(S01E01) After all of the controversy, CBS aired its premiere episode of Kid Nation tonight. Much ado about nothing, I say! Not that the show is nothing. I found it interesting and refreshing from so many of the other shows on the air these days. Well, at least the shows in the reality genre.

After all the brouhahas about child labor, child abuse, crying children ... well, to me, this didn't quite live up to all the controversy surrounding it. Instead I found it to be the kind of show both children and adults can watch together. Although it's touted as "40 children, 40 days, no adults" -- the kids themselves say there were more adults than children on site. Perhaps that doesn't speak much for the "reality" aspect, but the safety issues seem well-covered.

As if allegations of abuse and breaking child labor laws wasn't enough, now producers of CBS's new reality show Kid Nation are facing another charge: faking some of the show.

Parents of some of the kids involved with the show have secretly told the BizParentz Foundation and A Minor Consideration (the organization run by former Donna Reed Show star Paul Petersen) that their kids were not only asked to repeat and re-film some scenes of the show, they were actually fed dialogue to say during certain scenes. The parents say that crew members have confirmed the coaching.

Of course, this isn't a new charge. TV shows like Survivor and some of the dating shows have been accused of this in the past as well. I think this will only be surprising to people who actually think that reality TV is actually "real."

[via TV Tattle]