Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I was kid country before kid country was cool.

People! Today I want to talk about my two new most anticipated reality shows.

Kid Nation and The Baby Borrowers. They aren't high on my watch list because they sound exciting to watch. In fact, I predict they get pulled before the series even ends. Mostly they are top on my list for the "shut the fuck up" factor.

When I started seeing ads for Kid Nation, we plugged it into Tivo. I actully wasn't that interested in it. I'm sort of out of that demo. We plugged it in mostly because sometimes you never know what will be watchable with reality TV.

So, we try out an episode or two of almost any new series. Kid Nation had a "meh - what the hell" rating from us.

Now, since so many people have come out to complain about it - I really want to watch it. For like two episodes. I'm just totally fascinated by the bitching.

One of the major complaints is lack of adult supervision for the kids.

Okay.. this is the thing. Am I the only one here who was a latch key kid? Come to think of it.. I haven't even heard that term in a long time. Does latch key kid syndrome even exist anymore?

All the kids I grew up around had parents who worked. We were all left at home between the time we got home from school, and the time before a parent got home from work. In the middle of a big city. Not an abandoned town. We all learned by the age of 10 to not let strangers in and not drink bleach.

Additionally, does babysitting not exist anymore either? The kids in the show apparently range from 8-15 years old. When I was growing up - if you were a 15 year old girl. Babysitting is how you made money. Unless you lied about your age to work at a computer company like I did. But that's another story.

Again, in the way back machine of my childhood, a 15 year old girl was capable of taking care of even tiny babies. Why all of a sudden is a 15 year old the equivalent of a child?

Which brings me to The Baby Borrowers.

People.. chances are almost all of you were descended from teenage mothers. It might not have been your mom (like me), it might have been your great grandmother. Guess what? All of you survived!

Only this generation has shown so few teenage mothers. Frankly, when I was growing up - teenage mothers were still quite common. They barely killed any children.

I'm more alarmed a generation who refuses to grow up, then some kids with reasonable supervision in an isolated town in the middle of the desert. Just say'in.

2 comments:

  1. I don't really know what Kid Nation is all about, but all the hype has drawn me in too. I like the idea of a town run only by kids. I can think of all kinds of social experiments you could run. It's like lord of the flies only wild wild west. The people who are complaining, just don't get it. This is a once in a lifetime experience for a kid. Think of it as a summer camp they'll never forget. I would have loved to have done this when I was a kid. Hopefully, it won't be too much of a family show because I like the back stabbing that goes on in reality TV. I'm hoping that this will end up being like a mini me version of Survivor.

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  2. I've been following the drama-rama regarding the Kid Nation show too. So maybe putting bleach in a soda bottle is an OSHA issue, but hey, it's a learning curve. Seriously though it is a very interesting concept that will probably not be seen through to it's finale. I agree with you on the age of 15 being old enough to supervise other children. I didn't know that they had kids that old on that show.
    That other one thogh, totally doomed to failure. THe whining would get old fast, and I'm talking about the teens.

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