It premiered on CBS on February 12, 2008, and concluded with its season finale on April 27, 2008; it was scheduled as a midseason installment of the series as replacement programming due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

[8] On Day 43 during a Luxury competition, Chelsia, Joshuah, Sharon and Sheila won an advanced screening of the Columbia Pictures film 21.

[9] On Day 45, Chelsia won a $21,000 VIP trip to Las Vegas before the screening of the film 21, in which her popcorn bucket had a golden ticket for the prize.

[10] On Day 44, when Big Brother 8 contestant "Evel Dick" Donato returned to the Big Brother House to host the Power of Veto competition "Club Evel", if a player scored more than Dick's score of 33 from last season, he or she would have also won a classic Gibson Les Paul guitar and amplifier.

On December 3, 2007, CBS announced Big Brother would return on February 12, 2008 with three episodes airing on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The Wednesday episode, which aired at 8 pm Eastern Time, featured the live eviction and subsequent Head of Household competition taking place.

The Sunday episode, which aired at 8 pm Eastern Time, featured the food competition and nomination ceremony, as well as some highlights from the previous days.

Both Showtime and CBS announced on January 8, 2008 that Big Brother: After Dark would also return and air seven nights a week during the hours of 12 am and end at 3 am ET.

On February 11, 2008 CBS announced that the live Internet feeds would return for the season with certain events in the House being blocked out to preserve drama of the television broadcasts.

Throughout the house, there are numerous love quotes written by Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

In the dining room and kitchen, the furniture are in bright red and yellow colors, and logs stacked against each other fill up a wall.

The headboard is made from a surfboard, there are Hula girl table lamps, rattan carpet and Polynesian knickknacks.

Each week, the HouseGuests take part in several compulsory challenges that determine who will win food, luxuries, and power in the House.

[25] The nominee with the greater number of votes will be evicted from the House on the live Thursday broadcast, exiting to an adjacent studio to be interviewed by Chen.

These "Jury Members" will be sequestered in a separate house and will not be allowed to watch the show except for competitions and ceremonies that include all of the remaining HouseGuests.

The jury members will not be shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that include strategy or details regarding nominations.

[53][54] The HouseGuests were required to answer questions about their partners preferences in a relationship; the team with the most points at the end of the competition would be the winner.

[107] Due to these arguments, Allison debated quitting the game, though was later convinced in the Diary Room to stay;[108] she did, however, have a restraining order placed on Joshuah, and he was forbidden to be within five feet of her.

[116][117] On Day 25, Matt & Natalie chose to use the Power of Veto to remove themselves from the block, with Adam & Sheila being nominated in their place.

[40] For this competition, HouseGuests were separated into two teams, and were required to get into two pools of chocolate one at a time and spell out words with the letters inside.

[40] For this competition, players were required to walk along a series of balance beams in an attempt to transfer 500 blocks from a cage to their tube.

[40] For this competition, HouseGuests were required to insert cards into their watermelon and choose either slop or food, with the goal being to stay in the minority.

[40] For this competition, HouseGuests had to make pathways out of mashed potatoes and gravy in an attempt to fill up containers to earn food for the week.

[40] For this competition, HouseGuests had to use remote controls in an attempt to change the channels, thus forming an image on an over-sized television.

[40] For this competition, HouseGuests had to break prop bottles over each other's heads, with some bottles having dice rings; the dice were placed in boxes on a playing board, and the first team to have an occupied box on their board get selected would win the chance to see the film What Happens in Vegas.... Sharon and Ryan were the winners.

[258][259] John Gilmore (the executive director of Autism United) demanded action to be taken in a letter to Sumner Redstone, Chairman of CBS Corporation, after the Wednesday episode.

The organization also contacted several of their advertisers over the issue,[260] including Lowe's, Campbell's Soup, Claritin, Geico, McDonald's and Taco Bell.

[262] The website for United Autism Foundation issued an apology regarding Adam's behavior in the house and stated he will no longer be working for the company after it ends.

The incident in question was aired on both the live Internet feeds and the spin-off show Big Brother: After Dark on Showtime 2.

[266] On October 19, 2009, Adam was arrested, and charged by the DEA in North Reading, MA for possession of 2,000 oxycodone pills with intent to distribute.