When it comes to “Big Brother,” Peter Salmon has skin in the game as the chief creative officer of Endemol Shine, which makes and sells the format. But back when it hit British screens, in 2000, he was at the BBC, and the show aired on rival pubcaster Channel 4. It quickly overshadowed the Beeb’s own attempt at TV-meets-social-experiment, “Castaway,” an altogether more sober show.
“We saw ‘Big Brother’ and it just did it properly and was the human experiment we imagined we might have done ourselves. And like everyone else, we were transfixed,” Salmon says. “The fact you could watch it unfold it in front of your eyes was and is an abiding principle. I remember it well. Everything changed at that point.”
Produced by John de Mol’s Endemol (years before the company aligned with Shine), the show started out in the Netherlands in 1999, on Rtl’s Veronica channel.
“We saw ‘Big Brother’ and it just did it properly and was the human experiment we imagined we might have done ourselves. And like everyone else, we were transfixed,” Salmon says. “The fact you could watch it unfold it in front of your eyes was and is an abiding principle. I remember it well. Everything changed at that point.”
Produced by John de Mol’s Endemol (years before the company aligned with Shine), the show started out in the Netherlands in 1999, on Rtl’s Veronica channel.
- 9/16/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.