Kid Nation

I keep seeing promos for this show on CBS during the NFL broadcasts.

The premise is that 40 kids live for 40 days in a "ghost town" in New Mexico and attempt to construct a working society. There's no grand prize, there's no one voted off, kids can leave if they please ... but it brings up some moral issues as well.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/03/business/kid.php

On that note, every time I saw the promo I said to Mr. Cougar, "It's 'Lord of the Flies' come to life!"

 

When and what station will this show air? I watched a lot of football on CBS today and seemed to have missed the promos.

 

From linked article:

What parent in their right mind would remove a kid from school and put them in a reality show? I could see putting a kid in something like this for a day or two max, but it seems like the kids were there for a while. I just hope these kids don't turn out like other childhood stars have. It looks like an interesting show, but there do seem to be quite a few ethical issues. I'll probably check out the first episode to see how it goes.

 

In the commercial, the announcer says "A show that parents and kids can watch together" over a quote from a Detroit News story (which has that phrase in big print and the rest in small print). A quick Google search turned up the original story.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070801/OPINION03/708010403/1279

"CBS isn't ready to concede the family hour to Fox's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" just yet. The game show's high ratings prove that there is a need for shows that parents and children can watch together.

Enter "Kid Nation," the Eye network's somewhat controversial family offering for the fall, which is already holding auditions Thursday in Metro Detroit for its second season."

If I'm the Detroit News, I'm not pleased by that blatant mispresentation.

 

I recall reading somewhere that college scholarships were awarded to the kids. That would seem to be a fairly solid "prize" for a kid.

However, I'm not a fan of this for all of the concerns that have been expressed.

 

This is the same show where a few kids drank bleach and several others came home with grease burns all over their bodies... But since their parents signed their lives away to be on television, nobody can do anything about it...

It looks dreadful...

 

Wednesdays at 8 pm (7 central) on CBS, starting September 19.

 

Why would you give 8-15 year olds bleach? Grease burns also don't seem too surprising. I don't know too many kids in that range who can cook that well. I bet there will be a lot of hungry kids on the show.

 

Apparently a kid mistook some bleach solution they had on hand for cleaning for a beverage, and then made some other kids try it because it tasted funny. They were fine. And one girl got grease burns on her arm.

Not saying the show will be any good, but let's not get hysterical. In any random sample of 40 kids over the course of a summer, I'd bet the injury list is way higher.

 

Piggy's got the conch [larryking]

 

Jim Nantz says you won't want to miss it. It's the most-talked-about new show of the season. :

Most-talked-about on CBS NFL broadcasts, maybe.

 

It wouldn't be lying that way, that's for sure.

I will not watch that show. I've seen enough promos that I don't want to see one second of it. Of course, I didn't want to even after the first one.