Counting on- Part 7: Counting on Cancellation

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Here is the show I would watch:  Hire an honest to God journalist and give them a thorough background briefing.  Then have the journalist sit down for a one on one with each member of the family and ask some serious, hard hitting questions. 

Ask JB, "How does the TLC check get divvied up?  Do you expect to support all of your children for the rest of their lives?  Are you still trying to get Michelle pregnant?  Do you think it is OK for Jill to use birth control so that she doesn't risk the consequences of a Zika-related birth defect?" If one of your daughters wanted to go to non-religious university would you allow her?

Ask Michelle, "What do you do all day?  Are you disappointed with how any of your children turned out?  Are you still trying to get pregnant?  Have you completely disavowed Bill Gothard's teachings? Are you suffering any health problems from going through so many pregnancies? Do you hope your daughters all have 19 children? If JB were to die tomorrow, would one of your sons become the head of your household and if so which one?

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

[nst]

57 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

New plot ideas: 

- Invite the single Duggars, eighteen and over, to Burning Man.  Tell JB & M they've gone camping for the weekend.

- Bring Ben to a (genuinely) dangerous inner city neighborhood to preach.

- Give Michelle a lifelike baby doll, with wardrobe, and watch her bond.

- Do secret interviews of people in CA who have dealt with the Dillards.  Ask them what they really think.

Quick send this to TLC

otherwise if they are renewed 

we will get 

Jana gets a makeover 

Joy shows us how to tip a cow 

Anna shows us how to bake a cake with Sierra

Jessa asks Ben to do something

13 minutes ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

Here is the show I would watch:  Hire an honest to God journalist and give them a thorough background briefing.  Then have the journalist sit down for a one on one with each member of the family and ask some serious, hard hitting questions. 

Ask JB, "How does the TLC check get divvied up?  Do you expect to support all of your children for the rest of their lives?  Are you still trying to get Michelle pregnant?  Do you think it is OK for Jill to use birth control so that she doesn't risk the consequences of a Zika-related birth defect?" If one of your daughters wanted to go to non-religious university would you allow her?

Ask Michelle, "What do you do all day?  Are you disappointed with how any of your children turned out?  Are you still trying to get pregnant?  Have you completely disavowed Bill Gothard's teachings? Are you suffering any health problems from going through so many pregnancies? Do you hope your daughters all have 19 children? If JB were to die tomorrow, would one of your sons become the head of your household and if so which one?

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

that Erica Hill interview before the scandal was pretty intense  what with Jessa's mean eyes towards Josh and Jill acting with just giving birth emotions

 

[EmCatlyn]

1 hour ago, Carol said:

I continue to believe that Jana is trying to not get pregnant.  I just don't see her wanting to chance a Zika virus baby considering the Duggars are totally into making their kids as attractive as possible.  I can see JB and Michelle both telling her it's OK to use contraception in this case.

I also continue to believe Jessa is holding out the adoption card as a way to not get pregnant.  "No sex tonight, honey, remember that we want to adopt".  I don't think she wants her body changing like her mom's did, she's pretty vain.  Plus, I really believe she does not want a lot of children.

Since I'm never wrong all this will come to pass.  Probably.  It's a possibility.

I fervently hope that Jana has a reason to try not to get pregnant, since it would mean she is having sex. And while I am by no means convinced that sex before marriage is necessary for happiness, it certainly can't hurt.

(Yeah, I know you meant Jill, not Jana.  But since it is the sort of mistake I often make,  I had to tease about it.)

But as to your real point, I wouldn't be surprised if Jill and Jessa were doing something to avoid pregnancy, but I would be surprised if M and JB were sanctioning it.

[anotherone]

1 minute ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

Here is the show I would watch:  Hire an honest to God journalist and give them a thorough background briefing.  Then have the journalist sit down for a one on one with each member of the family and ask some serious, hard hitting questions. 

Ask JB, "How does the TLC check get divvied up?  Do you expect to support all of your children for the rest of their lives?  Are you still trying to get Michelle pregnant?  Do you think it is OK for Jill to use birth control so that she doesn't risk the consequences of a Zika-related birth defect?" If one of your daughters wanted to go to non-religious university would you allow her?

Ask Michelle, "What do you do all day?  Are you disappointed with how any of your children turned out?  Are you still trying to get pregnant?  Have you completely disavowed Bill Gothard's teachings? Are you suffering any health problems from going through so many pregnancies? Do you hope your daughters all have 19 children? If JB were to die tomorrow, would one of your sons become the head of your household and if so which one?

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

I think we all keep wanting something like this.  We keep watching to try to find out some tidbit of information that rings true.  And yet, another week goes by with nothing but fluff.  No politician, no other reality star, or anyone else could get away with dodging so much yet still remaining on "reality" tv.  I think they found the secret, call yourselves Christian, then complain persecution and feign offence any time anyone asks you a simple straightforward question. 

This show seems more and more like a cross between a teen horror flick  - the happy go lucky naïve character says, I'm going to ...(get married, have a baby, whatever) and you want to scream "don't do it, don't go there!" the same way you'd be yelling at the film characters to not go into the barn where the chainsaw guy is - and a really bad '60's sitcom like Gilligan's Island, where you are looking at the hapless captain and the goofball sailor, constantly making life-altering mistakes but completely oblivious to it, hoping each show that maybe Jinger, I mean Ginger, could escape the prison that is the TTH island.

[Snarkylark]

At least it seems they are addressing the Zika virus on the next show. 

[Carol]

32 minutes ago, EmCatlyn said:

I fervently hope that Jana has a reason to try not to get pregnant, since it would mean she is having sex. And while I am by no means convinced that sex before marriage is necessary for happiness, it certainly can't hurt.

(Yeah, I know you meant Jill, not Jana.  But since it is the sort of mistake I often make,  I had to tease about it.)

But as to your real point, I wouldn't be surprised if Jill and Jessa were doing something to avoid pregnancy, but I would be surprised if M and JB were sanctioning it.

But Jana IS having sex!  She's secretly married and down in Costa Mala with Jill and Jesus.  She married Gil Bates after he quietly divorced Kelly.

There ya go, TLC, next years plot line. 

 

 

[nst]

serious question

in the newest promo - Spud is I think four months they say 

they are in the kitchen giving an interview about diapergate2016 and you can clearly Spud on the couch lying down  on his back with his arms above him 

can babies turn over at 4 months? cause if so these two dimwits should not have any more kids because he was alone 

 

[OperaRocks]

On 4/22/2016 at 6:48 AM, JenniferJuniper said:

Way back during the time of Yuku, an alleged acquaintance of the family said Joy wore pants at home when there were no visitors around.

I don't know whether I believe it or not, especially now that we know their parents likely believe girls can defraud their own brothers, but she always seemed the closest to Amy.  And of all the sisters, you can almost see how comfortable she'd be wearing a worn out pair of jeans to chase cows around in. 

We've seen her in athletic pants a few times.

[nst]

can you imagine if jessa adopts an older child and he or she pushes Spud 

what will happen 

OMG what if this type of thing they are doing is what Michelle did with all her kids 

maybe IS IT blanket training a newborn?

 

[Audrey2]

Sounds like there will be more Counting On, much to our dismay. Since this season was Date Our Daughters, I wonder if the single guys might be featured more on the next season, with time shared with the marrieds and the girls, of course. The guys could be showing their helpful at domestic chores side. I'd love to see John David learn to do laundry!

   

[Buzzard]

2 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

Sounds like there will be more Counting On, much to our dismay. Since this season was Date Our Daughters, I wonder if the single guys might be featured more on the next season, with time shared with the marrieds and the girls, of course. The guys could be showing their helpful at domestic chores side. I'd love to see John David learn to do laundry!

   

They need sponsors for more seasons. Even airing reruns of other shows makes more money than countin on is making

[Chickenbutt]

6 hours ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Plus I'm sure The Divine Miss Jessa wants to torture them with her knowledge of sex, just because she CAN and they can't.

That makes me wonder if either Jill, Jessa have "shared" what sex is like with their sisters (Jana and Jinger). Too bad they can't whisper and share secrets (and know those secrets will be kept) with each other.

Now I am not saying that Jill or Jessa should reveal the intimate details, but to say something like....Wow, it is so much better/worse/painful than I thought. It was so/not romantic. I was excited/scared.

I never had a sister, but I, unfortunately, had exactly this conversation when my son had sex for the first time....lol. Be careful what you wish for, like wanting your kids to tell you "everything".

[EmCatlyn]

1 hour ago, Buzzard said:

They need sponsors for more seasons. Even airing reruns of other shows makes more money than countin on is making

What I don't understand, since they clearly care more for money than decency, is why they haven't started showing old 19k and Counting shows, perhaps with the pretense that they are being "discussed" after what we know or something. 

[nst]

6 minutes ago, EmCatlyn said:

What I don't understand, since they clearly care more for money than decency, is why they haven't started showing old 19k and Counting shows, perhaps with the pretense that they are being "discussed" after what we know or something. 

TLC couldn't get away with showing old 19 k and counting shows without the general public screaming imo

[choralcrusader8613]

12 minutes ago, EmCatlyn said:

What I don't understand, since they clearly care more for money than decency, is why they haven't started showing old 19k and Counting shows, perhaps with the pretense that they are being "discussed" after what we know or something. 

Probably because Josh is in a majority of them, even if it's minor THs.

[JenniferJuniper]

20 minutes ago, choralcrusader8613 said:

Probably because Josh is in a majority of them, even if it's minor THs.

This, and I also don't think Jim Bob and Michelle were sidelined just to make way for the next generation.  Their handling of the sexual assaults on their young daughters was beyond despicable.  Recall that Michelle got her Mother of the Year award as she was actively covering up for Josh.  Rerunning old shows would just reinforce what awful parents they are and do more harm to the brand going forward.  

Not that I think there is much of a brand left outside of their fundie circle of friends.  The sponsor issue is a huge one.  As is Duggar fatigue, which seems to have begun to set in. 

[nst]

Just now, JenniferJuniper said:

This, and I also don't think Jim Bob and Michelle were sidelined just to make way for the next generation.  Their handling of the sexual assaults on their young daughters was beyond despicable.  Recall that Michelle got her Mother of the Year award as she was actively covering up for Josh.  Rerunning old shows would just reinforce what awful parents they are and do more harm to the brand going forward.  

Not that I think there is much of a brand left outside of their fundie circle of friends.  The sponsor issue is a huge one.  As is Duggar fatigue, which seems to have begun to set in. 

omg yes, how they handled the molestation and the cover up and then how they handled the MK interview just reeked of don't blame us - when they were supposed to be blamed.  They are just as guilty as Josh - perhaps moreso. 

rerunning old shows would reinforce all the lies that were swept under the rug.  The fact that the girls besides the paycheque I don't see a reason for them doing it or enjoying it. 

the fact that they have been regulated to just being in the room on the new shows  - must kill them at the same time they would never admit it because their egos and the balance must be enormous and too incredible to miss when alone

[calimojo]

sorry, changing the subject a bit.  I was home sick today and decided to torture myself to watching the show again.  After the girls got settled into the cabin,  there was a wide shot, showing them sitting, some on the sofa and some in chairs.  Jessa looks completely unaware of being filmed at that point. 

 

Anyway, there is actually a sweet moment captured in watching her interact with S. Elliott.  She is very animated and engaged with him.  I have to say,  that even though they don't make the best parenting decisions for simple safety, Jessa has sort of surprised in how I really think she has fallen in love with her little boy.  She seems much more tender and affectionate with him that anything we have seen from Jill with Izzy.  To be fair, of course, we have much more footage of Jessa with her baby than we do Jill with hers, but still Jessa just seems more content in that mother role. 

 

Now,  of course, it is pretty easy to love a small baby that hasn't really gotten strong opinions yet and who wants to climb and wander and get into things.  It would be interesting to see how Jessa responds to a baby that is really testing her limits.  For now,  S. Elliott seems like a pretty chill baby.   

[season of life]

I gotta say, I'm actually surprised by the comments on the Duggars' FB page vs the Counting On page. On the Counting On page, there are plenty of comments pointing out the stupidity of the show and the family whereas the most up-voted comments on the Duggars' FB page belong to leghumpers. Plenty of people still remember the family's misdeeds and point out how gullible the fans are.

[EyeQueue]

10 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

Pregnancy? Ok. Let's imagine... John David has impregnated the piano teacher. Joy joins the army. Hannie joins Cirque du Soleil. Jana becomes a budist nun. Michelle prepares a fresh salad. JB attends an ecologist meeting. 

;-) :-D

This gives me an idea. I would watch the Hell out of a Duggars/Trading Spouses  mash-up show. Each week send one of the Duggars off to live with a family that has is all about something the Duggars appear to be against, and then watch the hilarity ensue.

[Natalie22]

31 minutes ago, EyeQueue said:

This gives me an idea. I would watch the Hell out of a Duggars/Trading Spouses  mash-up show. Each week send one of the Duggars off to live with a family that has is all about something the Duggars appear to be against, and then watch the hilarity ensue.

Honestly, it would make the show much more interesting.  If they refuse to show any real family drama or discuss and family issues, it's really their only option.  Imagine Joy and Josiah being given a tour of a college and chance to shadow someone for a day.  If Joy actually likes party planning, she could even shadow someone at a Community College who is enrolled in an event planning program.  Or let the high school and elementary school kids experience some sort of secular event.  The little girls for example trying out girl scouts.  

For the older ones, it could be more confrontational.  Jinger having to interact with LGBT youth, especially those that have been kicked out of their homes by their parents.  Or Jessa having to tour an abortion clinic and be provided with their facts. 

It would be much more interesting to watch their beliefs be challenged and see how they react and if they change.  It would also force them to defend their beliefs to actual people who embody what they think is wrong.

[EmCatlyn]

1 hour ago, nst said:

TLC couldn't get away with showing old 19 k and counting shows without the general public screaming imo

I would like to believe that.  But the general public is still watch the Counting On garbage.

 What I was thinking is that since they seem to be rerunning Jill's wedding and maybe the birth of Izzy, why aren't they re-editing more of the old show and serving it to the public as "retrospectives" or "remember when" types of thing, with new talking heads in some cases, commentary from the kidults about this or that felt, etc.  

I realize that they can't just show the reruns in their regular form, but I could see them edit stuff --favorite scenes, incidents involving the kids-- and repackaging them with new commentary.  It would certainly be more lively than the Counting On stuff.  And it would be just as shameless as what they are doing now.

[Mercer]

Regarding family size: My general feeling is that families vary in how many children they can handle. I've known families with nine or ten kids who have done a fantastic job of raising them and giving them all individual attention and love. I've know parents who have floundered terrifyingly with one or two. People are just different, and have different limits. 

That said, I do feel that there is some kind of hard limit where no two parents can provide a reasonable quality of parenting for that volume of kids. No matter how skilled and patient you are, or how much you devote yourself to your family, there are only so many hours in the day, so many arms and hands, and so much energy. There's only so much to go around, and it has to eventually start to get divided thinner and thinner to the point the kids get shortchanged.

I'm not sure exactly where that limit is. I'm pretty confident nineteen exceeds it, though.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

2 hours ago, Natalie22 said:

Honestly, it would make the show much more interesting.  If they refuse to show any real family drama or discuss and family issues, it's really their only option.  Imagine Joy and Josiah being given a tour of a college and chance to shadow someone for a day.  If Joy actually likes party planning, she could even shadow someone at a Community College who is enrolled in an event planning program.  Or let the high school and elementary school kids experience some sort of secular event.  The little girls for example trying out girl scouts.  

For the older ones, it could be more confrontational.  Jinger having to interact with LGBT youth, especially those that have been kicked out of their homes by their parents.  Or Jessa having to tour an abortion clinic and be provided with their facts. 

It would be much more interesting to watch their beliefs be challenged and see how they react and if they change.  It would also force them to defend their beliefs to actual people who embody what they think is wrong.

This is something I would love to see, but never will. Part of their cult is to make sure no one questions what they do and why they do it.  You can't question beliefs, it might lead to a thought, and that thought might lead to another, and another. 

[Ungodly Grandma]

12 hours ago, EmCatlyn said:

I fervently hope that Jana has a reason to try not to get pregnant, since it would mean she is having sex. And while I am by no means convinced that sex before marriage is necessary for happiness, it certainly can't hurt.

(Yeah, I know you meant Jill, not Jana.  But since it is the sort of mistake I often make,  I had to tease about it.)

But as to your real point, I wouldn't be surprised if Jill and Jessa were doing something to avoid pregnancy, but I would be surprised if M and JB were sanctioning it.

Wasn't Jill told by a doctor to wait a year after a c section to get pregnant? I know Jesus knows better, but her headship might have taken this warning seriously.