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As Big Brother fans know all too well, CBS has made many rule changes to the show over its 24 seasons. Some modifications have been very well received, while others have been met with pitchforks. And after watching Big Brother 24, fans are more than ready for the return of one aspect from past seasons.

Julie Chen Moonves, the host of 'Big Brother' on CBS, wears a red dress.
Julie Chen Moonves | Photo: CBS

‘Big Brother’ has made many changes over its 24 seasons on CBS

Big Brother premiered in 2000, and its first season vastly differs from today’s show. In fact, season 1 was met with many negative reviews, forcing CBS to make changes for Big Brother 2.

Initially, the houseguests did not compete for power, and they voted for two other players for “banishment,” which they changed to “eviction” in season 2. Then, viewers at home would decide who left, not the houseguests. Let’s just say that the audience and critics weren’t fans of this format.

Big Brother 2 is much more similar to the series fans love. It introduced the Head of Household and Have-Not competitions. However, CBS didn’t include the Power of Veto competition until Big Brother 3. And nowadays, contestants don’t battle to become Haves and Have-Nots. Instead, the HOH normally picks them, and it happens on the live feeds instead of the aired episodes.

Other changes include a sequestered jury, new twists, including the Battle of the Block and Pandora’s Box, the prize money, and many more.

Producers like to keep fans on their toes by introducing new elements every season. However, many believe Big Brother has changed too much over the years, and there’s one thing, in particular, that they miss from the older seasons.

Fans want to see diary room sessions return to normal

Following Big Brother 24, one fan jumped on Reddit to express what aspect of the CBS series they would like to change.

“Why do diary room entries seem so fake now?” they wrote. “It’s like production is like, ‘OK, now say what you just said but say it like this.’ I miss how candid the diary room used to be. People used to lay on the chair n s***.”

A different Reddit user commented, “It feels like production has a specific idea on how they want the story to go and how they want each houseguest to come across, so they’ve just started forcing it. It’s very noticeable. I don’t understand how it’s good TV, but maybe it makes it easier to produce the show? It just sucks.”

“The scripting of DRs went too far,” one fan shared. “We only get their raw emotions in the clip show, but it should be throughout the season like that Jasmine DR from this season or that Michael moment in the DR after the noms on his last HOH.”

Another person added, “It’s crazy because even though early seasons had some scripted DRs, it was so infrequent you don’t really notice until you pay attention. I think it’s because CBS cares more about the TV show aspect than they care about the actual competition.”

What do you think, Big Brother fans? Do you miss the earlier seasons where the diary room sessions weren’t as scripted or forced? We must agree that some clips are so obviously rehearsed nowadays that it immediately takes us out of the show.

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Everything we know about ‘Big Brother 25’ on CBS

During the Big Brother 24 finale, CBS announced that it had renewed the reality competition series for season 25. And unfortunately, that’s all we know about the upcoming season aside from the fact that it will premiere in the summer of 2023.

There have been some rumors that season 25 will feature returning houseguests. Some even speculate it could be something like Big Brother: Legends, featuring iconic winners and players from past seasons. However, we likely won’t know more about Big Brother 25 until next year.

All seasons of Big Brother are available to stream on Paramount+.