IF YOUR family is dysfunctional, and you're willing to let a national TV audience tut-tut over your pitiable parenting skills, "SuperNanny" wants you.
The popular ABC show is seeking Pennsylvania families willing to let the cameras roll on the chaos in their homes and anxious to lay their child-rearing sins at the sensibly shod feet of British nanny Jo Frost.
"We're going to be traveling the entire state of Pennsylvania," trying to find families for the show's sixth season, said David Tapia, casting associate for "SuperNanny."
The "SuperNanny" casting team plans to hold an open casting call Sunday, March 21, probably in the Philadelphia area; the details still are being worked out. Interested families also may apply by calling 323-904-4680, ext. 1025, or by e-mailing dtcasting@sbcglobal.net. Information also can be found on the show's Web site: abc.go.com/shows/supernanny.
 On "SuperNanny," Frost imposes order in the households of clueless parents and out-of-control, shrieking, slapping, pinching, rebellious, foul-mouthed or tantrum-prone children.
"That is unacceptable!" Frost declares, in her not-so-posh British accent, when she sees a child slap a sibling, or catches a parent slacking off. She believes in establishing family rules and routines. And she discourages spanking, preferring instead to discipline misbehaving youngsters by sending them to a designated timeout spot in the home - "the naughty stool," for instance, or a "naughty corner."
The show seeks families from every type of background, with children aged from at least 1 year to about 15. If you have multiple children, and your children have the manners of a farm animal and the self-control of Sean Penn, you probably have an edge. Applicants must complete a lengthy questionnaire, detailing the chaos in their households.
Families deemed to be promising candidates for the show are interviewed in their homes by a producer, casting associate and casting assistant.
"We never know what to expect," Tapia said, of these home visits. "We get to a house, and it's just a madhouse. ... We don't tell the children we're there for the show. We want to make sure we get the kids in their natural environment."
The show recently filmed a family in Florida. The family's 4-year-old boy screamed at a window-shattering pitch "from the moment we walked in the door to the moment we left," Tapia said, noting, "It was pretty exhausting."
He said that viewers often think that the extreme behavior they see on the show is staged. "It's actually not," he maintained. "It's the real deal. That's how these kids are."
Tapia said that families are paid when they are featured on the show, but he could not disclose the amount paid. "Believe me, they are compensated - very well, as a matter of fact," Tapia said.
Stacey Irwin, assistant professor of new media at Millersville University, noted that "SuperNanny" often features young parents, who belong to a generation familiar with reality television and televised advice shows.
So for these young parents, "going to a reality show for advice might seem normal," Irwin said.
Irwin said she doesn't have the same inclination.
"I would never want ‘SuperNanny' to come to my house," Irwin said, with a laugh. "I live my reality. I am aware of my struggles."
She said she does understand the show's appeal, though.
"I do think that a stricter Mary Poppins kind of captures something deep-seeded inside of us," she said.
When parents are swamped, and struggling to juggle so many needs and responsibilities, they may indulge in a "British nanny fantasy," and may pine for their own "personal super-nanny" to come handle things, Irwin said.
She said that parents also may "see a little bit of our own children in the children in the show."
Then there's also the schadenfreude factor - the secret enjoyment people sometimes take in watching other parents, and other parents' children, behave badly.
"What is it about the human psyche that we're this way - this, ‘Woo! We're not that bad!" Irwin said, noting that some viewers of "SuperNanny" may be thinking, "'There's somebody who's more a mess than me.'"
Draye Mowrer, a Manheim mother of four young boys, said she watches "SuperNanny" in her bedroom when her children aren't around, because she doesn't want her kids to get any ideas from the youngsters running amok on the show.
Mowrer said she thinks that most of the problems that play out on "SuperNanny" stem from the unwillingness of parents to actually parent. In her view, the parents on the show generally don't pay enough attention to their children, and they "don't want to be an adult - they want to be a friend to their kids," Mowrer said.
Mowrer said she enjoys watching "SuperNanny," but isn't entirely convinced when, at show's end, "every kid is doing exactly what he's supposed to. ... You can't turn around a kid in a short time."

Suzanne Cassidy is a staff writer for the Sunday News. Her e-mail address is scassidy@lnpnews.com.