“The Biggest Loser” creator David Broome is teaming up with CBS for a new reality series, “The Briefcase,” which plans to mine suspense and entertainment from financial hardship.
The series will feature families families struggling with financial setbacks who are given a briefcase containing a large sum of money. The windfall comes with a choice attached, however: The families must decide whether they will keep all of the money, or give all or part of it to another needy family.
Each week, two families have 72 hours to learn details about each other’s challenging circumstances and make the weighty decision of what to do with $101,000. What they aren’t told, however, is that the family with whom they are considering sharing this financial windfall received an identical briefcase with the same instructions. Throughout their journeys, relationships within both families will be tested and beliefs questioned as they find out what really matters most in their lives, and how much importance they place on values such as love, generosity, compassion and faith.
The series will premiere May 27 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
Broome, who created and is executive producing the new series, characterized “The Briefcase” as “an emotional roller coaster ride” that will deliver “a shocking ending each week.”
“‘The Briefcase’ is an eye-opening look into what matters most in people’s lives, taking the audience on an emotional roller-coaster ride with a shocking ending each week,” Broome said. “I’ve been incredibly impressed by just how generous Americans are, even with shrinking paychecks and rising debt, when there’s little left to give.”
The families featured in the series include the Bergin Family from Matthews, North Carolina, who are led by father Joe, an ice cream truck owner and mother Kim, a part-time event planner; the Manchester, New Hampshire-based Bronson family, which includes an injured retired Iraq vet and a nurse; and the Wylie family, a Rio Vista, Texas, clan whose patriach who lost his well-paying job in the steel industry after a bad back injury.
“The Briefcase” is produced by 25/7 Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, with Broome and Faye Stapleton executive producing.
Watch a preview of the series below.