New U.S. Game Show "Paid Off" Promises to Cover Your Student Debt, But Only If You Win

Great idea, or nightmarish one?

Australian students are reckoning with a newly-lowered threshold for HECS-HELP repayments, but over in the United States, things are even more dire.

In fact, TruTV in the U.S. is today launching a game show in which college graduates can compete to get a portion of their student debt paid off. It’s called Paid Off, presumably because Reality Is Basically Just 'Idiocracy' Now didn’t quite roll off the tongue.

In Paid Off, a trio of competitors have to answer questions about student life, with the winner of each episode getting up to 100 per cent of their debt covered, depending on how well they do on the show.

According to the Washington Post, each contestant must be carrying college debt to compete, and in some cases, that debt is as high as $US50,000.

Adding to the show’s surreal flavour is the fact it’s hosted by Michael Torpey, AKA the most deranged prison guard from Orange is the New Black. Yes, Torpey is an actor and should be applauded for his ability to pivot from the Litchfield Penitentiary to a frothy game show. But still: weird.

He apparently conceived the show with the help of a non-profit called Student Debt Crisis and admits that what they’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 underpants ad? That’s insane."

Anyway, you can check out a trailer for the show below and then feel the sensation of post-capitalism rushing towards you like a runaway freight train.