"There's nothing here. It looks like there was something. But now it's gone. This place is dead. And we need to bring it back to life."
      - Mike, 11, Town Council, Red District

Well, we didn't get any student reviews of Kid Nation yet. I suppose the contest deadline was a little ridiculous. Sorry about that. Just trying to stay topical here. At any rate...

I really really really enjoyed the first episode of Kid Nation. Aside from the fact that I have some of the same qualms about it that others do--it's kinda messed up to drop 40 kids in the middle of nowhere and say, "OK, survive."--it's a super-duper reality show. To read some disturbing controversy about Kid Nation, click here.

It's going to be interesting to see everyone work together to make the town work. There were already problems during the first couple of days. But they all seemed to be resolved. Even Greg, the vandal, the bully, the Blue District rebel, seemed to have a change of heart at the end of the show. I guess the golden star worth $20 grand might have had something to do with his sudden urge to help out. But that's ok. Money is a great motivator. Greed, however, is not.

"I'm a beauty queen. I don't do dishes."
    - Taylor, 10, Town Council, Yellow District

Oh man, Taylor. There are no beauty queens here! Get over yourself! I'm just kidding... mostly. I'm glad she didn't decide to leave at the end of the show. The town council would have fallen apart if she did. Not because she's a great leader or anything... but leaders need to stay in place or else your nation falls apart. No matter how terrible a job you're doing. Ahem. I think Taylor's going to end up turning it around herself. I really think she's going to step up before the end of the show and show what she's made of. Go Taylor!

I was sad to see Jimmy leave. At only 8 years old, he was the youngest kid on the show and also the only one to choose to leave the town at the end. Oh well.

Kudos to Sophia (Green District) for winning the gold star!

Best quote of the night was when the town council chose to keep seven new outhouses over a television set:

"We got the Port-O-Potties! Yah!"
     - Jared, 11, Red District

Question: If they had chosen to take the TV, what kind of reception would they have had? I have a feeling nothing. They'd probably be watching 24 hours of snow and fuzz a day... not to mention pooping in the road.

OK, that's my silly review. It's not very good but the show was!

Here is WORD's gold star to you -- the deadline is null and void. Send your review of any Kid Nation episode this season to word@weeklyreader.com and we'll post the best up here on our humble bloggy. The first one we post still gets the tee shirt. It's not worth $20,000 but it has a cute doggy on it.

OK, now here's Jared doing some Shakespeare...