There was a show which aired in Japan from 1998 to 2002 that made the Truman Show look like Romper Room, and attempted to answer the question- can one live only on winning prizes?
The show was called Susunu! Denpa Shonen, and it starred a Japanese comedian named Nasubi who "won" the privilege of being trapped in a studio apartment with no clothes and no supplies for a year and a half, forced to win a million dollars worth of prizes from magazines and other media if he ever wanted to get back to his normal life.
Unbeknownst to the star of the show his every move, 24 hours a day, was broadcast to a Japanese audience who couldn’t get enough of this voyeuristic experiment in delicate torture TV.
Read more about this totally bizarre Japanese TV show over at Dangerous Minds.