Fortune Teller

TV Guide interview with Allison Grodner before the start of the season... so this begs the question..... WHEN?!?!





Allison Grodner is one tough interview. The big cheese at CBS's Big Brother franchise is maddeningly fond of peppering her answers with evasive wisecracks and un-informational silences, along with the occasional, oh-so-expected catchphrase "Expect the unexpected." But as Thursday's premiere of Big Brother 13 approaches, there's no hiding the exec producer's enthusiasm for this year's houseguests.

"I think this is our most interesting and diverse mix of people yet. We have some very big personalities and a twist that's going to impact them in a way like never before," says Grodner, who will bring in eight newbie contestants and mix them up with memorable pairs from past seasons. (The identity of the all-star couples won't be revealed until premiere night.) "They will be very fearsome duos — not necessarily in the sense of being evil but fearsome because they were notoriously formidable competitors," Grodner says. "This season, BB will be heavily influenced by our 'Dynamic Duos' theme. Everybody will have to play the game differently."

This might suggest that even the newbies will be teamed into duos — thereby making secret alliances problematic — but Grodner is saying no more about that. Nor will she cough up details about a ninth new houseguest, 26-year-old boxing recruiter Jason Thomas, who was introduced to the press in late June but mysteriously vanished soon after. "There's no big scandal there," assures Grodner. "It was just a last-minute change, the kind of creative decision we always reserve the right to make. There's nothing wrong with Jason. He's a good kid. And, who knows, you may see him next year."

As for the BB house itself, it's all about Venice, California, this year. "This is the first time we've designed the house as a loft space," Grodner says. "We have huge warehouse windows, exposed lighting, a very young, beachy vibe with surfboards, bicycles, graffiti. For the unlucky ones, our 'Have Not' room is the most extreme we've ever had. Last year we had ugly, smelly stuff. This year it's quite serious." On the bright side, there's a Katy Perry room — all done in popsicle colors — and a tarot card parlor where a mechanical fortune teller will figure prominently in the competitions.

TV Guide Magazine sat down with the new contestants before they entered the house to get some juicy scoop on each — but we won't bother trying to predict the winner! Last season, we were 110 percent sure that Kathy Hillis, the deputy sheriff and ovarian cancer survivor from Arkansas, would go the distance. Turned out, she couldn't find her own butt with a map. "One thing's guaranteed about Big Brother," says Grodner with a laugh. "There will always be a Kathy. And it's never who you expect."

In another interview (audio on tvgrapevine.com) Grodner just says about the fortune teller, "no doubt it will [play some role in the game eventually (that's what the questioner asks)]. Just wait and see. It's something we're excited to have in the house." It doesn't get any more vague than that; she doesn't even mention the competitions aspect. So yeah...WHEN?!? Let's hope it's something good.

...and I dare say I was hoping Shelly was going to figure out...uh, whatever it is supposed to be. Hopefully it'll be a cool moment. I'm not sure what's going on about the locked door situation, but I do remember Kalia saying the DR had to wait until lockdown to fix the lock or something.

But this...

Erika wrote:

There will always be a Kathy.

No. Just, no. Only if she lets one in, and unfortunately this year's Kathy is Adam.

It looked like Adam and Rachel had most of them memorized, the others were kinda strugglin'