The show that kicked off TLC’s giant brood of shows about families with giant broods, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, was picked up for a fifth season, it was announced yesterday at Discovery’s upfront presentation. As the Zap2It article linked here suggests, you might wonder whether putting the family on camera again is such a hot idea, given the couple’s alleged off-camera troubles (and their plain-as-day on-camera discord)—not to mention the fact that there are, duh, eight kids’ welfare involved. But then again, I’m not sure it’s that much worse an idea than seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 were.
I’ve been watching reruns of Jon and Kate lately, along with TLC’s new megafamily show, Table for 12. (18 Kids and Counting, formerly 17 Kids and Counting, about the fecund Duggar family, rounds out the stable.) To a parent, obviously, the mere logistics of families like this are fascinating. And as Sarah Palin and Octomom showed us, there is simply something about other people’s family-planning decisions (or lack thereof) that push all manner of social and economic buttons, inviting delicious judgment.
But I also wonder if these shows are also filling a gap left by scripted TV, much as Deadliest Catch et al. did for blue-collar TV shows. The dynamics and hurdles of giant family used to be routing entertainment in dramas and comedies: The Waltons, The Brady Bunch, Eight Is Enough. (Does Party of Five count? How big is big?) For whatever reason—maybe because smaller families better reflect upscale demographics?—scripted TV has gotten away from this.
I’m sure there are recent examples of primetime megabroods I’m forgetting, but the general trend seems to hold regardless. Does some enterprising development exec out there have a giant-family drama in the works? Should they add a few extra kids to Jason Katims’ Parenthood pilot?