Albanyguy

He’s trying to exert ownership and subtly belittle her. He may feel that she needs to be taken down a peg after her big night at the ACM Awards. Jeremy behaved the same way towards Jinger back when the show was still on the air and she was the more “famous” partner in their marriage.

Gabby Barrett was center stage at the ACM Awards last night, co-hosting the show with Dolly Parton and Jimmie Allen. She and Jimmie did a rockin' duet on "Viva Las Vegas"/"Let's Go to Vegas" and she did a solo turn with "I Hope You Dance". I didn't watch the whole two-hour show, but as far as I could see, there was no sign of Cade, although I'm sure he was hovering around backstage. Since Jeremy loves to glom onto celebrities, I wonder if he'll post about this (bragging about how close he and Jinger are to Gabby) or if he'll ignore it because it wasn't his buddy Cade in the spotlight.

Okay, I’ll give them credit for that.

That could actually be a way for them to be helpful, but I doubt if it would be appealing to them. On any of their previous “missions”, did they ever get their hands dirty with actual work?

I think Jim Bob is hoping that eventually the scandal will die down and he'll be able to peddle a new TV show to one of the low-rent cable networks. It won't be like their glory days at TLC, the audience will be smaller, and the money won't be as good, but at least he, Michelle and the kids would be able to get their mugs back on TV. I doubt if that will ever happen, but who knows? TLC dropped "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" after Mama June was caught hooking up with the dirtbag who molested her daughter. Everyone thought she was gone for good, but WE TV picked her up for a new show called "Mama June: From Not to Hot" and after her drug and alcohol addictions spiraled out of control, WE gave her a second show called "Mama June: Road to Redemption". So, I wouldn't rule out ever seeing the Duggars on TV again. What will probably keep this from happening is that Jim Bob would insist that any new show portray the Duggars as a wholesome Christian family and any network that picks them up will probably only want them as a freak show, like Mama June.

Hey, if speaking English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for the Rods.

At least Jeremy and Jinger, the pretentious L.A. celebrity couple, provide us with plenty of material to snark about. Jer and Hannah are a total snore.

Jill took a nice subtle little dig at Josh Duggar there.

Would he legally be allowed to be anywhere near the baby?

If Josh has to register as a sex offender (and I don't see how he can avoid it), that will throw a monkey wrench in Anna's plan to get pregnant the day he's released from prison. The hope of eventually having another baby with Josh is the only thing that she'll have to look forward to during the long years ahead and once he's home, she'll be hell-bent on making it happen, despite the fact that she'll be approaching the end of her childbearing years by then.

I thought about that while posting and you’re right, Jeremy, Jessa and Ben were once quite chummy. But considering what we’ve seen of Jeremy in the years since then, I wonder how sincere he really was. Would someone as full of himself as Jeremy maintain a friendship with someone as dull and dorky as Ben if Ben wasn’t a “TV star”? Did Jeremy seen the Seewalds as his chance to get his mug on television and then as his chance to romance and marry an available Duggar daughter who could help him become a “star” too? Was the flirty behavior with Jessa a ploy to get more attention (if so, it worked)? Perhaps I’m being unfair, but I think it would be very much in character for Jeremy to use the Seewalds as a rung on his ladder and then distance himself when they were no longer useful.

Possibly Jeremy discourages it. I don't think he's ever liked Jessa, going back to the time she "redecorated" his bachelor pad. He probably regards her as a bossy, sour-faced buzzkill. Plus, if she came out to California, she might bring Ben and I'm sure that Jeremy would regard socializing with him as torture. Jeremy probably tolerates Jana's visits because she can easily be posed for photos with Jinger and she knows how to make herself useful with child care and other tasks around the house.

The beans and cornbread look quite unremarkable, which is a big step up from the disgusting messes she used to prepare and proudly show off. Her cooking skills have improved.

And UPTV was upset because Carlin and Evan were shopping for a car at Josh's lot at the same time that he was downloading CP? How exactly were they supposed to know what was on Josh's computer? Buying a used car from Josh Duggar might be a sign that you're gullible and stupid, but it doesn't mean guilt by association.

It looks like "Bringing Up Bates" has disappeared completely from their schedule. Their primetime line-up has been filled by re-runs of Reba and Gilmore Girls with the occasional Hallmark-style sappy made-for-TV movie. As we've all speculated, there has to be a big behind-the-scenes scandal that led to this decision; nothing else makes sense. And if that's the case, we'll find out what it is soon enough. The tabloids must be on the job right now, busily digging for dirt. The Bates family isn't nearly as famous as the Duggars, but they're well-known enough that a big juicy scandal would be worth media coverage. Headlines about Fundies involved in sexual shenanigans or criminal activities always sell.

Something weird is going on here. UpTV had already announced that Season 11 would premiere on Thursday, February 10th. I've never heard of a network cancelling a show three weeks before its premiere date. The "we're changing our direction away from reality shows" explanation doesn't make much sense given the timeline. It really does sound like UpTV got wind of something bad enough to make them want to sever ties with the Bates family before a scandal erupts.

Yikes, he really does!

He looks exactly like the kind of creepy guy who’d have no problem messing around with a fourteen-year-old.

I suspect that Anna does more listening than talking. She probably makes soothing noises of agreement while Josh hashes the trial over and over, ranting about the "stupidity" of his lawyers and the "unfairness" of the verdict. He may be clinging to the belief that his conviction will be overturned on appeal because these things just aren't supposed to happen to Duggars.

Of course they've all read it; they just assume it doesn't apply to them.

To which Nathan whispered "That's okay, don't tell anyone but I don't like them either."

Or "I can't wait to see what God has planned for us next!"

Ah, yes. The big celebrity returning briefly to his home town and waxing nostalgic about his humble origins.

I wouldn't be surprised if Jim Bob is actively encouraging this kind of thinking. Don't underestimate the extent to which they've been brainwashed to believe that Daddy is always right and that he can fix anything. That belief has been sorely tested by Josh's arrest and conviction and the cancellation of Counting On. Jim Bob must be working overtime to stamp out any seeds of doubt and keep them all in line. The easiest way to do that would be to assure them that the loss of their TV "ministry" is just a temporary setback and that they'll be back on the air very soon, if not with TLC, then with a different cable network. He may even be making vague allusions to "offers" that he's considering. In the meantime, they must all pull together, keep the faith and present a cheerful, united face to the world (and the best way to do this is by pretending that Josh no longer exists).

Wow, she was bending over backwards to put the best possible spin on the family!