Money isn’t everything

A number of new TV shows made their debut last month that you could find to your liking: Topping our list is “Buying for Billionaires,” a show that harks back to the appeal decades ago of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

That program made viewers’ mouths water with its features on mansions, yachts, private jets, exclusive resorts, million-dollar cars, jewelry, fashion—everything that the really wealthy and wanton take for granted, but are utterly out of reach for the short-armed likes of you and me.

Well, if that original show dazzled viewers, “Buying for Billionaires” hits the ball out of the park with its even more awesome features on how much billionaires are willing to spend to get what their heaving hearts desire.

Cruddy cake

Last month, the rich yearners’ designated buyers had to spend a fortune on the best wine to make a major first impression at the opening of a new venue; find a million-dollar bag that would make its new owner the cynosure of all (curious) eyes; harvest golden caviar when there’s none to be had anywhere in the world—etc!

The buyers are so well-paid that they accept all sorts of abuse from their rich but boorish employers. The wine connoisseur may know his libations, but he was an absolute jerk—and ugly, both in and out.

But, what really took the cruddy cake was the experience of the caviar finder: She was badly treated, not by her adult employers, but by their nasty, little teenage son, who wanted to impress his similarly cruddy friends by demanding—and getting—the impossible.

The rich jerk was such a turnoff that, when his golden caviar was finally found out of season, we wanted to stuff it into his tiny nostrils, globule by globule!

Sorry for getting carried away—but, come to think of it, that’s precisely the emotional reaction that the show wants to get from viewers—us “have-nots” getting all ticked off about the “haves,” who are uncouth and totally undeserving of all of the luxury they enjoy—which should go to us because we would be more properly appreciative of it. Figure that out…!

Another new show, “Instant Cash,” got a positive reaction from us because it was quite innovative. It’s a quiz show set in a mall, where shoppers can unexpectedly make up to $15,000 if they get a series of answers right.

The two times we’ve caught the show thus far, the first questions asked were easy-breezy, but the list turned out to have hidden “land mines” because there were assigned tasks that took longer than expected, resulting in the players’ running out of time and losing whatever they’d already won.

Now, that’s a downer of a denouement, but what’s upbeat about the show is that it allows onlookers to help the players perform their assigned tasks—like the 12 people who gamely agreed to each “wear” a piece of underwear on his or her head, even if they didn’t know the contestants from Adam or Eve. That gives the show a welcome “communal” feeling that makes it appealingly different from most other game or quiz shows we’ve watched.