New Game Show Rewards Winners By Paying Off Student Loans

TruTV is stepping up to try to solve the the student debt crisis one student at a time... with a game show. It's called "Paid Off", and it premieres tonight.

It's a question-and-answer-type show where the contestants are young adults in their late-20s and early-30s, who are saddled with significant student loans. Instead of prizes, the show will reward winners by paying off their loans. It's unclear how that'll work, but it sounds like the amount that the winner gets for their debt depends on how well they do.

The producers actually looked into paying off the loans with the creditors directly, but the logistics and tax implications got too complicated. So, the winners will just get a check like a normal game show.

"One of the mantras is ‘an absurd show to match an absurd crisis,’" host Michael Torpey said. "A game show feels really apt because this is the state of things right now."

"I know what we're doing is a little ridiculous, but in a way the show matched my family's story. The only way we could pay off student loans was because I booked an underwear ad? That's insane."