strange
08/23/2007
"Kid Nation" Gets Too Real? CBS This Fall
Can reality TV get any more pathetic? Apparently so. Just check out the Kid Nation promo.
Here's the pitch: 40 kids, aged 8-14, are left in an abandoned frontier town, and forced to "create their own functioning economy." They cook, they clean, they vote. CBS is touting the show as a way to prove that kids can be just as miserable as your average 19th century pioneer. Awesome.
But guess what: the show's producers might have gotten a little overzealous and, dare we say, a tad exploitative. In an article that appeared yesterday as the featured story on the New York Times Web site, Kid Nation may have violated child labor labor laws. The article also brought up some disturbing aspects of the contract signed by the kids and their "parents," such as a clause that doesn't hold the network responsible if one the kids contracts HIV during filming. Good times.
Kid Nation premieres on CBS Sept. 19.
07/23/2007
Paula Abdul Has Hair and Makeup Meltdown
In this clip from the delightful Bravo series Hey Paula, America's favorite unstable singing judge learns that thanks to a snowstorm, neither her hair and makeup artist nor her "consultant" will be able to be there for her Letterman appearance. Paula's initially most concerned about Daniel, the hair and makeup artist, but it's the loss of consultant Billy that really seems to unhinge her.
Billy, apparently, basically scripts Paula's interview responses and other public appearance chatter for her. Given how often Paula's speech and behavior are rather ruthlessly mocked in the media, I can understand why she feels vulnerable without his support. Then again, given how often Paula's speech and behavior are mocked in the media, maybe Billy's support is the kind she could do without.
Paula's so unravelled here, I confess I do feel a little dirty about kicking her when she's down. Then again, given the frequent cuts to a filmed-much-later Paula cheerfully narrating the thing like it was just another day at the office, and Paula's staff displaying a complete lack of emotional response to her fit as if it's, well, just another day at the office, I'm guessing this kind of thing happens a lot around there.
