Thursday, September 24, 2015

19 Profits and Counting

TLC announced today that they would be producing and airing a two new programs featuring 19 Kids and Counting stars, Jill and Jessa Duggar. For those with no background on the show or its subject, 19 Kids and Counting was a reality program that aired on TLC chronicling the day to day lives of supersized family (due to religious beliefs against contraception) the Duggars from Tonitown, Arkansas. The show was a huge hit for TLC, with people tuning in to watch the spectacle that was basically watching these christian human rabbits reproducing at record rates with none of the fun parts. The show was cancelled when it was revealed that oldest Duggar son, Josh Duggar, had molested his two oldest sisters (Jessa and Jill) along with other victims. A situation that would have been traumatic and scandalous for any family but that was now highlighted by the family's christian values that prohibited even hugging before marriage.

However now that the show aka money maker is off the air, TLC has started looking for new ways to exploit the victims of Josh's molestation for their own benefit. First the network will air a documentary called "Breaking the Silence" about the victims involved in child abuse, including interviews from Jill and Jess. The network will then start production on a new show just following the lives of Jill and Jess sans their parents and 17 other siblings. This kind of exploitation is not new for a network for TLC but will be an interesting test for the nielsen homes of America. Will the profiting off the victims of molestation be too much for America to handle or will they welcome it into their homes, like another member of the family?


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