The Briefcase

"The value of what's in the briefcase might not be in the money." That's what creator Dave Broome, the man behind "The Biggest Loser," clearly wants us to ponder, but The Briefcase also preys upon our judgmental side as we watch the couples attempt to justify keeping all the money.

Each of the three opportunities to deposit or keep the money is preceded by a financial discussion between each couple, which usually reveals one person to be more giving and the other to be more concerned with No. 1. These getting repetitive and boring fast.

The Briefcase features a truly terrible idea at its center, but what's almost worse than that is how dull and repetitive it gets almost immediately.

One of the more cynical and repulsive of new reality shows--and that’s saying something, I know--The Briefcase is all the more reprehensible for passing off its exploitation of people in beleaguered financial straits as uplifting, inspirational TV.

We're exploiting [the struggle of the poor] a lot. The Briefcase does it in a clear and methodical way.... The Briefcase plays into this class anxiety by setting up the classic American pastime of figuring out in what ways these people are being poor wrong.