'Kid Nation': Childsploitation or fine family viewing?
May 17, 2007, 04:41 PM | by Mandi Bierly
Categories: Reality TV, Television
Yesterday, when CBS announced its fall schedule would include a reality show called Kid Nation — where 40 kids, ages 8 to 15, form an adult-less society in ghost town Bonanza City, New Mexico for 40 days — a debate ignited in the EW TV department. Watch a preview of the show here, then weigh in yourself. Highlights of our e-mail chain:
Alynda Wheat: [Jennifer] Armstrong and I are already obsessed! Obsessed!
Tim Stack: Kids are boring (no offense to people who have or like children).
Wheat: We're disowning you.
Kristen Baldwin: Oh my God — I think it looks horrifying! All those poor stressed out kids forced onto TV by their evil parents and crying every episode? No thanks!
Wheat: Perhaps Jennifer and I love it because we view the young as accessories.
Our TV mavens briefly discussed whether CBS's schedule looks boring in general before returning to the question of what prizes the Kid Nation kids would earn for playing.
Baldwin: Each week one kid wins a real gold star (e.g. real gold) worth $20k.
Dalton Ross: I know someone who worked on the show. Everyone was surprised by what good stuff they got out of this, which explains CBS' decision to skip summer and put it on in the fall — a very risky move.
Wheat: I'm telling you, it looked really, really good. Not just exploitative good. Actual quality.
Baldwin: If you like to watch little kids cry, that is.
Abby West: OMG. This IS kind of horrifying. That said, I am so going to watch it every week. And my 8-year-old will love it and probably lobby me to get to be on it.
I myself am on Team Wheat/Armstrong. While it's painful to see any child cry (especially the one in the cowboy hat), it's inspiring to see them all chant the name of the one, Michael, who steps up to end a screaming match: "You guys do realize you're not just representing yourselves," he says. "This is to prove that kids of all age groups can actually get stuff organized and actually create a society where people actually share without greed." Each week, the children compete in a "showdown" that detemines what role they'll have in their society: laborer, cook, merchant, or upper-class. No child is run out of town. Every three days, there's a town meeting where any of them can choose to go home. They can also air grievances against their four-kid government. "Stop punishing us, Taylor," one boy says. "This is a democracy. You're not allowed to punish us. That is not what a leader does. At all." Again, inspiring... except for maybe the parents of Taylor, who looks like she's about to burst into tears.
Which side are you on?
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