The Pilot

The pilot, and a strange piece of television to revisit. Ten strangers in a Studio City soundstage, cameras everywhere, and an eviction model lifted from the European original — the public voted, not the houseguests. CBS aired it nearly every weeknight, a pace the show would never try again. The cast plays it earnest. Julie Chen reads as a host inventing her job in real time. The franchise hadn't yet learned what it was.