The unveiling of the "new twist" by Arnold Shapiro, producer of Big Brother 4, was met by many Internet fans with great trepidation. As a fan of the show, I share the qualms many fans are having.

One concept each of the first three American Big Brothers was that a group of strangers got together, eliminated each other one by one, and one person walked away with $500,000. While each houseguest began as a stranger from the other, the playing field was level, and decisions each houseguest made or didn't make decided who took home the cash.

This year, with the unveiling of this "X Factor", instead of one playing field, the field is multitiered. Of the 13 cast members, the field is now broken down into three categories. You have four houseguests who have their ex's living in the house with them. Then you have the four ex's themselves. Finally, you have a group of five houseguests who don't have any "weight" tied to them.

Hardcore fans who couldn't have seen this coming quite frankly should have. Beginning with Big Brother 2, Arnold Shapiro, a very talented television producer, has shaken up the Internet's fan "conventional thinking" time and time again. Deciding the American audience were not fair arbiters of who should be evicted each week, he changed Big Brother 2 into a show that could have been nicknamed "Survivor: The Big Brother House". Big Brother 3 seemed to have a theme former baseball player Yogi Berra would have loved: "It ain't over until it's over". The "Power of Veto" concept and the returning houseguest tried to add to the scheming houseguests had to do to stay in the money, but the concept didn't work, mainly because it gave the houseguest too many options. In turn, they decided to simplify their decisions as much as possible.

But it's the direction of the "hidden game" of Big Brother that has many of us worried. The original game involved 10 relatively average Americans, such as roofer George "Chicken Man" Boswell and amputee Eddie McGee. Since then, the game has become a contest where more people are and handpicked to play than chosen. Even for Big Brother 4, casting calls in the usual Hollywood suspect circles (I don't know if Belly's restaurant was among them) were made. Point out the acting experience former houseguests such as Mike Malin, Hardy Hill, and Gerry Lancaster have had, and you have to shake your head. Is this a real Reality TV show (if there is such a thing), or is this Reality TV's version of the WWE, where all conflicts are merely well choreographed ones?

All in all, Big Brother 4 is a show that's designed to be either a big hit with it's audience, or will backfire to become a bigger dud on TV than the original Big Brother. As usual, only time well judge and render it's verdict.