THE MARKET: Will “Baby Borrowers” on NBC make it to a fifth episode? The reality show will premiere on Wednesday, June 25, at 8 p.m. ET and run weekly in that timeslot. Trading will close after a third episode is aired. If a fifth episode airs, shares are worth $100. If it doesn’t, they’re worth $0. See TV confirmation guidelines.
THE DATA: Ever since last fall Love Productions’ “Baby Borrowers” has been on radar screens as a potential midseason replacement on NBC. Then midseason came – and then the writer’s strike – and still no debut. It hardly spells confidence, but co-executive producer Tom Shelly (an architect of “Survivor”) may prevent this reality series from being stillborn.
OUR TAKE: NBC takes the concept for “Baby Borrowers” from a successful BBC series, marking yet another summer reality import from abroad, much like Germany’s “Wanna Bet” and “I Survived a Japanese Game Show.” The concept? “It’s not TV, it’s birth control.” In essence the show takes impressionable high-school couples and saddles them with child. So while “Kid Nation” settled for exploiting young children, “Borrowers” picks up the bookends and goes after both teens and newborns. It’s tough to get canceled in summer – but “Baby Borrowers” could very well defy the odds. – Earl Monroe

LEARN MORE:
See the “Baby Borrowers” Home Page.