Oh Big Brother, Where art thou?

from Newsday's "The Buzz"

O ‘Brother,’ where art thou? Everywhere

Starting July 5, you'll be able to spend the rest of your summer doing nothing but watching "Big Brother."

The eighth season of CBS' reliable summer shut-in saga will launch with an hour-long episode starting at 8 p.m. July 5, Zap2it reports. The series will then inundate CBS' various online ventures. Plus, for the first time, "Big Brother" will move to CBS' corporate sibling Showtime.

CBS will air "Big Brother" Thursday and Sunday nights at 8, as well as Tuesday night at 9.

But back to "Big Brother's" attempts to take over the known world ... Julie Chen will be back as host, and for the seventh straight season, CBS will offer
24/7 streaming video from within the house via RealNetworks and Superpass. For the second straight year, CBS will offer special mobile-phone content. CBS will also offer full-length episodes and highlight clips on its CBS Audience Network. Also, the online series "House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show" will return for its fourth season.

This season's biggest additional twist is the appearance of "Big Brother: After Dark" on Showtime's "Shotoo" telecast platform. Each night, Shotoo will feature a live feed from the Big Brother house from midnight-to-3 a.m. That sounds like it might be boring, but since the "Big Brother" house is in Los Angeles, it'll actually be from 9 p.m. to midnight for the guests, so expect some occasional random nudity.