The Surreality, and Accidental Timeliness, of ‘Big Brother’ in the COVID Era
Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticIf you were to design a show that would seem prohibitively difficult to produce in the COVID era, you might begin by bringing together a group of people from across the country and inviting them to breathe the same air in a house for the summer.Which is not to say that “Big Brother,” which began its current season Wednesday night, actually has been stopped. And to hear Julie Chen Moonves, the show’s host, tell it, the show has ensured that it won’t be derailed by the virus that has had a way of derailing every other aspect of 2020: The competitors on the show, she said, were quarantined for two weeks prior to the game’s beginning.