Summer is all about R&R: reruns and reality TV, that is. Flip on the tube and you’re sure to catch last season’s comedies or see the general population kicking and shoving for their 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately, since I’ve seen most of last season’s best comedies, I’ve been pulled to the kicking and shoving side of the TV-sphere…namely Big Brother.

For not one, not two, but three nights a week, I get to tune in and watch reality contestants run amok in a brightly-colored, maze-like house (okay, studio set), all while backstabbing and lying in the name of winning $500,000 at the show’s finale.

And I’m not the only one who’s tuning in – Big Brother has been on the air since 2000. But why has it been so popular, while other reality shows have come and gone? If you’ve seen it (you can admit it – you’re among friends), you know Big Brother isn’t exactly the highest quality of TV shows. It doesn’t have any change of scenery. It’s pretty much the same thing every episode, with little twists thrown in here and there, like America voting on what contestants can eat (seaweed and sardines were winners earlier this season).

Their success stems mostly on the “right time, right place” phenomenon. Way back in 2000, TV executives went on a hunch that reality TV was going to go gangbusters. And they got in on the ground floor with Big Brother. Sure, there was the Real World and others before them, but CBS's Big Brother (and Survivor) helped move along the genre to what we know today.

Like any successful brand, Big Brother seized an opportunity, and they did it better than many of their competitors. Add in the fact that their season lasts only a precious 3 months out of the year, and you’ve got a loyal fan base who can’t wait for summer to roll around so they can get their Big Brother fix. That’s a brand I wouldn’t mind investing in.

What other brands have seized an opportunity similar to Big Brother? Do you think the show would succeed if it lasted, say, six months instead of three? And last but not least, if you had to be on a reality TV show or else you would only be allowed to eat seaweed and sardines ever again, what show would you pick?

~ Shae C.