Duggars by the Dozenty!!11!!: The 20th (THREAD) Achieved!

[Cleopatra7]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I feel like TLC has become a modern day freak show. 

A side show always had at least one little person, the fat lady (my 600lb life), a giant (my giant life), conjoined twins, etc. And TLC has shows about all those people. 

TLC allows one to experience all the cheap thrills of an old school freak show, but since the programs are disguised as "documentaries," you can tell yourself that you're somehow learning something by watching.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Just now, Cleopatra7 said:

TLC allows one to experience all the cheap thrills of an old school freak show, but since the programs are disguised as "documentaries," you can tell yourself that you're somehow learning something by watching.

I've always been interested in medical or genetic problems. I think it's natural to be curious. But the way TLC does a lot of the show's makes me uncomfortable. It's definitely a subtle freak show vibe from many of the shows.

[theinvisiblegirl]

I've always liked Jen and Bill soooo much more than the Roloffs. Unlike the Roloffs, when I first started watching Jen and Bill, they actually seemed to like and love one another. Plus I always found it wonderful that they made the cameras stay away for the first few weeks after getting home from adopting their kids, just so they could spend time together as a family unit.

 

[Jana814]

19 minutes ago, theinvisiblegirl said:

when I first started watching Jen and Bill, they actually seemed to like and love one another. Plus I always found it wonderful that they made the cameras stay away for the first few weeks after getting home from adopting their kids, just so they could spend time together as a family unit.

 

I loved that about Jen & Bill also. It was the right thing to do. 

[nst]

the Matt and Amy always had an angry dymanic

Jenn and Bill always seemed sweet  

[EyeQueue]

19 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

TLC allows one to experience all the cheap thrills of an old school freak show, but since the programs are disguised as "documentaries," you can tell yourself that you're somehow learning something by watching.

I think we need a new word in our lexicon to capture this idea of "programs disguised as 'documentaries.'" We have "mockumentary" for programs/films that are purposefully satirical in some way, so that's out.

How about "crockumentary," since what's being shown is being dressed up as a factual, real documentary, but is actually a steaming crock of bullshit?

ETA: And....goddamn it. I thought I coined a new word, but it's already in Urban Dictionary.

[ksgranola1]

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 3:29 PM, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Kelly admitted they borrowed money from Lawson repeatedly and he was buying the groceries for the family.  

Well, Lawson is 23 & is still living at home so he sort of should contribute something. Are they getting monopoly money from UP??

[HerNameIsBuffy]

29 minutes ago, ksgranola1 said:

Well, Lawson is 23 & is still living at home so he sort of should contribute something. Are they getting monopoly money from UP??

This was long before UP and he was still a minor.  A minor child should not be feeding his family and loaning his parents money to support their lifestyle.

[Jana814]

6 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

This was long before UP and he was still a minor.  A minor child should not be feeding his family and loaning his parents money to support their lifestyle.

To bad more states don't have the laws that California has again minors (usually actors) supporting their parents. 

[HeadshipRegent]

13 hours ago, Jana814 said:

To bad more states don't have the laws that California has again minors (usually actors) supporting their parents. 

oh, but even if they did have laws like that, you just know the Bates kids would be begging to give that money to their parents! Just like the begged to be stuffed in one room together and how the older girls beg to parent the little ones!

[Fundie Bunny]

2 hours ago, HeadshipRegent said:

oh, but even if they did have laws like that, you just know the Bates kids would be begging to give that money to their parents! Just like the begged to be stuffed in one room together and how the older girls beg to parent the little ones!

Or how J'Rod's kids SEVERLY love to take pictures of ''mommy''

[nastyhobbitses]

On 6/13/2016 at 3:07 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I've always been interested in medical or genetic problems. I think it's natural to be curious. But the way TLC does a lot of the show's makes me uncomfortable. It's definitely a subtle freak show vibe from many of the shows.

Same. I've always been quite interested in and curious about medical problems and genetic abnormalities (I think that if I were better at math and applied myself more in science, I would have liked to become a pathologist or a surgeon), but a lot of TLC shows give off such a sideshow vibe. It makes me so uncomfortable. I'll admit that sometimes I'll see someone with a visible physical or mental issue and wonder what they might have exactly and how that must affect their lives, but TLC shows would just take that person and go "STEP RIGHT UP TAKE A LOOK AT THIS FREAK DOING NORMAL PERSON STUFF EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE A FREAK".

[MakeItSo]

2 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Same. I've always been quite interested in and curious about medical problems and genetic abnormalities (I think that if I were better at math and applied myself more in science, I would have liked to become a pathologist or a surgeon), but a lot of TLC shows give off such a sideshow vibe. It makes me so uncomfortable. I'll admit that sometimes I'll see someone with a visible physical or mental issue and wonder what they might have exactly and how that must affect their lives, but TLC shows would just take that person and go "STEP RIGHT UP TAKE A LOOK AT THIS FREAK DOING NORMAL PERSON STUFF EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE A FREAK".

I totally agree. I'm hard of hearing and a Type 1 diabetic and people always ask how I snowboard or play hockey if I don't hear much and have an insulin pump...and I always look at them weirdly because...I don't need ears to do sports and an insulin pump doesn't really get in the way as much as people might think (low blood sugars can though lol) but I get it. You don't know anything about it and so you have questions about people who may be different from you. I am all for raising awareness and I have NEVER had a problem answering sincere questions but TLC's whole "this person is different and look how good they are at normal things" just hits the wrong nerve with me...just the tone of the whole thing. 

One show I do like is the one about two people who both have a rare conditions and they get to meet someone with that same rare condition for the first time. Not sure of the name of the show or if it's even on TLC but I caught an episode during the semester at one point. I thought it was done a little more tastefully.

[AreYouThereGothard?]

As a child of the 90s, I have fond memories of 90s Nickelodeon shows. But almost as weighty as those were the shows that TLC had in the 2000s that were actually thought-provoking or interesting. Hello, Trading Spaces?!?!?! Mostly True: Urban Legends Revealed? Exhibit A: The Secrets of Forensic Science? (I learned so much about the Solar Temple Cult from that show, like other normal 12-year-olds). It hardcore tapped into my nerdiness/creative side and I legit felt like I learned something, be it fun ways to decorate my room or learning about the history behind urban legends (I love ghost stories, so that was right up my alley). The ones that highlighted people's lives, like A Baby/Wedding Story just followed them. No drama, no scripting (as far as I knew), just another person's story. In addition to the "look at my freakish family" shows, it's just so empty with stuff like "Say Yes to the Dress" or "Four Weddings". I like pretty dresses and design, but TLC is playing to extremes and it's so off-putting. It's gotta be the best wedding, or flashiest dress, or most "unique" family or life circumstances. Too much hype and not enough substance. If HGTV had a random urban legends show, I'd pretty much be set now.

[PennySycamore]

@AreYouThereGothard?, Four Weddings is just ridiculous!  It makes me glad I got married in the old days before weddings had "themes". 

[MakeItSo]

@AreYouThereGothard? Remember Fact or Fiction with Jonathan Frakes? That was a good one, too. Albeit a tad bit less science-y haha

[AreYouThereGothard?]

39 minutes ago, MakeItSo said:

@AreYouThereGothard? Remember Fact or Fiction with Jonathan Frakes? That was a good one, too. Albeit a tad bit less science-y haha

DUDE I LOVE THAT SHOW. If memory serves, I don't think that was TLC. It jumped around a bit, I think it was on Fox, then SyFy, and now it's occasionally on Chiller if you have fancy cable. They haven't in awhile, but Chiller used to have all day Beyond Belief marathons. Best study background show ever. 

1 hour ago, PennySycamore said:

@AreYouThereGothard?, Four Weddings is just ridiculous!  It makes me glad I got married in the old days before weddings had "themes". 

If I get married, I'm totally eloping (I have two sisters, one of whom just got married. My parents have other children to marry off, lol). I'd rather spend the money for a house down payment or our student loans than "chicken or fish?". 

That being said, where on earth do the Duggars find 1,000+ people to invite to weddings? Yeah, they're on the huge family circuit, but 1,000?! plus is there food? I know Josh had finger foods and small things and Jessa had brownie sundaes, but the cost for a sit-down dinner, venue, decorations has to be astronomical. 

[MakeItSo]

@AreYouThereGothard? oh my bad! I didn't realize we were listing TLC shows haha. I was just thinking of geeky nerdy weird shows and that one came to mind

[AreYouThereGothard?]

1 minute ago, MakeItSo said:

@AreYouThereGothard? oh my bad! I didn't realize we were listing TLC shows haha. I was just thinking of geeky nerdy weird shows and that one came to mind

No worries, haha. I personally like knowing that there's someone out there who is not related to me who also watched it.

Unless there's something you're not telling me. 

[MakeItSo]

2 minutes ago, AreYouThereGothard? said:

No worries, haha. I personally like knowing that there's someone out there who is not related to me who also watched it.

Unless there's something you're not telling me. 

hahahaha not to my knowledge. I was just thinking recently, what if someone in my family or one of my friends is on here...and we communicate on here frequently...and neither of us knows it's us. It does crack me up. 

[jozina]

Four Weddings is just BLERGH.  Our wedding theme was "2 people getting married". And our colours were......uhm....pink ("Pink flowers are cheapest florist?  Amazeballs, pink it is") and blue ("What colour dresses you want bridesmaids? Blue you say?").

[scribble]

41 minutes ago, AreYouThereGothard? said:

 

That being said, where on earth do the Duggars find 1,000+ people to invite to weddings? Yeah, they're on the huge family circuit, but 1,000?! plus is there food? I know Josh had finger foods and small things and Jessa had brownie sundaes, but the cost for a sit-down dinner, venue, decorations has to be astronomical. 

I'm fairly certain they didn't have sit-down dinners at any of the weddings. I'm under the impression (though I haven't actually seen the episodes) that rootbeer floats and sundaes were pretty much what they served.

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 hours ago, AreYouThereGothard? said:

As a child of the 90s, I have fond memories of 90s Nickelodeon shows. But almost as weighty as those were the shows that TLC had in the 2000s that were actually thought-provoking or interesting. Hello, Trading Spaces?!?!?! Mostly True: Urban Legends Revealed? Exhibit A: The Secrets of Forensic Science? (I learned so much about the Solar Temple Cult from that show, like other normal 12-year-olds). It hardcore tapped into my nerdiness/creative side and I legit felt like I learned something, be it fun ways to decorate my room or learning about the history behind urban legends (I love ghost stories, so that was right up my alley). The ones that highlighted people's lives, like A Baby/Wedding Story just followed them. No drama, no scripting (as far as I knew), just another person's story. In addition to the "look at my freakish family" shows, it's just so empty with stuff like "Say Yes to the Dress" or "Four Weddings". I like pretty dresses and design, but TLC is playing to extremes and it's so off-putting. It's gotta be the best wedding, or flashiest dress, or most "unique" family or life circumstances. Too much hype and not enough substance. If HGTV had a random urban legends show, I'd pretty much be set now.

When I was a freshmen in college, I remember coming back to my dorm in between classes and watching TLC. The schedule usually went like this:

A Makeover Story

A Dating Story

A Wedding Story

A Baby Story

i can guarentee there would be some awesome late 90s early 2000s fashion on those shows.

[JermajestyDuggar]

28 minutes ago, scribble said:

I'm fairly certain they didn't have sit-down dinners at any of the weddings. I'm under the impression (though I haven't actually seen the episodes) that rootbeer floats and sundaes were pretty much what they served.

Yeah the Duggars don't serve meals at their weddings. They actually don't include a lot of "typical wedding things" like booze, a band/DJ, a sit down meal. So it's probably very cheap for a 1000 person wedding. The church is usually cheap in my experience. They also usually have people volunteering to help out and make food. And they get another fundie "photographer" that doesn't charge a ton.  So think about it. What are they actually spending money on? The wedding gown, the church, the decorations, the flowers, the pictures, and the snack food/cake. That's why they invite so many people. Because they are getting tons of gifts basically to fully stick their entire house. And they are most likely only spending about $10 per person altogether.

[Jana814]

31 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

When I was a freshmen in college, I remember coming back to my dorm in between classes and watching TLC. The schedule usually went like this:

A Makeover Story

A Dating Story

A Wedding Story

A Baby Story

 

That was the best lineup!!  The college I went to didn't get TLC till the second semester of my Junior year.