My Two Cents – MTV’s The Buried Life

photo: theburiedlife.com

Last night, MTV aired their new show The Buried Life. It’s a mix between Pay It Forward, The Bucket List and any MTV reality show. It’s the story of four friends—Ben, Duncan, Jonnie and Dave—who made a list of the 100 things they want to do before they die (a la The Bucket List) and along the way, for each task they complete, they do something good for someone else or help them do something they want to do (Pay It Forward). But it’s also an MTV show, so there’s funny moments (like their home-made bus breaking down in the first 5 minutes of the show or getting a really bad tan in a tanning booth).

Their tasks are shown as they complete them. Last night’s task was to sneak into a Playboy mansion party. They had two options: have one of them dress as soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo (hence the tanning booth fiasco), which was a far fetch, or, since it was Willy Wonka-themed party, dress as Oompa Loompas and pop out of cake. Option two worked, and after hiding in the cake for six hours, the guys partied it up with the celebs and even jumped in the mansion’s pool.

Then was the giving back. While walking back from their stakeout of the mansion on the first day, they asked a man what he wanted to do before he died. It wound up the man was a teacher in a school that didn’t have a lot of money. He would love for his kids to have better tools, like a computer, so he could teach them better. The four friends called the school so they could come and meet the kids and asked them what their dreams were (I’ll admit to shedding some tears at this point). Their goal was to give back to this class. So the guys got to work trying to raise money for a computer. Dressed in 80’s track suits, they sang and break-danced on the streets. One girl even bought one of their outfits for $20. After their mansion task was complete, they headed back to the school with a brand new MAC computer in hand. Am I 100% sure they raised the money all on their own without MTV’s help? Not completely. But they were on the street dancing and singing, and even if it was 75% of their money, those kids’ faces were priceless.

I’ll be the first to admit I love a good reality show trainwreck (The Bachelor anyone?) but this show is far from that. According to their website, www.theburiedlife.com, this project has been going on for four years and their tasks aren’t completed. I like how they refer to it as a project and not a show. The previews alone give me chills (like the man who wants to talk to his son that he hasn’t spoken to since he was 2 and the friends track the son down) while I laugh at the hilarity of some of tasks these guys want to complete (dance on The Ellen Show? Come on, now!). I can’t wait to watch the next episode.

The Buried Life airs Mondays on MTV at 10 PM.

Farrah Kaye – Associate Editor
farrah@thetwocentscorp.com