Kid Nation

[nacho]

Finally!  We're going to start publicly abusing children.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7002065.stm

Scenario 1:  We get to watch kids tear themselves apart as humanity dies and the TV viewers demand more bloodsport.

Scenario 2:  The kids will be more functional than any adult on a reality program.

A controversial US reality TV show involving children is due to get its first airing on the CBS network.

Kid Nation takes 40 children, some as young as eight, to an abandoned New Mexico desert town where they are left to fend for themselves for 40 days.

The youngsters are meant to create a functioning society with a system of laws, commerce and even a class system.

No outsiders were allowed on the set and children's rights groups have said it is tantamount to child exploitation.

Critics see the show as a modern version of Lord of the Flies with a Wild West twist, while supporters say it is just a summer camp with cameras all around.

Accidents

The show has been surrounded by controversy and accusations it is using the children as entertainment fodder.

Parents signed a 22-page contract, virtually absolving producers from any responsibility for the children's well-being.

There have been reports of accidents and the children also put in 14-hour days in front of the cameras.

Kim Talman, from the National Association to Protect Children, said: "Child labour laws were pretty lax in New Mexico, it's the reason they went there.

"In California and New York they never would have gotten away with something like this but the way they're skirting that issue is saying that the children were not actually employed."

Bad publicity

Highly-produced CBS promos are the only clue about what is in the show and even TV critics have not seen the first episode yet.

CBS says it is not trying to avoid bad publicity but this is just part of its marketing strategy.

The secrecy surrounding Kid Nation is certainly adding to the hype around the show.

There have been calls for it to be dropped and some advertisers are keeping their distance, but CBS remains unfazed.

[Nubbins]

Oh, count me in... this sounds friggin great.

Sucks to your assmar!!

[nacho]

Well, it'll take till tomorrow before I can download it.  So now I'm all giddy and anxious.  Because the first thought for me, besides Lord of the Flies, is fucking Battle Royale!  KABLAM!

[Nubbins]

Also there will be lots of crying.

[nacho]

Crying while they form clans and set up booby traps all across the town, eventually turning on the cameramen with broken bottles and lead pipes?

[Nubbins]

Ever watch the Jamie Kennedy Experiment?  I did... hilarious.

He did a bit called Child Island ... very funny, but a bit disturbing.  Amazing how quickly some of these parents are willing to sign their kids' lives away.

Dammit... looks like the segment cuts off before it shows where he got a few of the parents to agree to sign a contract for their kids to be on the show.

[nacho]

Wow... Who would sign anything after that promo?  It is hilarious, though?  Poor Cubby.

[Nubbins]

You would be surprised, man.  Most of his pranks are just plain funny, but I remember that one being particularly disturbing because of the way some of those parents seemed willing to use their kids.  I can't believe there's actually a reality show now that is similar to the one he was pitching.

[nacho]

Early reports is that this is train wreck television at its worst.  I can't wait!

[Sirharles]

I refuse to watch this.  Realty TV sucks as it is and this is the lowest form of it. 

[nacho]

I would normally agree with you... I haven't watched reality television since the third season of Survivor, where the two teams decided to lighten their load in the first episode by dumping their entire fresh water supply. 

Well, I guess I've touched on reality television with stuff like Man v. Wild and Survivorman, but those are more like an offshoot from the main course...

Anyway, yeah, I agree.  But... This draws me because, you know, it's even worse than the lowest form of it.  It really is a notch away from just saying, oh, okay, let's do Running Man.

By the way -- if you haven't yet seen it, queue up Series 7.  It's sort of the American version of Battle Royale, except it walks a line between action and mockumentary reality TV satire.  Well worth it, despite the blah ending.

[Sirharles]

I'll have to check the Series 7, but realty TV has pretty much ruined TV.  I understand the producers and companies standpoints, because it is a hell of a lot cheaper to produce than a drama or sitcom, but some of the stuff they come up with is just mind-numbing.

[nacho]

So this sucked so bad that people are refusing to torrent it... Nice.

[nacho]

Jesus...

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0823071kidnation1.html

[nacho]

Okay... I'm watching it.  Two minutes in and I want to jump out of my skin and throw my skeleton out the window.

So they bus in 40 kids, round them up and tell them that they're on their own, but they'll have four leaders (also kids).  These four pre-selected leaders are helicoptered in to take charge.  One of whom is Laura, who "really believes in her beliefs."

The first thing they all have to do is drag supply wagons and livestock several miles through the desert.

With the four leaders, trying to get the kids to haul the wagons, we're at the Stanford Prison Experiment in just seven minutes.

Of course, these leaders (except for the bitch Yankee fashion model redhead) break down and cry before the day is over. 

Day two -- but time for me to go to work.  I turn it off the same way I leave after they haul the last body out of a crashed bus.