CBS
Big Brother fans were left confused by the removal of a popular season of the CBS reality show from Paramount+. Less than two months after the launch of the CBS/Viacom streaming app, fans noticed that Season 16 of the summertime reality show went missing from the queue with no explanation.
All 22 seasons of the show were originally available to stream when CBS All Access was rebranded to Paramount+ in March, but Big Brother 16 inexplicably disappeared earlier this week, and it was the only season to be removed, according to ScreenRant.
Big Brother 16 Featured Some of the Show’s Most Notorious Players
The popular Season 16 originally aired on CBS in the summer of 2014 and featured fan-favorite players such Cody Calafiore and future winner Nicole Franzel, who would both go on to compete in last summer’s all-stars season. Memorable players Zach Rance and school janitor Donny Thompson were also cast members on the 16th season of the show.
In addition, Frankie Grande, the half-brother of music superstar Ariana Grande, was a contestant that summer and he brought some colorful commentary along with him. And Season 16 winner Derrick Levasseur is known as one of the greatest players in the history of the game, and his savvy gameplay has been studied by wannabes in subsequent seasons.
‘Big Brother’ Fans Were Confused By the Removal of the Season
Because BB16 is so beloved, it is still watched and rewatched by fans years later. It’s no surprise that its removal from Paranmount+ was immediately noticeable. Fans took to Twitter to react to the app’s sudden jump from Season 15 to Season 17.
“I was literally on the last few episodes of #BB16 and now it’s gone?” one viewer wrote. “Has it been permanently removed for some reason. It’s the only season of #BigBrother missing.”
“We need an answer why BB16 is removed from the app. Unacceptable!” another fan wrote on Twitter. “ I KNOW you didn’t sell rights to another app. Bring it back!”
One commenter speculated that the season was pulled because Levasseur, a former undercover police sergeant, once killed a person of color while on duty in 2007. A Reddit thread includes a link to a now-deleted article about the tragedy in which Levasseur and his partner were allegedly confronted by a man who tried to stab them with a knife and were later acquitted by a grand jury for his death.
Big Brother Season 15 veteran McCrae Olson seemingly referenced Levasseur’s past police work when he defended his own, controversial season of the show with, “Not once has anyone from our cast ever killed a POC while being an on-duty police officer. Also our season was the opposite of boring.”
Othe Big Brother veterans also weighed in on the Paramount+ removal, including Season 15 winner Andy Herren, who wrote, “Big Brother 16 has been removed from Paramount+, which I’m sure is a mistake, but in a perfect world it is the show telling us that it really has committed to making things better. This slog of a season has had a stronghold on the show for far too long!!!!!”
Herren added that while he is close friends with some of that season’s competitors, he hated the actual season.
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‘Big Brother’ Fans React to Removal of Popular Season