Mr Apprentice Invents Online Game Show

When you watch The Apprentice, you may think that the show was all the creation of bellowing, bad-haired billionaire grouch Donald Trump, but the real brains behind the show is Mark Burnett.

And just to prove to the world that there’s more to him than making a ginger man in a suit jab his fingers about and make unconvincing voice-overs, Mark Burnett is turning his attention to the Internet. Burnett and AOL have jointly created Gold Rush, an Internet game show with a prize of $1.6 million. One thing’s for sure, though - if Gold Rush is a success, there probably won’t be a Gold Rush: Martha Stewart spin-off series.

Mark Burnett (Books) is a busy man. After coming up with the giant
enormo-hit Survivor in 1999, Burnett has gone on to create some of the
most polished reality TV shows in the business, from The Apprentice to,
um, Rock Star: INXS. Look, he made The Apprentice and Survivor,
alright? He’s a bigshot. And now Mark Burnett has literally outgrown television - he’s going all virtual like The Lawnmower Man.

Gold Rush is being created by Burnett and AOL. The online game show will feature a series of contestants
searching AOL websites for hidden treasure all around America. Yeah, a
bit like Treasure Hunt - but without Anneka Rice’s arse crammed into an
obscene jumpsuit. Burnett says:

"The world is changing and the internet is about to become the next
broadcast network. With the volume of people able to watch content on
their computers between 9am to 5pm, it could very well become the new
primetime."

While Jon Miller, Chairman of AOL adds:

"[Gold Rush] defines engagement, it’s disruptive by nature and it will clearly be
habit forming - all the best of the internet in one fell swoop."

Gold
Rush sounds all well and good, but will it feature a giant shouting man
with slightly too white teeth flanked by a pensioner and a catty
sour-faced woman in a trouser-suit in a boardroom? Because we’re not watching if it
doesn’t.

Read more:

AOL teams with Mark Burnett to produce first online reality show - Brand Republic

[story by Stuart Heritage]