'Brother' From Another Planet

Last September, when Eddie McGee emerged from the soporifically mundane (and mediocre-rated) Big Brother house as the $500,000 winner, many expected CBS to burn down the structure and spread salt on the ashes to make sure no reality TV would ever grow there again. But emboldened by the series’ attractively young demos, CBS redecorated the house, restocked it with 38 cameras and 62 microphones, and threw in a dozen new, more interesting housemates. Although the ploy has yet to pay off in ratings (so far the thrice-weekly show has nabbed an average 7.1 million viewers, slightly down from last year), Big Brother 2 has already done wonders for rehabilitating the watching-paint-dry reputation of the BB franchise. Last year there was cuddling and talk of virginity; this year there’s nudity and groping. Last year, endless blathering about the pain of voting someone off; this year, roommates counting the seconds until they can metaphorically cut somebody’s throat. Oh yeah, and then there was the one roomie who did away with the metaphor and actually held a knife to a housemate’s neck (more on him later). ”It’s more interesting than our house, that’s for sure,” says BB1’s hair-dye-happy pixie, Brittany Petros. ”They already had a knife, they’ve got people fooling around, and it’s only been a couple of weeks! What are they gonna do next — have a baby on the show?”

If they do, Child Welfare had better rescue it from this bunch fast. Although at first BB2 seemed like just another pallid Survivor wannabe, in the third episode the housemates flowered into a uniquely soap-operatic group. (See sidebar for a rundown on the remaining housemates as of press time.) And as anyone paying to watch these folks on CBS.com’s 24-hour webcam can see, this gang spends every minute whispering in pairs, strategizing, striking deals, and lying, lying, lying. ”It would take a mathematical graph to chart who’s really aligned with who,” boasts executive producer Arnold Shapiro.

As for those social critics who predicted that reality TV would have to get neck-deep in the verite gutter to continue to set itself apart, well, good call! Enter snaggletoothed Jersey boy Justin Sebik, 26, a bartender who was kicked off BB2 after spicing up a make-out session with Krista by holding a knife to her throat and asking if she’d get mad if he killed her. Although Sebik had been warned about his menacing behavior in the house (he had threatened to knock the p— and s— out of Bunky and Kent, respectively, and joked about wanting to punch Autumn in the stomach), the question is, Were producers too eager to cast someone who would mix things up and consequently let slide such dangerous personality traits? ”It’s not like we put a psycho in the house just to see what would happen,” says Shapiro (best known for his 1978 Academy Award-winning juvenile-delinquents documentary, ”Scared Straight!”), who maintains that thorough background checks and psychological tests were performed on all contestants, and Sebik had no criminal record. (Sebik was arrested twice for theft and simple assault in his hometown of Bayonne in 1997; since all charges were dismissed, Shapiro has said he didn’t consider such acts a crime.) ”There’s nothing in his background that indicates violence against women,” continues Shapiro, who adds that the violent comments were simply Sebik’s Dice Clay-esque idea of joking. ”It’s hard to screen somebody’s sense of humor if they don’t display it.” Casting director Jacqui Pitman (a veteran of Love Connection and Studs), who tapped Sebik for BB2, says his actions were simply a reflection of his immaturity and his ”frat guy” mentality. ”I just think he went a little overboard.”