Mark Cuban Confers with His Board of Advisors

Only 5.5 million people tuned in on Monday night for Mark Cuban's The Benefactor. But those 5.5 million who did were the beneficiaries of seeing the future leaders of our world in action.

No, not the sixteen kids brought on the show to try to win $1 million from the software mogul, turned Broadcast.com founder, turned billionaire, turned Dallas Mavericks owner, turned Reality T.V. series philanthropist. The big kid in a 46 year-old body was intriguing for a moment to see in action. But it was the three second grade kids Cuban brought on the show to serve as his "Board of Advisors" that are the "real" reason to TiVo next week's episode of The Benefactor.

Take this with a grain of salt, as this comes from someone who has never watched one episode of The Survivor, The Apprentice, The Amazing Race or Queer Eye for The Straight Guy. Meanwhile, my girlfriends are after me to put Sex in The City DVD rentals well ahead of any new shows out this season.

On Monday night, I was more interested in having my six year-old read to me before settling in to bed to read my brother's new script, rather than taking in a new tv show, especially a reality tv show.

However, on Tuesday, after I learned that I "just had to watch this one part of the program" I got up at 4:30 am this morning to see these three kids in action.

The first 1/2 of the show wasn't taped, so who knows what I missed. But the set-up for the second 1/2 was enough for me to get caught up cheering on at least two of the contestants. Fortunately, they were the same two the kids selected to stay on the show.

Mario's Interview with The Board of Advisors

It was fascinating to watch two guys squirm in their seats, one guy absolutely shine and one gal, a Second Grade Teacher by profession, make it through by the skin of her teeth. Cuban called it: These kids saw right through the facades of the contestants.

Potential advertisers for ABC's The Benefactor should put their money down before, during and after the "Board of Advisors" segment of the show.

For all us entrepreneurs who don't want to add another hour of tube time because we'd rather be striving to earn $1M the traditional way, the first investment you should make is in getting a TiVo box.

A small dose of Mark Cuban, together with Katie, Mary and Stuart, is worth ten minutes of your time each week. If they don't inspire you, I guarantee they'll make you chuckle. And perhaps offer a bit of hope for the future leaders of America.

To learn more about Mark Cuban and his show, go to his web log at: BlogMaverick.com

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful and child-like living!

~ Jennifer King

P.S. My one vice each season, other than American Idol with my kids and 24 with my husband: ABC's The Bachelor. TiVo's got it all queued up for tonight's first episode. We'll see!