What’s Worth Watching: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems on The Briefcase

The Briefcase, “Scott/Musolino” (Wednesday, June 3, 8/7c, CBS)

As the great sage Cyndi Lauper once sang, money changes everything. And in this new reality show, it has the power to change lives and perceptions. Focusing on two cash-strapped families per episode, The Briefcase delivers each one with an attaché containing $101,000 with the proposition that they can keep all of it, some of it, or give it away to another needy family, whom they will learn about via text messages over the following 72 hours. What they don’t know is that the other family has also been given the same amount and the same option. Can people who could desperately use the help find the generosity to also help others? The opener—about a Florida couple with an autistic son and a failing business, and pair of little people from Maryland hoping to adopt—offers a surprising answer to that question as the two couples fight, cry, curse, and finally decide how much (if any) they are willing to part with. In the end, there’s a face-to-face between the families and honestly, if you can make it through that without blubbering, there’s probably no amount of money in the world that can help you.