United Bates of America Canceled!

[marmalade]

I wonder if the new church was the fallback plan? The timing of its creation and the cancellation of the show seems to be more than coincidence. Or maybe god warned Gil that a new shtick was needed?

I'm sure the $$ helped Gil break free of having to listen to someone else tell him how to praise God. Lord knows a PE major has all of God's answers for life. :roll: At any rate, IMO they thought they'd still be taping and use this hotel church as a gateway into the cult. They may identify as IFB, but it seems that the INDEPENDENT part is stressed; from the scandals of teen pregnancies and whatnot, these "churches" appear, to ME, as essentially homechurch with a loose denomination attached.

[bananacat]

Well they do seem to know them better, as in, they can write a three sentence description per kid not a one sentence personality trait and birth. :roll: (She likes pickles! He's so energetic!)

EDIT for riffles.

Oh yeah, I'm so eager to give people pats on the back for being slightly less reprehensible than someone else. Brb, off to give medals to every single person who isn't a murderer.

[Esther]

It doesn't help that the parents in both families are at the end of their childbearing "season of life." No Baby #20 means no episodes about pregnancy, childbirth, fixing up the nursery, picking a name, etc. TLC has an entire series about pregnancy and childbirth, so there must be an audience for it. I'm not into that type of thing myself-- IMO, delivery room scenes are gross and an invasion of privacy-- but I can understand why other people might want to watch, especially at the end when the featured family has their new baby. Listening to fortysomething-year-olds like Michelle Duggar or Kelly Bates talking about their miscarriages does not make for good television. Too depressing. TLC could make up for it if the older kids were dating, getting married, having babies, going to college, or starting careers, but that's not happening to anyone but Josh. And even he seems stuck in a rut.

I agree. I think a series about a Quiverfull family with six or so kids and a mother in her late twenties/early thirties would sell just fine, because there's going to be more births, children becoming teenagers, etc etc. I never understood why TLC gave a show to a family so identical to the Duggars in so many ways. All morality issues aside, it's just plain boring.

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

Yeah, the Bateses are so much better because they because they beat children, mooch of them, and deny them quality education, but they're more human when they do it. :roll:

I'm not saying the Bates are good people at all. I hate the way they treat their children and especially how they have Lawson buy the groceries. They were just easier for me to watch then the Duggars because they showed more emotion. The Duggars are such robots I can't bear to watch them sometimes.

[Witsec7]

I'm sure the $$ helped Gil break free of having to listen to someone else tell him how to praise God. Lord knows a PE major has all of God's answers for life. :roll: At any rate, IMO they thought they'd still be taping and use this hotel church as a gateway into the cult. They may identify as IFB, but it seems that the INDEPENDENT part is stressed; from the scandals of teen pregnancies and whatnot, these "churches" appear, to ME, as essentially homechurch with a loose denomination attached.

I think that as the kids age out Gil needs more tax loopholes and a church is one that has been tried and true. Heck everybody is doing it :lol: It's not like Gil is going to go out and get a real job.

[Mela99]

Perchance the Duggars aren't far behind...

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

Let's hope so.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I agree. I think a series about a Quiverfull family with six or so kids and a mother in her late twenties/early thirties would sell just fine, because there's going to be more births, children becoming teenagers, etc etc. I never understood why TLC gave a show to a family so identical to the Duggars in so many ways. All morality issues aside, it's just plain boring.

TLC could also make an interesting show featuring a family like the Kellers where the adult children have gone off in so many different directions.

[valsa]

I agree. I think a series about a Quiverfull family with six or so kids and a mother in her late twenties/early thirties would sell just fine, because there's going to be more births, children becoming teenagers, etc etc. I never understood why TLC gave a show to a family so identical to the Duggars in so many ways. All morality issues aside, it's just plain boring.

I think that's too much risk. If TLC showed a young family with about 6 kids, it wouldn't be anywhere near as glamous as the Duggars made themselves out to be. They wouldn't be as financially secure (JB and Michelle worked a ton when their kids were that young and, even with all that work, the main reason they can now afford not to have jobs and still appear middle class-ish was because they got lucky on some real estate deals), their kids would still be in the "training" stage of discipline and not act like little robots (one of the reasons people pull out that "the Duggar children are so well behaved!" tripe is because they're relying on the impression made by the abused-into-submission older kids, not the raised-by-teen-mothers-and-out-of-control howler monkies), and a younger, smaller family might give up the lifestyle (around the 6-8 kid point seems to be a make-it-or-break-it QF point and TLC wouldn't want a family suddenly going "we were wrong, we can't handle this lifestyle" right in the middle of shooting for the next season) Plus, even with all that the QF crowd complain about how our country always seems amazed by any family having more than 2.4 kids, 6 kids just isn't as unusual or interesting to most people.

[theologygeek]

Fine by me. More air time for my guilty pleasure-Honey Boo Boo.

[divadivine]

This makes way for more Honey Boo Boo... or something equally as crazy.

[theologygeek]

This makes way for more Honey Boo Boo... or something equally as crazy.

"Everybody's a little gay." I love that kid. She's more accepting than some adults are. She's filled with sass too, and I love sassy kids.

[Deleted06]

Maybe they could have a HBB episode where they attend services at Bates Bible Church...or whatever it's called.

[Guest Anonymous]

Well, there goes those poor, skinny horses last shot at decent feed and care.

Not to mention Lawson's last chance to get his father out of his wallet.

[marmalade]

I think that as the kids age out Gil needs more tax loopholes and a church is one that has been tried and true. Heck everybody is doing it :lol: It's not like Gil is going to go out and get a real job.

I can see this. Taking a page out of the Jim Boob Duggar tax deduction playbook isn't a far stretch at all. But also, Gil can preach more Gothard and less whatever IFB preaches. As I noted before, I don't think there' much oversight in that "denomination." Not to mention, Nathan, the wanna-be preacher at Clown College, can guest-preach and record it for his final exams. :roll:

[Anxious Girl]

Maybe TLC is actually listening to critics who're tired of the same old fundie shit? I can always dream, right?

[Jana814]

That is the BEST news I have heard, nice way to end a wonderful weekend!!

[theologygeek]

Maybe they could have a HBB episode where they attend services at Bates Bible Church...or whatever it's called.

OMG!!! You just made me scream with laughter! LOL On the season finale, Mama June said "I'm sweating more than a whore in church." I made my mother watch the show with me. My mother was in stitches.

[mirele]

OMG!!! You just made me scream with laughter! LOL On the season finale, Mama June said "I'm sweating more than a whore in church." I made my mother watch the show with me. My mother was in stitches.

I read an article by a Gawker writer who spent the day with the Honey Boo Boo family. June turns out to be a pretty insightful person. A quote:

"Reality TV don't last more than three years," June said. "People have a good run for about three years. Some people fizzle out within a couple of weeks. We've had about 10 weeks and if it stays for the next three years, great."

http://jezebel.com/5946021/a-portrait-o ... ey-boo-boo

Also, from the article, it sounds like they turned down an offer by TLC to build them a new house. While they've put some of the money towards a car and a new four-wheeler, the rest is going into trust funds for the kids. Sugar Bear is still working (when he's not in the hospital getting treated for a leg injury).

A lot of people think the Thompson family is awful and they're being exploited. I don't think so, and you know, I like them. They're honest about who they are. They're not trying to impress us with their piety and all that, like a certain family with 19 offspring. And Alana herself has a lot of spark in her.

Edited to fix a grammar boo boo.

[silverspoons]

I'll admit I would rather see another season of the Bates then the Duggars. I wonder if that tell all Kate Gosselin book that came out is making TLC move away from the family shows or at least the shows with young kids. It is amazing to read about TLC contracts and forced filming while kids are sick and the how much you really are selling out to be on tv. The Roloffs are coming back, with some sort of wedding show. I guess it is another favorite crossover for TLC, wedding show and little people. At least the Roloffs will only have one minor child and supposedly he will not be filmed much if at all during the series.

[naysayersspeak]

:dance: As a wise man once said, "suffer in your jocks, fundies".

The Castle FTW!

How's the serenity.

[luckystone]

This isn't surprising. I think they came across less well than the Duggars. I also heard they were "boring" compared to the Duggars.

I remember people saying Duggars would be cancelled and Bates take over, but looks like Duggars win for now, unless they get cancelled too and something completely new comes on air.

[NJMom]

I'm not surprised, but I would have also rather seen a second season of the Bates sometime next year rather than one for the Duggars. But in regards to the ratings, haven't the Duggars also dipped below the 1 million viewers several times already in both this season and the previous one?. This season has become to me practically unwatchable, it's so boring and repetitive. Kate plus 8 didn't have ratings as low as the Duggars before it got cancelled. Also, I'm sure the Bates show didn't cost nearly as much to produce as an episode of the Duggars, who probably get a fairly decent salary after so many seasons. I'm really don't understand how TLC makes the decisions that they do. Jim Bob must have an ongoing 10 or 15 year contract with TLC or something like that.

[sassyNoz47]

I liked Gil's parents! But at least they wont discussing Kelly's recent miscarriage.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I liked Gil's parents! But at least they wont discussing Kelly's recent miscarriage.

I liked Gil's parents, too. I also like his brother's family who have the Road Less Traveled blog. If I had kids and wanted to homeschool them, I'd do it their way. Those kids are making friends and having fun!