'Big Brother' Fans Need to Hear This Upsetting News About Season 2023 Episodes

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Looks like Big Brother superfans may veto this next move for the franchise. True to form, the reality series hosted by Julie Chen Moonves features some twists ahead but not exactly in the way viewers might expect. As Big Brother awaits its new houseguests, CBS announced plans to ring in season 25 with a special 90-minute (!) episode. And that's not all ...

Folks typically look forward to enjoying the start of the summer with the show's premiere — and while those three weekly episodes seem safe — the season 25 release date falls much later than anticipated. CBS dropped its summer 2023 schedule and with it, revealed that the premiere comes nearly a full month later than planned, which means a potentially irregular Big Brother episode schedule ahead.

Why is Big Brother starting so late?

Unlike previous seasons that have premiered in late June or July, the next installment is slated for a start date of August 2, 2023. CBS likely pushed the air date to fill in gaps widened by the ongoing WGA strike, which has impacted production across several shows in Hollywood.

Only twice has Big Brother returned at some time other than late June or early July. The first time was sparked by the 2008 work stoppage in Hollywood, while the second was in 2020 for season 22, which began in August due to the COVID-19 impacting the U.S.

This means that a potential finale date could land somewhere in late October — parallel to the pandemic-delayed season 22. CBS still notes that the schedule for season 25 includes episodes airing Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET and Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET, featuring live evictions.

The dilemma: Big Brother runs interference with the fall 2023 Wednesday slots. No release date has been announced for either yet, but Survivor and The Amazing Race typically premiere in mid- or late September. What's more, CBS released its fall schedule and there's no sight of Big Brother on it but Survivor and The Amazing Race are set in stone.

While it's not uncommon for the network to schedule three reality shows on the night (last year, The Real Love Boat, Survivor and The Amazing Race aired), the network ordered extended 90-minute episodes of the latter two. Worst case scenario, CBS could always switch Big Brother to other nights in the fall, thereby filling holes created by the potential absence of scripted programming.

As we watch it all unfold, catch fan favorites from CBS' reality shows like Big Brother, Survivor and The Amazing Race when worlds collide as The Challenge: USA returns on August 10, 2023.

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