‘Controversy is an important thing on TV’: Nine defends ‘poverty porn’ show The Briefcase

WHAT would you do for $100,000? Twelve struggling Aussie families are about to go head to head to find out — but there’s a twist.

TIME magazine described it as “the worst reality TV show ever made”, a petition calling for it to be pulled off US television attracted nearly 30,000 signatures — and it’s coming soon to Nine.

Nine has defended its decision to create its own version of controversial “poverty porn” series The Briefcase, which was cancelled after one season in US last year following poor ratings and a public outcry.

The premise is simple. In each episode, two struggling families are given a briefcase containing $100,000. Over several days, as they learn more about the other family, they have to decide whether to keep the money, share some of it, or give it all away to people they have never met.

The twist, revealed at the “emotional conclusion” of each episode, is that the deal isn’t quite what it seemed.

The US version of the show, conceived by Biggest Loser creator Dave Broome, was criticised for playing the families off one another — for example, a “right wing, Texas Christian conservative, God-loving, gun-toting” family gradually learns that the other family is a married lesbian couple.

“The biggest problem of the show is that it’s meant as entertainment,” Time wrote last year.

“Yet the families featured on the show aren’t actors — they truly are struggling. They have lost hope as they try to keep their homes, feed their children, and pay their medical bills. Putting them in front of television cameras and presenting them with a ‘Faustian bargain’ is cruel and unusual.”

Nine Network head of development Adrian Swift.

Nine, however, says the Australian version will be “fundamentally different”. “This is definitely not that. This is not an exploitative situation,” Adrian Swift, head of development for the Nine Network, told news.com.au.

“At the end of this, there are 12 Australians who walk away with a significant amount of money that is fundamentally life-changing at a time when they really need it.

“At the end of it, as a viewer and as an Australian, I was incredibly proud of the people involved. No one gives away nothing — it changes from episode to episode — but there is always that sense of giving to other people despite their need.”

He criticised the US version for “stunt” casting. “We’ve cast it completely differently. The core conceit of the show is still there, but we haven’t stunt cast it with dwarfs and drug addicts,” he said.

“They’re people like us who have had some major crisis in their life which means they’re down on their luck. A health issue, a farmer who lost their fences and stock in a fire.

“These are normal people who’ve had some extraordinary event in their life.”

Six episodes of the show featuring 12 families across Australia have been filmed, although Nine has not set an airdate yet. The families, who were identified through community groups and support services, were told they were participating in a documentary to preserve the twist.

Heavily-pregnant Billi-Jo smokes a bong on Struggle Street.

Mr Swift said claims that the format of the show was manipulative were wrong.

“It is a way of defining a question we all face — to what extent is it better to give than receive?,” he said. “But more importantly than that, to what extent can one put oneself in the shoes of others while still respecting one’s own needs? That’s the core of the show.”

Controversial SBS reality show Struggle Street, which was also slapped with the “poverty porn” label, has struggled to find a location to film its second series after a number of local councils in Victoria and Queensland, and even Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the show was not welcome.

“I firmly believe Struggle Street is an important show, it was well made and told an important story,” Mr Swift said. “Controversy is an important thing on TV. Having a window into things we wouldn’t otherwise see is a huge part of TV now.”

In an email to news.com.au last year, Mr Broome said the show had been misrepresented. “The families on our series are not poor and no one is ‘pitted’ against each other,” he wrote.

“The show is an inspirational look at what matters most. While it may look like on the surface the show is about the money, the truth is, it has very little to do with money at all.”

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Originally published as ‘Controversy is an important thing on TV’: Nine defends ‘poverty porn’ show The Briefcase