Kid Nation

Kid Nation
Genre	Reality
Directed by	Jack Cannon
Presented by	Jonathan Karsh
Starring	See Participants below
Composer(s)	Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams, Ah2 Music
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tom Forman
Production location(s)	Bonanza City, New Mexico
Running time	60 minutes
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 19 – December 12, 2007 (2007-12-12)
External links
Website

Kid Nation was an American reality television show hosted by Jonathan Karsh that premiered on the CBS network on September 19, 2007 created by Tom Forman Productions and Endemol USA and aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. The program was originally scheduled to air in the summer of 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.

On May 14, 2008, CBS officially canceled the series.

Synopsis

The show, featuring 40 children aged 8 to 15, was filmed on location 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.

The show stresses the difficulty in creating a viable society. While each child received $5,000 (equivalent to $6,000 in 2021) for their involvement, Gold Stars valued at $20,000 (equivalent to $23,000 in 2021) and $50,000 (equivalent to $57,000 in 2021) were awarded to select outstanding participants as decided by the elected Town Council.

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 physical chores like fetching water, and making group decisions constituted an educational experience in its own right. Foreman said that all participants were cleared by a team of psychologists, any child could choose to go home at any time, and some did.

Episodes

Main article: List of Kid Nation episodes

No.	Episode Title	Days	Airdate	Upper-Class	Merchants	Cooks	Laborers	Town Bonus	Gold Star	Exits
1	"I'm Trying to be a Leader Here!"	1–4	September 19	Red	Blue	Yellow	Green	Seven Outhouses	Sophia	Jimmy
2	"To Kill or Not to Kill"	5–7	September 26	Blue	Red	Yellow	Green	None (Task Failed)	Michael	None
3	"Deal With It!"	8–10	October 3	Yellow	Blue	Green	Red	Microwave & Cocoa	Mallory	None
4	"Bless Us and Keep Us Safe"	11–13	October 10	Blue	Red	Yellow	Green	Religious Books	Morgan	Cody
5	"Viva La Revolución!"	14–16	October 17	Yellow	Green	Red	Blue	Oral Hygiene Products	Greg	None
6	"Bonanza is Disgusting"	17–19	October 24	Red	Green	Yellow	Blue	Fruits & Vegetables	DK	None
7	"The Root Of All Evil"	20–22	October 31	Blue	Yellow	Green	Red	New Clothes & Free Laundry	Nathan	None
8	"Starved for Entertainment"	23–25	November 7	Green	Blue	Red	Yellow	None (Task Failed)	Kennedy	None
9	"Not Even Close to Fair"	26–28	November 14	Blue	Yellow	Green	Red	None (Task Failed)	Blaine	Randi
10	"Let Me Talk!"	29–31	November 21	Blue	Green	Yellow	Red	Letters From Home	Laurel	None
11	"I Just Like The Recess Part"	32–34	November 28	Green	Blue	Yellow	Red	Town Arcade	Hunter	None
12	"Where's Bonanza, Dude?"	35–37	December 5	Green	Red	Blue	Yellow	Hot Air Balloon Ride	Alex	None
13	"We've All Decided to Go Mad!"	38–40	December 12	No District Assignments				Three Gold Stars worth $50,000 (equivalent to $57,000 in 2021)	Zach Sophia Morgan Miglė	None (final episode)

^A These gold stars were worth $50,000 (equivalent to $57,000 in 2021) and were awarded at the final town hall meeting.

Participants

Further information: List of Kid Nation participants

The participants of Kid Nation consist of 40 kids, whose ages range from 8 to 15. The following table lists each child's district color (including change if applicable), age at the onset of the show, home state, the terms they held in Town Council, the day they received a gold star, when they left Bonanza City and any applicable notes.

		Name	Age	State	Town Council	Gold Star	Exit	Note(s)
B	B	Alex	9	Nevada		37Day 37	40
B	B	Anjay	12	Texas	Days 1–29	41	40
B	Y	Blaine	14	Florida	Days 29–40	28Day 28	40	Changed districts in episode 9
Y	Y	Brett	11	Minnesota		41	40
G	G	Campbell	10	Georgia		41	40
Y	Exit	Cody	9	Ohio		41	13 Day 13
Y	Y	Colton	11	Nevada		41	40
R	R	Divad	11	Georgia		41	40
R	R	DK	14	Illinois	Days 29–40	19Day 19	40
R	B	Emilie	9	Nevada		41	40	Changed districts in episode 9
G	G	Eric	14	New Jersey		41	40
B	B	Gianna	10	Illinois		41	40
B	B	Greg	15	Nevada	Days 29–40	16Day 16	40	Oldest participant
R	R	Guylan	11	Massachusetts	Days 16–29	41	40
G	G	Hunter	12	Georgia		34Day 34	40
R	R	Jared	11	Georgia		41	40
R	R	Jasmine	11	Georgia		41	40
G	Exit	Jimmy	8	New Hampshire		41	04Day 4	Youngest participant
Y	Y	Kelsey	11	Pennsylvania		41	40
G	G	Kennedy	12	Kentucky		25Day 25	40
G	G	Laurel	12	Massachusetts	Day 1–29	31Day 31	40
Y	Y	Leila	9	North Carolina		41	40
R	R	Madison	11	Texas		41	40
R	R	Maggie	14	Minnesota		41	40
B	B	Mallory	8	Indiana		10Day 10	40	9th birthday during episode 3 Olivia's sister
R	R	Markelle	12	Georgia		41	40
G	G	Michael	14	Washington	Days 29–40	07Day 7	40	15th birthday during episode 11
B	B	Migle	13	Illinois		40Day 40	40
R	R	Mike	11	Washington	Days 1–16	41	40
G	G	Morgan	12	Indiana		13Day 13 Day 40	40
B	B	Natasha	13	Florida		41	40
B	R	Nathan	11	Illinois		22Day 22	40	Changed districts in episode 9
B	B	Olivia	12	Indiana		41	40	Mallory's sister
Y	Y	Pharaoh	12	Pennsylvania		41	40
Y	Exit	Randi	11	Nevada		41	28 Day 28
G	G	Savannah	10	Kentucky		41	40
G	G	Sophia	14	Florida		04Day 4 Day 40	40	Appointed town sheriff in episode 11
Y	Y	Sophie	10	Washington		41	40
Y	Y	Taylor	10	Georgia	Days 1–16	41	40	11th birthday during episode 7
Y	Y	Zach	10	Florida	Days 16–29	39Day 39	40

^1 Original district

^2 Final district color or black if participant left the show

^3 These gold stars worth $50,000 (equivalent to $57,000 in 2021) and were awarded at the final town hall meeting.

Reception

Pre-premiere

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 television 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.

Los Angeles Times reporter Maria Elena Fernandez interviewed four of the children, who told her they had worked harder than they ever had in their lives but would willingly repeat the experience. They said the most challenging aspect was getting used to being filmed constantly.

Post-premiere

After the show's premiere, many television critics wrote negative reviews, with Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd a notable exception. Reviewing the first episode, Washington Post columnist Tom Shales suggested that the show is "not so much an exercise in socialization as the indoctrination of children into a consumer culture". Shales pointed out that the kids' decisions included buying root beer at the saloon with "real money", but not hiring or being hired—as their money was "parceled out to them according to their predetermined stations in life."

By the third show, some advertisers that had shied away from Kid Nation due to its initial controversy had begun to purchase time.

Reflecting back near the end of the season, Los Angeles Times writer Maria Elena Fernandez, who had reported extensively on Kid Nation, wrote that neither the show's pre-premiere promises or controversies ever quite congealed: the children were never as autonomous or self-reliant as the publicity indicated and the threatened legal investigations by the state of New Mexico never took off. As the series concluded, low ratings had cast doubt on whether CBS would renew the show. Brad Adgate, an analyst with Horizon Media, said the chances were not good unless a writers' strike, ongoing at the time of the season finale, increased demand for more reality shows.

Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #10.

It was nominated for Best Family Television Reality Show, Game Show or Documentary at the 29th Annual Young Artist Awards.

U.S. Nielsen ratings

No.	Episode	Viewers (millions)	Households	Adults 18–49
1	"I'm Trying to Be a Leader Here!"	9.07	5.8/10	3.0/9
2	"To Kill or Not to Kill"	7.6	4.8/8	2.8/8
3	"Deal With It!"	7.51	4.7/8	2.4/7
4	"Bless Us and Keep Us Safe"	7.01	4.3/7	2.0/6
5	"Viva La Revolucion!"	7.41	4.7/8	2.4/7
6	"Bonanza is Disgusting"	8.03	5.1/8	2.5/7
7	"The Root of All Evil"	6.89	4.4/8	2.0/7
8	"Starved for Entertainment"	7.16	4.5/7	2.1/6
9	"Not Even Close to Fair"	7.53	4.7/8	2.4/7
10	"Let Me Talk!"	6.88	4.3/7	2.0/6
11	"I Just Like the Recess Part"	7.29	4.5/7	2.1/6
12	"Where's Bonanza, Dude?"	7.2	4.5/7	2.2/6
13	"We've All Decided to Go Mad!"	7.35	4.5/7	2.2/6

Broader legal implications

The Kid Nation production 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. 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 also raised questions about the appropriate minimum age of participants in reality shows. The 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. After 11-year-old Divad Miles was burned when grease splattered onto her face while cooking a meal, her 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. Other investigative efforts by the state of New Mexico into the Kid Nation production were later dropped. The state's Attorney General's Office cited the lack of formal complaint or request for inquiry from any state agency. The state's Department of Workforce Solutions dropped its charge that the producers had denied inspectors access to the set and said it had no plans to investigate.

CBS defended the production's conduct as both legal and ethical, including the response to minor injuries on the set. The network characterized some early allegations as irresponsible, exaggerated or false. In late November 2007 after 10 episodes had aired, Forman accused some newspaper critics of engaging in a feeding frenzy in which they used loaded terms like "child abuse" before actually seeing the show and without interviewing anyone involved with the production.

External links

• Official Kid Nation Site (via Internet Archive)
• Kid Nation at IMDb

• Kid Nation at TV.com