Are the Kids Alright?
CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said she hoped it was controversial. Authorities in New Mexico cried foul over possible violation of child labor laws. And a few parents complained about injuries their children sustained on the set.
Last night "Kid Nation" finally premiered. Matthew has weighed in and now the ratings out. The "Kid" did all right drawing a 5.8 rating/10 share, helping the Eye network win the night overall. Not blockbuster numbers- or big enough ones to beat NBC's "Deal or No Deal"- but good enough for third place in its timeslot.
After the jump see what executive producer Tom Forman had to say this summer at a fairly heated panel discussion for the reality show at the TCA press tour.
On why he decided to do the show:
"We started talking about how you could make a show that had the unpredictable excitement of that first cycle of 'Survivor' that I remember watching, not as a producer, but just as a fan. And said how could we possibly get back to that when nobody knew what was going to happen, not even the participants, and said, look, well, maybe we need to look for participants who weren't even born when that thing premiered. So these are kids. They were born during the Clinton administration. They come to this with fresh eyes and fresh ideas. They are, if nothing else, incredibly honest. They tell you what they think. They tell you how they feel. If they are sad, they cry. If they have a crush on someone, they talk about it. If they're jealous or angry, they fight. It's everything that's best about human beings and, at times, worst, because they really do -- they just don't censor themselves. And I think it is, for that reason and a number of others, more interesting than almost anything I've seen."
On the clear skepticism of some of the tv reporters in the room and whether he thought viewers might share that skepticism:
"I suspect, going in, they're going to have mild reservations. I would too. Look, if you just judge the show based on the log line, it seems outrageous. I lived it for 40 days, and so I know what happened. I talk to these kids constantly now, so I know how they're doing. So if I don't seem to share everybody's concerns, it's not that I'm not a parent and not that I don't care. I just have the benefit of a little bit more information. I think we'll get some tune-in based by the 'Oh, my gosh, I can't believe they're doing that' factor. And then my hope is people stick around because they are, in fact, compelling stories about amazing characters."
On the question of labor issues:
"We went ahead and made this show as we make every reality show with the understanding that they're going to do whatever they do, and we're going to tape it. We're not going to consider them actors. We're not going to feed them lines. We're not going to give them set schedules. And on that basis, we didn't see a labor problem."
On the safeguards in place, regardless of the "kids running the town premise":
"There were... pediatricians, child psychologists, an animal wrangler -- because we had animals there -- mostly standing back and watching the kids, with instructions to step in if something was going wrong and anybody was in danger. I think we were all shocked by how little we had to do for them."
On the possibility of a second season if the show is a hit:
"We are casting right now and crossing our fingers and hoping."
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