orangeiguana

I agree! I just don't see much of anyone in my ordinary life terribly bothered by the transgender experience -- who are a tiny proportion of the population. It's frankly a bit insulting to tolerant and accepting people of all descriptions to have everyone depicted as bullies. So much of the show revolves around these TG discussions that I wonder how it is affecting their lives 24/7. There seem to be a lot of either/or scenarios; I wish we could see more intelligent discussions of questions and concerns various people have, and how they approach solutions or changes of heart. I feel a bit hit over the head by "it's got to be Jazz's way or the highway" and hope the producers find some more middle-of-the-road scenes. I do find Noelle and Shawn's (did I get the name right?) portraits poignant and relatable. I hope we meet some more of these kinds of warm TG people in future eps, and perhaps meet their families, too.

Good point! LOL he's probably running to Canada. Also, why this fascination with having two weddings? And then dragging the uninterested family into spending a fortune on travel, etc.

Danielle bought a house while they were still legally married, in Ohio, a community property state. Half that house belongs to Mohammed.

I just finished watching this (*why* am I watching this)? It seems like producers are kinda baiting the kids to mock Kate for our entertainment! Boy are these kids in for a rude surprise when they are not the center of the universe...

How on earth is Tourette's (which I doubt she has) such all all-fired big deal? It's an extremely minor condition. Since Loren is obviously repulsive and unacceptable to Alexei, why doesn't he just dump her right now? Oh...yeah...that green card thing...

Good God, what absolutely appalling table manners. That's gonna take Jazz far in life...not. Yuck.

That one got me so I looked it up on Angies List. Hundreds of thousands of plumbers, obviously. My cousins lived down the street from Whoopi in Tuxedo Park NY -- wow does she have a giant mansion inside the ultimate gated community. Clueless!

Yup. Without a degree, you can be Steve Jobs. Or you can work in a car wash. These spoiled brats are in for reality soon. There mom couldn't care less about them.

There are shows that are so bad they're good, but this one surpassed that. It's just awful. I mean, at least find some people who are remotely interesting.

Two of them hit 18 soon, and then what happens? The brats seem to think they're movie stars and center of the universe, and they're in for a rude surprise. At least the Duggars pre-planned the spinoffs by their "courting" rituals and getting the girls married off and preggers. But the two older twins here have nothing of interest for a spinoff series. And how can Kate possibly afford college for eight kids?

This is seriously entertaining TV, made even more so by the characters' willingness to participate in obviously scripted story lines. I guess no country is immune from trailer trash! A casting director's dream. Loren/Alexei -- was there any evidence that Loren honestly has Tourette's? I fast forwarded through a lot, so I probably missed it. But that would be a disease not difficult to fake for plot value. And she can't have a bachelorette party when he did? Gimme a break. Pao/Russ -- Can't believe Pao is actually that mean, that's got to be scripted (I mean, be nice to Russ or he'll dump you and off you go back to Colombia). I'll bet Russ and his family are rueing the day he got trapped into the TLC contract...he's one who really could go out and find work. He doesn't set off my gay-dar at all, I think he's a genuinely nice, true, and well-brought-up young man. That said, the pull of Miami is that it's such a Latino mecca, centered around Cuban emigres -- which in turn draws South and Central Americans and Puerto Ricans. There's no other area in the US outside of states bordering Mexico (I live in LA) with a more vibrant Hispanic culture. The one plus for Russ out of this side trip to Miami is that he might have seen more of what's out there, are relocate to a more metropolitan area where he'll have more social choices. Danielle/Mo -- TLC's probably Danielle's only chance ever to make a decent income. If you were producing/writing for the show, you'd be scrambling for conflict and story lines there, because they've pretty much exhausted the obvious trashy stuff. I think even Danielle, who is definitely compromised in some way, realizes he ain't comin' back no Mo. And it really is unethical to contract with someone so obviously challenged. Of course Danielle cannot afford a lawsuit against a network Goliath, but I bet some mental health organization could. TLC's legal dept must be squirming. Anifsa/Jorge -- God, who knows? Why on earth does Jorge want the Tasmanian devil tornado of rage? They do seem rather well-matched tho; she's needy and he's dumb enough to give her whatever he can dredge up. And I live in weed-epicenter LA -- if you can't make it in the burgeoning pot business (people get SERIOUSLY rich doing it) then try something else. Chantal/Pedro -- seriously, sushi as a contentious story line? Really scraping the bottom of the barrel, and sending money home is such a hackneyed story. Pedro seems nice enough, but not very bright. Maybe he can hang in there (since they appear to be in a legit marriage, though who knows) long enough to be able to stay, and then move on to new people/things. All of this said, I had a great Uber ride the other day with a driver who is a freelance reality casting director. She said almost nothing you see onscreen is real, but she loves the business.

I'm still trying to understand what a "girl brain" is (as in Jazz's early childhood home video "I have a girl brain and a boy body..."). Any opinions?

IDK but she seems healthy overall. Maybe she had a stroke or neurological event in the past, plus some women just have hair loss/alopecia. For a lady her age (I'm guessing early 70s) she seems appropriately sharp. I'm from the south, and a lot of ladies stick with the "big hair" mode of younger years, plus many Jewish ladies in FL adopt a similar style. Whatever is going on, and it could be neurological, genetic, something else, the hair detracts from any other oddness. It might be the best choice and I'm sure the hair/makeup Dept has explored this -- no one is on their own fashion-wise on a TLC show. She certainly seems a compassionate, loving person.

I think they made their feelings known by fleeing the cameras? I thought Shane was attractive, polite, respectful, and an all-around good kid with creative fashion sense that this 57-y-o lady admired. I'd like to introduce Shane to some of my young friends! But if Jazz doesn't like him as a romantic partner, fine, but Shane was being really considerate and I'm sure "got" that there wasn't romantic interest. No reason at all to diss Shane! I really liked the kid.

I think he's an attorney

No, talking vaginas is not remotely normal, nor do teen girls have interest in porn.

I don't think Anfisa is actually hitting Jorge. We see the windup, hear a smack, but we never actually see the impact. I think this is carefully edited.

I'm so impressed with Danielle's consistency. She has not missed a single opportunity to make a grammatical error, with multiple firebombs in the same sentence, *every* sentence!

I'm getting old and crabby, but...the sloppy, noisy, slurpy, face-sucking is starting to make me nauseous. Are they specially miked? I've never heard such high-decibel tongue tennis in real life!

TLC has been grinding out "gender reveal" parties for the little people shows and millions-of-people-family shows. There have been quite a few news stories about transgender people in everyday life having children, and surely this will come up in this or another show. I wonder how they will handle that?

Now I'm watching the TLC Jazz marathon. The mom seems surprised that (teen) boys aren't interested in dating "girls with a boy body." OK, there is someone for everyone. With with transgender people estimated at 0.03% of the US population, and teen hormones on overdrive, is that really so surprising? It seemed like a critique of heterosexual teen boys who are attracted to girls, although I realize I am exaggerating this a bit. But really. Duh!

You're entirely too kind.

No, no fruit involved. It was a full-on red-bandanna Aunt Jemima snood. I believe it was Friday; Back Yard BBQ with the barbershop quartet. It was wildly inappropriate. I'm southern, so I'm pretty sensitive to these things.

No, they don't have to be a member of SAG (I am). If they are the only people who can fill a role, they don't need to join. In addition, there's a huge misunderstanding about union insurance. The union is only a processing point for wages and benefits. You have to actually EARN a certain amount of money, and it's quite high, to qualify. J-Blob appears infrequently, even if he's a member, and would only earn $900 day rate each day of filming, which isn't much for him these days. Unions do not just give members free insurance.

Perhaps. I am mostly trying to understand my nephew through this show.