Oprah Winfrey’s show The Big Give hit the air waves this spring encouraging giving in a reality show format. While it was moderately popular (but far from being a hit) and ABC says they’d go for a second season, they announced last week that they would not renew the show at Oprah’s request.
Joan Garry summed up the basic premise of the show and its drawbacks in How Could You Not Like Oprah’s Big Give? Here’s How on Huffington Post:
The basic idea behind this show is more than admirable. It’s quite spectacular, actually. A group of people are given the opportunity to touch the lives of people in real need. They are given resources, tools and time to figure out a way to be as generous as possible with a person or family each week. This is not just a gift to the one in need. It is a gift to the contestant, to meet and understand the depth of need and to feel the real and palpable emotions that come with giving. The audience, by extension, reaps that benefit as well.
It is when you put all of this into the context of a competition that the concept goes horribly awry. The person who is the nicest, who raises more money than the other contestants wins.
But before I go any further, I’ll confess that I did not watch the show…no, not one episode. I enjoy other reality shows including similar “feel good” shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition. However it was the competitive nature and hype of the Big Give that initially turned me off from the show. Plus there were too many other saved shows on my DVR and on YouTube that were more appealing.
Anyway, there were quite a few people in the non profit world who did like the show… including Marc Pitman who wrote several reviews of The Big Give episodes. More recently Britt on Have Fun Do Good responded to some of the criticisms with Why I Liked Oprah’s Big Give.
One thing is for certain, the show had a big impact on the many individuals and communities that benefited from the projects. Final winner Stephen Paletta assisted several great charities during the show and is now committed to philanthropy full-time. On a smaller scale there are cities that are still feeling the positive affects, such as an Orlando police organization who used seed money from the show for community service projects.
And of course while The Big Give was just the most recent incarnation of Oprah’s guiding vision for helping others. The Angel Network, foundation and other projects have been doing great work for years… and will likely continue to do so for years to come.
