real talk
Under surveillance
‘Big Brother’ returns to CBS
By Sarah Passingham
TV Media
Under surveillance: Every-
one knows it’s not really summer
until “Big Brother” premieres on
CBS, so mark your calendars for
the show’s two-night premiere
beginning Tuesday, June 25. The
21st season of the hit reality
competition series returns with
an as-yet-unannounced cast of
strangers who officially become
Houseguests when they move
into the Big Brother house.
They are completely isolated
from the outside world — no
books, magazines, phone calls
or internet browsing allowed —
while cameras and microphones
record their every move and
utterance. One could ask why
anyone would choose to put
themselves in inescapably close
quarters that forces relationships
and confrontations with com-
plete strangers. The answer, of
course, is the generous cash prize
of $500,000 reserved for the last
Houseguest standing.
Each week, Houseguests vote
on who will be evicted from the
house, and following the vote,
the remaining members compete
in a challenge to determine that
week’s Head of Household, or
as it’s commonly referred to, the
HOH. Major perks are awarded
to the HOH (privacy being the
most coveted), who is also
responsible for determin-
ing the two Houseguests
who will be up for evic-
tion next.
Returning as “Big
Brother” host for the
21st season is Julie
Chen, who has been
with the show
since its inception
in 2000. Fans and
critics of the show
had been specu-
lating whether
Chen would
return as host for
this season, as
she dropped out
of her spot on
the daytime talk
show “The Talk”
after her husband
and former CBS
20 | Screentime
chairman Les Moonves was ac-
cused of sexual assault in late
2018. Chen infamously signed off
as “Julie Chen-Moonves” from
an episode of “Big Brother” at
the time, making her allegiance
to her husband clear to both fans
and detractors.
While Chen is a constant for
the show, there’s no word yet
on what the twist for season
21 might be — because there’s
always a twist. Don’t miss the
season premiere of “Big Brother”
airing Tuesday, June 25, on CBS.
The rest is still unwritten:
A long-awaited reboot of a for-
mative reality television series
finally has its premiere date. On
Monday, June 24, “The Hills:
New Beginnings” debuts on
MTV, bringing back some of the
original “The Hills” series cast
members. Returning are Heidi
Montag, Spencer and Stephanie
Pratt, Audrina Patridge, Whitney
Port, Jason Wahler, Brody Jenner,
Frankie Delgado and Justin “Bob-
by” Brescia. Plus, in an obvious
choice (by Hollywood standards),
Brandon Thomas Lee, son of Pa-
mela Anderson and Tommy Lee,
joins the cast.
Thanks to a spider’s web of
casting connections, Mischa
Barton will also appear
in “The Hills: New
Beginnings.” Bar-
ton’s most iconic
role is obviously
as Marissa
Cooper, queen
bee of the teen
drama “The
OC,” which
was the di-
Julie
Chen
hosts “Big
Brother”
June 19, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
rect inspiration for MTV’s reality
series “Laguna Beach: The Real
Orange County.” It was that show
that ultimately spawned “The
Hills” after its star, Lauren Con-
rad, graduated high school and
took the show on the road to Los
Angeles; it followed her as she
worked her way up through the
fashion scene.
Conrad, unfortunately, isn’t
returning for “New Beginnings,”
and has generally stayed away
from reality television since leav-
ing “The Hills” during its fifth and
penultimate season. When Con-
rad left the series, Kristin Cavallari
stepped into her shoes and was
the show’s lead until its finale.
Cavallari won’t be returning for
the reboot, either, but she is still in
the reality television realm — her
newest series, E!’s “Very Caval-
lari,” documents her own new
beginnings as she establishes her
flagship lifestyle goods boutique,
Uncommon James, in Nashville,
Tennessee, and has been re-
newed for a third season by the
network.
Fans of the original series
know already that the cast of
“New Beginnings” will undoubt-
edly bring the drama. Trouble fol-
lows Jenner everywhere he goes,
so it will be interesting to see
what exactly has changed in the
nearly nine years since we saw
him in the finale of “The Hills.”
The Pratt siblings are in an end-
less family feud that will surely
feel like picking up right where
we left off. Patridge and Port have
both spent the past 10 years
building their careers in entertain-
ment and fashion, respectively,
and while the two were never
the source of the most explosive
drama on “The Hills,” they were
integral members of team Conrad
when Lauren and Heidi’s friend-
ship dissolved.
Barton’s role in “New Begin-
nings” is easily the most antici-
pated aspect of the series as it’s
unclear how exactly she will fit in
with this group of frenemies that
has so much history. Lee, being
much younger than the rest of the
cast, seems like the bridge that
will carry in a new generation of
fellow Los Angelinos trying to
make it in Hollywood.
Late laughs
The Tonight Show
With Jimmy Fallon
The Late Late Show
With James Corden
The Department of
Agriculture just recalled
over 60,000 pounds of raw
beef due to concerns about
E. coli. Anyway, enjoy those
Memorial Day barbecues,
everybody!
A woman in
England was
searching a
farm with a
metal
detector when
she found what she
thought was a foil-wrapped
chocolate coin, only to find
out later that it’s a
1,500-year-old solid gold
pendant worth a fortune.
Yeah, unbelievable — to
get that close to finding
chocolate only to be
disappointed.
It is Fleet
Week here!
Almost
3,000
members of
the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marines and Coast Guard
are here in New York —
and almost three of them
will remember it.
There are a lot of ships
docked in the city right
now, including the USS New
York. You can tell which
ship’s the USS New York
‘cause it’s the one pointing
and laughing at the USS
New Jersey.
The drug store CVS has
announced it will change
the music it plays while
you’re on hold, which is big
news, because they haven’t
changed the music in 20
years. In their defense,
“Genie in a Bottle” is still a
really good song.
Jimmy Kimmel Live
This Sunday is the
Indianapolis 500! So
between Memorial Day
travel and the Indy 500, it’s
a great time for people
who love being stuck in a
car.
Tonight, our entire audience
is filled with servicemen
and women. So everyone
have fun, but go easy,
because when you’re hung
over, the last place you
wanna be is on a boat.
Tomorrow, President Trump
is flying to Japan for a four-
day trip. That’s right, Japan.
It’s all part of his plan to
get as far away as possible
from Nancy Pelosi.
President Trump
was in Japan
for the
holiday
weekend.
The trip was a
success in that
we are now not currently at
war with Japan as a result
of it.
The NBA Finals are
underway. The Golden
State Warriors are in it
again, taking on the
Toronto Raptors. This is big
for the players on both of
these teams. You know, if
they don’t do well on their
NBA Finals they won’t be
able to get into a good
college.
At this point, the Warriors
are like the Avengers. We all
know they’re going to win,
we just have to spend three
hours to find out how.
Did you know that
basketball was invented by
a Canadian? That is right. A
Canadian-born doctor and
physical educator named
James Naismith invented
the sport in 1891 at the
YMCA in Springfield,
Massachusetts, where he
coached a young player
named LaBernie Sanders,
who went on to become
the Senator from Vermont.
It’s a true story.
As per tradition, the
mayors of the cities of
Oakland and Toronto made
a bet on the series. Here’s
how it will go: if the
Warriors lose, the mayor of
Oakland sends over a gross
of Rice-A-Roni. If Toronto
loses, they’re sending a
case of off-brand thyroid
medicine. So everybody
wins in a way.
Late Night With Seth
Meyers
England announced
yesterday it will ban
plastic-based Q-Tips. Said
Prince Charles, “It’s fine, I
use a shovel.”
After several public fights
with President Trump
yesterday, Senate minority
leader Chuck Schumer said
in an interview today,
quote, “The presidency is
not just a reality show.”
Said Trump, “You’re lucky
you have immunity this
week.”