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Rslover
Member
11-19-2002
| Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 7:45 am
Fox has announced that The Billionaire: Branson's Quest For The Best, the network's new Apprentice-like series based around British billionaire Richard Branson, will premiere on Tuesday, November 9 at 8PM ET/PT with a special two-hour broadcast. After its premiere, the program will air Tuesdays at 8PM ET/PT beginning November 16. Previously titled Branson's Big Adventure, The Billionaire will follow the global adventurer and founder/chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies as he takes a group of sixteen young would-be billionaires on a whirlwind tour of the world and the adventure of a lifetime. During the series, the group will jet to numerous international destinations and relive some of Branson's greatest personal experiences while also tackling the types of dilemmas that help shape future billionaires. If they make decisions that impress Branson, they will continue onward. If not, each week, one candidate will be left behind on the tarmac as the rest of the group jets off to the next adventure.}
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Wilsonatmd
Member
01-23-2001
| Monday, October 18, 2004 - 4:37 pm
and apparently the winner gets to be president....not of one of Branson's companies....but of ALL of Branson's companies...the winner gets HIS job!
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 8:16 am
premiere is tonight on FOX!!! Branson Brings 'Rebel' Spirit to FOX (Monday, November 08 11:42 AM) By Rick Porter LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The way FOX is promoting its new series "The Rebel Billionaire," one might think that Richard Branson is hinging the future of his business empire on a few extreme-sports stunts. That's not entirely the case, but one aspect of the promos is dead on: Branson's choice as the winner among the 16 contestants will become president of the Virgin Group, a U.K.-based conglomerate that encompasses an airline, retail stores and mobile phone service, among dozens of other businesses. "I don't want to spoil everything up front, and I was slightly surprised that FOX went as far as they did in promoting the show," Branson says. "But ... [the winner] will have one of the most challenging jobs and prizes ever given by any TV company. It will be a real prize, and they'll have the most fascinating time ahead of them." The decision to award the presidency of Virgin to the winner came "ultimately down to me," says Branson, who is founder and chairman of the privately held group of companies. And it seems to fit the risk-taking philosophy of a man whose empire began with a mail-order record business, who has crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in hot-air balloons and is currently developing a business to take tourists into space. "I think the extreme adventures I did, although I principally did them for the personal challenge, there's no question they helped build the Virgin brand and turn it into a global brand," he says. "If I hadn't pushed myself and put myself out there, I don't think Virgin would have been anywhere near as big a success as it is today." That said, though, the winner of "The Rebel Billionaire," which premieres at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday (Nov. 9) on FOX, won't necessarily be the person who's most adept at, say, walking across a board between two hot-air balloons. "I would give brownie points to someone who was absolutely terrified of doing it but overcame that fear," he says. "One participant in particular did some incredible things having to overcome a fear, and ended up really enjoying it. Branson, who traveled with the 16 contestants and performed the show's tasks with them, says his decisions were based as much on his observations of players' creativity and ability to motivate and work with others as anything. "One thing I did on the show which was quite fun was, I did a little Alfred Hitchcock scene in a number of shows where I went undercover in disguise," he says. "Obviously everyone was extremely nice to me because I was the judge and jury. But if you look carefully at the taxi driver who picks them up at the airport when they arrive in England. ... It was a fun way of checking up on the contestants, not just as Richard Branson but as a taxi driver and in various disguises as well." "The Rebel Billionaire" is the second billionaire-fronted show to follow on the heels of NBC's "The Apprentice." "The Benefactor," featuring Mark Cuban, was saddled with a poor timeslot and unkind reviews and tanked on ABC earlier this fall. Branson is aware that some viewers might see his show as an "Apprentice" knockoff, but he thinks the way his competition is structured will set it apart. "I've lived and breathed this show. If I'm going it do something, I'll do it well," he says. "I traveled to nine countries with these people, I've lived with these people ... done all the challenges I asked them to do. I just felt like we'd had a real adventure for eight weeks rather than making a television show." http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|91681|1|,00.html
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Ketchuplover
Member
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 6:33 pm
Anybody else watching? Those people have guts 
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Gidget
Member
07-28-2002
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 6:53 pm
funny i am getting immune after all the shows that preceded
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 7:12 pm
I like this show ....
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Gidget
Member
07-28-2002
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 7:16 pm
so far i like the people a lot better than a lot of these shows
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 7:50 pm
yeah, me too, Gidget. I already care more about the people in this show than I do about the people on Apprentice, lol
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Kristylovesbb
Member
09-14-2000
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 9:26 pm
Good grief you gotta have some big ones to stay on this show! Scary, very scary. I am going to enjoy this one very much.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 10:39 pm
Please, tone down the music. I got a headache from it. It is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. Are all TV shows closed captioned? If this one is, I'm going to watch it with sound off. If I watch it. Yes, I like it, but . . . maybe the stunts are too daredevil. And maybe I'm getting to my limit of reality TV. I don't watch them all by far. But maybe I've reached my limit.
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Vsmart
Member
02-10-2003
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 11:27 pm
Loved the Trump impersonator as driver. But what does being a contestant on "Fear Factor" have to do with running a company? It seems like an excuse for Branson to be on national tv & writing off his stunts as business expenses.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 11:46 pm
I only got to watch the last 40 minutes, the bi-plane stunt. Am I mistaken or did they have to climb up onto the wing without any safety wires until they could strap themselves in?
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Kristylovesbb
Member
09-14-2000
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 5:37 am
I wonder about that myself Juju. One of the girls said if she miss-stepped she could go flying off the back of the plane to her death. The girl that quit said she did so because she could die doing the show and it wasn't worth it.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 6:20 am
This show seems to be a combination of Fear Factor, The Apprentice, and Mark Cuban's million dollar give-away show (which I enjoyed). The more I think about it, the music on this show may drive me away. Big-time headache!! And I'm not prone to headaches. But maybe it was the extreme stunts too. I, like Sara, am very afraid of heights. While sitting in my chair watching last night, my knees felt weak and my palms were definitely sweaty.
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Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 6:42 am
This show is great! My heart was pounding thru most of it!! Did those airplane girls have any safety harness' on?? I think they would have to for legal issues, of course, they prolly signed away all their rights. Branson is crazy...love him!!! I had a lot of respect for the girl that stepped down at the end, that was a very kind giving thing to do.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:33 am
IMHO, she stepped down more out of fear -- out of loosing her life. I don't blame her.
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Mssilhouette
Member
07-11-2001
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 12:41 pm
Pamy yes the did, they also had a line attached to them when they climbed out of the plane. It as hard to see but I was wondering the same thing so I was looking hard for it.
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Spear
Member
08-06-2001
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 12:53 pm
Juju, they were clipped to one of the guy wires when they were climbing up on the wing. I had to rewind to see it because I was surprised myself. It didn't look that strong though -- I'm not sure if it would have held if they were really blown off! It definitely looks more dangerous than the average reality show. The teaser for the next episode had one of them getting their upper arm bandaged after a stunt. (On the other hand, I might prefer that to having to live with parasites for a couple of years like Survivor Lex did.) (ETA: Oops. I'm a little slow to post, I guess.)
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Karen
Member
09-07-2004
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 12:53 pm
They would have had to be strapped in, in both the bi-plane stunt and on the ladder to the balloon. I did see the harness straps on the balloon, so I can't imagine why they wouldn't harness them on a plane with a wind speed of over 100mph. I'm sure the "plummet to my death" comments were just comments made out of fear -- I know that if I were doing those stunts, no matter how much I trusted the harness, I'd probably make a comment about how the stunt could kill me, too! (that, and as we were watching last night, asking the same questions about harnesses, I said to my BF that at least I'd feel better knowing that if anything did happen while doing the stunt, he and my family would be awfully rich!) While I agree with the comments about this show being an excuse for Branson to get himself on TV and use it as a business expense, I fully intend to keep watching. It seemed to me (so far) like a cross between Benefactor, Apprentice and TAR. I do really like the fact that he (Branson) does all the stunts with the contestants. He won't make them do a stunt (like eating cow testicles) that he wouldn't do himself. "I'm not into humiliating people," I think is what he said. I like that.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 1:46 pm
I love this show! and the contestants have real life experience running companies. eg Did you see that Sara (the woman who led the men) is the owner of SPANX? This is such a well known product. I have seen it talked about often on the View and other TV shows.It was even one of the products on "Oprah's Favorite Things" show in 2000. I even bought some myself. The woman must be a millionaire in her own right by now??
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Zules
Member
08-21-2000
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 2:22 pm
I haven't read this thread because but I taped this last night and watched part of it this morning. The thing that struck me was how really sweet Branson was. He seems like such a darling man! Looking forward to watching the rest of it so I can read all your posts and not get spoiled! 
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 4:23 pm
That's part of the reason I watched the show -- I simply like Richard Branson. In interviews, he always seems like a very pleasant, down to earth, interesting person.
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Jasper
Member
09-14-2000
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:31 pm
Jan what are Spanx? And I am po'd, the TV guide said this was on channel 11 (canadian channel) so that is what I set the VCR for, but it wasn't so I missed it! anyone know if they are repeating this?
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:43 pm
Branson is much more of a likable guy, at least for my tastes, than Mark Cuban. I'm not a fan of the daredevil stuff but I did like the twisty stuff...dressing as the cab driver and the Trump-y guy. I wee bit funny. I like the way he's "matter of fact" when he hands out the final airline ticket. The casting seems good too. I like it so far. I'd bet that the arial stunts are well secured. I can't see tptb taking any real risks.
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Konamouse
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 8:15 pm
Hubby & I enjoyed this Apprentice meets Fear Factor as seen on The Amazing Race (but they did it first on Road Rules). Here is Sara's company: http://www.spanx.com/pls/enetrixp/!stmenu_template.main 'squeek'
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