Tip! Parents interview the prospective nanny, and ask all of the right questions, but there is still the nagging feeling that they may not be totally honest. There is no way of knowing for sure.
In August of 2006, a Scottish family began to seek legal advice claiming that the reality television series, Super Nanny, had distorted the image of their family in order to gain higher ratings for the television show. Super Nanny herself, the British Jo Frost, was called in by the Docherty family to help organize their household, put the family on a daily schedule, and help train their rowdy, out of control children. The episode, like many other episodes, featured the family’s three young boys who kick, swear, punch and spit at their parents. The parents were depicted in a similar fashion in the episode, revealing two out of control people who scream constantly and curse at each other and their young children. After the show aired, the family claims that their neighborhood and community began shunning them because the reality show had depicted them as a dysfunctional family. The parents claim, like several other parents who have called Jo Frost into their home, that the show was edited to make them look worse than they really were — which is a typical complaint of people who participate in any type of reality program. However, the Dochertys also admit that the family is functioning much better since Jo Frost departed their household. The lawsuit is likely to be tossed out before it reaches litigation.