Big Brother : Season 1

On the first show, an hourlong affair, an instantly dislikable chucklehead host named Ian O'Malley shows us around the house while a dopey correspondent from CBS's dreadful ""The Early Show,"" Julie Chen, acts enthusiastic as the 10 residents travel to the house, O.J. style, in a caravan of SUVs. O'Malley shows us the house, including the confession room (where, each day, each resident is required to go in and share his or her feelings) and the bathroom (monitored to prevent the residents from

The group sits around the kitchen table, sharing their life stories. The best part comes when Cassandra, who works at the U.N., says she's from New York. ""Harlem?"" asks cocky William, a little too quickly. ""Midtown,"" she says calmly. Eddie tells the others he lost his leg to bone cancer at 11, but never let himself feel sorry for himself. ""There was no real period of 'Why me?'"" he shares. ""It happened and I'll deal with it."" Jordan tells the group she's a triathlete, but doesn't let on

George, the dad from Illinois, and Curtis, the lawyer, get up early and dig up the residents' $100 prize in the garden. The challenge today is fashioning a clock using two raw potatoes as the battery. The chore would bore even an eager Cub Scout to tears; the audience could be forgiven for noting that the ""Survivor"" producers had their cast eating bulbous maggots at this point. The kids are going to get sick of having Mom and Dad around. Over breakfast, George gives an impassioned speech abo