If you were to be asked the question “Which is more important – personal values or money?” the answer seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? I think almost everyone I know would immediately answer “personal values”. Answering questions about money and character seem really simple when they’re just questions, but making a true choice between a large amount of money or helping someone in need can be much harder when the money is in front of your eyes.
CBS has a new show coming up that’s called The Briefcase. I was given access to screen an episode of the show early, and just got finished with the episode. I had watched the The Briefcase season trailer (below) before watching the episode, so I had some idea of what the show would be about. I expected it to test my logic of what would be fair to do if I were presented with $101,000.00 and given the option to keep as much of it for myself, and to give as much of it to another family as I saw fit. I wasn’t prepared for it to surprise me a few times over, and to change my “theory” of what was fair multiple times as well. Here is the season preview trailer:
I expected both families to be struggling a ton. Part way through the show, the annual income of each family was revealed, and I was surprised that one family made about double the average household income in my town, while the other made about 125% of the average household income in my town. Yet, as we got to know each family a little better, we learned the details of their individual struggles.
The Bergen family has three teenage daughters, and the father had a heart attack at age 38. He has also had surgery that left him bedridden for a long period of time, and he had to quit his previous line of work. He successfully started an ice cream truckbusiness, but both trucks recently broke down and need a lot of money to repair. Plus, the family is left without health insurance.
The Bronson Family includes a husband, wife, 3 year old daughter and a son on the way. The husband Dave was injured in iraq and lost a leg, so he stays home with the daughter while the wife is left as the sole income earner. They live on the third floor of an apartment building which is hard for Dave to access because of his injured leg. They want to move into a house, but because Dave will likely be in a wheel chair later in life, they need it to be wheelchair accessible which requires a lot of adaptations that are expensive. While both families had some personal struggles going on financially, their circumstances were a bit different and I found myself second-guessing my original feelings of who should get how much of the money as a result of how complex their problems were. I would really struggle to make the decision even if I was just dividing the money between the two families. I can’t even imagine how much more difficult the decision must be when you could personally benefit from keeping some of the money.
Based on the show title and the theme of the show – giving money way or keeping it, you might draw paralells to other reality or game shows. However, The Briefcase didn’t feel like a game at all because both families seemed down to earth and their struggles were authentic. As a result, the focus really stayed on the ethics of the decision and the character of the families involved which really drew me in a lot more than a game show would.
Do you plan to watch The Briefcase on CBS? The season starts May 27th at 8pm EST.
Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
I really hope I can get my daughter, Angela “Shannon” Stamper on your show. I don’t know if y’all will come to Kentucky but I appreciate you taking the time to read this anyway. Shannon has recently started a good job making about $10 an hour. But before that she had to volunteer her time to work for a welfare check. She has 2 precious little girls. MaKenzie is 1 year old and is biracial. Katelynn is 3 years old and has been diagnosed with Autism. She is considered non-verbal. It is hard being a single parent but it makes it harder when you have a child with special needs. Shannon found a program that train dogs for kids with Autism. Katelynns therapist and doctor both agree that a dog would help her alot. The program expects Shannon to hold different fund raisers for 18 months. She has to raise alot of money for the dog. Katelynns Dad has never paid child support and has only seen her once in her life. So he is no help. Katelynn gets up in the middle of the night and roams through the house like many others kids with Autism do. A dog would warn us she is up. A lot of children with Autism tend to wander off and they have mild to severe meltdowns. A dog can calm a child and keep them from hurting theirselves. It is very important to her safety that we get this dog for her. Shannon also needs a home with a fenced in back yard. So we can take Katelynn outside and let her play without worrying about her wandering off. Please help my daughter. She is a good Mom with 2 sweet little girls. Thank you very much.
For my first time viewing the show I got chills threw my body me and my family love and wish something like this walks or falls in our laps with all the struggle hurt pain our family has been threw with just mom working now etc I can go on and on but I won’t love your show keep up the good work
Shawn Latham
I really hope I can get my daughter, Angela “Shannon” Stamper on your show. I don’t know if y’all will come to Kentucky but I appreciate you taking the time to read this anyway. Shannon has recently started a good job making about $10 an hour. But before that she had to volunteer her time to work for a welfare check. She has 2 precious little girls. MaKenzie is 1 year old and is biracial. Katelynn is 3 years old and has been diagnosed with Autism. She is considered non-verbal. It is hard being a single parent but it makes it harder when you have a child with special needs. Shannon found a program that train dogs for kids with Autism. Katelynns therapist and doctor both agree that a dog would help her alot. The program expects Shannon to hold different fund raisers for 18 months. She has to raise alot of money for the dog. Katelynns Dad has never paid child support and has only seen her once in her life. So he is no help. Katelynn gets up in the middle of the night and roams through the house like many others kids with Autism do. A dog would warn us she is up. A lot of children with Autism tend to wander off and they have mild to severe meltdowns. A dog can calm a child and keep them from hurting theirselves. It is very important to her safety that we get this dog for her. Shannon also needs a home with a fenced in back yard. So we can take Katelynn outside and let her play without worrying about her wandering off. Please help my daughter. She is a good Mom with 2 sweet little girls. Thank you very much.