That starts with a tag line for the show: "Forty kids. One town. No adults."

No adults? In truth, says executive producer Tom Forman, there were hundreds.

"It's still television," says Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. "You had nutritionists. You had paramedics. You had psychologists. You had a full support staff."

Adults controlled so much, including contests, that people may wonder what kids did.

Plenty, insisted host Jonathan Karsh.

"I was floored every day, just by watching these kids get up, light a pioneer-era, wood-burning stove, cook a breakfast for 40, do their own dishes, head out to the water pump, get water and bring it back. Just the experiment of the kids living in this world was fascinating to me."

The idea was to avoid the usual reality-show patterns, Forman says. "We started talking about how you could make a show that had the unpredictable excitement of the first cycle of 'Survivor.' "

From there, critics argue, decisions were made for the convenience of TV: Parents signed contracts, giving away rights. Copies of those contracts, later obtained by www.thesmokinggun.com and The New York Times, stated the producers and network couldn't be sued if a child died, was severely injured or contracted a sexually transmitted disease. They also stated tapes could be edited "to achieve a humorous or satirical effect."

Once there, the kids had no protection from New Mexico's labor department. Carlos Castaneda, spokesman for the department, told reporters that inspectors visited three times but were turned away.

Producers argued that this was similar to a summer camp, not a labor situation. Each kid received $5,000. During each episode, one child received a prize worth about $20,000.

Parents said several kids accidentally drank bleach and one burned her face with cooking grease. They also said kids were sometimes asked to repeat lines for the camera.

This adds up to a rarity — a CBS show that stirs emotion.

That was the idea, Tassler says, to "do something different and try and reach out and have people talk about the show. Which is what's happening."