"There should not be a dystopian TV show against indebted competitors against each other"

It could easily be the subject of an episode of dystopian science fiction series like Black Mirror or the Twilight Zone, but it's rather a legitimate television show that's being launched in the US United.

The show, dubbed Paid Off, begins with candidates announcing how much student loan debt they owe. The numbers are huge, extending on tens of thousands of dollars and giving a strong indication of the severity of the burden.

From here the principle is simple: compete with other candidates for the opportunity to clear your debt. 19659002] Speaking to Derek Thomson from the Atlantic, the show's host, Michael Torpey, admitted that the premise of the show was somewhat ridiculous

"C & # 39; is a show that should not exist, "said Torpey. the best way to pay off their debt, is crazy. "

Paid Off follows the format of a traditional game show.Three candidates face each other to answer a series of questions.Categories often come with a twist related to education, such as Questions about "ology" or surveys of the best work you could have at the university.

Competitors – Most are in the late 20s or early 30s appearing on the show. (Some of their charges reach $ 50,000 US.) Depending on the number of questions the winner will answer in a speed round, the show will pay up to 100% of its loans, TruTV paying the bill. [19659002] Torpey assures that the serious themes of student debt are never far from the minds of the audience.It slips into a "depressing fact of the week" in every episode and sometimes offers a dark political edge . "If you're just listening, it's the real life in America, "he says before the commercial break in an episode.

The facilitator also finds ways to work in the student debt crisis. "Anthropology, that's the study of humans," he says to one of the candidates after appointing his major. "So why do humans charge so much for college?"

The idea of ​​the show took hold when Torpey, a New York actor known to have played the season 4 antagonist Thomas Humphrey on "Orange Is The New Black" He met the woman who was going to become his wife and learned that she was very indebted when she was a student at Barnard College and a graduate student at New York University. The couple struggled with debt for years, until Torpey made an announcement of underwear. They were able to pay off the debt and eventually start planning to buy a house and start a family.

Shortly after, he devised a televised game show focused on the debt problem, with the help of a non-profit organization.

"I know what we are doing is a little ridiculous," Torpey said. "But in a way, the show matched my family's story, the only way to pay off student loans was to make a small underwear announcement. He said that he does not see the high cost of college as a left-right issue, but just something that needs to be on the political agenda.

TruTV is involved after Torpey and the Cowboy Bear Ninja production company. Although leaders recognize that the issue of student debt is not necessarily to be seen on television – in fact, the idea of ​​a game show dedicated to the subject comes with an element of surrealism – they hope the combination of fun trivia and social relevance "We are first and foremost a comedy channel," said Lesley Goldman, vice president of development and original programming at TruTV, which often targets viewers under the age of 35. years. "But we fell in love with this idea because of the unique hook of a TV show taking the bite of a student debt crisis. It seemed so incredibly innovative, relatable and timely."

The numbers are striking: The average cost of annual private college tuition fees in the United States – US $ 21,000 (NZ $ 31,000) – are astronomically higher than in any other country, three times as much Chile, where tuition fees are just US $ 7,000 per year. This is partly why the average amount Americans owe to their student debts (US $ 37,000) is higher than in the United Kingdom (US $ 30,000), in Canada ( US $ 20,000) and Germany (US $ 2,400). Outstanding balances of those who hold the loans have increased by more than 60% in the last 10 years.

The question fluctuates among politicians but remains a priority for many millennial voters, with regularly viral tweets on the subject, including one on July 5, in which the billboard reported paying $ 33,000, but the amount of the original debt has only decreased from $ 50,000 to $ 48,000 due to interest. Friday afternoon, the tweet had more than 200,000 mentions "I love", and many of them begged lawmakers to do something about the crisis

. In the red

Read more: Student debt "swells" by 37 percent, the average student in front of $ 21,000

According to figures released last year , New Zealand students owe more than $ 15 billion.

The burden of this debt adds additional pressure on young Kiwis who are trying to save sufficient funds for a deposit on a house.

A report from 2017 said that it would take a graduate an average of 8.4 years to pay on the loan balance of $ 21,000 after leaving the university.

– Washington Post Supplementary Reports