Assorted Buffoonery: “It’s the Big Give”

In this newest slice of assorted buffoonery, I was reintroduced to a guilty pleasure competition show that aired on ABC back in 2008: Oprah’s Big Give. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s totally okay because neither has anyone else. I’d go as far to say that select ABC executives wouldn’t be able to share a single fact about this arguably insensitive reality competition program.

Picture it: Oprah has announced a reality show, hosted by her interior design bestie Nate Berkus. (Let us all be grateful that Dr. Phil was not asked.) There is no announced prize, however, thousands of people go to cattle call auditions to be a part of this philanthropic program.

Lo and behold, the competition has eight contestants trying to be the best at giving away money. Yes, you read that right: helping others was turned into a competition. This aired around the same time as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC, in which families down on their luck received brand new homes, then were not given the tools to help pay for them and quickly returned to being down on their luck. Ah, yes. Building a sense of community for views! The American way!

Yet, as a kid, I was weirdly obsessed with the idea of turning charity into a competition. It’s so uncouth. It’s using unfortunate people’s emotions as ploys for ratings. It’s wacky! It should not exist and should never exist again in the future! And yet…I need everyone to watch the premiere episode.

(Also important to note: though it was publicized to contestants, the last individual standing was given one million dollars. I dunno either.)