Wellfleet

No kidding. Apparently TLC was not even smart enough to bring in a new - and competent - production team for these new specials. I'm not trained in journalism or TV production in any way, but having watched the Duggars for 10 years, I feel like I've taken a class in What Not to Do. I bet I - or any of us here - could plan and put together a more cohesive, articulate and interesting program than the people they have doing it now. Truly pathetic.

Oh right, those donut burgers [yuck]. Also Derick, Josh has been eating Anna's very processed, very fatty cooking for going on 6 years. And a good deal of fast food. And he's a load - we mustn't forget that. I think Josh's been training for the Olympic lazy team ever since he got married.

Awesome post. And spot-on correct too, IMO.

Oh, I'm sure Boob was all kinds of excited at all the fun things he'd be able to do with his son the Cop. I think he probably had - maybe even still has - some plans in that regard. Hasn't he handled some tenant issues in the past by threatening them with the fact that he's friends with at least one judge in the area, etc?

I think the girls spoke so slowly because they had to carefully compose what to say in their heads, mindful of all Boob's admonitions. Be sure to get this across but definitely DO NOT say this... etc etc. I'd be nervous and stumbling too - if my every syllable was being critiqued back by the Big Giant Boob.

I thought use of the word dangerous was inaccurate and a little heavy-handed too. I wonder whose idea it was to suddenly play that up. My $$ is on Boob first, and TLC second. I don't remember hearing the word anytime the family did missions in the past. But of course now we suddenly need a plotline and anything that could generate interest is going to be cool with both those parties.

JD and Joseph have both had a lot of contact with human beings who aren't their family. Joseph's been attending college, and JD meets the public in his rent-a-cop job. This has got to account - to some extent at least - for the fact that they're so much more articulate than their sibs.

The lost money - and the embarrassment. They've been humiliated from coast to coast. Josh did that too.

All the teen-or-older Duggar females seem to wear a lot of makeup. But I do wonder - are they professionally-made up for filming? I've never noticed a hair/makeup person in the credits but then I've never looked either. I've been assuming they do it all themselves. One more fundie rule - "strangers cannot touch countenances" or something equally-goofy.

Personally, I think Josh needs to see these specials - and I hope he does. And if it's difficult for him, good. Criticism from his family could well be the only thing to get his attention at this point. That makes him realize he has real problems and that he might even need REAL help for them - and not just endless prayer and Bible-thumping. If he had strep throat - or heart disease, he'd see a doctor as quickly as anyone else. Why is it that fundies can't see that mental-psychological-emotional problems need the same kind of treatment, by qualified professionals? Boob believes that Jesus sent TLC to them, to make them TV stars, to make them rich etc. This he believes beyond any doubt. Why couldn't Jesus have created - through education - clinical psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists to provide help with emotional problems?

Solidly-agree. I was trying to imagine how I'd feel if I learned my brother had cheated on his wife, and there's just NO WAY I'd be able to shed sincere tears over it. I'd be sympathetic to my SIL of course, and depending on how I learned about the cheating, I might give my brother a piece of two of my mind. I would be disappointed, but not to the point of tears. In general my attitude would be "None of my business - it's between the two of them only..." As I was taught by my parents. The THs shown tonight were definitely coached by Boob, and designed to show that it's pretty clear that the older half of the family believes Josh sank a lot more boats than his own with his little adventures.

I'm certain they DO need to be careful of every syllable they say, while the cameras are rolling. Daddy is sitting just out of camera range - at all times. That's OK because Boob and Me-chelle were both wearing orange.

That could be true. If so, I really hope he's not done because he looks - and even sounds somewhat - as though he's had a stroke.

Good grief, the dialogue is even worse than I thought it would be. I think I'd be more interested to hear the conversation of two 11-year old sixth graders on a school bus for half an hour than I have been in the conversations & THs I've heard so far. And I've been switching back and forth between Duggars and "It's a Wonderful Life" - what a dichotomy!

For sure. I'm hoping he's still due to get further treatment, therapy, surgery - whatever - down the line a bit. But if he's done now, he was, to quote Kramer, "butchered." It is a little odd that the family has never defined what the problem was - even very briefly. Not knowing makes people guess. And they've explained about wisdom teeth in the past, or plastic surgery for Johanna who got a facial injury at some point. Why no word on whatever Derick's deal is? Or did they - and I missed it?

Neither have I. But I bet Jill has. All her life. All this typical fundie hyperbole and flowery language -from the only outsiders that have ever been in her life - preachers and fellow fundies etc.

Congratulations to you both, Marys. How wonderful that your son is making such a profound difference in Jacob's life - that poor kid. All the crappy things that have happened to him in his short life - and none of them his fault either. Who knows what he might become in the future? Whenever I read stories like this one, I realize how very very fortunate I was to be born into my family. We didn't have a lot growing up - no vacation trips or new bikes or music lessons etc. But we had all the basics, thanks to my very hard-working parents. And most importantly, we had parents that loved and cared about us. And when you grow up, you always recognize how unimportant vacations and new bikes were anyway. Congrats again - you truly sound like you're floating on air!

We're sort of assuming that Derick's parents had a relatively good marriage. What if they really didn't? What if - by choosing Jill - Derick was actively trying to avoid whatever he might have seen as a problem in his parents' marriage? Maybe his dad didn't like the fact that Cathy had a career? Maybe he wanted her home with the boys? Maybe it was a large bone of contention in their marriage. Maybe Derick blames his mother in some way for his father's death? Maybe something else - who knows? But I don't think the fact that Cathy and Jill are so different makes Derick's choice of Jill that strange. He might have been trying to find someone as different from his mother as he could. Outside of Fundieland, it would have to be difficult to find someone who never wanted to work outside the home and would be happy doing the domestic/baby dance for the rest of her life. And I still think Derick is one of those guys that is enormously shy and gawky on the whole dating scene. This way he got a bride with virtually no uncomfortable awkwardness on his part at all. He didn't even have to do something as basic as walk up and introduce himself. Grownups handled all the preliminaries for him.

I see a little Ben too, but just a little. No Jessa whatsoever. Plenty of Boob, of course.

Excellent, spot-on post.

Exactly right, excellent post. The analogy about blue and green is Perfect...

This sounds like great advice to me, Magpye. You have some issues you need help with - millions of people have the same exact issues. There's no shame in that, or in needing help. And the sooner you start feeling better and stronger about things, the sooner you can get to a better place about your divorce and this major change in your life. Not that it will be quick, or easy. Because it won't. But the sooner you start, the better. Keep your chin up as best you can - and good luck.

Completely agree. If Jill and Derick were truly interested in furthering their educations for any reason, they couldn't find a better time to do it than now - while they have only one child, and while money is not a concern. Despite what these 20-somethings think, it won't always be that way. Personally I think all the education talk is plain old blathering - they're saying what they think people expect to hear, mostly so the donations and love offerings continue to flow. I don't think Derick has any real intention of getting his M Div. If he was, I'm sure he'd be talking about, even sporadically. And Jill was done with what passes for education in her family the moment she became a mother.

OMG, this clip is mind-numbingly dull. For those who were concerned that the Duggars "are back on TV," I'd say FEAR NOT. If all 3 specials are like this clip, it won't be happening. Of course, we need to remember that this is TLC, and in general, those folks are a few fries short of a Happy Meal. So maybe we'll see the Duggars for another year, at wider intervals. And that'll be it.

When I see the word expressionless, I tend to think medicated instead. I wonder how often I'm actually right?