Big Brother is back, Arkansas! It's our No. 1 all-time favorite summer guilty pleasure.
Well, at least it's mine. I'm not proud of that, but there it is.
Hosted by Julie Chen, Big Brother Season 19 premieres with a special two-hour episode at 7 p.m. Wednesday on CBS, followed by hourlong episodes at 8 p.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Sunday.
Beginning July 5, the series settles into its regular schedule of hour episodes at 7 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Sunday.
It's hard to believe that Big Brother has been a summer staple since 2000. The Dutch import has already been renewed for a 20th season.
The Big Brother "house" is actually CBS Studio Center sound stage 18 in Los Angeles, where the "houseguests" live for three months isolated from the outside world with their every move (almost) covered by 87 cameras and more that 100 microphones.
A good social game, secret alliances and winning competitions are important, because each week the houseguests will vote someone out. The last two standing are voted on by ejected houseguests to see who takes home the grand prize of $500,000.
I've been a fan since the beginning, but didn't become a fanatic until spunky, funny, snarky Huntington native Britney Haynes captured viewers' hearts in Season 12. Haynes was living in Little Rock during her season and finished fourth.
Haynes returned for Season 14 as a player/coach and was again blindsided, leaving in eighth place.
Another memorable Arkansan was curly-headed Marion native Frank Eudy. He competed in Seasons 14 and 18 and was voted America's Favorite Houseguest in the former, taking home the $25,000 prize.
There have been a couple of other Arkansans who didn't make as much of an impression.
Season 19 will have 16 houseguests, including one Arkansan who says she's from "Arkan-sassy." Raven Leigh-Anna Walton, whojust turned 23, is a dance teacher from DeValls Bluff who owns the Spotlight Dancers studio in Brinkley.
In her Big Brother interview, Walton (who has gastroparesis and a gastric pacemaker) describes herself as "quirky, bubbly and outgoing" and "single as a Pringle and ready to mingle."
"People will underestimate me because I am so small," she says when asked about strategy. "I will use my Southern charm to make friends. I want to fly under the radar for a couple weeks and then the Sour Patch Kid in me will come out and I'll make my attack!"
Walton is a typical, twentysomething Big Brother houseguest. The median age the past two seasons was 26, but this year there's a token house geezer, a 55-year-old stay-at-home dad from Boston. The youngest is a 21-year-old cosplay performance artist from Michigan.
Four players this season are in their 30s and should be more mature. But if the casting, which always aims for drama, is typical, we should see at least one redneck good ol' boy, several buffed narcissistic dudes who prefer going shirtless, at least one gay person, a religious zealot and several hot babes who enjoy lounging by the pool in bikinis.
Other than dance teacher, occupations this season include "fitness superstar," radio personality, rodeo clown, VIP concierge, personal trainer and dog walker.
Let the voyeurism begin.
• Broadchurch, 9 p.m. Wednesday, BBC America. If you need your mental palate cleansed after Big Brother, switch over for the beginning of the third and final season of Broadchurch.
The acclaimed British crime mystery stars Olivia Colman (The Night Manager, Fleabag) and David Tennant (Jessica Jones, Doctor Who) as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller and Detective Inspector Alec Hardy.
Three years have passed in the sleepy seaside town, but the shock waves from Season 1 still resonate. This time, the eight episodes revolve around the rape of a middle-aged woman.
• Younger, 9 p.m. today, TV Land. Season 4 (12 episodes) finds Tony-winner Sutton Foster returning as 40-year-old Liza Miller and still passing for 26 in order to keep her job in the younger-skewing publishing world.
Note: In real life, Foster is a youthful-looking 42, but passing for 26 still seems a stretch to me.
• Farewell, liars. Pretty Little Liars brings down the curtain after seven seasons with a two-hour series finale at 7 p.m. today on Freeform. The network promises "all is revealed." Brace yourself.
Pretty Little Liars: A-List Wrap Party follows at 9 p.m. with cast members Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell and Sasha Pieterse revealing insider secrets and memorable moments.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 06/27/2017