From There to Here

I’ve got the same viewing preferences as The Boston Globe, apparently…

After I posted my takes on Gossip Girl (mirrors the OC) and Kid Nation (thought it was pretty good), The Boston Globe’s reporters offered their thoughts this morning.

Pop culture reporter and critic Joanna Weiss plays talks about the similarities to The OC, much like I did.

Here’s what “Gossip Girl” has that “The O.C.” started off with, too: a wisecracking loner type; a brooding leading boy; a heroine with dark secrets; a snooty but sympathetic best friend; a sarcastic but sensitive Peter Gallagheresque dad; a mother who critiques her daughter’s fashion choices; a snide king of his high school; ample opportunities to gawk at how the rich kids live.

I wonder how anyone who watched The OC could have watched this show last night and not seen a bit of Summer, Marissa, Seth, Sandy, Julie, Kirsten, et. al. in some of the characters. Some more than others, if you look at this picture.

And then Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert lambasted Kid Nation, taking it to task for some of the reasons that I liked it.

No, that racket you heard last night from 8 to 9 was not a feud between the Lullaby League and the Lollypop Guild. It was the cast of “Kid Nation,” 40 children between the ages of 8 and 15, bickering - and, in the case of at least two homesick lambs, crying - their little hearts out. Watching the CBS reality show, which premiered after months of anti-hype, was as much fun as baby-sitting overtired tots who’ve had one too many Sweet Tarts.

You never know what kids are going to say or what they’re going to do when left to their own devices. Yes, it’s not going to turn into Lord of the Flies, because of the TV cameras, and it’s not going to be a post-apocolyptic drama, but it’s a fun show for killing time on a night of television that’s not always the greatest.

And with a TiVo, it’s definitely watchable.