With a little less than four weeks to go, CBS is hitting us with another reminder: Big Brother is back! The latest commercial from CBS promises we’ll get the “craziest twists” yet with Big Brother 13 so take off your “back to basics” hat and put on your “Jessie in a box” hat. It’s going to be a crazy summer!

“Big” Reminder: Starting Wednesday, June 15th Friday, June 17th at 9AM ET you’ll be able to lock-in your season pass to the Big Brother live feeds for only $29.99. That’s effectively a free month of feeds when you save $5/month for 3 months. Instead of paying $15/month you’ll only pay $9.99/month. It’s like they’re giving it away!

I’ll send you the discount code link on Wednesday Friday when the sale goes live if you get our free email alerts, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Update: CBS released another BB13 commercial (watch below). This time it calls out “Crash My Party.” Could be something, but probably nothing. Marketing and production aren’t always in lock step during these preseason commercials, so I wouldn’t read too much in to it. Still fun to watch though!

Update 2: The early bird sale is now available. Details on the discount here.

Update: RealNetworks has announced a slight delay on the launch of the early bird sale. Instead of Wednesday we’ll be able to get the deal starting Friday, June 17th at 9AM ET.

The Big Brother countdown is on. 30 days until the Big Brother 13 premiere on July 7th, but before that arrives we can now officially confirm the return of the Big Brother Live Feed Early Bird sale.

RealNetworks has just passed along word that starting Wednesday, June 15th Friday, June 17th you’ll be able to sign up for the uncensored Big Brother live feed through this site and get the entire season pass for $29.99. If you wait until the show starts then you’ll end up paying $45 for the entire season.

I’m still expecting more details from Real on the mobile feed apps. So far it sounds like Android 2.2 and up support is a go , but and iOS4 (Apple) is still uncertain now confirmed. I’ll keep you updated with any more news I hear on that.

Grab our free Big Brother updates via email, Facebook, and Twitter and I’ll send you the live feed discount link as soon as the sale starts next week.

Update: To answer a question in the comments below, Yes! You’ll still get the free monthly music downloads with the Early Bird special. So $30 for 3-months of Big Brother Live Feed will also give you $30 of free mp3s.

Update 2: Real confirms that iPhone/iPad/iPod using iOS4 and above along with Android 2.2 and above will support the live feeds this season!

We are now one step closer to Big Brother 13. Robyn Kass has just officially announced via Twitter that all semi-finalists have now been contacted.

So if you were still waiting for that call, sorry, but it isn’t coming at this point. But for those who did get a call CBS, Grodner, and Kassting are still working through the process to determine who will make up the final cast of Big Brother 13 so anything can happen (as long as you don’t blab about it!).

Don’t expect to see anything about those HGs for another month, but hopefully we’ll start getting news on the season’s theme and house design in the next coming weeks. I’ll post all that news here when it’s available.

What I can confirm at this point is the return of the Big Brother live feeds early bird special. Last season the deal gave you three months for the price of two and ended the night before the show’s premiere (BB13 premieres July 7th this season). That cheaper feed price should start up around mid-June, so be sure to sign up for our BB alerts via email, Facebook, and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss the deal.

Now don’t get too excited, but here’s the very first Big Brother commercial for the 2011 season! I say don’t get too excited because just like each early preseason we’re treated to a commercial full of last year’s HGs and events. So nothing new here other than a confirmation of what we already knew: Big Brother will be back on CBS and Big Brother 13 start date is July 7th. Oh, and in true BB form, all the clips are in standard-def which I expect to be true again this summer.

For those just catching up on the pending season, auditions for Big Brother 13 have wrapped and casting is in the final stages. We should hear a confirmation from Kassting Inc. in the next few weeks that the finalists have all been notified.

Are you ready for BB13? Not if you haven’t joined us on Facebook and signed up for the free email updates! Get those now and impress your friends!*

*Not guaranteed to impress your friends, but we’ll sure like you!

Hat tip to Big Brother Access for spotting this commercial.

Back in late March Julie Chen went on the Late Late Show and announced the Big Brother 13 start date was July 6, 2011. This week CBS corrected that premiere date with a press release. Oops. It’s okay, Julie. We all still love ya!

BB13 will officially premiere on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 9PM ET/PT.

CBS also confirmed the summer schedule as we previously reported it (thanks to Big Brother Access):

• Thursdays (live evictions) 9-10PM ET/PT starting 7/7/11
• Sundays 8-9PM ET/PT starting 7/10/11
• Wednesdays 8-9PM ET/PT starting 7/13/11

Now that the application process is over for Big Brother 13 we know that Kassting Inc is working hard at selecting the very best cast possible. Robyn Kass says they’ll notify all finalists by the end of May and we should expect a short announcement around the same time to confirm casting is completed.

Make sure you don’t miss any of the Big Brother preseason news (you know, in case CBS changes their minds again!) by getting our free email updates, joining us on Facebook, or following us on Twitter. Lots of news coming soon!

One bonus tidbit of news I’ll share now. This year, the Big Brother live feeds will be available on the go. CBS will release a BB13 Android app for watching the feeds where ever you are. Stick with us and we’ll get you the full details soon.

As the Big Brother 13 premiere approaches we’re left with just one final week of casting. Three events remain across the southeast including Louisville on May 4th, Nashville on May 6th, and Charleston on May 7th. Full casting event details here. After that it’s all down to careful reviews and cuts to make the very best BB13 cast.

Robyn Kass, Big Brother casting director, has made a series of announcements over the past few days starting with the application deadline being set for April 29th. So yes, that means there are no more paper applications being accepted and you’re only chance is one of those last three auditions this week.

Robyn also had a message for those who already submitted an application or attended an event: don’t call us, we’ll call you. With thousands of applicants, it just isn’t possible for them to call everyone so instead they’ll only be able to contact those moving forward.

Kass made sure to squash rumors that the cast had already been selected for Big Brother 13. Not true at all, tweets Robyn:

Still meeting people and watching tapes until the end of May. No finalists will be chosen until then, good luck!

Inevitably we’ll see claims from individuals who say they’ve been selected and will be in the house this season. First off, no one will be confirmed until the end of the month. Secondly, anyone lucky enough to be selected will also be informed that if they make any such announcement that they’ll lose their chance at the half-million dollar prize. They are usually a lot of these bogus claims.

Best of luck to all the Big Brother 13 applicants out there. We can wait to see which of you make it, and once you’re in be sure to mention us by name, a lot!