LogFAQs > #974702844

#17: Kid Nation

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/4/1/AAAG8cAAEo7x.jpg
Quit whining. You could be working for Dan Schneider.

This is one of the shows I mentioned "fudging" my criteria for. Kid Nation was technically intended as a general audience program, airing in CBS on prime-time, but it ended up being marketed heavily toward kids, and CBS tried to promote the show by having schools show it to 7th-12th graders, so I'm counting it as a kids' show. The premise of Kid Nation was to bring 40 kids together in an Old West ghost town to see if they could successfully form their own society. They had their own "town council", and outstanding performers got gold stars that could be redeemed for real world money, with the possibility of earning six figure sums if one performed consistently well throughout the season. Needless to say, this show was absolutely littered with issues from the word "go". Psychiatrists and pediatricians went on record to say that the show's competitive environment could potentially cause extreme psychological stress for its young participants, while others complained that the show could potentially be in violation of child labor laws. There had been other reality competition shows featuring kids, such as J.D. Roth's Moolah Beach and Endurance, but those shows utilized older kids and had more participation from adult production staff to monitor the physical and psychological health of participants, while Kid Nation remained hands-off and left the children in charge of pretty much everything, with a much "looser" format for events and competitions. This led to some scary incidents, including a child accidentally drinking a small amount of bleach (they were treated by medical staff immediately afterward, but it's no less disturbing that this happened), and also led to New Mexico conducting investigations on the show itself. Kid Nation, despite the issues, managed to finish its first and only season with only a few of the kids quitting along the way, but despite the show's marginally successful run, it remains infamous as one of the most exploitative programs ever approved for airing on television. It enjoys somewhat of a cult status today, with both critical and supportive reviews still occasionally popping up on sites like Youtube.