Kid Nation



2007 CBS Reality TV show where 40 kids aged 8-15 tried to create a functioning society by themselves. Aside from the host intervening by presenting them challenges, there was little interaction between the participants and any adults. The show was very controversial even before it premiered on TV (primarily allegations of what appeared to be child labor), and was ultimately canned on May 14, 2008.

It didn't really help that in anticipation of a Season 2, the Grand Finale destroyed the journal and town so the next group of kids would have to start from scratch (rather than, say, keeping the town and journal as a testament to history).

This show provides examples of:
"Jared: Pelvis has left the building, Baby!
 * A Child Shall Lead Them: The four members of the council.
 * Absurdly Powerful Student Council: At varying degrees, depending on which group of kids was in power.
 * And Your Reward Is Clothes: Literally. One the showdown rewards was new clothes for the kids in their district colors.
 * And Your Reward Is Edible: Also, literally. One of the other rewards was a whole truckload of fruit and veggies. There also were food rewards involving pizza, hot cocoa, hot dogs, and burgers.
 * Asian and Nerdy: Alex from Blue District. Was dubbed cute by both the pioneers and the viewers for such classic lines as "Do you think I should trust you with my atlas and my Navajo-English Dictionary?"
 * The Bully: Greg had his moments of filling this Trope.
 * Catch Phrase: Taylor. "DEAL WITH IT!"
 * Children Forced to Kill: Only chickens.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Jared had moments of going into this trope, but was harmless enough.
 * Colour Coded for Your Convenience: The four districts: Green, Yellow, Red, and Blue.
 * Coming of Age Story
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu: Did Colton just play chicken with a wild bull? Yes he did.
 * Disguised in Drag: Both Greg and Blaine did this for the talent show.
 * Exact Words: After Greg and Blaine overheard the Green district say that they would be better leaders if they just sat in the middle of town complementing people all, the next day they got DK, some chairs, and proceeded to do just that. The Green district was not amused.
 * Expy: Jonathan Karsh does his best Jeff Probst impression during the showdowns.
 * First Snow: Also the only snow that occurred.
 * Free Range Children: The kids were apparently allowed to explore the land surrounding Bonanza City freely.
 * Ghost Town: Bonanza City was this, and without the kids, has probably returned to this status.
 * Girl Posse: Taylor and the girls from Yellow District.
 * Grade School CEO: Divad and Jared both started their own businesses in town.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door: Greg goes from cussing out the other kids to comforting Taylor.
 * Historical Re Creation
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: After Alex and Jared discovered a cow skeleton in the desert, Jared gave this little gem.

Alex: (groan)

Jared: I know, it's corny."


 * Kid Samurai: YMMV, but some kids have their moments of bravery or skill: Colton (Staring down a bull and WINNING) and Hunter (Highlighting his skills with a slingshot during one of the showdowns).
 * Landslide Election: With Mike on the losing end of it.
 * Little Jimmy: Literally. The first kid to leave Bonanza city was the youngest kid in town and his name was Jimmy.
 * Little Miss Snarker: Olivia had her moments in this trope.
 * Little Professor Dialog: Alex and occasionally Jared.
 * MacGuffin: The gold stars.
 * Non Gameplay Elimination: The kids only left Bonanza if they wanted to go. Surprisingly, only 3 of the 40 kids quit.
 * No Respect Guy: Anjay. Doesn't seem to do anything blatantly wrong, but his district didn't seem to care for him at all.
 * Preachers Kid: Hunter. He even ran a small Bible study.
 * Small Town Boredom: Sophia seemed to make it her job to find ways to beat this trope.
 * Spoiled Brat: Taylor has been accused of this from her lazy behavior. Whether this is truth or the result Manipulative Editing is up to the viewer to decide.
 * Teens Are Monsters: The confrontation between the Green District and Greg, Blaine, and DK seems to fit this trope.
 * There Are No Adults: The point of the show.
 * Vagabond Buddies: Greg and Blaine. YMMV.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: But what do you expect with 40 kids?
 * Wild Teen Party: A couple of them happened at the town saloon. Similar atmosphere in the arcade.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years
 * Workaholic: Nathan.