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Kid Nation: A Post Mortem | December 15, 2007

When CBS unveiled its Fall 2008 lineup, it didn't have many new shows that seemed interesting. The bright spot in that murk was Kid Nation. It was a simple concept whose potential seemed enormous: forty kids running their own world for forty days. At first, that sounds a little Lord of the Flies. Kid Nation had a directive, though, that would preempt Survivor-style viciousness. The kids of Kid Nation were given a common cause; they were to create a world that lacked all of the problems that plagued the adult world. That world was Bonanza City, a ghost town that the kids would repopulate. That positive trajectory made the show sound incredibly appealing. Unfortunately, before the show ever made it to air, Kid Nation ran into problems with bad press.

Reports of potential child labor violations started a conversation about the show that distracted from the show's actual content. Before Kid Nation could even air, newspapers and blogs around the country were tsking CBS's exploitation of the kids on the program. Worse, the show's integrity was called into question when reports of reshoots surfaced. Of course, the reshoots were of little more than the confessional portions of the show. It wasn't as if, they were faking entire scenes ala The Hills. As a result of the controversies, Kid Nation limped out of the starting gate. I don't think it garnered anywhere near the audience it should have.

Kid Nation was a kinder reality show than most. As horrible as spending forty days on the frontier sounds, most of the dangers seemed benign. The most dangerous situations to arise were the large dust storms that would force the kids into their bunks. Also, the producers' hands were seen all over the town. From the outset, the kids were given order in the form of a town council comprised of four of the kids' peers. Further, the council had access to a journal they read each day that gave the city goals to be achieved: establish education, put on a show, hold elections, and plenty more. Every couple days, the kids competed in contests called Showdowns that determined what jobs they'd be assigned. Anarchy was never an option.

None of this would have been worth watching if not for the narrative placed over the show: Could these kids create a utopia? Of course not. What made the show worthwhile though was watching their struggle to achieve that higher purpose. At every Showdown, where the kids competed for their jobs, an extra prize was offered if all of the kids completed the task during the allotted time. They were usually given the choice between something every kid would want--like an arcade--and something every kid would need--toothbrushes, for instance. Almost every time the town council was presented with that choice, the council chose something they needed rather than something they wanted. The kids also policed themselves, taking to task those who weren't trying to make the town a better place to live. There was an incentive for this good behavior. At every town council meeting, the council awarded a 20,000 dollar gold star to the kid who was most deserving, something no real town could ever afford to do! That about a third of the town would eventually receive the award instead of just one person kept the kids from de-evolving into the kind of alliance-building reality show stars who populate the other shows. These kids strove to grow.

Although the show was about the growth of the kids, my favorite moments were when the kids were... well... kids. When the kids were let loose in the arcade they won, when they ran around Bonanza exploring, and even when they were brats, they showed just how far they had to go to fill out the personalities they were beginning to build. My single favorite moment, though, probably was Justin, the town's young genius, musing on building a quantum matter transporter. The town councilman, DK, had no idea what Justin was talking about and wanted to award Justin the $20,ooo gold star just so that Justin could get started on building his quantum matter transporter!

If the show exhibited a major flaw it was that there were too many kids to keep track of. Some characters were present from the beginning of the show, their strong personalities dominating the scene in Bonanza City. Others would show up out of nowhere only to disappear again. We got to know Justin, the town genius; Greg, the bully with a heart of gold; DK, the passionate one; Sophia, the iron fist in a velvet glove; and all of the council members. On the other hand, on the final episode, I was seeing people I'd long since forgotten had even lived in Bonanza City!

Maybe the reason the show didn't resonate with America was that the kids weren't, for the most part, selfish brats. The worst behaved kid, beauty pageant princess Taylor, wouldn't work but was coerced into working by her cohorts. We always say that we want, for instance, positive news from our newscasts, but it's blood and salacious material that wins ratings. I think its unlikely to happen, but I'd like to see another season of Kid Nation on CBS. It deserves another shot at finding an audience.

Tags: KidNation, CBS

Posted by earnest in Earnest's | permalink