The hot new trend in the reality TV space can be summed up in one word: kids. The Hollywood Reporter notes that children are the unifying theme in the latest unscripted hits, NBC’s “Little Big Shots” and Fox’s “MasterChef Junior.”
The story reports that children virtually disappeared from reality TV after CBS’s “Kid Nation” went awry back in 2007, with youngsters suffering injuries, critics accusing the network of exploitation and advertisers distancing themselves from what the network considered a “social experiment.”
But now the pendulum appears to be swinging back the other way. THR notes that Fox has “So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation” in the works, while Nickelodeon is readying “Lip Sync Battle Jr.” for a May 30 premiere.
The new shows, the story reports, take a much different approach than CBS tried with “Kid Nation” — “The secret to their success: Ditch the risky storylines and overbearing stage moms (think ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ and ‘Dance Moms’), and just let kids be kids.”
We encourage readers to click on the link near the top of this story to read THR’s full report.
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