A Look Back At The Wackiest Reality Shows From The 2000s

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

"Survivor" wasn't the first reality show, but as The Washington Post noted, it was one of the earliest and most influential in shaping the kinds of reality television that would follow. One such experiment that owed a debt to "Survivor" was "Kid Nation," a 2007 CBS show that lifted "Survivor's" idea of putting a bunch of people in a remote location and watching as they develop a society and compete for resources. One major problem, though; the contestants were children.

As you might imagine, "Kid Nation" was a hugely controversial series. LA Weekly ran an op-ed demanding it be pulled from the schedule. Citing other pieces of criticism, the outlet noted a general sense that, as reality TV ran amok, we needed to "reestablish the line between entertainment and exploitation." It turned out that there were numerous problems on the show, as feared. Amid allegations of child abuse and labor law violations (investigations into these claims were eventually dropped), there were various injuries, and perhaps even more concerning, according to The New York Times, several kids on the show accidentally drank bleach. As BuzzFeed recalled in a roundup of wildest moments, there was even an incident where a kid killed two chickens for food, and another asked, "Are they, like, going to hang them like they did Saddam Hussein?" Ah, the 2000s.

However, despite all of the controversy and eventual cancellation, some of the kids had a blast. In 2020, former contestant Laurel McGoff insisted to the AV Club, "My experience on the show was the ultimate best experience of my life."

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

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