I watched the end segment of the programme and the only ones that seemed to have some flexible coping skills were the kids. Then again, my Mum often recounts, that as kid during the Dirty Thirties, life was good as a kid, despite the occasional hunger pang and other deprivations for herself and brothers and sisters, the true hell was borne by her parents.

But the boy and his chicken stuck a chord with me too; ah, sweet childhood memories! I'm with Troll on this, as an adult, I spent two years in a one room uninsulated shack, without running water or indoor plumbing and heated only by kerosene during the three dog nights. And speaking of dogs, my fine appreciation for them, at that time, was not really determined by their personality, but by their BTU output.

There was nothing romantic about it, most of it was pure drudgery, made bearable because of the somewhat finite time limit on our living conditions. Although, looking back, we were far healthier; not one bout of a cold or the flu, and austerity has a lot to recommend it. What it does do, is give you a true appreciation of modern conveniences, with no desire to rough it any more than you have to.

Looking back also, I'm so thankful that we did not have children or livestock to attend to; then again, we probably wouldn't have done it if we had. Such were the choices of a relatively affluent time and society.

It was not surprising that the best prepared was the childless couple. Although from present practical experience, wood aside, none of their hay supplies looked all that adequate to me either, despite the proclamation to the contrary, for two of them. But then, lacking adequate pastureland, I'm always a bit paranoid about my hay supply.

As far as reality and preparedness for survival goes regarding the premise of the show, gimme a break, the out is always there, there is no psychological burden carried for the grim reality of failure. If people really wanted to see grim reality, PBS would film some inner city families, real life on a reserve in some part of Canada, or the realities of some mid-east families in the throes of war. And even then their reality would be substantially changed by the very presence of a film crew and camera. This truly wasn't much of a step up from the basic "survivor" crap that seems to be rampant on TV now; just some PBS producers desire to do a remake of "Little Hell on the Prairie."