The reality show featuring people living together in a house cut off from ordinary outside communication is Big Brother.
The format places contestants in a specially equipped house where cameras and microphones record their daily lives. Houseguests compete in challenges, nominate one another for eviction, and vote to remove contestants. The last remaining houseguest, or the winner selected under that season’s rules, receives the main prize.
The title comes from George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, whose slogan “Big Brother is watching you” evokes constant surveillance. The television format was created by Dutch producer John de Mol and first premiered in the Netherlands in 1999. The American edition debuted on CBS in 2000. Although contestants are isolated from the outside world, the show is not completely without communication: producers, medical staff, and other authorized personnel interact with them, and modern versions may include controlled messages or twists.