ABC announce Big Brother rip-off

[Brekkie]

ABC have announced The Glass House in which 14 people will live together in a house and "social media" fans will be able to interact with them and vote them off. It begins June 18th.

ABC looks into Glass House

US network ABC will air a new Big Brother-style reality series from June, produced by Keep Calm and Carry On Productions.

Kenny Rosen, who previously produced Big Brother, will executive produce The Glass House for ABC.

The format sees 14 contestants living together and competing for US$250,000.

Viewers can watch and vote online as usual but also support and follow contestants through social media, with their votes and ‘likes’ helping to decide who goes home and who stays in the house at the end of the week.

Viewers can also decide on games and activities for the contestants to be involved in and give them feedback on their performances.

The series will premiere on Monday June 18 at 22.00.

http://www.c21media.net/archives/81045

A rip-off it may be but more interested to see this than BBUSA this summer.

 

[Kingston]

ABC have announced The Glass House in which 14 people will live together in a house and "social media" fans will be able to interact with them and vote them off. It begins June 18th.


http://www.c21media.net/archives/81045

A rip-off it may be but more interested to see this than BBUSA this summer.

Interesting... I get the feeling that ABC have wanted to do this for a while but couldn't find the right format. Rumor has it they had purchased the rights to The Golden Cage in 2007 but later cited costs as a the main reason the show never materialized.

It should be interesting to see how this show works out... If it's done well enough it could encourage Allison Grodner to step her game up slightly to stay in the running... Although I don't see BB's hardcore followers turning away from BB completely just yet.

I'm also worried about the public voting aspect. It can either make or break the show if they are given too much control... I'm also not so sure I like the idea of the fans giving feedback via social media... It has the potential to lead to the HM's sucking up to the viewers.

 

[cowmoomoo]

CBS is clashing with ABC over a new reality show -- claiming ABC's newest reality project "Glass House" is a "Big Brother" rip-off ... and if ABC doesn't pull the plug on it stat, CBS will sue.

Lawyers for CBS fired off a cease and desist letter to ABC on Friday, claiming "Glass House" -- about contestants living in a house, filmed round-the-clock, and voted out by viewers -- is strikingly similar to "Big Brother."

CBS says it's no coincidence either -- claiming 18 former "Big Brother" staffers are now working on the new ABC project.

Source: TMZ

Can see another trend of US networks copying successful shows like The Voice with The Choice.

 

[Kingston]

Source: TMZ

Can see another trend of US networks copying successful shows like The Voice with The Choice.

This won't work at all. Obviously the two shows are similar but the differences are great enough that CBS has no legal recourse. The two networks have battled in the past over I'm a Celebrity and Survivor. From what I understand is that Glass House will essentially be IACGMOOH in a house with non-celebrities. I hope ABC has the balls to move forward with the show despite threats from CBS.

CBS has also sued FOX over the show Bootcamp and lost as well. One would think that they'd have learned by now.

 

[Brekkie]

More info:

How does the show work?
When the show begins, fourteen people are living in a house together, participating in challenges - with America making the decisions about what happens in the house. Each week there will be somebody eliminated from the house. The winner is the last person left in the house - as voted on by you, the public!

What are the decisions that America makes to effect what happens in the house? America will have the opportunity to vote on a variety of things relating to the house. Not only will the public ultimately decide who stays or goes, but it will also influence other show elements like including what the houseguests wear, where they sleep, what they eat, and who gets another shot at the game.

How does a player on the show get removed from the house?
After losing a challenge, the team captain of the losing team goes to "limbo" - along with another member from the losing team that the house votes on.

What is "limbo?"
Limbo is where two people from the house go after losing a challenge. It's an area outside of the house where the two people go until one of them is allowed to return to the house.

How are the captains for the challenges determined?
The two people with the fewest votes from the public become team captains for that week's challenge.

How does somebody return to the house from limbo?
America chooses who they think deserves to return to the house. All the power is in the public's hands.

What happens to the person who America doesn't choose to return to the house?
That person is out of the game permanently.

How many episodes will air for The Glass House?
Ten episodes will air as part of season 1.

How can I help determine what happens in the house?
You can influence a variety of events in the house by voting in the Live Stream Voting, the Daily Voting and by choosing your favorites in the house.

What is the Live Stream Voting?
The Live Stream Voting lets you have real-time influence of events seen during the live stream.

What is the Daily Voting?
The Daily Voting includes a number of voting opportunities each day through which you can influence events in the house - including major decisions such as who should be given a chance to return to the house from Limbo. This voting impacts on-air episodes.

How does the voting for favorites work?
You can vote on as few or as many people that you'd like to stay in the house. At the end of the current voting period, the two people with the fewest number of votes become team captains for that week's challenge.

When does the live streaming occur?
Four hours on Monday evening from 8pm PST to 12am PST - and also Tuesday thru Thursday at 12pm PST.

How can I audition to be on the show?
You can get casting info for Glass House at http://abc.go.com/site/casting


Those are FAQs

I don't think this show will do well in the ratings. That's why I think ABC decided to wait until now to announce the show. So when CBS does sue the show, it'll be too late and they can't prevent the show from showing.

I mean the eliminations are not live, and the elimination format is so confusing

Source

So to summarise they'll be team challenges each week, both with captain's as decided by viewers. The losing captain goes into "limbo", along with another member of their team decided by a vote. They physically move in to an area outside the house, with viewers voting one of them back into the house.

I guess that'll be the point of difference this lawsuit will rest on - although if you look at BB worldwide they are likely to find a few examples of similar twists. I know BB Germany in it's "reloaded" season sent nominees to an outdoor punishment area until the eviction.

 

[Kingston]

More info:


So to summarise they'll be team challenges each week, both with captain's as decided by viewers. The losing captain goes into "limbo", along with another member of their team decided by a vote. They physically move in to an area outside the house, with viewers voting one of them back into the house.

I guess that'll be the point of difference this lawsuit will rest on - although if you look at BB worldwide they are likely to find a few examples of similar twists. I know BB Germany in it's "reloaded" season sent nominees to an outdoor punishment area until the eviction.

CBS clearly doesn't have a case and this suit will be thrown out before any litigation takes place. The only thing the two shows have in common is that they both take place in a house. If you look at past decisions handed down in past petty reality TV lawsuits it has been said that TV formats are essentially evolutionary; taking bits and pieces from other formats to create new ones. CBS is attempting to claim that the Glass House producers have disclosed trade secrets and other forms of confidential information which I think is just ridiculous and I'm not even sure how they would prove this. I'm also not really sure if there is anything proprietary in the way CBS produces Big Brother.The suit as far as I understand only focuses on the CBS version of Big Brother so any similarities in other versions of the show are irrelevant unless CBS can prove they had something similar in development that they planned on putting to use and that these producers were aware of said plans. There is no way this lawsuit will be successful.

As for the format I like what I'm hearing but I'm not sure 10 episodes is enough to really build a loyal fan base. I'm disappointed that they didn't go for more of a stripped scheduling like Big Brother with 3 or 4 episodes airing per week.

 

[Brekkie]

I think there is a case to answer but as you say ultimately now it's just another spin on the genre, rather than on Big Brother. Ultimately if the format was moved to a desert island it wouldn't appear to be as much of a rip-off of Survivor or if it took place in a luxury island hotel it would have more in common with Paradise Hotel than Big Brother - and be a rip-off of neither.

I think though where The Glass House fails as a format is having limited live streaming windows - and I do wonder whether that is by design or whether they've resisted 24/7 so CBS can't sue them on those grounds too.

 

[Kingston]

I think there is a case to answer but as you say ultimately now it's just another spin on the genre, rather than on Big Brother. Ultimately if the format was moved to a desert island it wouldn't appear to be as much of a rip-off of Survivor or if it took place in a luxury island hotel it would have more in common with Paradise Hotel than Big Brother - and be a rip-off of neither.

I think though where The Glass House fails as a format is having limited live streaming windows - and I do wonder whether that is by design or whether they've resisted 24/7 so CBS can't sue them on those grounds too.

I'm still not convinced there's a case. This is like saying The Voice is just a rip-off of Idol when in fact the formats are fundamentally different. The X Factor and Idol are both pretty comparable yet they are both allowed to co-exist. The suit was settled out of court but a judge was still able to identify that there were subtle differences between the two formats.

I'm not sure why they've gone with the live feed set up they have but I'm pretty sure a potential lawsuit had anything to do with it. ABC seem to be pretty sure of themselves from the start of all this that CBS is just stirring up trouble. Even if they included a "24/7" feed the differences exceed the similarities.

Since the Reality TV trend took off CBS have launched more lawsuits than any other network. In the I'm a Celeb case a judge identified that if ABC were to be forced to cancel or delay airing the show they would suffer more damages than CBS would if the show went ahead as planned. It looks to me like CBS is guilty of anti-competitive behavior and it's not like CBS isn't guilty of "ripping-off" one of ABC's shows, The Talk is essentially a blatant carbon copy of The View.

Sadly from what I see The Glass House is headed down flop street in the same way Big Brother did in it's first US season. They have a great format that isn't overly complicated but the way they've chosen to air the show isn't as engaging as Big Brother. Hopefully ABC can see the same potential I do and has faith that will some re-tooling that this show could take off.

 

[SnideAsides]

I'm also not really sure if there is anything proprietary in the way CBS produces Big Brother.

From a proprietary perspective, the only way CBS would even come close to having a case is if their contract with Endemol specifically states that BB US is the only version allowed to air within the US market. And even then, this isn't Big Brother.

 

[Kingston]

From a proprietary persepctive, the only way CBS would even come close to having contract with Endemol specifically states that BB US is the only version allowed to air within the US market. And even then, this isn't Big Brother.

That makes absolutely no sense.

 

[alucard719]

From a proprietary perspective, the only way CBS would even come close to having a case is if their contract with Endemol specifically states that BB US is the only version allowed to air within the US market. And even then, this isn't Big Brother.

Actually back in 2000/2001 when CBS wanted a re-tooling of the American BB Shapiro and Grodner had to go through both Endemol and CBS for every little change they made to the format. They also had to explain how these changes would help Big Brother succeed in America.

Shapiro stated in an interview around that time that he had to get permission from Endemol Netherlands to change the voting structure, add HoH, peer-voting, America's Choice. As a by-law public voting is still the method of voting if the vote for the winner is a tie (could only happen in BB3) or if a jury member is ejected or walks (like in BB11).

They also had to go through Endemol Netherlands to change the logo, theme music and the amount of episodes per week. They also had to get the okay to change the terminology of the show. BB1 used the phrase "Marked for Banishment" for "Nominated for Eviction"/"Banished" for "Evicted", Shapiro wanted to revert these changes made in BB1 back to Nominated for Eviction/Evicted. He also wanted to revert the name change of the Diary Room that caused it to be known as the Red Room in BB1.

After he was given the okay from Endemol he then had to present the changes to CBS. CBS still wanted to schedule Big Brother six nights a week, again Shapiro after getting the okay from Endemol Netherlands, had to get CBS' permission to air three episodes per week instead of six.

So I have a question for you. Is Big Brother Brazil technically Big Brother to you? Its format is mainly BBUSA but with the public vote.

 

[Kingston]

They also had to go through Endemol Netherlands to change the logo, theme music and the amount of episodes per week. They also had to get the okay to change the terminology of the show. BB1 used the phrase "Marked for Banishment" for "Nominated for Eviction"/"Banished" for "Evicted", Shapiro wanted to revert these changes made in BB1 back to Nominated for Eviction/Evicted. He also wanted to revert the name change of the Diary Room that caused it to be known as the Red Room in BB1.

I'm not sure what that very long rant has to do with the legal battle that is going on but I want to correct you on a few things. The terms used in BB's first series were either a direct translation from the original Dutch version or invented for the US. They certainly were not changed or modified I assume the current English terms came from the UK.

While consolation with Endemol was a part of the process of developing the US version I'm not certain EVERYTHING you listed needed to be cleared through them in as great of detail as you've listed here.

When I used the term proprietary I was talking about the processes in which the show is produced that would be unique to Big Brother. I don't believe CBS could hold copyright on "terms" used on the show.

 

[cowmoomoo]

[video=youtube;Of4J-4BZd44]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of4J-4BZd44[/video]

...ABC says it isn’t so. In their response they point out numerous differences in the two shows, including that the house is not cut off from the outside world but will be able to interact via social media, that there will be no host like Big Brother's Julie Chen, and that it will be a team competition rather than individuals competing against each other. “Even CBS must realize it cannot copyright the idea of 14 contestants living in a house rigged with cameras."

They’ve also pointed out that the trade secrets portion of the lawsuit is a joke, since the show has been airing since 2000 and there’ not much that’s secret about it at this point. CBS is seeking an injuction to shut down production; if the suit goes forward the court date for that decision will be June 11.

Source

Definitely going to check out the first ep to see how similar or different it is.

 

[Brekkie]

Well whether or not a judge agrees Twitter was pretty clear about The Glass House being a (quite poor) Big Brother rip off. It's very much in the style of BBUSA - just with a nicer house. What it doesn't steel from BBUSA it basically takes from the international Big Brother format - not only the voting to evict but also the voice of Big Brother, though it's a dull robotic female voice which makes the Chenbot seem life like.

 

[bbspy]

Well whether or not a judge agrees Twitter was pretty clear about The Glass House being a (quite poor) Big Brother rip off. It's very much in the style of BBUSA - just with a nicer house.

It was basically Big Brother USA with a Big Brother Brasil-esque voting format. I thought the comparisons were most evident during the competition, when the main part of the house was hidden - it was exactly like a task Big Brother would do. If you were to show a clip of a Big Brother competition and a clip of the first Glass House competition to someone who had never heard of either, that person would most likely say they both came from the same show.

Credit where credit is due though, I thought letting the housemates ask viewers questions was a pretty nifty idea. Although I'm normally against contact with the outside world on Big Brother, it'd be interesting so see BBUSA try that one week - it could be a game-changing twist.