If ever a show made sense to air in quarantine, it would be a show based on quarantining.
If only it were that easy.
Tell me what it was like putting together a plan to get this show back on the air.
Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
ALLISON GRODNER:Well, it wasn’t easy.
That is absolutely correct.
We are all living in a very uncertain time right now.
And we were only going to do this if everything was absolutely approved and we can do this safely.
So it certainly was touch and go all the way up until quite recently, but we are ready.
Yeah, andBig Brotherdoes lend itself for sure to a quarantine.
We’re not going be able to pull that off.
Is there anything we’re going to notice different about this season as opposed to previous ones?
That’s not possible in these times.
Opening night, everything is there.
It’s big because we have a brand-new front of house forJulie[Chen Moonves].
But there won’t be obviously the energy and applause that a studio audience brings to this.
So that’ll be slightly different for us.
Other than that, I’ll leave it to the viewers to notice.
And I have to imagine you have to construct them relatively quickly cause the backyard’s off-limits to contestants.
So you probably have an army of people in a normal circumstance create these massive builds.
Are we going to see sort of a scaled-down version of that?
Is that what you’re alluding to?
I can’t give it away completely.
It’s not necessarily scaled down.
This season is going to be a little bit different.
We don’t want them to think this is like a regular season and to count on certain things.
Will the Zingbot be delivering zings via Zoom this year?
Well, he will be there.
I promise you, the Zingbot will not be taken down.
He’s actually kind of built for this with the shield and metal, right?
So do expect Zingbot, but maybe expect him to interact with the house a little differently.
Otev may have to do that.
There’s no doubt.
Well, we all will.
WhyAll-Starsnow and was that decision tied to the extra hurdles you had to clear with the pandemic?
Yeah, its been since 2006.
It is amazing that it’s been that long.
So almost 15 years.
Every year we talk about it and we go, Is this a year?
We actually, at the end of last season, talked about it and started to plan for it.
But as we always do, we kind of plan for everything.
It certainly was the way that we could cast remotely much better and figure out how to do that.
And so we decided to stop the casting on the regular season and go down this track instead.
and what percentage did not want to make that commitment?
I don’t think anyone balked at that.
And so we respect that.
And then there are some that surprised us with a yes.
I can’t wait to get in there.
And so it’s a really good mix.
It’s a live premiere, which you guys have never done before.
So tell me what we’re going to see on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
And it’s going to be expect the unexpected and a roller coaster ride for everybody.
So there’s a lot going on.
It’s completely different than a regular premiere.
Youre not going to see the players talking to us in the diary room.
That’s not possible on a live opening night to edit that in.
So we knew it’d be easier to do with a cast thats been there before.
Players are traditionally completely clueless in terms of what is happening in the outside world.
As of right now, the houseguests are playing as they played before.
They are in this bubble more than ever, quite honestly.
I mean, this bubble is so tight.
We’ve been on the air long enough that we’ve lived through major world events.
And so we have dealt with it before and we will continue to do the same.
So do you have a target end date or is it flexible at this point?
We have a target date.
It is playing a similar length of game.
So yeah, expect that the weather may change a little bit, although this is California.
So I don’t know if you’ll notice it that much.
Last thing before I let you go.
Every year, I ask you to bring Pandoras Box back, and every year you leave me hanging.
I feel like this is the summer for the return of Pandoras Box, Allison.
Can we make that happen?
Well, I love Pandora’s Box too.
So I’ll leave it at that.
It may not be exactly what you’re saying, but it’s in the same vein.
