Kid Nation

When a friend of mine told me to watch CBS's new "Real World"-meets- "Lord of the Flies" reality show Kid Nation, a kidspIoitation show (new slang!) about a town made up entirely of children, I was initially resistant. I hate reality shows and years of working at a summer camp have made me terrified of kids, but when I broke down and watched the show's first episode on CBS's website this morning, I can't say I wasn't entertained. I've only seen one episode, and it showed me a blend of comedy and drama I had never witnessed before.

The show's premise involves dropping a bunch of kids, aged 8-15, off in a ghost town, giving them some basic resources to work with (and possibly a script to follow), and letting them govern themselves, which paves the way for what the show is really about: a bunch of kids acting cute or bratty in front of a camera while making decisions nobody that age should make.

Now, even for somebody who hates reality shows, I've been forced to watch The Real World a number of times, and while a lot of the concept behind both shows is the same ("hey, let's watch these people embarrass themselves!"), sometimes it's harder to laugh at Kid Nation. When 15-year-old Greg picks a fight with 11-year-old Mike or 8-year-old Jimmy sits in the dirt and cries from homesickness, you cringe. If people look ignorant, douchey, pathetic or just plain crazy on The Real World, you laugh, because you know these are grown-ass men and women who know exactly what they're doing when they sign up to be humiliated on TV. Meanwhile, the participants of Kid Nation are, well, kids. It's a guilty pleasure watching some succeed and some crash and burn and you can't help but feel you're being manipulated even as you enjoy it.

My favorite characters are Taylor (adorably bratty mini-southern belle), Sophia (eye-gougingly irritating know-it-all whose immaturity might be the funniest thing about the show), and Michael (born leader and probably the only kid on the show over 10 whose parents should be proud of him), but all the children have their entertaining aspects.

I'm almost ashamed to say I like a show this contrived, cruel and flat-out stupid, but God help me, I'm gonna keep watching. The personalities are compelling, and the conflict and beefing between the participants (always one of the redeeming aspects of this sort of show) is hilarious, even though you sort of feel like a dick watching children fight. I've been forced to sit through episodes of numerous reality shows and I've finally found one I enjoy. Here's hoping child labor laws don't deprive me of it.