that there are going to be a lot of new twists and turns for the houseguests.
That sounds exciting, especially during a season where it is very unlikely that any showmances will take place.
And, yes, Zingbot is back, OTEV will make an appearance, and Allison says that they are really happy with the Big Brother All-Stars cast that is set to debut on August 5.
She is also excited about the all-live two-hour premiere that will be much different for CBS viewers than in the past.
Get buckled up, because the new season is about to arrive with an episode that you do not want to miss!
Big Brother All-Stars debuts August 5 at 9/8c on CBS.
When are the feeds going to be available to Canadians