showdown-related stories
Posted Dec 12th 2007 11:19PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E13) It's been noted in press reports that the alleged charges brought against
Kid Nation have been dropped and the state of New Mexico won't be pursuing them. After watching the entire season, I can see why. For whatever flaws the show might have had (and it had several), it didn't seem to measure up to any sort of child abuse or violation of child labor laws.
The pre-season brouhaha cited the lack of adult supervision as a big problem. Alas, for me, it was all of the adult intervention which became the biggest issue I had with the show. It wasn't the kids -- they were overall a fantastic bunch!
Continue reading Kid Nation: We've All Decided to Go Mad (season finale)
Posted Dec 5th 2007 11:02PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E12) Oh, my. The time is really getting down there for the kiddie pioneers of
Kid Nation. Next week is the season finale. So many deserving kids, so many kids who are mere faces in the crowd. Who will get the last few gold stars? Brains? Brawn? Need? Greed? What will be the criteria?
Well, they're kids, so it's hard to say. But one thing is for sure, they'll be steered by the invisible adults in the background all the way to the decision. For me, that's been the nagging flaw of the show -- the amount of adult intervention. But the most enjoyable aspect of the show is getting to know the children themselves.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Where's Bonanza, Dude?
Posted Nov 28th 2007 11:44PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E11) I feel manipulated. I feel used. I feel a pawn to a lesson session. I feel all I learned in childhood about doing the right thing is so much better than doing the fun thing was snatched from behind my wall of memories and plopped down in tonight's episode of
Kid Nation.
Why must fun always have consequences? Or, at least choosing fun over a more serious option? It doesn't always play that way in adulthood. Sometimes you can have fun without regret. Yeah, seriously.
But I'll never be a Dance Master, no matter how much fun it might be. There is something called reality which comes to mind.
Continue reading Kid Nation: I Just Like the Recess Part
Posted Nov 22nd 2007 12:23AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E10) The days in Bonanza City are dwindling down for the 37 children still working out their 40 days on
Kid Nation. By the time tonight's episode ended, the kids have about ten days left. That, to us, will translate to at least three weeks, I believe.
Ah, but did it stay at 37 children this week? Or did we lose another due to homesickness? Was there a brouhaha? More killed chickens? Hmmm ... now that I mentioned the killed chickens, I wonder why it was so important to kill the two and then none since. Maybe because of the power of suggestion in the journal, eh? Uh-oh. I should have put the spoiler after the jump. Too late -- no chickens died tonight. Oops.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Let Me Talk!
Posted Nov 14th 2007 10:58PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E09) Have children grown more apologetic since my days as a child? The kids of
Kid Nation are often as cruel to each other as I recall but then they go and apologize. What's up with that?
Well, they don't always apologize. Feelings get hurt; tears get shed. Maybe it's cruel, but the kids will eventually find out being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be at all times, either. I think I've seen adults apologize a lot less often than the kids on the show. Perhaps they have some sort of super-strain of kids there -- intelligent and mature beyond their years.
Some of them, anyway. And some of the solid ones are starting to crack a bit.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Not Even Close to Fair
Posted Nov 7th 2007 11:32PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E08) The kids on
Kid Nation are starved for entertainment as we might all be soon. I'm already starved for it during the late night hours.
But tonight was a fun night for the most part on the show. My main little man Jared was featured fairly prominently throughout the episode, the kids had some fun, and I even had a few snickers as I watched.
I'd still like to have been a fly on the wall and witnessed how they get the kids on the topic of the journal entry each week separate from the town council leaders visiting the Shack of the Journal. I guess we might never know.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Starved for Entertainment
Posted Oct 31st 2007 10:45PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E07) I'm starting to wonder if we're going to see each and every kid on
Kid Nation before the end of the season. Every week, it seems the focus is on the core group we've seen all along -- the council leaders, Greg, Jared, Sophia, and some others. But then a new kid or two is thrown into the spotlight.
Whenever that spotlight shines on a new face in the crowd, it's been obvious that the new face will either be in the midst of controversy or will win the gold star. Predictable? Sure is, but with the size of the cast, I don't see any better way to do it, either. I enjoy "meeting" the kids as the season goes on.
Continue reading Kid Nation: The Root of All Evil
Posted Oct 25th 2007 12:20AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E06) No, no, no ... not Bonanza with the Ponderosa! Hop Sing could always cook up a fine feast and the Cartwrights never fussed about hard labor. The episode title refers to Bonanza City, New Mexico. You know -- 40 days, 40 kids (well, 38 kids now and almost three weeks less), and no adults. Well, they say no adults, but believe me, it's the adults putting everything in motion.
But it is indeed the kids of
Kid Nation who make this show worth watching. It's the kids who, by being themselves, bring me entertainment each week.
Oh, but Bonanza City is indeed disgusting. Or, it was before the adult push of the week.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Bonanza is Disgusting
Posted Oct 17th 2007 11:42PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(S01E05) Is it me or was there really not much to get up in arms about this week on
Kid Nation? No killed animals, no steer taunting, no religious rivalry, no bullying. What's this show coming to, eh?
Well, there was a smattering of bad behavior, but we're talking kids here. Some of these kids could be teensy adults, y'know. A lot of them certainly are more worldly than I was at their ages. And, the show reminded me that I should really study up on the chronological order of US Presidents. I definitely know the ones in my own lifetime, but I surely would put Taft in the wrong place.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Viva la Revolucion!
Posted Oct 10th 2007 11:28PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(S01E04) Following the recipe for controversy which has been a mainstay for this show since its inception, tonight's episode of
Kid Nation threw religion into the fray. So, let's take a moment to count the controversies and brouhahas thus far -- we have the child labor issue, the scripted/acting kids issue, the contract issue in which the parents promised not to sue if their kid died, the kill two chickens on television issue, and so many more.
Adults created this world created by the children, so let's get them going on religion next! Will there be fisticuffs? Love-ins? Heathens run amok? Thankfully, in this case, the kids were smarter than the adults.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Bless Us and Keep Us Safe
Posted Sep 27th 2007 12:19AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(S01E02) It's a bit of an odd twist to the Shakespeare quote, but certainly fitting for this episode of
Kid Nation, don't you think? For some reason, I'm not too surprised that 11-year-old Jared has a slight familiarity with the classics. In the first episode, Jared was the king of the one-liners.
It's a shame he didn't continue ...
To kill or not to kill, that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler to slaughter chickens
Or cover thine eyes whilst Greg does it
To die, to sleep, perchance to dream
As the chickens shuffled off this mortal coil
For the sake of reality television
Continue reading Kid Nation: To Kill or Not to Kill?
Posted Apr 30th 2007 11:20PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Celebrities, Game Show, Episode Reviews
(S03E20) Only Barney Stinson can say the words "Bob Barker is my father" and make not only his four friends believe him, but make the audience believe him, as well. Of course, you'd only believe him for about five seconds. But something about the conviction with which he says everything makes you
want to believe. That's probably why he's able to bed so many women; he's sincere just long enough to get the job done.
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