For most of this week, it appeared that TLC could have significantly limited the damage to its brand caused by the controversy over the Duggar family by canceling “19 Kids and Counting” outright. But it may not be so simple in light of concerns that the Duggars may not have been adequately vetted.
A prominent reality television executive anonymously told TheWrap that he was concerned that the Duggars had bypassed TLC’s normal vetting process. For those who don’t know, “19 Kids and Counting” grew out of several one-hour specials focused on the Duggars that aired on TLC’s sister network, Discovery Health. According to the executive, while cable networks don’t have as “professional” a process as over-the-air networks, even on cable the screening process for full-fledged series is much more rigorous than the one for one-hour documentaries. The executive was concerned that TLC greenlighted what was originally “17 Kids and Counting” even though the Duggars had “only been screened for an hour-long documentary.”
Based on at least one detail that’s emerged about the Duggars, it’s hard not to wonder if some corners were cut at TLC. If you’ll recall, there is overwhelming circumstantial evidence that Jim Bob and Michelle either told or allowed their girls to be told that they were somehow to blame for what Josh did to them. Specifically, that they somehow “defrauded” Josh by stirring up lustful thoughts, or they had exposed themselves to evil by sinning and putting themselves out of Jim Bob’s protection. You mean to tell me that no one foresaw the damage that could be done by aligning with a family that at the very least condones blaming the victims of sexual assaults?
Howard Bragman of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations thinks that Oprah Winfrey’s abrupt decision to cancel the Duggars’ planned appearance on her show in December 2006 should have been “a huge red flag” for TLC. Remember, that cancellation came after someone tipped off a staffer at Winfrey’s Harpo Productions about Josh fondling at least five girls–including some of his sisters–in 2002 and 2003. According to Bragman, the abrupt cancellation caused “a lot of chatter online,” and finds it hard to believe that this escaped TLC’s attention. Bragman asked–loudly–“What did TLC know and when did they know it? And if they didn’t know about it, why didn’t they?” As we now know, within hours of that email, Harpo had not only scrubbed the appearance, but alerted a child abuse hotline. That ultimately triggered the first real investigation into Josh’s actions.
Crisis manager Ross Johnson, however, thinks that TLC can’t be blamed for inadequate vetting, saying that it’s inevitable that “a certain percent of families on TV will unravel.” That may be true up to a point. But in any situation where kids are involved, you would think that you’d be a little more careful. If it is in fact true that TLC didn’t vet the Duggars further when it decided to turn their story into a series, then someone at that network has a lot of explaining to do.
