By Jim Heath

As the finale of Big Brother 20 draws near, and we contemplate the future of the show, I was remembering my own journey to “super fan” status over the past 17 years.

In truth, I’ve been a huge Big Brother fan since Big Brother 2 aired in 2001. Like many, however, I didn’t watch the first season of the show in 2000.

After watching it  online many years later, it’s clear we didn’t miss much. The format of the game changed in the second season, and you can still identify parts of the show to this day.

From the very beginning, Julie Chen, former anchor of the CBS Morning Show, has been its host. She’s been a steady presence in a reality TV show that has had it’s share of ups and downs.

It’s hard to believe that Chen’s role may soon come to an end due to her husbands removal as CEO of CBS, after a dozen woman came forward to accuse him of sexual assault and harassment.

Big Brother has not been renewed by CBS for a 21st season. In truth, it may never be.

Back in 2004, I was the main news anchor at the ABC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. One of the contestants on Big Brother 5 was Marin Latimer, a local guy with a lot of personality. We followed Marvin’s game with great interest, and while Marvin was voted out of the house in Week 9, he was a fan favorite for his refusal to take a side in the divided house.

Marvin Latimer, a contestant on Big Brother 5.

Marvin was 36 when he was cast for Big Brother 5. In fact, six of the fourteen players that year were in their 30’s and 40’s. That’s about half of the house. And while there were plenty of shenanigans during the summer, there was also a grown up feel that separated it from other reality shows like MTV’s Real World.

After his housemates split into two warring camps, Marvin was especially fun to watch as he treated both sides of the house with an equal amount of amusement and contempt. It was great television. Marvin did his own thing, and the viewers loved it. He was loud and witty in a house with many strong personalities.

Despite his refusal to take a side, Marvin lasted until the 9th eviction of the season, becoming the fourth member of the jury. (By the way, Drew Daniel, an Ohio native and a Buckeye, won the season).

By the time the wrap party in Hollywood finished, and Marvin landed back in South Carolina, I was absolutely hooked on his season and met him at the airport for an interview.

“You’ve got cameras in the shower, cameras in the lavatory, so you reach a point where you’re so conscious of what’s going on because the cameras are there all the time,” he explained to me. “But after awhile you get to the point where it’s like ‘okay, I know the cameras are there but I don’t care anymore.'”

It was clear that in Big Brother 5, personality and background, not youth, were the key ingredients in casting the show.

“I did my own thing,” said Marvin. “When I was casting for the show I had to do a little spiel. I’m a big Samuel L. Jackson fan, as you might have guessed, so I did a part of Pulp Fiction and the producer was like ‘I love him, he won’t make it a week!'”

But he went a lot deeper into the season than anyone expected.

Here is our interview here:

Fast forward 9 years.

I’m now reporting at the CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, the hometown of Nick Uhas (former Ohio State homecoming King) who was a contestant in Season 15.

Watching Nick get voted out of the house early in the game was devastating to central Ohioans, but as fate would have it, maybe it was for the best. Season 15 turned into a cesspool of controversy and floaters and, honestly, turned into my least favorite season of all.

When Nick returned to Columbus we got in touch and he appeared with me on the set of my show Capitol Square:

“I don’t want to have too much of a pessimistic attitude, but that house is very much like being in prison,” said Nick. “I’ve never been in prison, but I imagine that’s what it’s like. You’re cut off from everything. There’s no paper, there’s no movies, the only thing you get, if you’re HOH, is a single CD.”

Uhas had a game strategy that was very similar to what Derrick Levasseur executed the following season, but unfortunately, he was put in a cast that would go down in history as one of the worst ever.

“There were so many conversations in the house that I was not a part of,” said Nick. “When I was told about it, I was shocked. I’ll be honest, it surprises me that some in the house were outrageously racist. I rarely had one-on-one’s with these people.”

My interview with Nick Uhas is here:

Nick also joined my co-anchor Tracy Townsend and I on Capitol Square to discuss the controversy of his season:

The best of the best.

The following year Big Brother bounced back and gave us a great season, perhaps the best since season 10.

Derrick Levasseur, an undercover detective, locked in with his wing man Cody Calafiore and together they ran the game the entire summer. It was simply a flawless performance.

Of the 20 seasons of Big Brother, this is the only one where I correctly predicted the eventual winner in Week One.

On the night of the finale, I was live on the 5 o’clock news giving my prediction on who would win:

What will happen?

The Big Brother that Super Fans have loved for many years may be changing soon, with speculation that Julie Chen may be leaving the network.

But let’s hope the game, a great social and strategic experiment, will endure for many years to come.