For 'Big Brother,' the winter of new content

BY CRISTINA KINON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, November 16th 2007, 10:14 PM

The writers' strike has CBS ramping up for a new season of "Big Brother."

Indeed, the network will be casting for new players here Sunday in anticipation of getting a winter edition of the summer show rolling early next year, should the strike continue.

"We have been told by CBS to get ready for anything, so there's nothing that is certain at this point," "Big Brother" executive producer Allison Grodner told the Daily News yesterday. "It is a wait-and-see. We are preparing for anything."

New York auditions are taking place Sunday at 243 W. 30th St., third floor, from noon to 8 p.m., and on Dec. 1 at Duff's Brooklyn, at N. Third St. and Kent Ave., from 7 to 10 p.m.

"Big Brother" has always been a summer staple, but the opportunity for a prime midseason premiere means producers will be pulling out all the stops.

"We really want it to stand out," said Grodner. "We want it to be special, because we've never done something like this before. I promise you it will be different from any other 'Big Brother' you've ever seen."

So don't expect another "America's Player," the stunt incorporated last summer that gave viewers a say in the outcome.

"That's really hard to do twice," Grodner said. "Anyone coming to be a part of 'Big Brother' this year would know about it and we'd hate to have people act differently because they think that the viewers are in control. ... That doesn't mean that it couldn't return in some other way, but doing exactly what we did again, no."

Longtime "Big Brother" host Julie Chen will also be returning to the program, regardless of whether it comes back midseason or next summer.

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