TyroneJordan

Survivor, 1 million each season, Big Brother, 1 million each season, and I just saw a Power of 10 show where they just gave a 19 year old kid 1 million dollars. How do they pick the contestants? How DO I get on one of these shows and easily win a fortune? What is wrong with this world!

Seantn

What is wrong with this world indeed. I don't want to live in a world where people can win money. It's total bullshit. I'm going to start a bonfire right now to burn the lotto ticket that i'm going to buy later tonight.

matta

Big Brother is $500,000.

Ronnie Dobbs

Plus what they pay their actors. Not to mention what the higher ups make.

Seantn

How can they not afford it? It's much cheaper to make a season of Survivor than it is to make a season of "E.R." or "Lost". An episode of most scripted shows can cost a few million. An episode of Survivor costs next to nothing in comparison. The most expensive thing about it is the prize money, and it's not even that much when you consider all things that go into a tv show.

Also, the network doesn't have to pay residuals to any contestants on a reality show, which they do have to do for scripted shows when they re-air the episodes.

g

They usually have an insurance company underwrite shows like power of 10 and deal or no deal. Whereas they pay for a policy and the insurance company gambles on the actual prize.

rfduncan

Ding, ding, ding! A million dollars prize money? Weren't they paying Ray Romano 1.8 million PER EPISODE by the end of Everybody Loves Raymond? Under your original gripe - they are SAVING money by running these reality "game shows".

Not the world - America. The sophisticated programming of the UK almost never works here unless seriously dumbed down/compromised and even that doesn't guarantee success here - see Coupling as opposed to The Office.

Reality TV is the lowest common denominator and like McDonald's, America can't get enough of it.

BDLOU

I watched Power of 10 last night and cracked up when that kid won the million. Those idiots in the Big Brother House spend 3 months trapped in a house with other idiots for half the amount of money that it took this kid to win in 30 minutes.

Eddie W

Yet they can't afford HD cameras for these game shows..........

BDLOU

Nor all their NFL games on Sundays.

Groucho

Let's not get too carried away. UK aired both Big Brother before the US, and has a lot of crap reality and game shows (many of which are copied for use here). PBS and BBA show the "cream of the crop" of British television, but they love crap just as much as we do.

rfduncan

Nor for the Tony awards. How hard is that? The Oscars broadcast in HD.

I think CBS is getting ready for a HUGE hurting next season. Right now except for How I Met Your Mother and The New Adventures of Old Christine, I don't watch anything on CBS any more.

nateman

$1,000,000 million bucks is nothing for a major network like CBS. considering most actors get paid around that much for a total of 2 or 3 episodes/out of 22 (some $1 million per ep.) It's pocket money.

Add on to the fact that Survivor & Big Brother get good ratings & probally bringing tons more then the winner actually gets. CBS is cheap. It's a network like NBC that has to be more careful.

mrpayroll

Not if you're Jen it isn't!

Chris

Goat3001

Don't forget Simon Cowell and the whole "Idol" concept is from the UK.

There are plenty of good, sophisticated shows that get good ratings in the US. You just decided to compare the best of the UK vs. the worst of the US.

ravan

I dont know the state of their coffers, but i'm willing to bet that a trillion dollars is probably significant...