Celebs bring the drama in ‘Celebrity Big Brother 3’
Cabin fever: Back for more overthe-top drama, scheming, backstabbing, wild challenges and more, the fanfavorite reality competition series “Celebrity Big Brother” returns to CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service with its third official season on Wednesday, Feb. 2.
First airing in 1997 as a Dutch reality series of the same name, the Big Brother franchise craze has since taken the world by storm.With more than 60 past and present iterations around the globe, the American series alone boasts an impressive 23 seasons to date, with a 24th season anticipated sometime this year.
Borrowing the idea of an “all-seeing” Big Brother figure from George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” a group of enterprising contestants, called houseguests, live in a house together and have their every move tracked with cameras and microphones that are rolling 24/7, all in the name of being the last houseguest standing to take home a huge cash prize.
If that weren’t enough, the houseguests compete in a series of bizarre challenges and form alliances to gain power within the household or risk being “evicted” from the house and kicked off the show.
But unlike the original series, which takes place over months and more than 30 episodes, the celebrity edition features just 15 action-packed episodes taking place over the three weeks in February.
Of course,American “Big Brother” — celebrity edition or otherwise — wouldn’t be what it is without longtime host Julie Chen Moonves (“The Talk”) taking up the reins as host. Chen Moonves has been at the helm since the franchise first aired in America in 2000, also having hosted both previous seasons of “Celebrity Big Brother.”
While no cast members for the series have been confirmed as of writing, the series never fails to entertain with an eclectic mix of public figures ranging from TV personalities and musicians to professional athletes and newsmakers.
Don’t miss a second of the action when “Celebrity Big Brother 3” premieres Wednesday, Feb. 2, on CBS and Paramount+.
‘We Need to Talk’: From “America’s dad” to an exposed sexual predator, Bill Cosby’s sudden and very public fall from grace was a shock for pop culture fans all over the world. Now, director W. Kamau Bell’s (“United Shades of America”) four-part docuseries “We Need to Talk About Cosby” is working to further unravel and examine ideas of rape culture, power and personal agency in society.The series premieres Sunday, Jan. 30, on Showtime.
The docuseries, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 22, looks at Cosby’s indisputably revolutionary and influential career and his life’s work, contrasting it against his history of rape, drug-assisted sexual assault and sexual battery that spanned nearly 60 long years, and more than 60 women.
Convicted and jailed for just a few of his crimes in 2018, Cosby was released from prison after three years in October 2021.
Featuring interviews with comedians, public figures, journalists and women who share details of their interactions with Cosby, alongside a host of archival footage, the docuseries takes a deep dive into the comedian’s life, influence and the rapid descent of his reputation.
“Everyone tries to reconcile the man they knew with the one he was revealed to be,” filmmaker Bell said of Cosby in a statement about the series. “I was a huge fan of all of his shows and wanted to be a comedian because of him. I never thought I’d ever wrestle with who we all thought Cosby was and who we now understand him to be.”
Bell closed out his statement by saying, “I’m not sure he would want me to do this work [docuseries], but Cliff Huxtable definitely would.”
Catch Bell’s unprecedented look into the Bill Cosby story when “We Need to Talk About Cosby” premieres on Showtime on Sunday, Jan. 30.
All in the family: It seems a universal experience that an adult often needs another adult to help them out, whether that means relying on parents, friends or someone who just seems to have their life put together. Some people, however, are taking that desire to new heights and making it official in the new 10-episode docuseries “Adults Adopting Adults,” premiering Monday, Jan. 31, on A&E.
The series brings viewers into the unfamiliar world of adult adoption as six individuals embark on a journey to legally add, or be added to, another adult’s family.While many reasons for adult adoptions revolve around securing inheritance rights, confirming previously established relationships or searching for sincere familial bonds, other reasons may exist of this unique process.
In the series, each of the six family seekers faces scrutiny as their adoption motives are questioned.
Each story is more jaw-dropping than the next, including that of a German prince seeking an adult son to care for him and carry on his title, a woman who wants to leave her own mother behind for a couple she found online, and a married man who has a (perhaps sinister) track record of adopting young women. No matter the story, “Adults Adopting Adults” explores the sometimes heartwarming, sometimes gritty tales of adult adoption.
Don’t miss out on the premiere when “Adults Adopting Adults” begins Monday, Jan. 31, on A&E.