Big Brother has always taught fans to expect the unexpected, but the show’s producers gave a disappointing update about two of the reality show’s spinoffs — Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother: Reindeer Games. It looks like neither will be coming back with a new season anytime soon on CBS, and maybe they are done for good.
Celebrity Big Brother is just what it sounds like. Famous people, including actors, singers, athletes, comedians, politicians, and more, compete against each other in the Big Brother house in a shortened season of the beloved game. Whoever wins gets money donated to the charity of their choosing. In the past this has aired opposite NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics. After Season 3’s controversial win with Miesha Tate, the show has not been on air since 2022.
Big Brother: Reindeer Games only had one season in 2023. It occurred during December, when past alumni competed in games over the course of two weeks. One contestant, Nicole Franzel, won the $100,000 grand prize. This only aired because of the 2023-2024 labor disputes that impacted scripted shows and has not aired again on CBS.
Executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan talked to Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of those spinoffs returning, and it is not looking good for their futures, despite the Winter Olympics coming early next year. “It doesn’t look like it,” Grodner told the publication about another celebrity season airing in February. “I think it would be fantastic, but it’s just other factors beyond our control. But you can ask CBS.”
But there is still seemingly a glimmer of hope. A source reportedly told Entertainment Weekly that if CBS needs a “scheduled filler” at some point, Reindeer Games could be back in the lineup.
“Oh my God, we would love it to come back,” Grodner said. “We think it deserves to be out there, whether it’s in the winter, whether it’s summer games, spring games, or, you know, Halloween Horror Games, or whatever.” Big Brother typically airs in the summer and goes until late September, so a spring, winter, or Halloween spinoff would probably be its best bet.
“We designed a format that could be skinned in any way,” Meehan told EW. “It could be a Halloween stunt, it could be a Christmas stunt, it could be for Valentine’s Day, or even Easter Games could be fun.”
Grodner thinks that because Reindeer Games aired in December that the ratings weren’t the best. “It feels like the show worked really well, and it probably had a lot to do with the time of year it aired that maybe it wasn’t quite as successful,” she said.
But Meehan thinks that changing the schedule might confuse some fans. “I think you have to teach an audience that it’s there,” he said. “Because I think our fans would love the show if everyone knew exactly when it was on. Because people are such [creatures of habit]. It’s like, ‘What’s on in the summer?’ and you show up and it’s there. When you’re trying to teach people new things, it takes a minute [for] everyone [to] know that this exists.”
Meehan believes that the spinoff is not completely gone and will come back on when the schedule is open. “CBS has a successful scripted business and ultimately, it’s like, ‘When do they need stuff?’ But we love it, we’re always asking about it, and from talking to them, it’s not like it’s gone forever. It’s just when is the right time, and when do they have the airtime for it? Everybody at CBS loves it.”
Grodner went on to say that they didn’t hear any negative feedback on it and would love to see other alumni come back. “It’s just not in our control,” she said. “We will produce it wherever anyone wants it. It just comes down to availability in the schedule.”
Other Big Brother spinoff shows include Big Brother: Over The Top, which aired exclusively online and only lasted one season, as well as Big Brother: Unlocked, which was an after-show that debuted in Season 27. No word on whether either of them is returning.
Do you want the spinoff shows to return? Let us know in the comments.
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