Why Hasn't TLC Canceled the Duggars' '19 Kids and Counting'?

TLC

Nearly two weeks since the Josh Duggar molestation scandal broke and days after Megyn Kelly’s interview with Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar about the controversy, TLC has yet to decide the fate of its top-rated reality series “19 Kids and Counting.”

“It will be really hard for TLC to bring this show back, and it will have to be more than this interview,” NPR TV critic Eric Deggans told TheWrap.

In fact, many media experts say the embattled clan’s Fox News appearance last week only complicated any potential move to return the show to the cable network’s schedule in the near future.

Also Read: Josh Duggar Gets Cozy With the GOP Elite (Photos)

Kelly interviewed Jim Bob and Michelle, parents of Josh Duggar, who has confessed to molesting underage girls when he was a teenager. (That sit-down, which aired Wednesday, drew 3.1 million viewers, the host’s highest-rated show of the year.) She also spoke to Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald, two of Josh’s sisters and admitted victims.

But if people were looking for a mea culpa moment that could have humbled the Duggars before their audience and opened the doors for an imminent return to TV, the Kelly interview may have fallen short.

Also Read: Duggar Family Molestation Scandal: 7 Latest Developments

“They’ll have to sit down with someone who is really independent and answer some really tough questions about what happened,” Deggans said. “If they do that, maybe they can salvage it. But now, I don’t see how TLC brings it back.”

But many found that the Duggar parents failed to win over viewers skeptical of their handling of Josh’s misconduct in the Kelly interview.

“They played to their base and it may give them some sort of career in the evangelical community, and people who liked them before probably left the interview still liking them, but I don’t think it converted anybody,” Howard Bragman, chairman and founder of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations, told TheWrap.

Also Read: Jill, Jessa Duggar Blast Media Frenzy As 'A Thousand Times Worse' Than Brother Josh's Abuse

“They keep talking about ‘Josh’s mistake,'” Bragman added, “but the reality is the way it was handled was a mistake.”

TLC pulled “19 Kids and Counting” from its schedule on May 22 after reports of the molestation scandal first surfaced. Days later, key advertisers including General Mills, Walgreens and Choice Hotels jumped ship.

TLC is taking its time to determine how to proceed. “The network is having a lot of conversations around all possible options and taking very seriously all concerns associated with the series,” a network insider told TheWrap about its top-rated reality hit. “It’s a sensitive topic, and we want to make sure we’re being thorough and thoughtful of how we move forward.”

While there has been speculation that the network could pursue a spinoff series featuring Jill and Jessa, newlyweds who weddings last year each generated a top-rated special, TLC sources say that no decision has been reached. “As far as I’m aware, there’s nothing there,” the individual told TheWrap

Also Read: 9 Biggest Duggar Family Questions Looming After Fox News Interview With Megyn Kelly

Bragman concedes that a spinoff focusing on the Jill and Jessa could succeed, particularly since they are less tainted by the handling of the scandal than their parents. “But the freak show of the 19 kids is part of the appeal,” he said.

“I mean, they may try it, because it’s not a particularly expensive show to produce, but at the same time, it’s hard to imagine it will have the same appeal.”

13 Reality Shows Killed by Scandal Before '19 Kids and Counting': 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' to 'Buckwild' (Photos)

These reality television shows made their exit from the small screen in unfavorable ways. Will "19 Kids and Counting" follow a similar path?
Getty Images/TLC/MTV
MTV suspended production on "Buckwild," marketed as the "redneck version" of "Jersey Shore," following the death of cast member Shain Gandee. The 21-year-old was found dead of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
MTV
Never mind that Liza Minnelli and David Gest separated the following year, VH1 dropped "Liza and David" before its first episode aired because Gest was "impossible to work with."
Twitter/@LoveYouMoreMJ_
"Kid Nation," a show about 40 kids running their own town with minimal adult interference, was axed by CBS when it was accused of exploiting the children's welfare and being the "sweatshop of the entertainment industry."
CBS
CeeLo Green’s reality show "The Good Life" was canned by TBS days after the musician pleaded no contest to a felony charge of giving a woman the drug ecstasy. He then tweeted: “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!”
Getty Images
"Pretty Wild" was slated to become E!'s next reality family success story after the Kardashians. The show followed momager Andrea Arlington and her three wannabe model daughters Alexis Neiers, Tess Taylor and Gabby Neiers. Alexis was arrested after shooting the pilot as one of the members of the "Bling Ring," a group of teenage thieves who broke into celebrity homes like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. "Pretty Wild" included some of the trial in its first season and did not opt to renew.
Getty Images
TLC quickly canceled "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" after reports came out that June Shannon, mother to the young star of the series, was resuming her relationship with a man who was convicted of molesting another one of her daughters.
TLC
Ryan Jenkins, the Canadian man suspected of killing model Jasmine Fiore and then taking his own life, appeared first as a contestant on "Megan Wants A Millionaire" and then on "I Love Money 3." Though the incident happened months after he was on either show, VH1 pulled the plug on both. "Megan Wants A Millionaire" was yanked mid-season, while "I Love Money 3" was not set to air for another year.
VH1
"Ev and Ocho" was a VH1 series following newlyweds NFL receiver Chad Johnson (aka Ochocinco) and “Basketball Wives” star Evelyn Lozada. VH1 yanked the show after the new groom was arrested on a domestic violence charge for head-butting his new bride.
VH1
"Armed and Famous" followed five stars (La Toya Jackson, Erik Estrada, Jack Osbourne, Jason "Wee-Man" Acuna and Trish Stratus) who enrolled in the Police Academy in Muncie, Indiana, and served as part of its patrol. The show was canceled after four episodes due to ratings ... And perhaps because Estrada got into a public shouting match with a suspect. Also, a woman sued the show for wrongful entry and illegal search.
CBS
"Jon & Kate Plus 8" became "Kate Plus 8" when Jon and Kate Gosselin announced their split during the show's fifth season finale. Jon wasn't pleased to be kicked off the show and tried to stop TLC from filming his children altogether.
TLC
A&E yanked "The Two Coreys," which featured child stars Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, after Haim suffered a drug abuse relapse while shooting the second season. Feldman said he would no longer deal with his friend's substance addiction. Haim died in March 2010.
A&E
"Flip It Forward" features twin brothers Jason and David Benham in their own HGTV series. Or, it would, had the network not shut down those plans after learning about homophobic, anti-Muslim and anti-abortion statements they’d made in the past.
HGTV
Last month, it was revealed that Josh Duggar had inappropriately touched five underage girls – four of which are his sisters – when he was a teenager. TLC pulled all episodes of "19 Kids and Counting" off the air, but has stopped short of definitively canceling the show. Considering the backlash and how many of its sponsors have dropped out, it's a matter of "when" and not "if" the show will get axed.
TLC