Critics Fear New Reality-TV Show Might Send Wrong Signal on Giving

The art of giving away money meets reality television this week when a new show called The Benefactor makes its debut on ABC.

The show stars Mark Cuban, the Internet billionaire and irreverent NBA owner who has gained notoriety by yelling at referees. His job as the benefactor is to put 16 contestants through what TV critics are calling a series of trite, contrived challenges and weed out those people he thinks lack social grace, ambition, or business savvy. The winner gets $1-million to use however they like, and a charity founded by Mr. Cuban will get the money he is paid for his appearance.

Mr. Cuban, 46, is one of the country’s wealthiest business executives, and he is known as a risk taker with a flair for speaking out on issues that matter to him. He has a net worth of about $1.3-billion, the bulk of which he made by selling Broadcast.com, the streaming-audio company he created. He owns HDNet, a high-definition satellite television network; Landmark Theaters, a chain of 185 independent movie theaters; and the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, which he bought for more than $200-million. Mr. Cuban doesn’t like to talk about his philanthropy, but he set up a private foundation last year and has reportedly given millions to various charitable causes.

Because millions of Americans watch reality shows — so called because they are supposed to be unscripted and therefore based more on real-life situations than other television programs — people in the nonprofit world took notice when they heard that one of the latest reality shows would be based on Mr. Cuban’s giving away a sliver of his wealth. (Some reports, however, have indicated that ABC, not Mr. Cuban, will give away the $1-million.)

“It looks exciting — the contestants are all courting him for his money,” says Leila Attarzadeh, a fund raiser at Jazz at the Bistro, a nonprofit St. Louis jazz club, who keeps up with a half-dozen reality-television programs. “Mark Cuban’s personality is so unpredictable, it will only serve to create more interest in the show.”

Young Donors

Several nonprofit officials suggest that if Mr. Cuban enjoys himself and presents a youthful, hip way of giving away money it could help teach younger generations how to be philanthropic.

That would be a very different view from the one many Americans got nearly 50 years ago, when CBS created a series called The Millionaire. In each episode of that show, the fictional character John Beresford Tipton, whose face never graced the screen in the show’s five seasons, directed his assistant to hand over $1-million to an unsuspecting recipient, in part to see what effect his generosity would have.

Mr. Cuban is hardly in the background on The Benefactor, except in the show’s first episode, when he secretly watches all the contestants through hidden video cameras as they arrive in the mansion where the show is filmed. The camera shows him in a dark room, furiously taking notes about his first impressions of each person.

Mr. Cuban’s show may help some fund raisers by providing a window into a young, wealthy donor’s personality — including his likes and dislikes, and how he views the world, says Jeffrey Hyson, an assistant professor of history at Saint Joseph’s University, in Philadelphia, who is editing a textbook on popular culture.

But it might also provide television viewers a less-than-flattering view of what matters in philanthropy, Mr. Hyson says.

“Like it or not, philanthropy is becoming a promotional opportunity for donors,” he says. “It’s almost expected that benefactors will always say that they don’t like to talk about their charitable giving — it’s unseemly. But many of these people want to make sure their names are high on the buildings they provide the money to build.”

Helping Soldiers’ Families

Although Mr. Cuban said through a spokeswoman that he doesn’t like to publicize his philanthropy, and would not talk to The Chronicle about it, he brags in previews for the show that he is a “self-made billionaire” who has taken the secrets of his success and “turned them into a game.” He adds, “Now it’s my turn to share the wealth.”

Unlike many sports-team owners, who are content to sit in their skyboxes counting the profits, Mr. Cuban endears himself to supporters of his team by sending personal e-mails to fans and keeping a Web log, where he rants about basketball and shares insights into his latest gadgets and favorite video games.

Mr. Cuban’s fiery temper has gotten him in trouble in the past. He has been fined more than $1-million for arguing with referees during NBA games, where he sits behind his team’s bench, usually dressed in jeans and sneakers. He once told a reporter that the NBA’s director of officials, Ed Rush, was so bad at his job he couldn’t manage a Dairy Queen. After officials at the ice-cream chain took offense, Mr. Cuban agreed to work for a day at a Dallas Dairy Queen. Fans loved it.

But for someone so visible, Mr. Cuban has kept a low profile in his charitable work. He established a private foundation last year, but the organization has not filed its first informational tax return and Mr. Cuban will not disclose how much he has given to it or to other causes he supports. Last year, he also set up the Fallen Patriot Fund, a charity that has distributed more than $800,000 to 41 families of U.S. military personnel who were injured or killed in Iraq. Mr. Cuban is donating his fee for doing The Benefactor to the fund. He will not confirm, however, whether the $1-million that goes to the winner of the show will come from him or from ABC.

Views of Celebrity

In part because of Mr. Cuban’s casual dress, criticism of authority figures, and fan-friendly ways, he comes across as an approachable celebrity. Several contestants on The Benefactor said they felt like they knew him and could relate to him before they even came on the show.

“What was my first impression of Mark?” one contestant, a histologist, asks during the first episode. “He’s a lot like me.”

False Expectations

But that might not be such a good thing, say some academic experts. It could undermine the serious work that philanthropists do, says Eric Bain-Selbo, an associate professor of religion and philosophy at Lebanon Valley College, in Annville, Pa., who taught a writing class last semester called “A Tale of Two Homers,” comparing the Greek author and the star of the Fox TV show, The Simpsons.

“This show really perpetuates the myth or illusion that your big payday is just around the corner, and so instead of addressing structural problems within the economic order, we end up with The Benefactor, so one person can get $1-million,” Mr. Bain-Selbo says. “If we simply increased Mark Cuban’s tax burden by 5 percent, we would have a lot more than $1-million to distribute to provide health care and job training and all kinds things that would really make a difference.”

Adds Mr. Bain-Selbo: “I feel a little disturbed by the show — even though I think it’s probably going to be entertaining.”