$2.2M Cross-Media Reality Show Bows
The people behind the hit TV show "Survivor" have taken reality programming to a new frontier with "Gold Rush, a groundbreaking reality show that gives contestants a shot at $2.2 million.
The cross-media program debuted Wednesday on AOL.com, but viewers will find clues on television and elsewhere.
"Entertainment Tonight" co-anchor Mark Steines, the host of "Gold Rush," and "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett, the producer of "Gold Rush," explained it all to Julie Chen on The Early Show Wednesday.
To watch the segment,
Steines also stopped by The Early Show in July to chat about "Gold Rush" with Chen.
At the time, he told her, "What you really need to know is quite simple. Mark Burnett, the genius that he is, has parked somewhere in America $2.2 million in gold, and all you have to do is go get it.
"You don't have to eat bugs or be a rock star or be living on Survivor Island or some heavy weight champion. You do it by going online to aol.com/goldrush.
"There will be clues given there that I'll do that will ask you to, say, watch 'CSI' tonight, and you'll find clues embedded in that show to help answer this question. And there will be a question for you to answer. It's that simple."
The questions, he says, will all be based on pop culture: "You don't need to be, you know, an expert in ancient history or something to figure this out. You just need to know what lipstick Madonna was wearing the other night on 'Entertainment Tonight.'"Anybody who can get online can play," Steines continued. "Go to the Web site. The rules of how the game are played are there. It's very simple. ... Go to AOL.com/gold rush and step up.
"And you can win this thing by sitting on your couch, which is a great thing. So it's essentially casting online.
"And there's a second phase of it in which we will fly you to this destination where this final clue may lead you to go and search for that gold … somewhere in the United States."
How many people will be facing off in the final stage, where you actually have to go somewhere?
"Three people," Steines responded. "Only three people will get a chance to go for the first $100,000 prize. There's two $100,000 prizes given away per week throughout the entire fall, and you can keep playing the game over and over again. So, even if you win the first, you can go for the second pot of gold. And they'll be flown to that destination to compete.
"It is all based online. … "This is really where the merge between television and the Internet. … That day has come."
Clues will be found in CBS shows, and "magazines, song lyrics, and online content."
As an example of how it will work, Steines said, "If you watch 'CSI' tonight, a crime scene happens. There's a crime scene there. So, the next day you would go to AOL.com/gold rush, and there would be a virtual reality of that crime scene. The clues will be in there, and that's how you solve it."