Kid Nation

Kid Nation
Kid Nation logo
Genre	Reality
Directed by	J. Rupert Thomson
Presented by	Jonathan Karsh
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	2
Production
Executive producer	Tom Foreman
Production locations	Bonanza City, New Mexico
Running time	60 minutes (with commercials)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 19, 2007 – Present

Kid Nation is a reality television show that began airing on the CBS network on September 19, 2007, filling the Wednesday 8:00 p.m. ET time slot of the serial drama Jericho. The show, featuring forty children aged 8 to 15, was shot at the Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, a privately owned town built on the ruins of Bonanza City, New Mexico, eight miles south of Santa Fe., with production beginning on April 1, 2007. In the show, the children try to create a functioning society in the town, including setting up a government system, with minimal adult help and supervision. The program was originally scheduled to air in the summer of 2007. The show is hosted by Jonathan Karsh.

The show stresses the difficulty in creating a viable society. At the end of each episode, an appointed council of kids awards the "Gold Star," worth $20,000, to a fellow participant. Participants were paid $5,000 for their involvement in the show's taping.

Bonanza City

Bonanza City contains western era shops such as a Chapel, a barn where Town Hall Meetings are held, a grocery store, a dry goods store and a saloon, which sells soda for a nickel. The kids buy items in the shops with the Bonanza City currency called Buffalo Nickels, and the amount of money they receive is based on their class during the three days.

Episodes

In each episode, the four town districts compete in a Showdown to determine their place in Bonanza. The first place finishers are awarded Upper-Class and are paid $1.00 in Buffalo nickels each, second place earns Merchant and $0.50 each, third place become the cooks, and are paid $0.25 for their work, while the last place finishers become the Laborers, and earn $0.10. If all of the districts complete the task within a given amount of time, the whole town wins a bonus prize. At the end of each episode a Gold Star is awarded by the Town Council to one deserving child. Also, Jonathan asks any of the children if they would like to leave.

Overall Summary

No.	Episode Title	Air Date	Upper-Class	Merchants	Cooks	Laborers	Town Bonus	Gold Star	Exits	Nielsen Ratings
1	I'm Trying to Be a Leader Here!	19 Sep, 2007	Red District	Blue District	Yellow District	Green District	Seven Outhouses	Sophia	Jimmy	5.8/10
2	To Kill or Not to Kill?	26 Sep, 2007	Blue District	Red District	Yellow District	Green District	None (Task Failed)	Michael	none	4.8/8
3	Deal With It!	03 Oct, 2007
4	Bless Us and Keep Us Safe	10 Oct, 2007

Episode 1

Gold Star: Sophia
On Day 4, the Town Council recognized Sophia's work ethic in the kitchen. It was a fairly easy decision for the Council, and despite Sophia's voicing of complaints over what she saw as problems in the kitchen, she was chosen.

Exits: Jimmy
On Day 4, being the youngest contestant, Jimmy became homesick and decided to leave Bonanza, even though Cody, Laurel, and Campbell tried to convince him to stay. His decision came after 3 days of internal debate over his abilities versus what was expected of him.

Episode 2

Gold Star: Michael
On Day 7, Michael won the Gold Star over the other leading contender Greg. Mike suspects Greg is motived by the prize money, not by caring about others or a moral code. Michael's caring behaviors toward others and generous spirit won the day.

Exits: No Exits

Participants

The participants of Kid Nation are made up of 40 kids, whose ages range from eight to 15.

The following table lists each child's age, home state, any notes of importance on the child and the color of district they belong to.

Name	Age	State	Note(s)
Alex	9	Nevada
Anjay	12	Texas	Town Council (Blue District)
Blaine	14	Florida
Brett	11	Minnesota
Campbell	10	Georgia
Cody	9	Ohio
Colton	11	Nevada
Divad	11	Georgia
DK	14	Illinois
Emilie	9	Nevada
Eric	14	New Jersey
Gianna	10	Illinois
Greg	15	Nevada	Oldest contestant. Has worked as a butcher and with PVC piping.
Guylan	11	Massachusetts
Hunter	12	Georgia
Jared	11	Georgia	Clearly has autism
Jasmine	11	Georgia
Jimmy	8	New Hampshire	Day 4 - Left Bonanza City (crybaby)
Kelsey	11	Pennsylvania
Kennedy	12	Kentucky
Laurel	12	Massachusetts	Town Council (Green District)
Leila	9	North Carolina
Madison	11	Texas
Maggie	14	Minnesota
Mallory	8	Indiana
Markelle	12	Georgia
Michael	14	Washington	Day 7 - Received Gold Star
Migle	13	Illinois
Mike	11	Washington	Town Council (Red District)
Morgan	12	Indiana
Natasha	13	Florida
Nathan	11	Michigan
Olivia	12	Indiana
Pharaoh	12	Pennsylvania
Randi	11	Nevada
Savannah	10	Kentucky
Sophia	14	Florida	Day 4 - Received Gold Star
Sophie	10	Washington	Dance$ for $$
Taylor	10	Georgia	Town Council (Yellow District)
Zach	10	Florida

Initial reception

Ahead of its premiere, the show proved to be the most controversial of the upcoming fall 2007 season, even though the only actual footage seen was a four-minute promo running on televison and the Web. In previewing the series, CBS eschewed television critics, instead holding screenings at schools in at least seven large cities. Variety columnist Brian Lowry wrote that "Kid Nation is only the latest program to use kids as fodder for fun and profit, which doesn't make the trend any less disturbing." William Coleman, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, argued that the younger children, ages 8 to 12, might not be able to deal with the stress, yet could be enticed to participate by the potential fame or be pressured to do so by a parent.

Speaking before an audience of television reviewers, producer Tom Forman acknowledged that Kid Nation would inevitably share some elements with William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, which depicted planewrecked children without adult supervision. But adults were present off-camera during the Kid Nation production, including cameramen, producers, a medic, and a child psychologist, although all interacted with the children as little as possible. Participants also missed a month of school, but Forman suggested that such real-world tasks as preparing a group breakfast, doing hard physical chores like fetching water, and making group decisions constituted an educational experience in its own right. All participants were cleared by a team of psychologists, any child could elect to go home, and some did. Robert Butterworth, a child psychologist in Los Angeles, wondered if comparable professional care was given after the production had wrapped.

Some injuries occurred on the set. Four children needed medical attention after drinking bleach that had been left in an unmarked soda bottle, a girl sprained her arm, becoming one of two children to visit a local emergency room, and an 11-year-old girl who was cooking burned her face with splattered grease. That child's mother, Janis Miles, filed a complaint in June calling for an investigation into "abusive acts to minors and possible violations of child labor laws." The claim was investigated by Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, which found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the production company. CBS said it stood by the procedures it had in place and its "response to all the minor injuries". The network rejected "irresponsible allegations or any attempts to misrepresent and exaggerate events or spread false claims about what happened."

Los Angeles Times reporter Maria Elena Fernandez interviewed four of the children, who told her they "had to rough it without electricity or running water, sleep on bed rolls on the floor, cook their own meals, clean the town, run businesses, survive on three changes of clothes and set up their own hours and rules. Although three of them said they worked harder than they ever had in their lives, all four said the most challenging aspect was getting used to being filmed constantly." All four said they would happily do it again, although as Fernandez noted, "they haven't seen themselves on TV yet."

Broader legal implications

The Kid Nation production has raised questions about whether reality show participants are more like subjects in a documentary or working actors. The latter are covered by union rules that govern everything from working hours to compensation. This debate over participant status could be seen in an American Federation of Television and Radio Artists investigation over whether its AFTRA National Code of Fair Practices for Network Television Broadcasting was violated. The investigation went forward even though on reality shows, the Network Code generally covers professional performers, but not the participants.

Kid Nation production took place before New Mexico tightened its regulations governing the number and span of hours a child actor can work. The producers had declared the set a summer camp rather than a place of employment, but that loophole has since been closed. State officials and the producers have since openly disagreed as to whether New Mexico's labor laws were followed, and whether inspectors were given proper access to the set. Some parents on hand for the final day of filming accused the producers of feeding children lines, re-casting dialog and repeating scenes, all of which suggested that the children functioned as actors. Producer Tom Forman said that the parents were observing routine "pickups" for scenes that might have been missed because of technical difficulties.

Kid Nation 2

For a potential sequel, Kid Nation 2, candidates are required to submit a written application and a three-minute video. Semi-finalists would then travel at their own expense to one of 10 regional interviews, with finalists flown to Los Angeles for the final selection.

External links

• Official Kid Nation Site (CBS)
• Canadian Kid Nation Site (E!)
• Kid Nation participant contract per The Smoking Gun