So, now we know that Rod chose Erin, and that she chose a million bucks instead of Rod, and now, Erin is back, after having burned her million dollar check for a new chance at “love” in the old chateau, and she gets to choose between 15 guys to see if she can win the heart of one of 'em. If her chosen beau chooses her over a million bucks of his own, she’ll win 2 million bucks. There’s no indication of whether she’ll have to split the 2 million dollars with the guy if he decides to stay with her.
Well, I can see how the “or money” part plays into this, but where in this whole setup is this “love” thing they keep talking about? I sure as heck don’t see it.
She is risking a lot here–if her guy chooses the million dollars instead of her, she gets absolutely nothing (except the additional TV exposure). And if she hadn’t decided to do another show, she’d have a guaranteed million dollars right now. Wise move?
tracer, I don’t understand why you’re puzzled about this. The guy doesn’t know anything about the 2 million she might get or anything else about the previous show: just like Erin, he is told that he either gets a million of his own if he rejects her, or nothing if he chooses “love” over “money.” That’s the whole point of the show.
I was hanging out with a bunch of attorneys last night who were discussing the show. Some noted that the IRS will probably take the position that, despite the fact that she could receive nothing following the oucome of the next show, she took constructive possession of $1 million. Thus, come 4/15/04, she will owe approximately $500,000 in tax.
Actually, the terms of the contest state that the winner will receive the prize as a 40-year annuity, which works out to about $25,000 year. I’m not a tax attorney, so I don’t know if that still qualifies as having “constructive possession” of the full $1 million, or whether she would just be taxed on the $25,000 she receives each year.
As an aside, that 40-year annuity is absolute crap on the part of the network. Even lottery payments are typically only spread out over 20 years. Buncha cheap-@$$ bastages…
Essentially, she’s doing the second show as a double-or-nothing bet. (If she wins, she doubles her original $1 million to $2 million; if she loses, she gets nothing.)
Double-or-nothing bets are almost always a bad idea. They should have offered a prize of three million dollars to her if she wins this time. (As a 40-year annuity, even a $3 million dollar prize only works out to $75,000 per year before taxes are taken out.)
Except that, if they follow the pattern of the last show, the guys aren’t going to know about the choice between Erin “or” a million bucks until the finale. And even then, the finalists are probably going to suspect some kind of a twist where if they choose “love” the show will reward the “new couple” in some way (they must have seen the ending to Joe Millionaire by now, which would give them some ideas).
BTW, is it just me, or does Erin kinda look like Sandra Bullock?