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American Morning
Showbiz Today Reports: "Big Brother" Returns
Aired July 06, 2001 - 11:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: "Big Brother" is coming back, believe it or not!
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Like it or not!
And Laurin is chuckling away over there.
LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very well said, Stephen, like it or not.
Anyway, it is a familiar showbiz motto, if at first you don't succeed, add more sex. And last year, CBS' reality show "Big Brother" was blasted by critics, and got so-so ratings. This summer's version debuted last night.
And as Lauren Hunter reports, the bodies are harder, and the action is raunchier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAUREN HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Big Brother" is back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BIG BROTHER 2")
It's you against them in a summer long power struggle for a half million dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER: But it's a whole new show: new furniture, new Jacuzzi, new competitions, new sleeping arrangements and new contestants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I plan on being the villain in the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a nice side, just like everybody else do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really want America to love me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a very sexual person. I require a lot of sex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I will do whatever it takes to be the last person to win.
HUNTER: Six men and six women range in age from 28 to 46, from a doctor to a personal chef, all vying for the half-million-dollar prize.
ARNOLD SHAPIRO, EXEC. PRODUCER, "BIG BROTHER 2": We have a pretty uninhibited group of people. The 12 people who wind up in this house will be anything but boring. They will be most of all competitive. They will be colorful, outgoing, personable, and as I like to say, delightfully quirky.
HUNTER: Last year's 10 houseguests never seemed to catch on. The original "Big Brother" averaged about nine million viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BIG BROTHER 2")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we all need to moon the cameras or something?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER: This go-round, 38 cameras and 61 microphones will watch these houseguests nonstop for 11 weeks. Audiences can watch them on CBS three nights each week, down from last year's six, or watch them day and night on the Internet, but audiences will no longer decide who stays and who goes. These 12 will give each other the boot.
SHAPIRO: We figured that if the people who know each other the best, who are in this fierce competition living together 24/7, would be most qualified to decide who shouldn't be in that house anymore.
HUNTER: They'll also decide who sleeps where. There are three unisex bedrooms with a twist: none of the beds are equal. They range from a waterbed to a cot. Houseguests drew numbers to decide who went in first and had one minute to choose their bed.
SHAPIRO: The inequity of the beds are designed again to promote more conflict. When you have an unequal situation, you have the potential for egos to emerge and strategies to get each other's bed. Now, who knows? We've got -- this is a double bed and it's really only one person's bed, but perhaps it'll be more.
HUNTER: And if there's more, will those alliances be real, or could they be part of the game?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch. It should be interesting.
HUNTER: Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYDNEY: Delightfully quirky? Movies will be fighting, well, like "Cats & Dogs" at the box office this weekend. The computer- generated war of the pets film took in $9 million July 4, with "Scary Movie 2" close behind with $8 million. Steven Spielberg's "A.I.," last weekend's No. 1 film, also faces competition this weekend from the new Jet Li thriller, "Kiss of the Dragon." And later today in the afternoon our 4:00 p.m. "Showbiz Today Report," a look at the box office winners and losers so far this summer.
And when we return we go from movies to music as we take a look at who is number uno on "Billboard"'s singles chart.
Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SYDNEY: The boys of BBMak are more than just good looking; they know how to play their instruments. And, boy, can they sing.
The British power pop group has been riding high on the charts with their album "Sooner or Later," and will play their new single for us in our "Showbiz Sessions" segment this afternoon in our 2:00 p.m. "Showbiz Today Report."
Until then, in New York, I'm Laurin Sydney.
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