Survival of the Richest is an American reality competition television series created and produced by RDF Media in which seven "rich kids" who have a combined net worth of over $3 billion are forced to work together with 7 "poor kids" who have a combined debt of $150,000, through a series of challenges to win the grand prize of $200,000.
The series aired in the USA on The WB from 31 March to 5 May, 2006. There are six hour-long episodes in the series.
Survival of the Richest aired in South Africa on M-Net Series from 17 November to 22 December, 2006, on Fridays at 21h00.
Synopsis
In today's society the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
In both America and Britain the wealth gap is widening - and social mobility is actuality decreasing (reversing a steady upward trend in social mobility since WW2). In other words, if you start out poor in life, your chances of improving your financial standing are lower than at any time for 60 years.
Conversely, the super-wealthy own a bigger percentage of national wealth than at any time in history which produces some interesting effects. With more multi-millionaires than ever before, more kids are being born into the lap of luxury.
As they grow up, living on trust fund pay-outs and not wanting for anything, more of them are choosing a life of hedonistic idleness. There's even a term for this condition: 'affluenza'.
Survival of the Richest takes two groups of young adults from opposite ends of this social spectrum and throws them together for a journey of mutual discovery and enlightenment.
In the show they are put into two person teams - one rich, one poor - which remain unchanged throughout the series.
This means the chances of winning for each poor kid are tied to the performance of their rich partner and the rich idle young people have to wake up to the fact that they have a responsibility towards their poor partner, who desperately needs the prize money.
For the US show, seven young people who have never worked a day in their life, including an Afghan princess, the daughter of a billionaire cult leader, the son of a European aristocrat, and a Yellow Pages heiress.
Their combined family wealth is more than $3 billion. PLUS: seven poor young people, with combined debts totalling $150,000. One is a single mum, all are hard working but they can't get themselves out of just scraping a living.
The series is based in a mansion, with location shoots in each episode as the cast are taken to experience real jobs. Prize money of $200,000 for the winning two-person team (divided $100k each).
The challenges range from crop picking all day in the baking sun to cleaning toilets at a horse racing track. Because the team pairing remains the same throughout the series, the chances of winning are reliant on their partner.
For the affluent: this is a chance to experience the world of real hard work and to earn an honest day's pay for the first time in their lives.
For the less fortunate it’s a chance to be up close and personal with people with whom they would never normally brush shoulders - and to win a cash prize of that can help give them a real step up in life.
As two worlds collide, emotions run high.