The Baby Borrowers-NBC New Show

[jon1856]

Without really understanding or fully knowing about this show, I touched upon it in the News section's thread about the kids having kids story.

I thought I should look at it a bit more in detail.
While I am not comfortable with it as a reality/game show, I do think it has some possiblities as a warning to kids.

From the NBC site:
NBC's upcoming reality series "The Baby Borrowers" is an intriguing new social experiment based on the hit British program that asks five diverse teenage couples -- ages 18-20 -- to fast-track to adulthood by setting up a home, getting a job and becoming caring parents first to babies, toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teenagers and senior citizens -- all over the course of three weeks.
As the social experiment begins, the five young volunteer couples are asked to literally grow up overnight when they are each given a home in a quiet cul-de-sac outside Boise, Idaho and attend pre-natal classes as each "mother" wears a simulated "empathy" belly to prepare them for the arrival of their "baby."
When a real baby (all aged six-11 months old) appears at their door -- courtesy of five pairs of real volunteer parents (some of whom were teen parents themselves) who entrust their infants to one of the couples -- the nervous, fumbling teens are in for three long, arduous days that make chilling out a distant memory. They must stick to rigid routines, handle the feeding chores, diaper duty and crying jags that might be shared by baby and teens -- all the while under 24-hour supervision by nannies and the real parents who are stationed next door, watching via monitor, and able to step in at any time. Plus, one teen from each of the couples must start a job, ranging from working in a local vet's office to a lumberyard, leaving the other alone as caregiver for the day.
After three surprising, intense days, each teen couple will bid bye-bye to the baby and receive a toddler as their fast-forward adult life progresses. They will have to cope with typical "terrible twos" behavior, including pouty tantrums, potty training and other messes. Three days later, the weary couples must face the reality of parenting several sassy pre-teens/"tweeners" at once -- each with a family pet in tow, adding to their responsibilities.
Seventy-two hours later, the teenagers arrive, thereby perhaps providing them with a mirror image of their own recent relationships with their parents. To complete the cycle of life, the experiment ends with as couples are graced with the opportunity to care for a senior citizen, including some with health issues, who represent what might be in store for them in the distant future.
Through this emotional, dramatic journey, each young couple will get a unique opportunity to peer into the future and see what they (and their partners) might be like if they remain together and decide to build a family. Tested by the everyday ups and downs of taking care of others and maintaining a relationship, most of the teens find themselves looking at all of their relationships and notions of parenthood in a new light.
"The Baby Borrowers" is produced by Love Productions. Richard McKerrow (the U.K.'s "Cirque de Celebrite") and Tom Shelly ("Survivor") are executive producers.
Main page site:
http://www.nbc.com/The_Baby_Borrowers/index.shtml

[tld221]

Originally Posted by jon1856

Without really understanding or fully knowing about this show, I touched upon it in the News thread about the kids having kids thread.

I thought I should look at it a bit more in detail.
While I am not comfortable with it as a reality/game show, I do think it has some possiblities as a warning to kids.

From the NBC site:
NBC's upcoming reality series "The Baby Borrowers" is an intriguing new social experiment based on the hit British program that asks five diverse teenage couples -- ages 18-20 -- to fast-track to adulthood by setting up a home, getting a job and becoming caring parents first to babies, toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teenagers and senior citizens -- all over the course of three weeks.
As the social experiment begins, the five young volunteer couples are asked to literally grow up overnight when they are each given a home in a quiet cul-de-sac outside Boise, Idaho and attend pre-natal classes as each "mother" wears a simulated "empathy" belly to prepare them for the arrival of their "baby."
When a real baby (all aged six-11 months old) appears at their door -- courtesy of five pairs of real volunteer parents (some of whom were teen parents themselves) who entrust their infants to one of the couples -- the nervous, fumbling teens are in for three long, arduous days that make chilling out a distant memory. They must stick to rigid routines, handle the feeding chores, diaper duty and crying jags that might be shared by baby and teens -- all the while under 24-hour supervision by nannies and the real parents who are stationed next door, watching via monitor, and able to step in at any time. Plus, one teen from each of the couples must start a job, ranging from working in a local vet's office to a lumberyard, leaving the other alone as caregiver for the day.
After three surprising, intense days, each teen couple will bid bye-bye to the baby and receive a toddler as their fast-forward adult life progresses. They will have to cope with typical "terrible twos" behavior, including pouty tantrums, potty training and other messes. Three days later, the weary couples must face the reality of parenting several sassy pre-teens/"tweeners" at once -- each with a family pet in tow, adding to their responsibilities.
Seventy-two hours later, the teenagers arrive, thereby perhaps providing them with a mirror image of their own recent relationships with their parents. To complete the cycle of life, the experiment ends with as couples are graced with the opportunity to care for a senior citizen, including some with health issues, who represent what might be in store for them in the distant future.
Through this emotional, dramatic journey, each young couple will get a unique opportunity to peer into the future and see what they (and their partners) might be like if they remain together and decide to build a family. Tested by the everyday ups and downs of taking care of others and maintaining a relationship, most of the teens find themselves looking at all of their relationships and notions of parenthood in a new light.
"The Baby Borrowers" is produced by Love Productions. Richard McKerrow (the U.K.'s "Cirque de Celebrite") and Tom Shelly ("Survivor") are executive producers.
Main page site:
http://www.nbc.com/The_Baby_Borrowers/index.shtml

based on this description, i definitely think the "contestants" should be younger (14-17) but i can understand legal issues and all (then again if Kid Nation happened, why not?) and the rest of the country is not Boise, Idaho. Or maybe it is, being that NYC is definitely nothing like the rest of the countr and thats kinda all i know.

But i DO like that the contestants "kids" will "age" through the show every couple days.

Of course this show wont be perfect, but a good glimpse of what the show's aim is. I do think it will be like that show "Black.White" that was on FX a couple years back--groundbreaking and create a buzz, and then it will disappear because, naturally, the public is not ready to face these things.

[honeychile]

I'm impressed so far. I'm so glad that the real parents are monitoring the situation (no way would I just hand over my child for more than a few hours!), and also that they had to do the very basics like putting the cribs together etc. Can't wait to see next week's episode!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by honeychile

I'm impressed so far. I'm so glad that the real parents are monitoring the situation (no way would I just hand over my child for more than a few hours!

Yeah I was relieved to see this too. There were a couple of situations that could've been bad if someone hadn't come over to tell them what they were doing wrong, like when the one girl just decided to stop feeding the baby because he was crying. The kid probably wouldn't have eaten the rest of the day if no one was around to tell her that whether he's crying or not, he still needs to eat.

This was the same girl who after the mom intervened, got an attitude and decided that she wasn't going to take care of the baby anymore because she "got yelled at." That just shows her age I guess.

I'm really surprised at how in-depth the show gets, like they not only have to take care of the kid, but they had to go out and find/buy the baby supplies, and they have to decide who will work and who will stay at home.

I seriously hope that none of them want a baby after this, although I honestly think that at that age, they don't actually want a baby, they're just into the "idea" of having one because they don't know what it actually entails.

[sjsoffer]

We talked about this in my human sexuality class yesterday and I thought the idea seemed very interesting, since obviously teenagers watching will get to see how difficult it is, even though they're not experiencing it themselves.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by sjsoffer

We talked about this in my human sexuality class yesterday and I thought the idea seemed very interesting, since obviously teenagers watching will get to see how difficult it is, even though they're not experiencing it themselves.

thats another thing - are teens actually watching this show? id imagine the viewers are either adults who are freaking out about their own kids or potentially teens who arent even THINKING about having children.

I missed it last night on purpose, but the BF watched it, and he kept going off about it.

I let him know that if a show's going to make your blood boil like that, it's probably not a good idea to watch it. Hopefully he's learned his lesson.

[tld221]

i think it would be really awesome if they syndicated this show on The N.

Originally Posted by tld221

i think it would be really awesome if they syndicated this show on The N.

LOL. At first I was like but 2 seconds later, I got it.

I'm very slow this morning.

[tld221]

if anyone is interested, We network is airing it now, and again at 11pm eastern.

this girl that wont wear the belly, they should kick her off the show. shes lame.

[Tippiechick]

I seriously want to yell, "Grow the hell up." These little girls don't have any clue. Most of them are so self-absorbed. IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU, GIRLIES.

[adpi*violet]

I watched it last night... I agree with everyone else about the self-absorbed teenager assessment. The two girls who I thought needed the most to suck-it-up and grow-up were the one who wouldn't wear the belly and the one who got "thinks" she got "yelled" at for not feeding the baby and then sulked the rest of the show.
They did sign up for the show. They need to fulfill their commitments. How much did they know ahead of time what they would be getting themselves into anyways?

[RedefinedDiva]

The thing that I find most interesting is that the GIRLS want the babies and the boyfriends were just playing along, but it has actually resulted in the BOYS being the one doing all the learning, growing, etc., with the exception of the African-American couple that have been working together well.

I was FURIOUS with the girl that refused to feed the baby and then got an attitude when she was instructed on what to do. In fact, I didn't find what the mother said to be anything out of order. Had it been MY baby, I guarantee that the results would have been MUCH different....

I was equally upset with the girl who refused to wear the belly because her clothes didn't look right. :roll eyes: Um, hello sweetie! You can't detach a REAL belly! I'm guessing she thinks that she'll have finely tailored maternity wear when she gets pregnant and will look like Halle Berry or Angelina Jolie. Then, she was angry when the baby didn't take to her because she has so much "babysitting" experience. Yeah, that makes EVERYONE a good mother.... :roll eyes:

These girls think that it's all fun and games, expecially the one that wanted the baby to wake up so that she could play because she was BORED. Once the baby was awake and didn't want to be bothered, she wished the baby would go to sleep! She didn't even use her time wisely. While the baby was asleep and she was BORED while her boyfriend was at the store, she could read the manual, washed the bottles, and prepared for the situation.

This show should let them know that they are TOTALLY immature and SOOOOO not ready for babies. I can't wait until next week because little Ms. I-Don't-Like-To-Be-Yelled-At doesn't seem to cut it at work either. She's a spoiled brat.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by RedefinedDiva

This show should let them know that they are TOTALLY immature and SOOOOO not ready for babies. I can't wait until next week because little Ms. I-Don't-Like-To-Be-Yelled-At doesn't seem to cut it at work either. She's a spoiled brat.

I love how she immediately volunteered to be the one to work because she thinks it will be easier. It doesn't look like it. I honestly don't know how she got it in her head that she wanted a baby because she seems like a real little brat.

Some of the things they say just really show their age, such as:

"Well fine you can starve!" (Miss Brat when the baby wouldn't eat)

"I'm not taking care of the baby anymore." (Miss Brat after she got yelled at)

"Just put it in the crib and shut the door, it's just going to cry anyway!" (The one girl's bf when the baby wouldn't stop crying at night)

"I'm pissed because the baby likes him better than me, that's not fair." (girl when her bf got the baby to quiet down and take a bottle when she couldn't)

I babysit alot for my nephew and I noticed that alot of what they don't know is pretty basic stuff like, the baby needs to have a bath, get in her pjs, and get a new diaper before bed. Or that babies don't like a whole lot of excitement when they're upset and you need to talk softly to them, or even that you should prepare bottles and food IN ADVANCE so you don't have to scramble to make it while the kid is screaming for food.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I love how she immediately volunteered to be the one to work because she thinks it will be easier. It doesn't look like it. I honestly don't know how she got it in her head that she wanted a baby because she seems like a real little brat.

Some of the things they say just really show their age, such as:

"Well fine you can starve!" (Miss Brat when the baby wouldn't eat)

"I'm not taking care of the baby anymore." (Miss Brat after she got yelled at)

"Just put it in the crib and shut the door, it's just going to cry anyway!" (The one girl's bf when the baby wouldn't stop crying at night)

"I'm pissed because the baby likes him better than me, that's not fair." (girl when her bf got the baby to quiet down and take a bottle when she couldn't)

I babysit alot for my nephew and I noticed that alot of what they don't know is pretty basic stuff like, the baby needs to have a bath, get in her pjs, and get a new diaper before bed. Or that babies don't like a whole lot of excitement when they're upset and you need to talk softly to them, or even that you should prepare bottles and food IN ADVANCE so you don't have to scramble to make it while the kid is screaming for food.

funny cause those things apply to people regardless of age. i know i like a clean change of clothes and a bath before bed. and i definitely know i like my food prepared before i get hungry beyond belief. plus, who wants to play with toys and what not when youre upset?

i really didnt think these kids would crack in the first episode. but yeah theyre remarks and reactions are clearly showing their age, and furthermore, lack of common sense. i NEVER wanted a baby at that age, and years later, still dont, because im not that selfless. and none of these teenagers (or any teenager, really) are selfless, in this age of instant gratification.

what do you mean the kid doesnt want to eat? or wont shut up when i tell it to? wait, i gotta change its clothes? why cant he bathe himself?