Four episodes air in the next six days, some at odd times! Here’s the schedule of events which gets us from the five game players still in the house today all the way to this season’s winner. TV episodes air on days shown in bold print.
Saturday, September 10, 2016: POV competition. (And our very own Big Brother Gossip Show, with Scott, Mike, and Colette, live at 10:00p Eastern. Go to bigbrotherpodcast.com to find out how to listen live or later.)
Sunday, September 11: The usual Sunday evening episode will show Corey’s HOH win in the slip-and-slide comp from this past Thursday night plus Corey putting Victor (his target) and Paul on the block.
In real life in the BB house, the POV meeting will take place this Sunday (a day earlier than usual). The dream scenario for the Big Brother fan who roots more for drama than for individual players is for James to be the POV winner and to save Victor. Corey would be forced to select his main squeeze Nicole as the replacement nom — and therein lies the drama. Victor obviously will vote to evict Nicole rather than his bromance Paul. Who would James evict in this scenario? One last bout of POV-induced chaos could help redeem the most recent third of a season which has been largely drama-free due to the prevalence of showmances/bromances.
Monday, September 12: An extended live feed blackout will begin for an early eviction vote (the first eviction of the week, taking us from five houseguests to four) and a Head of Household comp. (This is the eviction James didn't remember would be coming when he thought there'd be a double eviction last week.)
Tuesday, September 13: Special episode with Julie Chen hosting (not live, but taped using that format) will air on CBS in the early prime time slot (8:00/7:00p) to show Monday’s eviction and comp. They’ll also tape the POV comp. The live feed blackout might end after this show airs. (It did last year.)
Wednesday, September 14: Special live Wednesday eviction episode will air on CBS (again in the early 8:00/7:00p slot). We’ll see the POV comp, the eviction (taking us from four houseguests to the final three), and probably the start of part one of the three-part final HOH comp. The extended live feed blackout which started Monday will definitely end after the episode airs (if CBS was mean and kept it dark an extra day).
Thursday, September 15: CBS will air Thursday Night Football, so there's no Big Brother episode.
Friday, September 16: There will be a special Friday episode (at 8:00/7:00p) to show us part one of the final HOH comp, a special dinner for the final three houseguests plus “season in review” filler, and the beginning of part two of the HOH comp.
Saturday, September 17: Our own Big Brother Gossip Show airs live at 10:00p Eastern. (Check out bigbrotherpodcast.com for more info.)
Sunday, September 18: No #BB18 TV episode! CBS prefers to put throwaway programming up against NBC’s Sunday Night Football this week.
Wednesday, September 21 at 9:30/8:30p: Big Brother 18’s 90-minute season finale airs live! We will see part two of the HOH comp (with the winner of part one sitting out). Then the winners of the first two parts will compete live in part three to become HOH – obviously important because the winner gets to evict one of the other two remaining houseguests (keeping the one s/he thinks s/he’s more likely to beat in the juror vote). Jurors will be there for (useless) questioning by Julie before they vote to crown this year’s game winner.
And, while we’re listing dates, here's what we know for Big Brother Over the Top.
Wednesday, September 28 at 10:00p Eastern/7:00p Pacific: #BB18 is over, but Big Brother Over the Top – #BBOTT, CBS’s new fall edition which will be available only to CBS All Access subscribers – premieres online.
Wednesday, October 5: CBS has said that #BBOTT live eviction shows hosted by Julie Chen will air Wednesdays, so I’m guessing this will be the first.
So there we go. Who do you think will win POV this week? Do you think there's any chance Nicole will be evicted – or James, since if Paul or Victor wins POV, Corey would of course nom James rather than Nicole? Who do you want to see in the final three? Comment below or find me @uselesstraffic.