The Duggars: In the Media and TLC

[JoanArc]

 

This isn't the ordinary almost-30-year-old we're talking about.

We need a formula for calculating Duggar mental and emotional maturity. Something like actual age divided by two, minus three.

[leighdear]

I think they're going to hold back on the Anna info until the last night.  Why blow the footage everybody wants to see when you can torture everybody with the obnoxious and annoying crap from the J girls and their hired boys?

 

And I think Anna is going to actually say very little.

[Churchhoney]

Ha!

I think your formula gives the Duggar brainpower too much credit. I'd make the divisor larger.

And for Jim Bob and Michelle, I'd make the subtraction larger too. A lot larger, actually.

[whydoiwatch]

I think they're going to hold back on the Anna info until the last night.  Why blow the footage everybody wants to see when you can torture everybody with the obnoxious and annoying crap from the J girls and their hired boys?

 

And I think Anna is going to actually say very little.

Good possibility. Without Anna in the first show, Jessa's labor and delivery and Jill's announcement of Dullard ilk #2 better be very interesting. In the preview teaser with Anna, she appears to have gotten into Meeechelle's xanax supply. "It was heartbreaking to hear what had happened." What the hell, she probably isn't even talking about Joshgate 1 or 2. If TLC is holding Anna off until the last night,  hopefully they have provided some intense acting lessons - she is not convincing me of anything. 

[drafan]

 

 

And I think Anna is going to actually say very little.

...if she's in it at all. They're teasers, that TLC.

[JoanArc]

http://www.thewrap.com/josh-duggar-molestation-scandal-david-zaslav-tlc-19-kids-counting/

 

 

“TLC is a little bit more of a culturally driven brand … it’s a little bit more erratic,” Zaslav began addressing the channel’s rough ratings year at Monday’s UBS media conference. “But also, we got a little bit unlucky, I think, with TLC.”

The executive was referring to canceling TLC’s top show “19 Kids and Counting” due to a molestation scandal surrounding star Josh Duggar. Fellow hit series “Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo” was axed for an eerily similar situation.

Also Read: Josh Duggar Sued by Porn Star Over Alleged Rough Sex Injuries

“We also need to probably work a little harder at getting it right,” he said, “but I think our strategy is right.”

And what is that strategy, exactly?

“TLC is middle America,” Zaslav explained. “We basically say, ‘Forget New York and L.A.’ We don’t want anybody writing great reviews of our content in the New York Times or the L.A. Times.”

[Sew Sumi]

So, TLC thinks that "middle America" approves of child molestation and a blatantly cheating man espousing "family values?" I think most people in the flyover states are smarter than that.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[queenanne]

Well, it's a novel treatment of "We like simpler, read stupider, fare.  'Cuz we're stupid.  Not like those damn coastal slicksters.  All smart n'all."

[Churchhoney]

So, TLC thinks that "middle America" approves of child molestation and a blatantly cheating man espousing "family values?" I think most people in the flyover states are smarter than that.

 

I think he means that the Duggars and the Boo Boos are types of families that mainly live in the flyover states, not in New York or LA -- in that they're country folk, fundamentalist Christian, not necessarily interested in college education, etc. -- but we just got unlucky in accidentally picking two such families who also had major child-molestation problems lurking about. I don't actually think he's saying that non-New Yorkers tolerate sexual deviancy. He's just inarticulate in an unfortunate way. 

 

So it is a kind of insulting statement, but not nearly as insulting as it sounds at first..... And I have to say that I expect he does know where his ratings come from. And probably not that many people in LA are Duggar leghumpers. Arkansas has one brand of dumb fantasy and LA has another.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Churchhoney

[mbutterfly]

I think he means that the Duggars and the Boo Boos are types of families that mainly live in the flyover states, not in New York or LA -- in that they're country folk, fundamentalist Christian, not necessarily interested in college education, etc. -- but we just got unlucky in accidentally picking two such families who also had major child-molestation problems lurking about. I don't actually think he's saying that non-New Yorkers tolerate sexual deviancy. He's just inarticulate in an unfortunate way. 

 

So it is a kind of insulting statement, but not nearly as insulting as it sounds at first..... And I have to say that I expect he does know where his ratings come from. And probably not that many people in LA are Duggar leghumpers. Arkansas has one brand of dumb fantasy and LA has another.

You have put that very well. I do believe there is shallow understanding of the fly-overs. In reality we have Los Angeles culture. We have New York culture. The rest is lumped as flyover, but within flyover is as much diversity as there is Los Angeles vs. New York. I live in Indiana. We have relatives in western Montana. It is lovely, and they are warm and friendly. I have no negative feelings, but I felt more in tune with visiting friends in mid-sized cities in the UK than I did with this sparse western culture. If that makes sense. It is incorrect to believe there is great sameness in the fly-overs. 

Edited December 8, 2015 by mbutterfly

[JenCarroll]

Continued from the Joshanna thread:

I think this is a pretty common thing. The more complicated -- and serious -- something is, the less attention it gets from the media. And, I think, the less attention it gets from the people directly involved and the general public as well, very often.

And this is why God made John Oliver. :-)

Actually, I'd like to see John Oliver (Last Week Tonight on HBO; also free on YouTube) take on the Got-hard-Duggar-Quiverfull clusterfck. I'd be interested in what an intelligent observer, not raised in the U.S., would make of it all. How much of this particular brand of crazy would only fly in America, and how much is more universal?

Edited December 8, 2015 by JenCarroll

[Ljohnson1987]

Enough with the Counting On promo, TLC. Playing it five thousand times a day isn't going to make people want to watch.

[Phoenix62.]

Thanks to the people who provided links to the info about the show coming up. I saw this comment....Viewers also get an inside look at Jessa’s dramatic labor and delivery and her first days at home with her newborn son....and thought...WTAF? So there was a crew FILMING this kid's home birth with inadequate assistance....and Jessa had to be taken to the hospital because of blood loss?

Yeah. TLC needs to find some moral code or something (because these people who sell their souls to be on reality TV sure won't draw any boundaries). Is nothing sacred?

[Ilovemylabs]

OK.  Be honest.  Who is going to watch at least the first special (or record it to watch later)?

[Aja]

http://www.thewrap.com/josh-duggar-molestation-scandal-david-zaslav-tlc-19-kids-counting/

Wow. Inarticulate in an unfortunate way is the understatement of the year. Shades of Sarah Palin's "real America" with all of the profoundly unfortunate implications--New York and L.A., where all the smart people live, vs every state in between, where zero smart people live. (Hey fella, next time you're flying over middle America and you pass by Minnesota, look down. I have a bird for you.) He even managed to work in a snide jab how TLC doesn't even WANT those icky smarties in New York and L.A. to watch their shows ANYWAYS. Also, I like how the disturbing and prolonged victimization of innocent, minor girls amounted to "a little unlucky for TLC." Yes, how a little unlucky for you, TLC. The promotion of the horrific subjugation of women will do that sometimes. So unlucky.

[leighdear]

 Is nothing sacred?

Are you asking that seriously or rhetorically?  ;-)

OK.  Be honest.  Who is going to watch at least the first special (or record it to watch later)?

I'm going to bypass any actual watching on the network, and then come here to learn scraps while I marvel at the idiocy of their entire existence. Among like-minded folks, of course.

Edited December 8, 2015 by leighdear

[BitterApple]

OK. Be honest. Who is going to watch at least the first special (or record it to watch later)?

I'll admit I'm watching. I have an unhealthy attachment to this trainwreck and the bitchy part of me is going to enjoy watching Jessa crash and burn.

[Aja]

I will admit to being unreasonably excited about these forums after the specials air.

[JoanArc]

OK.  Be honest.  Who is going to watch at least the first special (or record it to watch later)?

I'll bittorrent it. No money for TLC or the Duggars, no ratings.

[JenCarroll]

So there's speculation of this nature (quoting from someone's comment on the article in The Wrap):

"I think that the reason they still have a relationship with the Duggars is that the Duggars could tell the media that TLC knew about Josh and went forward with their show anyways. As long as there are some Duggars on the payroll Jimbob and Michelle will keep silent about what TLC knew. TLC and the Duggars are the perfect business partners, unscrupulous, liars that built their houses on dysfunction and abuse."

What do we think, is there anything to this? I mean, I think it's probably true that TLC knew a lot of this stuff. Would TLC worry that much? Are the Duggars smart enough to cook up this particular blackmail scheme? (We're way past 'Would the Duggar family ever try using blackmail to get their way.')

[Missy Vixen]

I'm not watching, but the resulting snark will make Christmas pale by comparison.

[whydoiwatch]

I will not watch. These idiots do not deserve to make a living just because their parents bred like rabbits and filled their children with arrogance and ignorance. How many times can Jill feign crying and talk about how hard the whole experience surrounding Josh has been for her. Jill doesn't come across as too bright (also, does she have a slight speech impediment?) and Jessa is a bitch, plain and simple. I feel bad that their sleazy brother molested them and that their parents chose to handle the situation so poorly. I do not want to hear their version all over again.

Jessa's pregnancy, labor and delivery - whoop dee doo. Who cares, it is the same thing over and over.

Jill and her weird husband are missionaries - whoop dee doo.

Anna - she will likely stay with her fundy royal pig husband that she was so happy to make babies with. She will have more children with him.

These 3 shows are nothing more than TLC's way to get the whole family back on television. I refuse to be a part of that audience.

I will be here to enjoy the snark of all the wonderful forum members.

[Churchhoney]

So there's speculation of this nature (quoting from someone's comment on the article in The Wrap):

"I think that the reason they still have a relationship with the Duggars is that the Duggars could tell the media that TLC knew about Josh and went forward with their show anyways. As long as there are some Duggars on the payroll Jimbob and Michelle will keep silent about what TLC knew. TLC and the Duggars are the perfect business partners, unscrupulous, liars that built their houses on dysfunction and abuse."

What do we think, is there anything to this? I mean, I think it's probably true that TLC knew a lot of this stuff. Would TLC worry that much? Are the Duggars smart enough to cook up this particular blackmail scheme? (We're way past 'Would the Duggar family ever try using blackmail to get their way.')

 

Well, it's definitely not the first time it's been speculated. (I think I may have speculated it myself in the past.) And while JIm Bob is stupid in every way that matters I expect he's really smart in the "playing all the angles to get money and/or get my way? sense. Plus, he has playing-the-angles lawyers and pr people. So I do think it's possible.

 

The thing is, I don't think it would be necessary, since the Duggars got better ratings than the rest of the TLC lineup, so they were going to want them back in whatever way they could get them and get away with it. So I don't think there really would have been a need to blackmail, although I can definitely see JB -- possibly with advice -- doing it, if it had been necessary.

[Tabbygirl521]

I never saw more than 10 minutes of the original eps, and that maybe only 2 or 3 times. So I figure I still have a very low Duggar quota I can fill by watching the specials. Or trying to. The other times I tried, I just got so bored. All I really remember is Josh's blurred out butt crack on the trapeze.

TLC shouldn't brag about their content being for stupid folk only. Definitely insulting. Aja, you nailed it about so much of their programing being about subjugation of women.

[Treehugger]

Hey fella, next time you're flying over middle America and you pass by Minnesota, look down. I have a bird for you.

Aja, let me add a second bird!

[FakeJoshDuggar]

Thanks to the people who provided links to the info about the show coming up. I saw this comment....Viewers also get an inside look at Jessa’s dramatic labor and delivery and her first days at home with her newborn son....and thought...WTAF? So there was a crew FILMING this kid's home birth with inadequate assistance....and Jessa had to be taken to the hospital because of blood loss?

Yeah. TLC needs to find some moral code or something (because these people who sell their souls to be on reality TV sure won't draw any boundaries). Is nothing sacred?

What do we expect from the same people who brought us Anna birthing an M-kid on the shitter? Edited December 9, 2015 by FakeJoshDuggar

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

Thanks to the people who provided links to the info about the show coming up. I saw this comment....Viewers also get an inside look at Jessa’s dramatic labor and delivery and her first days at home with her newborn son....and thought...WTAF? So there was a crew FILMING this kid's home birth with inadequate assistance....and Jessa had to be taken to the hospital because of blood loss?

Yeah. TLC needs to find some moral code or something (because these people who sell their souls to be on reality TV sure won't draw any boundaries). Is nothing sacred?

Heck, I feel like it's a good possibility the only reason 911 was called was because the film crew was there and demanded it (or threatened to do it themselves). I shudder to think what could have happened to Jessa without the film crew around since we know what did happen when they were there.

[RazzleberryPie]

I don't think the Duggar's could blackmail TLC for knowing things the Duggars actually did.

Edited December 10, 2015 by RazzleberryPie

[DangerousMinds]

Absolutely will not be watching, but looking forward to the snark!

[JenCarroll]

All I really remember is Josh's blurred out butt crack on the trapeze.

Oh Jesus, I had blocked that image out. Now it's back. They are just the gift that keeps on giving, aren't they?

[BitterApple]

Josh flopping around on the trapeze like a bloated manatee still makes me laugh.

[Porterest]

I saw the Good Morning America ad too. It's full of stuff like "Anna Duggar speaks out!" If I recall correctly, there's nary of Counting On. (Or at least, very little. Hmm.)

[Micks Picks]

Come on, not fair that so many are not watching but will be snarking.  Take one for the team.  I just can't concentrate on TV in general, so have it on and go into this blank stare or coma or something. I have recorded some episodes but never watch anything I've recorded.  Odd thing is if there are 2 things on and one seems really good, I'll record that one and coma-watch the other one, and then never watch the good one I recorded.  My DVD players are likewise unused, and DVDs received as gifts remain in original packaging.  Yet the tv is on all the time.  It's a sickness, I tell ya!

[GeeGolly]

I will watch at least the first special, probably all three. With 500 channels of nothing to watch on TV, I will waste a couple of hours of my life and take a peek. 

[SinInTheCamp]

Come on, not fair that so many are not watching but will be snarking.  Take one for the team.  I just can't concentrate on TV in general, so have it on and go into this blank stare or coma or something. I have recorded some episodes but never watch anything I've recorded.  Odd thing is if there are 2 things on and one seems really good, I'll record that one and coma-watch the other one, and then never watch the good one I recorded.  My DVD players are likewise unused, and DVDs received as gifts remain in original packaging.  Yet the tv is on all the time.  It's a sickness, I tell ya!

 

I'd be happier if just a couple of non-Nielsen people from this forum watch and then report back to the rest of us. I absolutely want these specials to do horribly. I can't ever remember wishing such spectacular failure upon anyone before in my life.

[lookeyloo]

I have it set to record. Will watch but FF through the endless talking heads that come before and after the commercials. Probably very little original content.

[GinnyLee]

Sooooo disappointed about the Good Morning America thing. FF to 7:35 am. I don't recall Anna 'speaking' out at all. It was more of an advertisement for Jill & Jessa's Counting On Special which, BTW, starts on Sunday. The Good Morning America thing was for about 2-3 minutes. If you blink you're eyes you'll miss it. Just pathetic. Why do they do this? They didn't speak to Anna at all. 

[Churchhoney]

Sooooo disappointed about the Good Morning America thing. FF to 7:35 am. I don't recall Anna 'speaking' out at all. It was more of an advertisement for Jill & Jessa's Counting On Special which, BTW, starts on Sunday. The Good Morning America thing was for about 2-3 minutes. If you blink you're eyes you'll miss it. Just pathetic. Why do they do this? They didn't speak to Anna at all. 

 

Why? I guess they figured no one would tune in if they teased it with "Jill and Jessa Duggar speak out about childbirth and having husbands who have no jobs but are really really self righteous."

[leighdear]

I just can't make myself watch live or even taped.  I can't stand to see their faces or hear their voices in my home, even if it is just on my TV.  

 

But I truly thank those who are willing to watch as our proxies, and report back.  

[drafan]

Sooooo disappointed about the Good Morning America thing. FF to 7:35 am. I don't recall Anna 'speaking' out at all. It was more of an advertisement for Jill & Jessa's Counting On Special which, BTW, starts on Sunday. The Good Morning America thing was for about 2-3 minutes. If you blink you're eyes you'll miss it. Just pathetic. Why do they do this? They didn't speak to Anna at all. 

And they never will. Unless there is huge $$$ attached to a special interview with Anna, she will not address anything about the scandal on these specials. They can tease it all they want, but I ain't falling! And if they do have the 'special" of just Anna , it will be pimped and teased for months...then there will be no content. She will chirp along like usual.

 

And speaking of chirping...boy, Jessa is just pleased as punch to be back on TV, isn't she.

[Oldernowiser]

I will watch at least the first special, probably all three. With 500 channels of nothing to watch on TV, I will waste a couple of hours of my life and take a peek.

THERE ARE THREE OF THESE???? Not sure how I missed this reality...probably blocked it out because No My God. Exactly how much time can baby pictures, Biblical misquoting, wedding flashbacks, and fake tears fill up?

[JoanArc]

I kind of want Jill to to GMA from her apartment in Guatemala.

 

THERE ARE THREE OF THESE???? Not sure how I missed this reality...probably blocked it out because No My God. Exactly how much time can baby pictures, Biblical misquoting, wedding flashbacks, and fake tears fill up?

And the first one's 90 minutes. Jesus save us!

 

I can't ever remember wishing such spectacular failure upon anyone before in my life.

You're not the only one. It's the only way to make them understand they were wrong....

[humbleopinion]

Shame of GMA  shilling for the Duggars.

Jessa was about to bust her buttons she was so happy to have a camera back on her smug mug.

Al least they didn't have her live in the studio.

Edited December 9, 2015 by humbleopinion

[Zahdii]

I don't watch the morning news shows, and only tuned in just in time to get the last minute, or minute and a half of the "interview", which was actually just an ad.  Clips of the Duggar girls saying things like "If we'd realized the full scope of what happened..." (paraphrasing), and Anna saying something about wishing she could wake up and find out it's not true.  Then the hosts talking up the show and trying to make it sound like all the millions of leghumpers should watch to see how the family is just moving on.

 

Nothing newsworthy, just an ad to watch the show and watch the family throw Josh under the bus while they move on.  Nothing about how JB and M supposedly was told about each molestation after it happened, and only did something about it after Josh molested a non-family member.  No mention of how the Duggar 'parents' dealt with the problem in-house and did their best to minimize the problem, and then claim that even the State said they'd done the best thing possible.  I really hate these people right now

[BitterApple]

I didn't see the GMA clip, but isn't it hilarious how the Duggars have tried to be so blase about the loss of the show, as if it were just a hobby, and now they're having orgasms because they're back on the air.

[Ljohnson1987]

If Anna was so destroyed by this, why doesn't she grow a pair, do what's right for she and her kids, and divorce Smugs? She's setting a horrible example by staying with him. Molestation is not okay, Anna!

[birkenstock]

Were Jim Bob and Michelle on camera too during the GMA "interview"?  I was wondering if they were going to do any press and how the media would handle it.  Disappointed that ABC would have them on.   

 

 

I'm not going to watch the specials. The more I learned about Jill and Jessa through social media these past six months, the less I liked them as individuals.  The tipping point for me was when Jill and Derick stayed in the US for a month and half after coming back for Amy's wedding.  It was just shady as hell.  I had warmed to Jessa, but the smugness and Spurgeon naming was too much given the real Spurgeon's anti-Catholic background. The Dillards and the Seewalds just revealed themselves to be selfish people and I don't want to be lied to during the specials. I also don't want to give Jim Bob and Michelle any opportunity to be on camera again. 

[Aja]

I watched the GMA clip. My mystification continues unabated at the whole "He should have never let us defend him for molesting us when the whole time he was being unfaithful." There aren't enough WTFs in the physical universe. You and your sleazy parents shouldn't have been defending him AT ALL, particularly since mere months earlier your stupid mother recorded a robo call accusing ME, as well as a huge number of American citizens, of being a danger to children--knowing FULL WELL that her rancid doughboy son was a very real threat to children, including her own. I want that damn question answered. Justify it, godly Duggars. Do it. *taps foot*

[Tabbygirl521]

Rancid Doughboy. Hahahaha!!!!

Aja, I wish you could turn that post into a robocall aimed at Duggar fans and extreme fundies in general.

[JoanArc]

 

"He should have never let us defend him for molesting us when the whole time he was being unfaithful."

Yes, Jill and Jessa, people should just blurt out all their sins and get them on the table. I'd like the two of you to start - how's the missionary trip funded, why does Jessa like gift cards, what's up with Jill's training, do you think LGBT are a bigger threat than Josh? What do you do all day? Do tell.

Edit:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5fd5rzSLi0

 

Ok, this is the clip. Looks like Jana, Joe, and Jinger will also be doing weepy talking heads. It kinda does look like an attempt to revive 19KAC. Goddamn it.

Edited December 9, 2015 by JoanArc