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Scoop for the Week of June 1st

© Apryl Duncan

Big Brother's Makeover You heard it here first! Big Brother's headed back to your local CBS station. But big changes are in store for the new housemates. In its attempt to make Big Brother more interesting, CBS is totally revamping the show. Some of the changes include:

• 12 houseguests instead of 10
• Male and female housemates can also be roomies.
• The hour-long show will be cut from six episodes a week to three (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays)
• Houseguests will still get the boot during a live Thursday episode but the public won't call in to vote.
• New competitions will have houseguests competing for items like food and luxury items.
• The house is growing from 1,800 square feet to 2,400 square feet.
• Ikea furniture is getting tossed. Expect to see trendy furnishings from L.A.'s hottest boutiques.
• The chicken coop is gone. In its place: a basketball hoop.
• Big Brother's theme song will be replaced.
• The number of video cameras is increasing from 28 to 38.
• Viewers won't evict housemates but will be able to interact in other undisclosed elements of the show.

Julie Chen will remain as the host of the live shows. Instead of being inside a studio, though, she'll actually be right outside the house in what's been called a "mini-compound." So when a newly evicted houseguest comes out the front door, they'll have to immediately do an interview with Julie before hugging their family and friends. Expect to see all of the new changes this summer.

Damaging Testimony? "I felt like there was influence...I felt that influence affected the game in an unfair manner." Those words come directly from Survivor castaway Dirk Been's deposition. His testimony backs Stacey Stillman's claims that Survivor executive producer Mark Burnett told Dirk to vote her off instead of 72-year-old Rudy Boesch. Dirk even wrote a letter to Burnett stating, "not everything was as it seemed and I felt cheap and used. When I began to see the true level of your involvement, understanding how you swung votes and seeing the things you swept under the rug, it tainted the entire experience." CBS, Burnett and Survivor Entertainment Group claim victory with Dirk's deposition. Lawyers for the defendants say his testimony doesn't help Stacey because Dirk "specifically denies" there was "manipulation." But Stacey's lawyer claims it's the plaintiffs who are celebrating a victory. "I think that Dirk completely backs up Stacey 100 percent, and they're focusing desperately on the word 'manipulation.'" In the deposition, Dirk says that Burnett pulled him aside and said, "We need Rudy around. Vote, you know, form an alliance to vote Stacey off." Burnett then walked over to fellow castmate Sean Kenniff and held (according to Dirk) a similar conversation. If Burnett did affect the game play, this action violates federal game show regulations and also violates the contestants' contracts with CBS.

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