''The Briefcase'' is an American
reality TV
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
program created by
Dave Broome that premiered on
CBS on May 27, 2015. In each episode, two American families undergoing financial hardship are each given a briefcase containing $101,000, and must decide whether to keep all the money for themselves or give some or all of it to the other family. Over the course of 72 hours, each family learns about the other and makes the decision, without knowing that the other family has been given a briefcase as well, with the same instructions.
On December 9, 2015, the show was cancelled.
Reception of ''The Briefcase'' has been largely negative.
Ken Tucker
Kenneth Tucker is an American arts, music and television critic, magazine editor, and non-fiction book writer.
Early life and education
Tucker was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a ...
, critic-at-large of
Yahoo! TV, described it as "cynical and repulsive" for "passing off its exploitation...as uplifting, inspirational TV."
Jason Miller of
Time.com
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
called it "the worst reality TV show ever". Others compared the show to fictional film and television that pitted the needy against each other, such as the ''
Twilight Zone'' episode "
Button, Button", or ''
The Hunger Games''.
Executive producer David Broome responded that critics were misrepresenting the show. "Some of the reports are factually incorrect to the point of irresponsible journalism," he said.
Episodes
Ratings
International version
An
Australian version of the show aired on the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
from June 20 until August 9, 2016. Much like the American program, it was met with negative reviews and low ratings.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Briefcase, The
2015 American television series debuts
2015 American television series endings
2010s American reality television series
CBS original programming
Television series by Sony Pictures Television