“The Benefactor” (7 p.m. Monday, WLS-Ch. 7) is one of several “Apprentice” wannabes that are debuting in coming months. But if the rest of them are anything like “The Benefactor,” the Donald has nothing to worry about.
In the form of this faintly creepy show, the premise of which has a rich guy eventually giving $1 million to one of 16 contestants living in a luxury mansion, ABC has given us an object lesson in how not to do unscripted television. Aspiring reality producers, take note — here’s a short rundown of things to avoid:
Don’t have an off-putting host. Mark Cuban clearly had to be smart and aggressive to make billions in the dot-com world, but that doesn’t mean he has a natural TV presence. The title benefactor is a stiff and, at times, almost unlikable lead personality.
Doing, not talking, is the key to quality unscripted TV. Take a look at “The Apprentice,” “The Amazing Race” and “Survivor”: Much of the drama of these shows revolves around how people respond to pressure-filled situations. So having Cuban watch, via hidden cameras, the 16 “Benefactor” contestants sit around and make small talk with each other does not make for exciting TV.
Living under pressure and living in fear are two different things. Asking reality-TV participants to eat weird creatures or sell lemonade in New York City puts the heat on them, but not necessarily in a mean way. Summarily sending one contestant packing within minutes for a small transgression makes Cuban look petty, and random cruelty is kind of a buzzkill, judging by looks on the faces of remaining contestants.
– Trash-talking has its place — but don’t go too far. Eventually Cuban summons contestants to one-on-one interviews with him, but these talks have none of the drama of the “Apprentice’s” boardroom or “Survivor’s” tribal councils. The billionaire encourages contestants to badmouth their opponents, boast about themselves and rate the attractiveness of other contestants. Perhaps introducing these topics is part of Cuban’s attempts to get to know these people better, but the ensuing conversations just make all parties look boorish.
– If there is an activity, make sure it’s not lame. At one point, Cuban decides that two contestants are on the bubble, for reasons that aren’t clear. To decide which contestant goes, the two are forced to play a game of Jenga — yes, that dorm-room staple, in which two players take turns removing sticks from a tower until the whole thing topples. Trust me, as depicted here, the game is even more tedious than that explanation of it.
Well, at least during the Jenga game it was clear what the ground rules were — the loser would go home. That clarity couldn’t be found in much of the rest of the program. It’s not clear why people are sent packing (a total of three get booted on the premiere), and it’s certainly not clear what criteria Cuban will be using to decide who gets the money.
But who knows, perhaps “The Benefactor” will improve from its messy, verging-on-offensive beginning. From a teaser at the end of the show, it looks like the contestants do get an array of tasks to perform, and we already know one of them is going to end up a millionaire by the end of the competition. So, aside from providing a “What Not to Broadcast” primer for other networks, there’s at least one positive thing that will come from all this.
