Kid Nation takes forty children aging in range from as old as fifteen years old all the way to as young as eight. Taken out to the middle of nowhere and destined to live in a ghost town known as Bonanza City for forty days; the children must do everything on their own. Cook their own meals, run their own stores, do their own jobs, and survive totally on their own. Would they be able to do it? And could they take being away from their families and having to rely solely on one another for forty days?
For Fans Of: Survivor and Big Brother. Kid Nation takes the survival quality aspects of Survivor and adds them to the tension and strangers living together qualities from Big Brother. The children have many different tasks and competitions to take part in for rewards as both shows do, but must do all they can to survive without any comforts of home at all.
What I Liked: It is a really nice and welcome change to see children put into the reality competition picture now. So many attempts to be different have failed (Pirate Master for one), and now this is a show that is truly different and is working. Seeing the kids have to fend completely on their own with cooking their own meals, no beds, and living without their parents’ arms to comfort them makes the drama real. There is no faking here in the emotions of these children. They are not trying to backstab someone else or play the game, but merely enjoy themselves and prove they can do it.
It’s also a nice touch that the kids don’t have a past. You’re not watching a bunch of troubled kids or those that have been in and out of juvenile facilities their entire lives or overweight kids and this show is to mold them into shape. These are average kids from every race, age group, religion, location, and social status that are merely trying to work as one.
What I Didn’t Like: There’s going to be some whining and crying, but you get that with every adult-oriented reality show as well. So it’s not like that is anything new. I kind of wish they would have done without the random one-one-one interview comments from the kids like they do on every other show. Just leave the kids doing their thing each day and get their reactions as they have them.
The Final Verdict: Kid Nation has intrigued me for literally months as the commercials have been airing since before the summer began and it was well worth the wait. I am automatically hooked on the show and if the first episode is any indication of how it will go, then I will watch every single week. I have said it before that making the kids do everything themselves is a fantastic part of the show and it will be interesting to see how many can make it. The kids have just gotten separated into their teams are working on their first tasks; there’s no way I can turn away now when it has barely begun.
