The Human Beings Known as the Arnold-Klein Family

[Snow8585]

Even when a group of kids were feeding the giraffes, he did not interact or share lettuce leaves or anything. Except for his family and nanny and camera crew, I think he must feel very confused about all the new relationships in his life. I think Will and Zoey are still having huge attachment issues which is why I think its time to get rid of the lights and cameras and crew.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Snow8585

[Almost 3000]

I personally think that there is a big disconnect between arguing for the rights of kids on reality TV because of the harm it may do to them and incessantly pointing out the preserved flaws of a particular kid. How is the latter not hurting that kid?

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I personally think that there is a big disconnect between arguing for the rights of kids on reality TV because of the harm it may do to them and incessantly pointing out the preserved flaws of a particular kid. How is the latter not hurting that kid?

 

 

Therein lies the rub.  

[Absolom]

That's one of the excellent reasons for not exposing children's lives on reality TV.  Their lives, in my opinion, should not be fodder for gossip, examination, or debate by the general public.  Once the parents put them out there, usually for profit, there is the personal dilemma of whether to comment or not, about what aspects of the show or the child, or whether to even watch or not.  

[Jellybeans]

This subject is beginning to sound repetitive.

[wrestlesflamingos]

I hear hooves in the distance too but I think we can turn this around.

[gunderda]

I was going to start looking for a white flag.... 

[Absolom]

I have forgotten, do we know when the show returns?  My neighbor has been asking again.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Absolom

[wrestlesflamingos]

Unsure. We all guessed March and then had a surprise in December. Nothing is on the schedule yet.

[CousinAmy]

I don't think Bill and Jen care what is discussed on this message board. I think some of us are bored with the repetitive posts. 

[Snow8585]

We do not know what they think about this board but I would not be surprised if one of their publicists read it. They seem to care a great deal about public perception which is why they continue to put themselves in the public domain and have folks like publicists in their employ.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Snow8585

[BizBuzz]

What happens on other boards concerning anything is none of PTV's business.  Please remember these words by Dave, one of the founders of PTV:

 

My golden rule for forums is to pretend you are at someone else's party.

 

While at PTV, you are at someone else's party, and that someone else gets to dictate the guidelines.  If the mods consider a topic repetitive, then please respect that. 

 

Thank you.

[Snow8585]

So did Will have a birthday party this year?

[Foghorn Leghorn]

So did Will have a birthday party this year?

 

Bill posted a pic on Twitter of Will, Kate beside him, that blonde doctor friend who was there on Halloween too.  They were at the table at an Asian restaurant with birthday hats on and a big tray of delicious looking cupcakes.  No party was mentioned so it appeared to be a dinner with cake of course! 

[Snow8585]

I wonder if TLC is still filming. Hope they got that too.

[Jellybeans]

So did Will have a birthday party this year?

Yes, Jen posted a picture on Twitter.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Jellybeans

[Snow8585]

You were lucky to see it, it has been removed :(.

[Snow8585]

I did see that one, he is really smiling. I was thinking there was another one like Bill showed of the party at the restaurant.

[eributterfly]

I was so excited that I sent a video to their FB page asking a question and was told it would be used. Well unfortunately, an email,was sent that I never got to re tape that video in a different format. By the time I did this the episode had already been edited and they won't use my video. Kinda bummed but, for a moment I could have been on national TV.

Tried to delete, wrong thread, sorry. [Moved by WF, happy to assist again in the future]

Edited March 4, 2015 by wrestlesflamingos
added note, moved post

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I was so excited that I sent a video to their FB page asking a question and was told it would be used. Well unfortunately, an email,was sent that I never got to re tape that video in a different format. By the time I did this the episode had already been edited and they won't use my video. Kinda bummed but, for a moment I could have been on national TV.

Tried to delete, wrong thread, sorry. [Moved by WF, happy to assist again in the future]

 

I remember reading your post telling us your question had been selected!     

 

I recall your question was something like "how does Jen manage/handle the kids on an outing outside the home without help?"  Was that correct?

 

I am wondering if that is a question that got selected by "mistake" and once it got to the ptb was nixed because she doesn't handle the kids alone.  OR then again it could have been a video format problem. 

[Snow8585]

I find it hard to believe that TLC can not reformat a video.

[wrestlesflamingos]

I find it hard to believe that TLC can not reformat a video.

 

Its pretty simple to do and a few minutes of googling would probably lead most media friendly people through it. Hard to take their excuse at face value.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Its pretty simple to do and a few minutes of googling would probably lead most media friendly people through it. Hard to take their excuse at face value.

 

I agree there is more to it as the average viewer likely uses a video off their cell phone.  I think Bill and Jen nixed the question when it got to their level.  Jen could never do what Michelle Hamill did with her kids on Our Little Family and I thought it odd the network filmed so much of her doing it like they were showcasing the difference.  Maybe that is just me! 

[CousinAmy]

There could be a perfectly logical reason why they didn't use the question. I can't believe that Jen is so ashamed of having people find out that she has limitations that she would do something underhanded just to avoid answering a question.

Just because it seems important to members of the audience doesn't mean that it has the same importance to her. We will have to wait and see what questions were selected.

[Snow8585]

Wrong format i think was the reason given. I do not think that Jen would necessarily dodge a question but  maybe their handlers and publicists would. I can think of several reasons their handlers would not want folks to know of her or Bill's limitations, including safety concerns for the kids. I doubt they would want to broadcast the fact that they would be unable to prevent someone from approaching Will and Zoey. I think someone mentioned they have a body guard. I am sure they would prefer to keep that quiet  Dont ask, dont tell.  As said, we will know soon enough what the questions are.

[Wellfleet]

Thinking back on it, ALL the questions they've accepted on previous "viewer mail" programs have been pretty tame, IMO. I think it's actually unreasonable for the viewing public to think they'd want to answer any other kind. Would YOU want to explain why you must always have someone bigger than yourself along when taking your pre-school kids somewhere? It would be extremely refreshing if Bill and Jen WOULD accept some of the tougher questions - "How do you manage X or Y situations?" etc. It would certainly lend creedence to their own statement that they do the show to educate the public about little people - something I don't believe anymore - but I just don't think it's all that reasonable to EXPECT them to do that.

[Jellybeans]

Maybe they don't want us to know for securiy reasons.

[walnutqueen]

I agree there is more to it as the average viewer likely uses a video off their cell phone.  I think Bill and Jen nixed the question when it got to their level.  Jen could never do what Michelle Hamill did with her kids on Our Little Family and I thought it odd the network filmed so much of her doing it like they were showcasing the difference.  Maybe that is just me! 

 

I am, apparently, below average.  My work gave me a cellphone and I had to ask my girlfriend to turn it on when I was waiting for word about my Shoe Shoe kittie's surgery.  That was many years ago.

 

Whatever Jen/Bill decide, I like them; hence I trust them.   Come shoot at me - I have a Gun & Will Travel.  :-)

[Snow8585]

Come shoot at me - I have a Gun & Will Travel.  :-)

What does this mean?

[ZoloftBlob]

Its a reference to an old tv show.

 

Paladin, I think - "Have gun, will travel says the card of a man...."

 

It's an old western sort of thing, a hired gun - they even make the reference on Downton Abbey, when Cora the American tells her husband she'll follow him anywhere "have gun, will travel"

[walnutqueen]

You are far more eloquent and elegant than I, ZoloftBlob!  AND quicker on the Trigger!  And old as my dirt!

[Snow8585]

I don't even know why they bother. I guess they can say that the audience participates by submitting questions(assuming the questions are in the correct format).

[ZoloftBlob]

You are far more eloquent and elegant than I, ZoloftBlob!  AND quicker on the Trigger!  And old as my dirt!

 

I'm not THAT old  - I know the reference from the movie Stand By Me :)

[Jellybeans]

TL C has these "Tell All" episodes for all of their family reality shows. I think that based on the amount of new information they provide, they should be called "Tell Nothing" episodes.

and that's ok because all family reality shows really tell us nothing, as it should be.

[walnutqueen]

I don't even know why they bother. I guess they can say that the audience participates by submitting questions(assuming the questions are in the correct format).

 

 Ask  MOI a fuckin' question, eh!  I will answer more honestly & openly than Bill & Jen, because I no longer have a minor relative to protect.

 

 Kids & animals  are Off Limits, y'all.  :-)

I don't even know why they bother. I guess they can say that the audience participates by submitting questions(assuming the questions are in the correct format).

 

 Ask  MOI a fuckin' question, eh!  I will answer more honestly & openly than Bill & Jen, because I no longer have a minor relative to protect.

 

 Kids & animals  are Off Limits, y'all.  :-)

[Snow8585]

I still think it is a little scary that fans would actually go and knock on their door. And that is just one example that Bill told viewers about.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I still think it is a little scary that fans would actually go and knock on their door. And that is just one example that Bill told viewers about.

 

Makes you wonder how much security they have if it was so easy for a fan(s) to get that close.  I doubt the question of Jen driving the kids around alone is a security issue when their house is that accessible.    

Edited March 6, 2015 by Foghorn Leghorn

[Snow8585]

I wouldnt be surprised if theyve kicked it up a notch in terms of security...bodyguard and who knows what else.

[wrestlesflamingos]

Its hard for me to understand too. I would never, ever want to be on tv. I don't like a lot of attention. I guess people are different and the spotlight is more appealing or comfortable to other people. I can't quite put myself in their shoes without a little panic.

Edited March 6, 2015 by wrestlesflamingos
spelling

[joanne3482]

I haven't watched their show from the beginning so I can only choose to believe that they originally were doing it for the 'education' of it all as their stated intention was. The Roloffs were the other Little family on TV and I would imagine Jen and Bill (a married couple with no kids) provided counter point to the 'family' aspect that the Roloffs gave.  Given their financial situation and educational backgrounds, they are fairly different than the Roloffs and provide a different point of view.  

 

I would suspect that like many things that just go on and on, they got used to it. The show became their 'reality.' Now, it is hard to say. Maybe they are still in a multi-year contract deal. Maybe they like the fame and attention. Maybe they like the extra money. Most likely it is a combination of all 3 with some other reasons thrown on top.  I do believe that when it starts becoming too much a hassle for them they'll stop.

 

I also think that despite our views on their motives, they have some amazing film/videos of their kids that us regular folks would never get. They didn't have to do anything to fuss about filming the kids' first experiences with them the way a family might do to show their kids in the future. So they do have some very nice mementos. 

[wrestlesflamingos]

I've often thought that about the Gosselins. There's a lot of sweet footage of the kids with each other, without a parent, that they may not otherwise remember.

Edited March 6, 2015 by wrestlesflamingos
swapped Parent for Kate

[Quof]

Ah, yes, that was always Kate's rationalization - "making memories".    I'm sure all of us remember our childhoods just fine, the mundane day to day stuff as well as the big events, without it all being captured on professional video.  As I often yelled at the tv "Kate, just let the kids live their G-D lives without this staged hoopla to make memories." 

[CousinAmy]

Ah, yes, that was always Kate's rationalization - "making memories".    I'm sure all of us remember our childhoods just fine, the mundane day to day stuff as well as the big events, without it all being captured on professional video.  As I often yelled at the tv "Kate, just let the kids live their G-D lives without this staged hoopla to make memories." 

I have spotty memories of being 3 and 4, more clear ones from the time I was 5 and older. And being a second child back in the days of bulky black and white cameras, let's just say there are 9 pages of baby pictures of my older brother in the family photo album to my 2 pages! Of course there was no reality TV then, we didn't even have a TV till I was 3. 

[gunderda]

I love "home videos"!  And without them I wouldn't remember a lot of stuff (and I'm only 30)

 

And I don't think Bill and Jen went into this thinking about putting kids on tv.  They went into this as a newly married professional couple who did not have kids. Granted they were trying to have kids during the course but I don't think they ever really thought they would be putting a 3(?) and 5 year old on tv when this all started.  

[Snow8585]

I wonder how Will and Zoey will feel when they see Jen and Bill trying fertility treatments and surrogacy first and when those methods did not work, then they tried adoption.

[gunderda]

I wonder how Will and Zoey will feel when they see Jen and Bill trying fertility treatments and surrogacy first and when those methods did not work, then they tried adoption.

Well consider that's usually pretty common.... they'll probably be ok with it. Adoption is usually not a first choice for most people.

[joanne3482]

I wonder how Will and Zoey will feel when they see Jen and Bill trying fertility treatments and surrogacy first and when those methods did not work, then they tried adoption.

To Snow's point, I think there's a difference between suspecting that mommy and daddy tried other methods before adopting me and actually SEEING that mommy and daddy tried other methods before adopting me. That had one of those other methods worked, this is not a family Zoey and Will would have joined. To me, that seems like a hard thing to learn. Now since I believe they are religious they can spin it as "God works in mysterious ways" or "God had a different plan" but I don't know that any child would want to know that they were a last resort. Or that they weren't the first choice. 

[Wellfleet]

The other TL C families are not particularly educated or skilled. Kate Gosselin is a nurse and Dan Hamill is a carpenter. The other families don't appear to have any skills. A nurse or a carpenter are not in the same league as a doctor. I will never understand why a couple who obviously doesn't need the aggrevation or the money would subject themselves and their children to the pitfalls of being on reality tv. Is it greed or a need for praise? I honestly would like to know why Bill and Jen do it. As Jellybeans said, these shows tell us nothing so education is not their motivation.

I am not trying to be vague or bait, or anger anyone. I would honestly like to know what other people think that the Klein's motivation is.

 

Personally I believed them in the beginning when they said their primary motivation for agreeing to TLC was educational. I thought that was good because it's certainly nothing I'd ever want to do myself. But I also thought at the time they were fairly clueless about all the problems and troubles being on TV could bring. At the top of my own list would be loss of privacy - and security issues. I would never willingly put myself or my family in a position where it would be considered very advisable to have a bodyguard or some other type of personal security. But then I am by nature a pretty suspicious person. I'd rather be prepared for the worst, and then have nothing happen - than to blow off security concerns - only to be sorry later.

 

Now however, I'm not so sure. It appears to me that they either [1] always looked on TLC as a great source of $$ - quite a lot of it in a relatively-short period of time or [2] have become much too accustomed to the lifestyle they can now afford with TLC $$. I really doubt that they would have been able to do a new, custom house, the fertility treatments, and all the expenses that were involved with both "Rocky & Maggie's" - AND two foreign adoptions within just a few years without TLC. The fact that they're continuing to film with two special needs kids to raise is the primary reason for my thinking, since I believe both Bill & Jen are too intelligent and well-informed NOT to know that raising children in the public eye is not the BEST way to raise them. It's certainly not the worst way, but they HAVE to know it's also not the best. Just guesses on my part - and I fervently hope they're wrong guesses.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Wellfleet]

Ah, yes, that was always Kate's rationalization - "making memories".    I'm sure all of us remember our childhoods just fine, the mundane day to day stuff as well as the big events, without it all being captured on professional video.  As I often yelled at the tv "Kate, just let the kids live their G-D lives without this staged hoopla to make memories." 

 

Totally agree - Kate's "we're making memories" comments always sounded like complete rationalization to me. I really doubt the Gosselins sit around watching "J&K+8" videos. It's been all about a paycheck, or a route to lots of freebies, to her from the very beginning. 

Edited March 9, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Veronique Bette]

Regarding adoption: I think it will be more important to Will and Zoey that they have never been treated as if they were a last resort. Bill and Jen are raising them as if they are the most wanted and adored childen in the world. And so they are. In the end, that's what will matter most.