Kid Nation: Will Controversy Help or Hurt CBS's New Reality Television Show?

No show premiering this Fall season has created more controversy than CBS's "Kid Nation." And for good reason. Many believe that "Kid Nation" has pushed the reality envelope too far. CBS enlisted a number of children between the ages of eight and fifteen, and inserted them into a New Mexico ghost town, challenging them to forge a working society. Is this a high concept reality show, or a ridiculous exploitation of children? America will decide over the next several weeks. Here is a preview of "Kid Nation." Will controversy help or hurt CBS's new reality television show?

One issue that is still under investigation is whether "Kid Nation" violated New Mexico's state child labor laws. Another issue is the children's living conditions while filming "Kid Nation." Viewers have also been in an uproar over the contracts CBS had families sign regarding liability. Although they were fairly standard in the reality show industry, they had never before been applied in a situation such as this, where children would be the main attraction. And some children did get sick and injured while filming this show.

Controversy can prove to be a catalyst for viewership. Nobody can deny the power of morbid curiosity. But that only goes so far. After all, I don't think we'd all be tuning in to a new reality series called "Michael Vick's Dog Eat Dog World." And the controversy surrounding "Kid Nation" may fall along those lines. Americans can tolerate violence and humiliation and exploitation and just about anything else reality television has to offer. But there is a line drawn in the sand. And it seems the only way to cross it (other than, gasp, sex and naughty words) is to undermine children or animals.

"Kid Nation" was an awful idea from the start. And it is bound to make for awful television. Even by reality TV's low standards. But the networks are no longer in the business of making good television, are they? They are in the business of attracting viewers and sponsors and winning the ratings wars. "Kid Nation" will be up against a variety of shows, including ABC's "Pushing Up Daisies," NBC's "Deal or No Deal," and FOX's new sitcom, "Back to You," starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. Let's hope those choices are enough to steer viewers away from the most exploitative reality television show to come along since FOX's "The Littlest Groom."