Counting on - Season 4, part 3 - Lying but not Laying while camping

[Scottie]

@VBOY9977 I think you're right. 

 

I feel like this is the format they're going with at least for the foreseeable future. I'm getting sick of seeing the same footage every episode.  

[Mlissmartin]

So boring. We get maybe one episode total of new material each season.

[Ilovebrownies]

I kind of like Austin because he can provide without Boob.  But, his pulling away at the kiss is disturbing.  They are newlyweds and even if he is uncomfortable with pda, he humiliated his new bride.  I find it odd that he would pull away like that.  He could hust give one kiss and be done but instead he had to escape her multiple attempts.  

[HarryPotterFan]

9 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

I don't know if Austin doesn't like PDA though; he seemed perfectly comfortable at the wedding and that was televised to the same extent. So what changed? 

Maybe she's a bad kisser  I kid, I kid. But my first kiss with my ex was so gross and slobbery. But I decided to try to train him since I liked him so much.

[MoonFace]

1 hour ago, 3 ring circus said:

Since Monday is the season finale it's safe to say they aren't going to show Jill's latest birth episode. It makes me wonder what went wrong. This is very strange for the Duggar family not to show a major life event. 

Maybe they are saving it for a Very/Every Duggar Birth event?  Have a series of births for Jill, Anna, Joy,  and (I'm sure they are hoping) Kendra.  l think they have learned to not ask JinJer.   Maybe by then Jessa will be knocked up again.   

It would be a good (for them) way for them to introduce He Who Must Not Be Mentioned back in to the 'fold'.   Because at this point, you know they need the money for that branch of the family tree.   

By the way, how many shows are in a "season"? 

[Ilovebrownies]

8 minutes ago, MoonFace said:

 

By the way, how many shows are in a "season"? 

As many as god gives us. 

[VineHeart137]

11 minutes ago, MoonFace said:

By the way, how many shows are in a "season"? 

It varies. Usually 7 or 8, although season three had 13. The first season only had 3 episodes but I think that's when it was still called Jill and Jessa: Counting On and they were just testing the waters after Joshley.

[backyard sylph]

Just watched thing. Whoops, this went long. Well.

1. For the most part, I think being with Jeremy is making Jinger more articulate. But then she gets around her family and, like, it all falls away, like, again. His like habit is more ordinary for these our times, and somewhat under control most of the time.

2. I see Jana caring for her sisters very much, but she has become even more uncomfortable on the couch. I think she’s sick of it.

3. Austin doesn’t seem controlling to me. I hope he remains patient with her as long as it takes her to grow out of being so indecisive. But let’s face it; having babies forces you to start taking control over some things, anyway. She'll be running the baby and him by next summer.

That kiss editing. He leans forward slightly, gently holding her face in his hands as he prepares to finally take her for his own BOOM COMMERCIAL TIME

And then it’s all repeated from another angle and we see the action. I’m a really big fan of that kiss. If I were quite a bit younger it’d probably given me a bit of a flush.

Having them talk about it, though, makes actual me, a much older person, sorta sad. I wouldn’t care that they wait for their wedding to do it if it makes them happy, but having to talk about it on camera afterwards makes it more of a job to perform.

4. I was oddly excited to notice that Jed has a slightly non-Duggar standard hairstyle. I think I mean Jed. They mostly run together for me.

5. When Joy was telling them all, “Go back, go back!” for the bouquet tossing, I wanted her to yell “I’m going long!” and throw it in a neat football spiral. But if I cared about these people in a personal way, I’d have been psyched to see her hand it to Kendra.

I’m happy facial hair is in for these guys right now.

I’m glad we’ll see Kendra at least preparing to get married before we see pictures of her pregnant.

6. He really didn’t want her to kiss him there on the couch, and I can think of fifty reasons why that have nothing to do with not liking her kisses. Watching all those short takes, I was wondering when it was taking place and over how long of a video session, and in what order they were recorded before editing. He wasn’t bristling at her, though, or indicating severity. And I have a suspicion they made it weird for us to see on purpose, those TLC devils.

What are the ingredients in Hell's cocktail? I'd like to make one tomorrow night.

[Audrey2]

59 minutes ago, MoonFace said:

   By the way, how many shows are in a "season"? 

That's a loaded question. Do you mean how much new material is aired on a season (maybe a show or two) or how many consecutive weeks of "new" (really the same material repeated and rehashed) is presented?

[Bad Wolf]

1 hour ago, Ilovebrownies said:

As many as god gives us. 

Are you sure it's God giving it? 

[pamplemousse]

1 hour ago, backyard sylph said:

What are the ingredients in Hell's cocktail? I'd like to make one tomorrow night.

I'm not sure exactly what they are, but I think it must include fireball whiskey and/or hot cinnamon schnapps. Or maybe it's served hot in a mug.  Or maybe it's set on fire and then served up.  Or all of the above.

[brusselsgriffon]

9 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I also think ratings would be better if they only showed a wedding once, instead of showing the quickly edited version, then the wedding planning, then showing a longer version of the wedding again. By the time the full version of Joy's wedding was aired, we saw the pictures and knew she was pregnant and showing. 

Yeah....drawing a wedding out for about 4 or 5 episodes can't be good for ratings!

[Scottie]

@Audrey2 @brusselsgriffon agreed - if they had waited to show us Joy's wedding until this week that would have been fine, it would have made the very long episode at least marginally less boring. Not to mention all of the wedding prep episodes wouldn't feel quite as useless, they would at least be building up to something instead of constantly backtracking. 

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

4 hours ago, pamplemousse said:

I'm not sure exactly what they are, but I think it must include fireball whiskey and/or hot cinnamon schnapps. Or maybe it's served hot in a mug.  Or maybe it's set on fire and then served up.  Or all of the above.

It needs a dash of habañero hot sauce, and perhaps something dark and chocolatey the round out the heat?

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

6 hours ago, backyard sylph said:

What are the ingredients in Hell's cocktail?

Google gives some very interesting results.  Lots of interesting sounding recipes.

[Lurky]

Genuinely don't understand the concept behind this show, and the production/writing decisions.  As everyone has said, showing a wedding at the end of a series, and then waiting a few months to go into it in mind-numbing detail, would be bizarre in a 'normal' reality show, but these are the Duggars, there'll be a couple of weddings a year for, well, ever. 

And the whole thing about showing all the build-up to the wedding when the bride is most definitely visibly pregnant and moving onto their next "season of life".  By the time we see Joy talk about being pregnant, she'll have had her first child, and when we see Kendra's wedding build-up, she's likely to be visibly pregnant too.

It can't be because of the timing of the shows, because TLC control that, so they could re-set the timeline right now, by showing Joe and Kendra's wedding as a one-off Very Special Episode and then starting the next series based on the things that have just happened.

It's especially egregious because it's obviously a very cheaply made show, with all the talking heads in the series filmed in one batch, and full of nonsense and filler, and it feels like 40% of each episode is previously shown footage.  It's not like it's a gorgeous BBC nature documentary, where there are complicated editing decisions about how to cut down the acres of footage shot over 3 months in a rainforest into an hour long episode!

[CarrotCake]

I actually kind of expected this season to have more real-time in there.

They could have easily put this season in 3 episodes (2 for preparation and 1 for the wedding) and then have 3 more episodes for the preperation of Joe's wedding, Joy's honeymoon and birth of Samuel etc.

They could even have extended the season with 2 more episodes so you have 4 episodes for each 'part'.

Then they would be sort of caught up on the timeline and the next season could focus on the birth of baby Foresyth and the pregnancy of Kendra.

[cascarones]

This has probably been said, but my take on the show format and rehashing is there's been a drastic reduction in filming time and a cut in paychecks to keep the show turning enough of a profit to make it worth it. A lot of advertisers left after the scandals and it doesn't look like they've come back (nor clearly have ratings), which very well could have hurt TLC's pockets or been eaten up in legal battles with production companies. We know there was a lawsuit that kept "The Little Couple" off the air for quite awhile and I doubt it is the first or only one. That's quite an important point, TLC airs purchased content from production companies they may or may not directly own/influence. I won't claim to know anything about how the financial piece between TLC, production companies, editing companies, reality stars, but would assume there are a lot of separate contracts involved with all sorts of clauses (i.e. the Duggars clearly have a modesty clause somewhere in there with the knee/leg blurring).  Or how much of an economical barter system is used in the negotiation process for vendors/ places on the show (Miss Renee, you'll get so many more clients! Think of the exposure!). 

Or TLC is just being prudent with resources, waiting for another scandal to rock "Counting On" or another one of their shows. The general assumption is that TLC is funding these fancier weddings and honeymoons, so logically, they also want to get episode and minute mileage out of it until they can't wring another drop out of the towel. I'm sure the steady drop in ratings will impact future filming/ sponsoring of life events if they're not seeing a return on their investment.

Just my speculations from a media buying perspective when deciding on vendors and how to ironclad a contract if you think there might be trouble or something ugly brewing you don't want to be associated with. 

[samurai_sarah]

13 hours ago, Ilovebrownies said:

I kind of like Austin because he can provide without Boob.  But, his pulling away at the kiss is disturbing.  They are newlyweds and even if he is uncomfortable with pda, he humiliated his new bride.  I find it odd that he would pull away like that.  He could hust give one kiss and be done but instead he had to escape her multiple attempts.  

Not being personally acquainted with Austin, I'd say that there could be multiple reasons for why he acted the way he did, and few -if any - of us will ever know.

At our wedding, I high-fived Mr samurai_sarah, and then gave him a pretty brief kiss. The reason? We had specifically asked the officiant to dispense with the "you may now kiss the bride". She forgot all about it and said "how about you give your bride a wee kiss now?". So, I high-fived him instead, and then kissed him.

The guests thought that we were just being goofy. Actually, I was mildly irritated that the officiant forgot and went petulant. Seriously, I just went "oh no, you didn't", and did the first thing that sprang to mind. I know, I know, I rule at this adulting gig!

I doubt that Austin shared my particularly proud moment as an adult, but suspect that he had his own reasons for acting the way he did. Whether or not Joy felt humiliated is another thing we are unlikely to ever know. She might be like Mr samurai_sarah, who thinks the way I acted was hilarious. Or she might be like a great-aunt of mine, who managed to hold on to a grudge about a minor mishap at her wedding for fifty years. Unless one of them writes a tell-all, we'll never know.

[samurai_sarah]

3 hours ago, Lurky said:

(snip)

It's especially egregious because it's obviously a very cheaply made show, with all the talking heads in the series filmed in one batch, and full of nonsense and filler, and it feels like 40% of each episode is previously shown footage.  It's not like it's a gorgeous BBC nature documentary, where there are complicated editing decisions about how to cut down the acres of footage shot over 3 months in a rainforest into an hour long episode!

Those become classics though, while the Duggars' show will be forgotten in 3...2...1...

I personally suspect that the crew films as much as it can, in the shortest span of time possible and then cobbles together something from the footage, because they are contractually obliged. Because, honestly, the Duggars are an awfully dull lot. If it weren't for the 19 kids and their beliefs, they'd be those perfectly dull neighbours you exchange pleasantries about the weather with. Or the occasional recipe, which you know neither you, nor they will ever make. Or you manage a five minute chat about the roadworks being really annoying, and how you should start car-pooling to take the kids to school.

They're not interesting, they're not funny, and whenever TLC sends them abroad to generate drama, all they manage to do is making American tourists look bad for a few cheap laughs. I suspect, the latter is a service the majority of American tourists could do without! And don't get me started on the whole "Dillards in Danger America" story arch. TLC was profiting from showing a trainwreck. A self-inflicted one, but I for one believe that it wouldn't have gone on as long as it did, if TLC hadn't been involved. On the other hand, Shrader is still doing mischief in "Danger Africa", so what do I know?

The brief point to my long ruminations is that I basically agree with all you have said, but think there's a financial and contractual reason why TLC is doing it the way they're doing it. They are working with people who are as dull as dishwater, and are making the best of it at the lowest possible production costs.

In my next post, I will tell all about how I really feel about the Duggars. Spoiler: Every time I watch an episode, I think that me re-arranging my pantry would make for more riveting viewing. At least there'd be brief periods of me doing my best shite-dancing to YMCA and other disco classics, when I discover chocolate.

Oh, and if the Beeb ever makes a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Shrader, or better yet, Jody in "Danger Scotland", I am watching the ever-loving out of that.

[Lurky]

2 minutes ago, samurai_sarah said:

The brief point to my long ruminations is that I basically agree with all you have said, but think there's a financial and contractual reason why TLC is doing it the way they're doing it. They are working with people who are as dull as dishwater, and are making the best of it at the lowest possible production costs.

Oh, for sure.  I think TLC DGAF about the show, and have nothing but contempt for their audience.  But they're really taking the piss with the current serieses (?), to the point that it's probably easier to make a quarter-way decent fist of a show than it is to put out this dross.

Oh, and did you see the BBC documentary with the Andersons? I'm sure you have, but if not you can google for America's Hate Preachers BBc and find links  (Non-UK may need a VPN) 

and the film-maker wrote about it too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/2e465c60-cdd3-48f5-8944-e9b2786e3ce9

I also really enjoyed Louis Theroux's various visits with the Westboro Baptist Church - I live for something similar with pretty much every family we follow!

 

 

[samurai_sarah]

@Lurky

Watched all those, and they were great! I love that the BBC doesn't just let people spout whatever they want to, without questioning and asking for explanations. TLC fails on that front. So I have to keep reminding myself that they are producing reality TV, whereas the BBC does documentaries.

Having said that, I don't think the BBC captured just how truly vile the Andersons are. But that is a gripe stemming from FJ, where we spend far more time than a producer has, studying and discussing fundies. So, I am glad that they do this at all. And I so, so hope that we get a "Hodnetts in Danger Scotland" documentary.

[singsingsing]

The show is so boring and repetitive now that I think even I'm going to stop watching, and I've pretty much always watched it. These days I usually just have it on while I colour, but it's getting too boring even for that. I actually started writing a whole post about why it's so boring now, but I got bored and deleted it. In a nutshell: we've seen it all before, umpteen times, nobody wants to watch the same dull scripted segments with the names and faces changed over and over again, and people aren't going to be overly interested in weddings and births that they know happened 6-12 months prior when we can follow these people's lives in real time on social media.

I would watch something verging on an actual documentary about these people, like the first 'test' season of Counting On. I will not continue to watch this cheap, silly, never-ending rehash of, 'J has a suitor, Dad pretends to hesitate but allows them to court, J starts courting, Dad pretends to hesitate but allows them to get engaged, J gets engaged, wedding planning is sooooo hard ya'll and we only have two months, J visits Mzzzzzz Renee to get a patchwork dress, J gets married, Jim Bob can't believe s/he's all grown up, honeymoon with various staged activities, omg there's a baby on the way how shocking, J thinks up 'creative' way to announce to the family'.....

Nope. No more.

[SapphireSlytherin]

20 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

'J has a suitor, Dad pretends to hesitate but allows them to court, J starts courting, Dad pretends to hesitate but allows them to get engaged, J gets engaged, wedding planning is sooooo hard ya'll and we only have two months, J visits Mzzzzzz Renee to get a patchwork dress, J gets married, Jim Bob can't believe s/he's all grown up, honeymoon with various staged activities, omg there's a baby on the way how shocking, J thinks up 'creative' way to announce to the family'.....

We need a "brilliant" reaction option.

[Eternalbluepearl]

30 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

I would watch something verging on an actual documentary about these people, like the first 'test' season of Counting On.

This is what I wish would happen. A much more real look at the Duggars, without the phony we are just your normal everday family who goes to thrift stores, buys cars at auction, makes up rules about hug lengths and films home births. I wish TLC would stop babying them for lack of a better word. Show Derick being awful on social media, show what Michelle does all day when she's not on a wedding dress shopping trip, show who is really homeschooling the kids left at home, etc.