Now that reality TV has brought us such compelling moments as Donald Trump screaming at us and random idiots off the street eating bugs, it takes a Really Big Idea to put a new show at the top of the tastelessness heap.
In steps CBS! Their big idea: a reality show based on child labor. Really.
On September 19, the Tiffany Network will debut "Kid Nation". The show's Web site describes it thusly:
40 children, 40 days, no adults — eager to prove they can build a better world for tomorrow in the new reality series KID NATION.
Settling in Bonanza City, New Mexico, once a thriving mining town but now deserted, these Kids, ages 8 to 15 and from all walks of life, will build their own new world, pioneer-style.
"Pioneer-style"! Yee haw! Sounds like summer camp, right?
Turns out, not so much:
To at least one parent of a participant, who wrote a letter of complaint to New Mexico state officials after the show had completed production, the experience bordered on abuse and neglect. Several children required medical attention after drinking bleach that had been left in an unmarked soda bottle, according to both the parent and CBS. One 11-year-old girl burned her face with splattered grease while cooking.
The children were made to haul wagons loaded with supplies for more than a mile through the New Mexico countryside, and they worked long hours -- ''from the crack of dawn when the rooster started crowing'' until at least 9:30 p.m., according to Taylor, a 10-year-old from Sylvester, Ga., who was made available by CBS to respond to questions about conditions on the set.
Wait a minute. Making kids work from the crack of dawn till 9:30 at night? Don't we have laws against that sort of thing?
We do, of course. But the producers took several steps to avoid having to deal with them. First, they chose to shoot in New Mexico rather than California, specifically because New Mexico had a loophole in its labor laws at the time:
New Mexico had passed a law limiting the number of hours each day that children could be used on a film project before production on "Kid Nation" was started. But by the time the state began its first investigation into the show, the production had ended, and state officials decided the issue was moot.
Most states have even tougher laws than New Mexico's regarding children and labor. And the attention that has swirled around "Kid Nation" could render it too hot for any state to handle, one CBS executive said.
Faced with the prospect of there not being a single state in the Union where they could legally film Kid Nation 2, the producers are threatening to take the project to Mexico, or some other country where they don't care how hard you work the young 'uns:
Asked if the show could be relocated to Mexico or elsewhere, [Kid Nation executive producer Tom] Forman said, "Nothing is off the table."
They also claimed that labor laws didn't apply to the kids in their charge, because the kids weren't technically employees. From the contract that the parents of Kid Nation participants had to sign:
Producer may award stipends to participants who have been selected to participate, and who do participate, in the Program. I acknowledge and agree that such stipend is being provided, if at all, solely for the purpose of covering the Minor's incidental expenses and is not, in any way whatsoever, a wage, salary or other indicia of employment.
See? Just because you work for us all day and we give you money in exchange, that doesn't make you an employee! Now where have I heard that before...
(The contract also says that the producers waive all liability if the kids should be killed on the set. Classy.)
All of this -- the injuries, the skirting of labor and workplace-safety laws, the charges of 12 hour plus work days -- have brought a storm of criticism to the show and the network. (AFTRA, the union that represents film and television actors, takes the charges seriously enough to have launched an investigation.)
So far, though, CBS is sticking to its plan to roll the show out on the 19th. So if you've been wondering what it would look like to see eight year old kids exploited for your entertainment, here's your chance to find out.