While 19 Kids and Counting was cancelled by TLC following son Josh Duggar’s molestation scandal (and subsequent Ashley Madison scandal), the Duggar family was a hot property for the cable network. While we doubt the channel will ever touch Josh with a 10-foot pole, the network has revealed it is getting back into business with some of the Duggars. Next month, the channel will air three TLC specials related to Jill Duggar Dillard and Jessa Duggar Seewald.
TLC announced over the weekend that the three-part special Jill and Jessa: Counting On will first hit the schedule on December 13, with subsequent episodes airing on December 20 and 27. The three-part special will mostly revolve around the two Duggar girls and their families. Earlier news related to the specials indicated that Jill is actually planning on doing mission work in El Salvador with her family in tow, so that should be interesting. And Jessa and her husband Ben just had a baby boy named Spurgeon, so we’ll get footage of their new little one, as well.
However, the issues the family has had with the Josh Duggar reveals are obviously the elephant in the room and TLC says the specials will also go into detail regarding the after-effects of the molestation scandal. In addition, Josh’s wife Anna Duggar is expected to speak out about her trying experience over the summer, so that should be interesting. If you haven’t kept up with the molestation secret that was revealed last spring, both Jessa and Jill have come forward to say their brother touched them inappropriately when he was in his teens. Anna Duggar was aware of the molestation problem when she married her husband, but it’s unclear to what extent (we’re also interested in how she feels about her husband being on Ashley Madison). Suffice to say she doesn't look pleased.
It's not just Anna who will address what is going on. The three young women all begin to address all that happened in the first preview for the specials.
It should really comes as no shock that TLC might want to shed even more light on the Duggar family and the issues they have faced for the last several months, considering the network is constantly looking for ways to get ratings. Obviously, Jill and Jessa have already spoken out about the incident that affected them in childhood, but TLC hasn’t really openly addressed the issue yet. And we certainly haven’t heard from Duggar. I wouldn’t be shocked if Jill and Jessa: Counting On earned significant ratings for the cable channel. And if those specials do well, it seems we probably have not heard the last from the Duggar clan, after all.
We’ll find out soon enough. Jilly and Jessa: Counting On will premiere on Sunday, December 13 at 8 p.m. ET. You can also check out what is coming up at midseason, with our winter TV premiere schedule.
