Chima Evicted by Producers: Finally, Something Interesting in the Big Brother Live Feed

Of all the reality competition shows, Big Brother gives the most back to rabid fans. Unlike Survivor or The Amazing Race, the program doesn't end when the credits roll. BB addicts with premium cable can watch Big Brother After Dark and others can stream the live feed over the internet, essentially putting themselves in the edit room. The only pitfall to this strategy is that late night or daytime viewers might catch a conversation that spoils some of the plot of the next televised episode. And when the live feed revealed that one houseguest had fled the BB coop Saturday morning, fans braced themselves for an explosive episode Sunday. As it turned out though, it's what the editors left out of last night's show has BB fans buzzing today.

The live feed revealed early Saturday that Chima had been arguing with one producer following Jeff's use of the Coup d'Etat to evict Jessie. Alleging that the "wizard power" was an unfair way to overturn her own Head of Household decisions, she threw her mic pack into the hot tub, demanded to be let out of the house and then vanished while the BB fish screen saver blocked the feed for over an hour. CBS issued an official statement later Saturday, declaring that "Chima has been evicted by the producers from the Big Brother house for violating the rules. She will not be part of the show's jury. Her eviction will be addressed on an upcoming broadcast of the show." Chima told the Examiner that she left voluntarily.

Producers delayed Chima's eviction to primetime fans, instead stuffing last night's hour with meaningless filler: Jeff playfully proposing to Jordan, Lydia engaging in a five-minute long ode to her stuffed unicorn and some houseguests drunkenly mourning Jessie's eviction. The decision to delay Chima's departure was maddening to superfans and critics alike. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote in his recap, "It was weird watching, knowing that Chima is gone in real-time, while we watch these banalities in BB house-time."

Weird indeed, knowing that Big Brother would create such a disconnect between casual fans and the BB addicts that they recklessly mainline with 24/7 access to raw footage. Sure, it would have thrown a wrench into the production schedule to show Chima's departure last night instead of Tuesday, but isn't Big Brother all about "expect the unexpected?" Or at least, "expect what you pay to see in advance on the Live Feed?"