''Big Brother Reindeer Games'' is a

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

television series and

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of the American version of '' Big Brother''. It premiered on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

on December 11, 2023, to December 21, 2023, and is hosted by former ''Big Brother'' HouseGuests Derek Xiao, Tiffany Mitchell, and Jordan Lloyd. The series features nine former HouseGuests competing against each other across six episodes which aired over the course of two weeks. ''Big Brother Reindeer Games'' was placed on hiatus in 2024 due to lack of scheduling availability on the network.

House

The house used for ''Big Brother Reindeer Games'' was renamed to the ''Santa's Lodge'' under the holiday-theme. The entryway of the house is decorated with flying reindeer, gold-wrapped presents, and a red flannel rug. The living room has a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and wreaths. The kitchen, which in this season was named "Mrs. Claus Bakery", has red and green wallpaper with Christmas symbols, and

gingerbread men A gingerbread man is a biscuit or cookie made from gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized human being. However, other shapes, especially seasonal themes (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.), and characters are also common. History Gin ...

on the counters.

Format

Each episode will consist of three games and will end in a "Santa's Showdown", the outcome of which determines the elimination of one HouseGuest. The players will not live in the BB house, will not live together, and there will be no voting off of other players. Four HouseGuest will remain in the finale with one winning a grand prize.

Format changes and additions

Unlike the previous seasons of ''Big Brother'', ''Reindeer Games'' won't involve any nominations, house-voted evictions or live broadcasts. Instead, the nine houseguests from previous seasons would compete in a series of holiday-themed daily challenges.

Naughty and Nice Challenge

In this challenge, the houseguests would compete to gain an advantage for the next challenge, while simultaneously, giving a disadvantage for a houseguest of their choosing, also known as the Naughty List Punishment.

Jingle Bell Brawl Challenge

The winner, or winners, of this challenge, would receive safety from elimination.

Santa's Showdown

The nominees would compete against each other in various challenges to determine who would stay in the lodge and who would be eliminated from the game. * The losing houseguest would get to choose a present under the

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

that contains gifts from a fruit cake to $5,000.

HouseGuests

The HouseGuests were revealed intermittently throughout December 6 and 7, 2023. ;Notes

Episodes

Competition history

: The Houseguest won Big Brother Reindeer Games and the $100,000 prize. : The Houseguest was the runner-up. : The Houseguest was eliminated in the finale. : The Houseguest won the Jingle Bell Brawl challenge, securing immunity and nomination power. : The Houseguest was nominated to compete in the Santa's Showdown challenge. : The Houseguest was eliminated from the Lodge after losing the Santa's Showdown challenge. ;Notes

Santa's gifts history

Production

Development

In May 2023 ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'' reported that CBS was considering an additional season of '' Big Brother'' in the 2023-24 television schedule, with "all-star contestants", to fill in gaps left by the

2023 Hollywood labor disputes From May 2 to November 9, 2023, a series of long labor disputes within the Cinema of the United States, film and Television in the United States, television industries of the United States took place, mainly focused on the strikes of the 2023 W ...

. CBS had previously done the same with '' Big Brother 9'' which aired in 2008 to combat the

2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike From November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, all 12,000 film and television screenwriters of the American labor union Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and West (WGAW) went on strike. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike primarily so ...

. Ahead of the '' Big Brother 25'' finale in November 2023, host Julie Chen Moonves teased a "holiday surprise" from the "''Big Brother'' universe". In an interview following the episode, Chen Moonves stated that a fourth season of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

'' was unlikely to happen, but noted the possibility of a shortened season with returning players. The Hollywood labor disputes were ultimately ceased with the

2023 Writers Guild of America strike From May 2 to September 27, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on Strike action, strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Lasting 148 days, ...

ending in October, and the

2023 SAG-AFTRA strike From July 14 to November 9, 2023, the American actors' union SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) went on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Pro ...

ending the following month. With most scripted series set to begin filming shortened seasons in late-November and early-December, and most premiere dates not expected until 2024, there were still empty slots in the schedule. During the ''Big Brother 25'' finale, it was announced that a new

of ''Big Brother'' would air in December titled ''Big Brother Reindeer Games''. The series will be produced by Fly on the Wall Entertainment and

Endemol Shine North America Endemol Shine North America (stylized as EndemolShine NorthAmerica) is the American division of Banijay Entertainment that was founded on March 15, 2012, as a merger of Shine Americas, Shine USA, and Reveille Productions. Endemol Shine North Ame ...

with Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan, and Chris Roach serving as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

s, all returning from ''Big Brother''. In November 2024 it was announced that the series would not air a second season in December, with producers citing lack of airtime availability on CBS but remaining hopeful that it could return in the future.

Casting

The series will not feature Chen Moonves and will instead be hosted by former ''Big Brother'' HouseGuests Derek Xiao, Tiffany Mitchell, and Jordan Lloyd who will be known as "Santa's Elf Ambassadors"; Xiao and Mitchell competed on '' Big Brother 23'', while Lloyd was on both '' Big Brother 11'' and '' Big Brother 13'' Additionally, nine other former contestants, including one from ''Big Brother 25'', will return to compete.

Marketing and release

The series premiered on December 11, 2023, and was filmed in its entirety prior to its release. It will feature no live feeds. ''Big Brother Reindeer Games'' will air three episodes a week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, over two weeks, totaling six episodes before its finale on December 21. A teaser trailer was aired during the ''Big Brother 25'' finale featuring former competitors

Frankie Grande Frank James Michael Grande Marchione (born January 24, 1983)Murphy, T. Michelle"10 Facts you won't learn about Frankie Grande on ''Big Brother 16''" Metro.us, September 22, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014 is an American actor, singer, dancer ...

, Britney Haynes, and Danielle Reyes, and was styled off a similar teaser that opened the twenty-fifth season. Episodes from the series will also stream on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{Big Brother US

Reindeer Games ''Reindeer Games'' (also released under the title ''Deception'') is a 2000 American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer, in what would be his final feature before his death in 2002. The film stars Ben Affleck, Charlize Ther ...

American television spinoffs American English-language television shows CBS reality television shows Reality competition television series Reality television spinoffs Television series by Endemol 2020s American reality television series 2023 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings