When she was first approached to host the CBS reality competition show “Big Brother,” in the summer of 2000, Julie Chen Moonves didn’t know what to think.
“I was very confused, and as a journalist I had a million questions,” she said in a late July phone interview.
I pictured it like ‘Survivor’ with air-conditioning.”“Big Brother,” which premiered on July 5, 2000, has just entered its 25th season.
Chen Moonves is still the host, and “‘Survivor’ with air-conditioning” is still a pretty accurate description.
Like that network peer, “Big Brother” has weathered vitriolic criticism, survived seismic changes to the landscape of television and endured countless trend cycles in both reality TV and network programming as a whole.
Persons:
”, Julie Chen Moonves, Chen Moonves, “, —
Organizations:
CBS, Reality, Paramount
Locations:
Netherlands