Syfy's 'Viral Video:' How Cheap is Your Love?

There's nothing particularly distinctive about Syfy's "Viral Video Showdown" -- a half-hour series premiering Oct. 30, after "Total Blackout" -- except for what the producers had the chutzpah to call their "Grand prize."

To the victor in each week's contest to create a web video with limited time and a meager budget goes -- drum roll, please -- a whopping $5,000!

Or roughly .001% of what you'd earn for winning "The X Factor."

The show itself has the potential to be interesting, at least for aspiring filmmakers. Still, the premiere doesn't really do much to illustrate the process of cobbling together a 90-second video -- here, a cheeky movie trailer -- for $4,000 in just four days.

What really made me chuckle, though, was sitting there watching one team consisting of six people, who -- should they come out on top -- would walk away with a cool $833 each.

Of course, based on the minimalist set and talent (in addition to three guest judges with some sort of web-video credentials, "Attack of the Show's" Kevin Pereira hosts), "Viral Video Showdown" is an exercise in economy all the way around. In fact, my guess is producer SallyAnn Salsano has a higher craft-services/tanning/protein-supplement/hair-gel budget on her best-known enterprise, "Jersey Shore."

In that respect, give Syfy some credit for ingenuity in terms of concocting original programming on the cheap, I suppose. As for the contenders, well, if you do walk away with the grand prize, try not to spend it all in one place -- like filling up the car in order to get home.