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"We began screening an early cut of Kid Nation to clients and agencies this week, and the program has been well received. We will continue the screenings next week. We believe that the issues raised about Kid Nation will be resolved when the viewing public sees the first episode on September 19."
Apparently CBS released this statement to a handful of reporters late last week. Interestingly, its content -- and the fact that the press has yet to see even a rough cut of a show that should have been available back in June -- would seem to support the assertion I made in my column that the network is "skillfully fanning the flames of [the] media firestorm" that is raging over this program.

According to the statement, even more advertising executives will have the opportunity to see Kid Nation this week. Since CBS is putting out word that they are responding favorably to the show, I urge any advertisers who have seen it -- or anyone who watches it during the next few days -- to contact me and let me know what you think. With your permission, I will publish your comments on www.jackmyers.com with or without your name attached.

Unfortunately, it's not the kind of advance awareness a network hopes for when promoting a freshman series.

I'm speaking, of course, about Kid Nation, the CBS reality show set to premiere on September 19. The network is currently under attack from every direction, pounded with accusations of child abuse, child neglect, child manipulation and general all around deviousness.

Actually, I don't think CBS is reeling from any of this. In fact, I think the network is skillfully fanning the flames of this media firestorm. As you read this, CBS is recruiting children for a second season of Kid Nation on its Web site -- before anyone has even seen the first.

Earnhardt had died on February 18 of that year during the Daytona 500 when his car crashed into a wall in front of thousands of horrified fans at the track and millions of devastated racing enthusiasts watching on television. He was 49 at the time. It wasn't Earnhardt's first crash, and at first it didn't appear to be his worst. As seen in this film, Earnhardt had crashed in July 1982 at Pocono Raceway, leaving his car so thoroughly demolished that it was considered a miracle when he emerged from the wreckage with only a broken leg. He suffered another seismic crash in July 1996 at Talladega Speedway, in which he hit a wall at 190 mph. He was on his feet immediately following that crash, too.

The observational reality series Life of Ryan, which debuted this week as the network's chosen companion to its soaring smash The Hills (new episodes of both shows debut every Monday at 10 and 10:30 p.m., respectively), brings some much needed balance to MTV's increasingly distressing output of shows about egregiously self-obsessed teens and twenty-somethings. If extraterrestrials were to access MTV and conclude that the vapid yappy young people in such shows as My Super Sweet 16, The Real World and The Hills represent all earthlings they likely would not hesitate to vaporize the lot of us, if only to restore order to the cosmos.

That 17.2 million viewers watched HSM2 is mighty impressive, but it seems a rather conservative figure, given the fact that so many kids and 'tweens watched with other children, not to mention teenagers and adults who may or may not want to admit their fondness for the High School franchise. I wonder: Would the audience have been so large had HSM2 debuted on Disney's big broadcast sibling, ABC? The fall season and the start of the school year are fast approaching. What would have happened had ABC kicked off its premiere week with this movie? Equal success? Bigger numbers? Or would it have under-performed, since the millions of children and 'tweens who have embraced HSM (and all things Disney) are largely unfamiliar with the broadcast networks. And while we're on the subject, in the interest of long-term planning should the broadcasters do something about that?

CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves isn't worried about the state of broadcast television. Not audience erosion, nor competition from the Internet, nor the impact of DVRs on commercial viewing. In fact, he remains one of broadcast's biggest champions, despite increased competition from other media.

Those are the words of Sharrell Shaw, whose husband, SSGT Alan W. Shaw of the United States Army, was killed in action on February 9 of this year. Mrs. Shaw's remarks are part of a brief tribute to her late husband that will be telecast on the Military Channel this Saturday, one of many dedicated to fallen soldiers that the network will run throughout the day.

BACK: MONIQUE COLEMAN; ZAC EFRON; RICH ROSS, PRESIDENT, DISNEY CHANNEL WORLDWIDE; ASHLEY TISDALE; ANNE SWEENEY,CO-CHAIR & PRESIDENT DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP; KAYCEE STROH; GARY MARSH, PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT, DISNEY CHANNEL WORLDWIDE; VANESSA HUDGENS; OLESYA RULIN
FRONT: RYNE SANBORN; KENNY ORTEGA; LUCAS GRABEEL; CHRIS WARREN, JR.

We're two days away from what may be the most eagerly anticipated telecast of the year -- Disney Channel's High School Musical 2, the not-too-long awaited sequel to last year's unexpected blockbuster. Among kids and tweens it's going to be even more popular than the year's other giant TV entertainment event, the season finale last May of American Idol. I suspect it's going to appeal to millions of teens and young adults, and adults who are young at heart, as well.

I can't think of anything negative to say about this fine program -- but after watching the first two parts I'm really fed up with the network's presentation of it.

But I think the strangest trip inside television that I have ever undertaken occurred just a couple of weeks ago, when I toured CBS' Big Brother house in Los Angeles during the second full week of its current season.

I can sum it up in two words: "Human zoo."

It wasn’t all that difficult to come to that conclusion while wandering the aisles and hallways of the massive convention center in San Diego last weekend during Comic-Con.