Critic Reviews
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53
Metascore
Mixed or Average
positive
6(21%)
mixed
14(50%)
negative
8(29%)
Showing 14 Critic Reviews
80
Like any good reality show, Kid Nation's strengths are in its characters, and the most remarkable aspect of these characters so far is their intellectual superiority to adults on reality shows--they use big words and make funny jokes!
70
As you might expect from a program that stars 40 kids--at least some of whom will say the darndest things--it is pretty delightful
70
Games of make-believe might be useful, but otherwise, playtime is just a dangerous fantasy that gives children the illusion that their lives won't be a living hell when they grow up. Is that really fair? That's why it's so satisfying to watch as the kids realize that they have to work, and work is hard.
63
What Kid Nation lacks, however, is drama. With a cast of 40, it's hard for viewers to get attached to any of them long enough to care.
63
It's a good kid show, but frankly, as an adult I'll lose interest faster than it took these kids to make gourmet biscuits and grits.
60
There was one brief shoving match on the program, in which a 15 year old "got in the face" of an 11 year old, but most of the program was pretty sedate, if not a bit bland.
60
CBS, which had promoted the show as almost exactly that ["Lord of the Flies" for voyeurs], backed down, explaining that Kid Nation was really more of a 40-day character-building exercise, like Outward Bound, but with camera crews and off-camera supervisors. And of course, it turned out to be a little of both, but mostly neither.
50
Would the creators of Kid Nation please go to their room for a time-out and come up with something more original?
50
It's a mildly entertaining reality series designed to encourage controversy to draw viewers and goose ratings.
50
Kid Nation does not mean to find out whether kids can do what adults could not. It means instead to demonstrate that these kids really would die without the intervention of adults.
