The Baby Borrowers (commercial, tv show, filmed, television)

[Nelly Nomad]

Upcoming show in NBC. Premise: teen couples "borrow" babies (and other family members in turn) for a taste of real-life caregiving. I *think* the idea is to convince the teens in question (and any other teens watching) that caring for babies 24/7 is a lot of work. Not all fun and games, like babysitting.

My biggest concern about the show is: what kind of parents would give up their babies for this experiment? Did they literally turn their infants over to teens (children, themselves), lock, stock and barrel for a week or two? As a parent, I would never, ever have even considered such a proposition, even for millions and millions of dollars. My precious was far too... precious for me to consider something like that.

I just hope "No babies were harmed in the process of making this show". Of course, we might not know for years how being separated from their families (if indeed they were) might affect them, will we? (Edit to add: Just had another thought -- there are laws regarding how many hours a baby can be on set. Will the teens be borrowing multiple babies? How will the teens be able to adjust to 20 different children with 20 different personalities?)

My secondary concern is: surely this is going to be semi-scripted (as all "reality" shows are, to a certain extent). It will be edited to show what the producers want to show. (Edit to add: if they have to swap out babies every several hours, won't that affect the outcome of the show?)

What are your thoughts? Is this another case of sacrificing common sense for ratings?

[FlourChild]

Originally Posted by Nelly Nomad

Upcoming show in NBC. Premise: teen couples "borrow" babies (and other family members in turn) for a taste of real-life caregiving. I *think* the idea is to convince the teens in question (and any other teens watching) that caring for babies 24/7 is a lot of work. Not all fun and games, like babysitting.

My biggest concern about the show is: what kind of parents would give up their babies for this experiment? Did they literally turn their infants over to teens (children, themselves), lock, stock and barrel for a week or two? As a parent, I would never, ever have even considered such a proposition, even for millions and millions of dollars. My precious was far too... precious for me to consider something like that.

I just hope "No babies were harmed in the process of making this show". Of course, we might not know for years how being separated from their families (if indeed they were) might affect them, will we?

My secondary concern is: surely this is going to be semi-scripted (as all "reality" shows are, to a certain extent). It will be edited to show what the producers want to show.

What are your thoughts? Is this another case of sacrificing common sense for ratings?

Is any TV show anything OTHER than sacrificing common sense for ratings? (Not trying to be nasty here, but let's face it.) The first thought I had was that any teen watching would probably just think "Screw it. I'm getting an abortion."

[HDL]

YESTERDAY !!!!

It was filmed in my neighborhood last summer and for about 4 days a helicopter kept flying directly overhead taking aerial shots of the location!!! It was quite annoying and for awhile there, I thought that I was back in CA, with the Sheriffs' helicopter out searching for criminals !! I was HAPPY to hear that was NOT the case and to finally get relief from all that incessant noise !!!

Anyways, I heard that the show goes from babies, to toddlers, to teens, to seniors, as far as the teens learning responsibility for other human beings . This was in a recent commercial that I saw and I don't remember it being the exact same premise as when they were doing previews of the show in January this year.

As far as the welfare of the babies, I heard that the parents were watching in the whole time on monitors just in case anything happened. But this isn't really much different than when people have the neighbor child babysit for them on Saturday night (imho). I plan to watch the show and see what scenes I can recognize. I sure hope that it turns out good !!

Happy Viewing ALL !!!

[Bostonredsock5]

I have a six month old, if there is anything more that could turn kids off to having kids at a young age it's taking care of one. Sleep HA I dont get any. I think if kids had to raise a baby it would be a wake up call to them

[eggalegga]

I'll tune it for at least one episode then make my decision as to whether I'll continue to watch.

Some shows looks like keepers until you watch them and they're not at all what you expected.

[MooksterL1]

I have a 2.5 year old I would like to volunteer for this show. I can't think of a better form of birth control really.

[pmichellej]

I think the parents who lent out the kids were on set the whole time and got to watch. I bet they felt good about helping out this this experiment. I really think it's a good idea to show teens the real deal with having a kid. i think there's a trend for the teens to think they can handle it. I bet they will be showing this show in sex ed classes all over the u.s.. before you judge the show harshly maybe you should go to the website and watch some clips.

[aragx6]

When does this thing air? I feel like I saw commercials for it long ago (it probably didn't get shown because the writer's strike ended and the good shows came back) and now they've started again.

It's hard not laugh when that announcer says "It's not reality television; it's birth control" Good stuff.

[Think86]

Yeah, that's a good tag line, because it isn't televisions!

[jjrocker]

I think that this show is necessary with all the rises in teen pregnancy.