Cristina Del Basso

Grande Fratello, the Italian version reality television franchise Big Brother, began in September 2000, and has gone on to become a cultural phenomenon in Italy. There have been ten completed seasons. The eleventh season will start on Canale 5 on 25 october 2010.
Based on the Original Dutch Version created by Endemol, the show sees a number different Housemates, divided by gender, social backgrounds and geographical locations locked up together in a House, where the viewing Public can watch them twenty-four hours a day, and vote them out the House as they choose to.
The Housemates can visit the "Confessional" at any time during the day, either to talk to psychologists if they need to, talk to Big Brother, or to Nominate.
The title is inspired by the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The novel tells a Big Brother, head the totalitarian state Oceania that constantly monitors its inhabitants via camera in an attempt to suppress their free will. The tag line the novel is "Big Brother is watching you", which inspired the show, as it is Big Brother who now has total control over the situation in the House.