ABC contest is all about the money
"Take the Money and Run"
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If you thought the chase for a cash-packed briefcase was only the stuff of movies, think again.
The "Amazing Race" producing team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Bertram van Munster is behind "Take the Money and Run," an ABC competition that begins Tuesday, Aug. 2. Amateurs and professionals face off as contestants hide $100,000 ... then are grilled by real-life investigators on its whereabouts. If the hiders don't break, they get to keep the money.
"It's always about the personalities," Bruckheimer reasons. "Bertram's so good at casting, and that's so important. (Longtime Bruckheimer associate) Jonathan Littman and Bertram found law officers to work with us in the various cities, then we found the contestants. It's the same process as with any reality show; you try to find interesting individuals who can be emotive."
The show's setup certainly would seem to require that. Van Munster explains that the two players "have one hour to hide" the riches, "then they get 'arrested,' put in separate jail cells and interrogated by detectives from that particular area.
"If our contestants can keep the secret of where they've hidden the briefcase, the money is theirs. If they can't keep the secret, and the investigators find out where it is, it's their money."
Also the executive producer behind CBS' "CSI" franchise as well as the hit "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, Bruckheimer says he and Van Munster have "always kicked around ideas, and fortunately with this one, ABC liked it. When you find a partner as great as Bertram, and you win all those Emmys -- we're now on our 19th cycle of 'The Amazing Race' -- it's fantastic." CBS launches the next "Race" season Sept. 25.
"Of course, Jerry and I have worked together for almost a decade at this point," adds Van Munster, "and we have a really fabulous, harmonious relationship, and we've been very successful together. This is an opportunity to do something that's new and original and very different from anything that's out there."
The "Amazing Race" producing team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Bertram van Munster is behind "Take the Money and Run," an ABC competition that begins Tuesday, Aug. 2. Amateurs and professionals face off as contestants hide $100,000 ... then are grilled by real-life investigators on its whereabouts. If the hiders don't break, they get to keep the money.
"It's always about the personalities," Bruckheimer reasons. "Bertram's so good at casting, and that's so important. (Longtime Bruckheimer associate) Jonathan Littman and Bertram found law officers to work with us in the various cities, then we found the contestants. It's the same process as with any reality show; you try to find interesting individuals who can be emotive."
The show's setup certainly would seem to require that. Van Munster explains that the two players "have one hour to hide" the riches, "then they get 'arrested,' put in separate jail cells and interrogated by detectives from that particular area.
"If our contestants can keep the secret of where they've hidden the briefcase, the money is theirs. If they can't keep the secret, and the investigators find out where it is, it's their money."
Also the executive producer behind CBS' "CSI" franchise as well as the hit "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, Bruckheimer says he and Van Munster have "always kicked around ideas, and fortunately with this one, ABC liked it. When you find a partner as great as Bertram, and you win all those Emmys -- we're now on our 19th cycle of 'The Amazing Race' -- it's fantastic." CBS launches the next "Race" season Sept. 25.
"Of course, Jerry and I have worked together for almost a decade at this point," adds Van Munster, "and we have a really fabulous, harmonious relationship, and we've been very successful together. This is an opportunity to do something that's new and original and very different from anything that's out there."
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