[ad_1]
The most untenable minute of the first of "Paid Off" – the new truTV TV quiz that offers candidates the possibility of a debt-free life – approach towards the end, when Madeleine, graduate from Davidson College in North Carolina, arrives in the middle of the stage as the only player to go to the final round of the show.
Madeleine, who has $ 41,222 in debt, has the chance to erase everything in a moment, should she correctly answer eight questions over a period of 60 seconds? Before the start of the final round, the show's animator, Michael Torpey's celebrity "Orange is the new black," stops to ask him what his dream life would look like if she were magically getting rid tens of thousands that she owed him. [19659003"Nowadaysinvisitlittlewithmypetitamiandmyhoney"answersMadeleine"Iwouldliketoassemblemypetitamiandmakeitinahousewithacourtroom"
If "Black Mirror" is a dystopian glimpse of the company's direction, "Paid Off" is an even more horrifying glimpse of where it's already stands. Maybe on another game show from another era – say, the "Who Wants to Make Millions?" From the early 2000s – Madeleine would have dreamed of a McMansion, a car luxury or a trip around the world. But this is the United States of America around 2018, and Madeleine is one of more than 40 million Americans struggling to break a collective debt of $ 1.5 trillion. of dollars .
For Madeleine and the millions of other people like her, just going back to scratch would be a reason to celebrate.
In 2014, truTV was renamed as a kind of comedy, a change reflected in the chain. slogan, "Funny because it's true." With "Paid Off", it is clear that truTV is testing the limits furthest from this concept. The show is filled with all the wacky features typical of a networked game: bright lights, stylized lecterns, the studio audience – everything is there . In other words, "Paid Off" is supposed to be fun and funny.
But if "Paid Off" has a chance to become a hit, it will be for more sadistic but involuntary reasons. This is clear from the top of the series, when Torpey says to Madeleine: "You have the most debt. You can choose first. " No matter how gently Torpey puts it, he is also clearly exposing the stakes for the three people in front of him: Winning or staying in debt.
No, that's the world in which we live now: the pain of people is betrothed so that we all enjoy it. "Black Mirror", devours your fucking heart
The decision to develop a playful game show around from something as stuffy and personal as student debt seems a strange proposition.Watch the show, and all reasoning propelled "Paid" on television does not get much clearer.
The brightly lit scene has an almost caricatural feel as the three indebted competitors stand near an image of Lady Justice; during this time, Torpey appears in front of a safe, presumably there to represent the future financial freedom of candidates. If this fails to convey the message clearly, the words "Paid Off" appear in black and green on the walls and floor. Animated dollar bills rain on the digital screens of the set.
The real part of the game is like a slapdash after the fact. There is little innovation here, and a lot is entirely derived. These are three tricks, mostly including trivia, part of one or the other – or a variety with a few riddles "Family Feud" in between. Categories include "Finger The Masters", "Sick Burns", "2 Fast Gold Furious" and "Goodfellas or Thomas & Friends."
The questions are so basic (can you name "the" activities and the people who commit them "?) That you realize early on what separates" Paid Off "from a show like" Jeopardy ". Here, testing your intellectual rigor is not really the goal.
Torpey does what he can to reassure those of us at home who are fighting student debt we He laughs with us, not against us, during the seemingly ridiculous affair that takes place on the screen.On the top of the first episode, aired on Tuesday, he relays the struggles of his wife and his wife to get rid of his student debt, which they could only do after booking an underwear advertisement earlier in his career
He did this show for those still struggling with debts, he said, and hey, no competitor is punished for wrong answers In fact, everyone leaves with at least $ 1,000. After the elimination of a competitor, he receives a card for Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Who says "Keep It Up," that Torpey wants the public to sign. (Warren is a well known lawyer for student loan debtors.) Another was told to make a call (almost unmistakably false) to Congress before he left. At the end of each episode, Torpey implores viewers to call their representatives too.
But watching the biggest crisis of my generation unfold in the form of a half-hour comedy show feels, if not entirely exploitative, too weird for the first time. ignore. The cheeky drum rolls, the sound effects, all this makes you wonder if this show will continue to humiliate a debtor or two before everything is said and done. But again, what is a momentary loss of dignity compared to the prospect of waking up with a clean financial slate?
" Paid Off" works hard to keep the mood light so that sometimes you forget what is at stake for people on stage. Until you see Nico – a major of William Peace College's education with a debt of $ 17,350 – toss the head of frustration when he loses a unique chance of lightening total debt in the first round. It's a good sport, but what's really behind that smile?
The same goes for Jay, who looks at the sky and prays (jokingly) at the beginning of the game to bow to the second round. In a particularly questionable bonus segment, a man in the audience with $ 36,538 in debt to his name is invited to hit a wall several times while the circus music plays in the background, earning him $ 1,000, a melon and a sandwich . What's fun about it?
If you're feeling kind, "Paid Off" could be described as a PSA disguised in a good time, the kind of thing that freshman teachers throw when they're feeling lazy on a Friday. Or, you could describe it as a scary example of owning capitalism. After all, we see three adult adults grappling with the fact that this incredibly silly show is their best hope of solving the biggest economic problem of their lives.
As depressing as it may be to see the whole ordeal unfold It's also hard not to wonder if "Paid Off" is destined to be canceled and forgotten – or to be the first among so many 39; others. We already live in a GoFundMe world, where only those lucky enough to become viral get help with their insurmountable bills. So why not turn on a "wheel of fortune" for medical debt? Or a "family feud" for foreclosure? Damn, I'd even look at a "Deal or No Deal" for child care expenses
By the time Madeleine steps up her 60-second shot at a clean slate, she's already won $ 3,600 and is everything smile. But that does not make it any less distressing to watch as the lights dim and the clock starts. It does not make her more bearable when she does not realize that Denver is the city that legalized marijuana at retail and that Dr. Dre's full name is Andre Young.
And that will certainly not make the task easier when the clock will stop, and Torpey must inform her that she has found an answer short of eight correct answers. If only she had known the answer to Jane Goodall's question. Never mind. Maybe next week's runner-up will manage to break out of his debilitating Navel-run debt pile.
But not everything is so bad. Torpey informs her that she has earned another $ 24,211, enough to reduce her student loan debt by more than half. "I know it's not everything," he told him.
"It's a lot," she replies.
They kiss, and Madeleine seems happy. After all, not everyone has the chance to win a game show on truTV.
[ad_2]
Source link
