The Glass House

Format

The Glass House featured 14 strangers living in a house made of glass, with cameras recording their every move. At selected days and times, viewers can watch a live feed into the house. There are weekly eliminations, in which the public decides which of the contestants are eliminated from the game. Aside from choosing who is eliminated, viewers also dictate what the contestants wear, where they sleep and what they eat. While in the house, the contestants will split into two groups and compete in various physical and mental competitions. The captains of the two teams are the two contestants who have received the fewest votes from the public. After losing a challenge, the captain of the losing team is sent to limbo, along with a second member of that team which is voted on by the house. While in limbo, the public will vote which of the two contestants deserves to go back into the house and which one should permanently be eliminated from the game. The contestant with the fewest votes is eliminated, while the other will return to the house. The contestants are spoken to by a robotic female voice, which they referred to as the "Oracle" up until Day 3, when it was revealed the public would decide the voice's name. After the airing of the first live feed, online blogs and forums labeled the voice "FaRi", a portmanteau of the words faux and Siri, the personal assistant found on Apple's iPhone.

Contestants

When the original fourteen players were revealed, a woman named Melissa was included. Days after the announcement, however, she was removed from ABC's website, and had been replaced with Holly. ABC has yet to confirm why Melissa will not be participating on the show. The original fourteen contestants entered the house on June 11. On Day 5, Jacob voluntarily left the show during limbo and was not replaced.

Future appearances

In 2013, Alex Stein appears on season four of Worst Cooks in America.

Summary

On Day 1, contestants moved into The Glass House. Holly and Robin were placed in the "enemies" room, while Erica and Andrea were placed in the "friends" room. On Day 2, during the first live-feed showing, contestants played a game in which they had to guess the answer to questions that the public were answering live. The questions were multiple choice, and varied from topics such as whether it is acceptable to have sex on the first date to what is the rudest thing a person could do during a first date. Other questions involved the contestants reactions to learning their child was gay, and how long should a couple date before marrying. To answer the questions, contestants had to go to either the "friends room", "enemies room", the bathroom, or the kitchen counter, with each room symbolizing a specific answer. The contestants were later asked to tell who they felt their biggest threat was, with Andrea and Kevin receiving the most votes from their fellow contestants. They later split into teams to compete in the first competition. The competition, titled "Twist and Shout", featured the contestants solving a puzzle built onto the wall based on information about their fellow contestants. The contestants split into east vs. west to do the challenge, with the east team winning. Jacob was the captain of the west team, and therefore became the first contestant to be sent to limbo. The contestants had to choose whom to send to limbo with him later on.

On Day 3, the public voted for the contestants to each reveal their biggest regret. They had the option to go to a different room to tell their story, and several chose to use the "Twitter Room". Following everyone's confessions, the contestants played a game of "Guess the Sketch". They decided to split up Men vs. Women, with Erica and Apollo being the first drawers, and Jeffrey and Joy being the second. The viewers chose the object they had to draw. The public later voted for the contestants to hear the results of the sixth game in the Stanley Cup Finals over the results of the first game of the NBA finals. On Day 4, the public voted for the contestants to play dodgeball. After playing three games, they performed "sexy yoga", in which an instructor named Elizabeth joined them to teach them various poses, chosen by the viewers. On Day 5, Jacob and Alex were sent to limbo, with Alex receiving ten of a possible thirteen votes. Later that day, Jacob chose to leave limbo and walk from the game. With Jacob out of the game, Alex remained in limbo, with the public deciding whether he should return to the game or not.

On Day 9, Alex became the first person evicted from The Glass House. For the second week, the viewers chose to put Jeffrey and Robin in the "Enemies" bedroom. On Day 9, Ashley celebrated her birthday in the house. Contestants were also asked to share their worst birthday stories with the viewers. Later that day, contestants competed in a spelling bee, with the viewers choosing the words that the players had to spell. It was revealed later that day that a special guest would join the contestants tomorrow, though it was not confirmed who the guest would be. On Day 10, a Tom Cruise impersonator entered the house for an hour, and the contestants did their impersonations of various celebrities. They later discussed the topic of a man calling 911 over a sandwich, after a public vote decided the topic. Later that day, contestants competed in the second competition of the season, with the team captain being sent to limbo in a few days. Apollo and Ashley were chosen to be the team captain, and both took turns picking members for their team. The competition, "Ruffle Your Tailfeathers", featured teams having get a bunch of eggs into various birdhouses. Each of the birdhouses contains a prize or a challenge and each egg represents a player. Whatever birdhouse the egg lands in, that player either gets the prize or has to complete the challenge. Ashley won a $1,000 prize when her egg lands in a birdhouse, Jeffrey ends up having to peel 200 hard-boiled eggs by hand. Stephanie had to squeeze orange juice by hand and carry packing peanuts back and forth one by one, and Andrea has to blow up 500 balloons by herself. On Day 11, contestants drew pictures to describe their ideal mate, as voted on by the viewers. They also discussed the various things they missed about the outside world, and later talked about five trending topics on Twitter. Later that day, Apollo and Holly were sent to limbo, with Holly receiving ten out of a possible ten votes from the other contestants.

Voting history

Color key:

Notes

Production

Broadcast and platforms

The first season of The Glass House featured ten episodes, which aired Monday's at 10 p.m. The aired episodes showed highlights of the previous week, and featured the nomination and eviction process. Aside from the weekly episodes, viewers could watch an uncensored live feed into the house at various days and times. On Monday's, the feeds were viewable from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. the following day, while on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the feeds were viewable from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. The first clip of the live feeds premiered on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. The show's first episode premiered on Monday, June 18, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC in the United States. The tenth and final episode aired on Monday, August 20, 2012. Aside from the live feed and broadcast episodes, ABC also uploaded several unseen clips to the website of the contestants interacting with one another, similar to the 2011 edition of Big Brother in the United Kingdom.

Weekly episodes and live feeds

The show premiered on Monday, June 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC in the United States. The first season of The Glass House featured ten episodes, which aired Mondays at 10 p.m. The airing episode showed highlights of the previous week, and featured the nomination and eviction process. Aside from the weekly episode, viewers can watch a live feed into the house at various days and times. On Mondays, the feeds were viewable from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. the following day. Tuesday and Wednesday, the feeds would be viewed from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Thursday the feeds would be viewed from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

House

The exterior of the house is made completely of glass, as are most of the walls inside. The living room features a television, through which the Oracle contacts them. There is also a large red "cat climber" in the living room, which features seats for the contestants to use, each at a different elevation. There are also cream and lime green seats in the room. The kitchen features a counter that extends through most of the length of the room, and lime green and white stools are lined up with the counter. The bathroom features a marble floor, and a wall made almost completely of a mirror. The sinks are in the shape of bowls. Aside from the community bedrooms, there is also the "friend" and "enemy" bedrooms. The "friend" room features cream colored chairs and bedsheets, as well as two beds. The "enemies" room has a much darker feel, with red chairs mixed with red and black bed sheets. Like the "friend" bedroom, there are two beds, and the wall behind the beds has the appearance of paint being thrown at it, featuring orange, blue, and black colors. The house also features an indoor hot tub. On Day 3, a new room was revealed to the contestants and viewers, which has the appearance of a backyard.

America's vote

Besides choosing whom to eliminate from the game, viewers were given several options that affected the game. A pre-season poll allowed voters to choose where contestants sleep, their food for the first night, and how the first competition was split up. A "favorite player" poll was posted on the website, in which viewers could select as many contestants as they want and choose them as their favorite. During the live feeds, viewers asked several questions which they will answer live. On the first live feed episode contestants had to guess how the majority of viewers answered the questions, but the following day the public were allowed to choose what the contestants did during the live feed. In a similar fashion, the viewers also chose what rooms the contestants slept in and could even influence their everyday life such as forcing them to talk with a British accent for 24 hours or walking backwards for 24 hours.

Competitions

Weekly, players will split into two teams and compete to stay in the game. The competitions will vary from physical to mental, and will result in two members of the losing team being sent to limbo. Aside from these competitions, the group also performs various tasks during the live feeds, and have played games such as "Guess the Sketch", and a game which required them to figure out how the majority of viewers answered questions. The final competition of the first season featured the Final Four competing for individual immunity, with the challenge winner earning a spot in the Final Three.

Pre-season

The Glass House was created by Kenny Rosen, who also serves as the show's writer. Rosen had become notable due to his work as a producer on various reality television series, including Hell's Kitchen and the first seven seasons of reality series Big Brother. Contestants could audition on the official ABC website, and had to be 21 years of age or older. The Glass House was first announced on April 30, 2012, along with its June 18 premiere date. On May 4, 2012, broadcasting company CBS warned ABC not to air The Glass House due to its strong similarities to the CBS reality television series Big Brother, in which a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuest, live in a house while constantly being monitored by cameras and microphones. CBS stated in the letter sent to ABC President Anne Sweeney that they would seek legal action if ABC went forward with the airing of The Glass House. CBS also criticized the fact that The Glass House was being produced by at least nineteen former producers and staff from Big Brother, including Corie Henson, Kenny Rosen, and Mike O'Sullivan. On May 10, 2012, CBS went forward with a lawsuit against ABC. CBS has stated numerous times that they were attempting to get the show's premiere halted, however, the show is still set to air. The fourteen contestants for the series were revealed on June 4, 2012, on the official ABC website. The initial cast for the season featured a 31-year-old woman named Melissa, but days after the contestants were announced, Melissa was removed from The Glass House's official website, and was replaced with 21-year-old Holly. ABC has yet to confirm why Melissa was removed from the show. Voting for the show began on June 9, and allowed the public to choose bedrooms for the contestants, as well as food they would eat on their first night, and whether to have a pool party or pajama party, and how the first challenge should be split up; men vs. women, old contestants vs. young contestants, or east vs. west. ABC officially released pictures of the house on June 11, 2012 on their official website.

Ratings and reception

The show originally began in June 2012. The show was met with criticism and low ratings, though its critical reception improved over time. Following the performance of the first season, a second season was seen as doubtful. Producer Steve Booth hinted that a second season was possible, posting on his official Twitter: "No word on a Season 2 yet. But rumor has it... Probably won't know for sure until next spring". Executive producer Kenny Rosen also stated that a change of format may be in the works, and hinted at the possibility of the most neutral players being the Team Captains, as to keep the big personalities in the game for a while. The show was officially cancelled by ABC producers on May 29, 2013, almost a year after the show premiered.

During the 10 o'clock hour, the series premiere of The Glass House ranked #2 in the slot with Adults 18-49 and #1 with Women 18-49. The Glass House boosted its time period week to week by 60% in Adults 18-49, hitting a summer-high for ABC in the hour. Despite the added publicity surrounding the legal action, The Glass House was the lowest-rated of six reality shows on network television Monday night, and was able to beat only repeat programming on CBS. The show also seemed to drive viewers away throughout its hour-long running time, falling about 20 percent from its first half hour to its second, losing about a million viewers in the process, and dissipating the lead-in audience handed to it from the more successful Bachelorette. Over all, The Glass House averaged only about four million viewers for the hour, and a 1.5 rating in the audience preferred by ABC advertisers, viewers between the ages of 18 and 49. Critically, the series received generally negative reviews. Entertainment Weekly gave the premiere episode a negative review, and even mocked the opening, commenting "'The show they didn't want you to see' was the show you didn't need to watch." The second episode dropped down to 3.09 million viewers with a 1.1 rating, and then again to 2.840 million viewers and a 1.0 rating share the next week. The seventh episode dropped down to 1.60 million viewers with a 0.6 rating, the 8th episode also had a drop in viewers having been watched by 1.59 million viewers, the 9 and 10th episode had a small spike in ratings, but not as much as the show had gotten the first half of the season with the series finale reaching just under 2 million viewers.

CBS lawsuit

On May 4, 2012, CBS issued a letter to ABC threatening legal action over The Glass House, as the format had strong similarities to its own series Big Brother, and that its production staff contained at least 18 members who had previously worked on Big Brother and were "privy to trade secrets and other confidential, proprietary information and signed broad and binding nondisclosure agreements" in relation to the format. On May 10, 2012, CBS went forward with a lawsuit against ABC, and sought a restraining order to halt the series' premiere.

Gary Allen Feess of the District Court for the Central District of California declined the request, arguing that it would unduly harm ABC's investment in producing the series, that elements of the format CBS claimed to be infringing were "generic" and not inherently novel, that production techniques were not considered intellectual property, and many of the claimed production techniques were actually common industry practices.

On August 17, 2012, CBS dismissed its lawsuit against ABC, citing the series' poor ratings. However, the network continued to pursue arbitration cases against several executives for their misappropriation of intellectual property related to the Big Brother format. In August 2013, CBS reached a settlement with ABC.