The reason that this show exists is really quite simple. You serve the masses the low brow entertainment of watching kids behave badly, and then you double their pleasure by playing into their need for authority as we have some crazy lady come in and reign the wicked little things in. It is Trash TV, plain and simple, so while I stared blankly at the TV for an hour and wasn't bored I also knew that I certainly wasn't being nourished. It also goes without saying that the profession of Supernanny is totally made up. Even more fantasy based is this notion that someone can just come in and fix years worth of parenting problems by making the parents participate in kindergarten like exercises ("Carry this backpack around, it symbolizes the weight Mom carries around everyday.") I also found it to be pretty darn odious that the kid was seen as blameless. In the episode I watched Supernanny must have uttered the phrase ADHD a thousand times in justifying the kids behavior. That is fine, but, to then take all the blame and place it at the feet of the dad, and to say that all this is his fault because after exerting himself all day he is going upstairs and decompressing for too long is the kind of bargain basement theorizing I would expect from a network reality TV show in the year 2007. Maybe Mom should be a working girl on the side, you know, to bring some extra cash in and help Dad out. Or maybe (and this is almost a guarantee) if Dad is not allowed to relax after work at home then he might move his R&R location to the local watering hole.
I also couldn't help but feel scorn for the people of this country who watch this week after week. "Freaks and Geeks": one season. "The Comeback": one season. "Supernanny": continuing to thrive well into its second season, as sad as it is this is what we like to watch. I would say that the most important lesson I learned here was never to have kids. Of course I swore off reproducing years ago, but this show made certain that I didn't get an unwelcome visit from my biological ticking clock in a couple years. If I had to pick a positive I guess I would say that at least my friend Supernanny preached a message of positive thinking. The elimination of parents who push negativity towards their children's homework will do wonders for the kids view of homework. In the end, this show kind of sucks. Just another example of fools who are more than happy to air their dirty laundry in the name of getting their ugly mugs on TV. It is sad and disturbing. It is the kind of slop Oprah used to roll around in before she went into bigger goals like encouraging America to read (God Bless Her) and swaying Presidential politics. Supernanny is egotistical, longwinded, and not too bright. . .and so is "Supernanny." I'll watch the show again if I get the promise that the episode involves the kids beating her at every turn, outsmarting her and her elementary tactics, to the point where she is forced to hang up her cape out of frustration.
I also couldn't help but feel scorn for the people of this country who watch this week after week. "Freaks and Geeks": one season. "The Comeback": one season. "Supernanny": continuing to thrive well into its second season, as sad as it is this is what we like to watch. I would say that the most important lesson I learned here was never to have kids. Of course I swore off reproducing years ago, but this show made certain that I didn't get an unwelcome visit from my biological ticking clock in a couple years. If I had to pick a positive I guess I would say that at least my friend Supernanny preached a message of positive thinking. The elimination of parents who push negativity towards their children's homework will do wonders for the kids view of homework. In the end, this show kind of sucks. Just another example of fools who are more than happy to air their dirty laundry in the name of getting their ugly mugs on TV. It is sad and disturbing. It is the kind of slop Oprah used to roll around in before she went into bigger goals like encouraging America to read (God Bless Her) and swaying Presidential politics. Supernanny is egotistical, longwinded, and not too bright. . .and so is "Supernanny." I'll watch the show again if I get the promise that the episode involves the kids beating her at every turn, outsmarting her and her elementary tactics, to the point where she is forced to hang up her cape out of frustration.