People Magazine has a story today about a family that is now just as large as the Duggars, The Bates Family from East Tennessee. They just welcomed their 19th child, and they share several things in common with the Duggars other than 80s hair and having the same huge number of kids. The Bates live debt free, they home school, and they let God decide how many children they’re going to have. They actually sound nice, in the way that The Duggars sounded nice before they were all over the place. The Bates are getting a reality special on TLC, and it sounds like a pilot for a show. Go figure.

Having 19 kids – and willing to welcome more – isn’t just a Duggar thing any more.

Meet Gil and Kelly Bates of Lake City, Tenn., who had their 19th child – a boy, weighing in at 7 lbs., 8 oz., named Jeb Colton – on Feb. 1.

“You would think with your 19th child, you wouldn’t get excited and nervous,” Gil, 47, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. “But I was as nervous with this baby as I was with our first.”

The Bates family has known Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar for decades and has even appeared with the Duggars on their TLC show 19 Kids and Counting, which returns for season 6 on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET). Now, the Bates family will have their own show, a one-hour special airing March 27 on TLC after the 19 Kids and Counting season finale.

In addition to new baby Jeb, all the Bates kids live at home: Zach, 23; Michaella, 22; Erin, 20; Lawson, 19; Nathan, 18; Alyssa, 17; Tori,16; Trace, 15; Carlin, 13; Josie, 12; Katie, 11; Jackson, 9; Warden, 8; Isaiah, 7; Addallee, 5; Ellie, 4; Callie, 2 and Judson, 1.

“It is very exciting, and we’re nervous, too,” admits Kelly, 45, of the prospect of having their family life televised for millions to see. “Our biggest desire is to be real. The Duggars have helped people. We talked it over with the children, and everyone likes the idea of helping others. It is not wonderful all the time. We have the same struggles everyone has.”

The Bates both say that when they married 25 years ago, they anticipated having a “normal family” with “two or three kids,” but that didn’t happen. Three months into their marriage, they were pregnant with Zach. “We decided to trust God for children,” Gil says. “And I would not trade His choices for mine any day.”…

Like Michelle Duggar, Kelly says that family and friends have often expressed concern that having so many children would be dangerous to her physical well-being. “I have not had health issues and have had pretty easy pregnancies,” Kelly says. “We try to live healthy and make wise decisions about our health. We had a piece about the choice we’re making.”

[From People]

This People article doesn’t mention that the baby is in the ICU. The Bates’ website says that he was 7lb 8oz at birth and that he’s in the ICU, but his issues sound minor and hopefully he’ll be ok. “Due to an excessive amount of amniotic fluid and a very quick descent through the birth canal, he ingested a lot of fluid which caused him to have difficulty transitioning and allotted for an unexpected trip to the ICU nursery. He is doing wonderful and should be heading to his new home soon!”

Like the Duggars, the Bates family also supports Rick Santorum for President and has been campaigning for him.

Kaiser and I were talking about this, and we agree that this is a choice that people make, and that we should respect that choice even if it’s one that we find strange and wouldn’t make for ourselves. (We’re talking about the decision to have so many children, not the decision to put your kids on TV.) At least for these two semi-famous families, the Bates and The Duggars, it seems to be working out for them. Some mothers who have escaped these type of extreme childbirth situations say it’s very oppressive, that they have to care for large numbers of children while living in abject poverty, and that it’s particularly hard on the children in these families who have to care for their siblings from an early age. From outside appearances all the children in these two families are happy, but there are 38 kids here. One of them is bound to talk trash someday.

Jubilee Shalom Duggar from WMtek Inc on Vimeo.

Reality star Michelle Duggar, 45, miscarried what would have been her 20th baby around her 19th week of pregnancy earlier this month. The family held both a private ceremony and a larger memorial for the baby, a daughter whom they named Jubilee Shalom. During the memorial, photos were shown of Michelle holding Jubilee’s tiny hands and feet. While some people took offense at that, others pointed out that it’s common to photograph the dead and that sometimes these photos are all grieving families may have to remember the little ones they lost.

Now Michelle has recorded a message for Jubilee. One one hand, it’s touching and sad. She’s mourning for what she lost and what she’ll miss with this child. Some of what she said really moved me. All her children are special to her and this was a huge loss to her family. On the other she really goes into some pro-life territory here and spends a lot of time talking about how other people don’t value babies. It’s obvious exactly what she means. I’m trying to be measured here, but the amount of preaching she does is obvious. Plus she’s making it public and this was posted on the Duggar family website, it’s not like they’re only choosing to share it with friends and family.

Dear Jubilee, mommy wanted to write a letter to my precious baby girl. You know, your name Jubilee Shalom Duggar means “joyful celebration of peace.” We were so thankful to God when we found out we expecting you.

So often in society babies are looked upon as a problem, trial or responsibility, but God says babies are a blessing. We do not believe that babies are a bother, a headache or a financial drainer or a career interrupter. We love babies. Your siblings did not view you as the competition. They are truly saddened and disappointed to not have really known you. Only God knows how much you were already loved. You are not loved any less because you were baby number 21 or Duggar grandbaby number 23. We are blessed because you lived. You were only here with us such a short time. It’s an awesome thought to me that you fulfilled your life’s purpose in such a short time. What a blessing to know that you are in the arms of Jesus and that is was His face that you saw first.

You were loved, you were wanted. Your parents wanted you to be. Your grandparents wanted you to be. Your brothers and your sisters wanted you to be, and the rest of the family wanted you to be.

I will miss listening to your heartbeat and praying for you as you grow in my womb. I will miss feeling you kick in my tummy. I will miss cradling you in my arms and singing to you. I will miss teaching you to sing Jesus loves me. I will miss watching you grow up and learn. I will miss seeing life through your eyes… I will miss noticing how you do things like the others, or how different you are… I will miss holding you, hugging you and kissing you…

You’re a love I was able to touch for such a short few moments, and a life I will hold in my heart. I don’t know God’s purpose for taking you on to Heaven, but I know your short life will help me remember truly how fragile life is. It will help me to more fully enjoy the time I have here with the other family members. It will help me to focus on what truly matters in life, and help me to be more aware of Heaven and the ultimate destination…. I like to think of you being in Heaven with our other loved ones… From now on when I’m asked how many children I have, the answer will be 21 19 here and 2 in Heaven. You are precious to me Jubilee, mommy loves you.

I’m sorry this woman lost her baby. That must have been horrific and awful and heartbreakingly sad. The fact that they already have a big family does not change what a tragedy it was. Most of what she said touched me and made me feel very sorry for her family.

Abortion is legal in this country and all the sweetness and preaching and sad stories are hopefully not going to change that. You cannot reduce the issue to one in which people somehow think babies are a “burden.” I wouldn’t expect the Duggars to grasp that it’s much more complicated than that, since they also believe that the earth is about 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. I’m sorry, that’s what they believe. These people have a platform and they’re using it and we’re pointing that out. I’m very sorry for her loss and in no way mean to make light of it.

You can see the photos at TMZ.

This story pretty much floored me when I first saw it, and I sat there staring at the photos for a while. Then I stopped and thought about it, and it’s not even as bizarre as putting a deceased person in an open casket, which is common. This is the Duggar’s way of making sense of their loss, and giving an identity to the child that Michelle miscarried. It seems over the top to me, but I’m not them and they’re suffering a very profound loss. Their last baby, Josie, wasn’t much older than this miscarried child when she was born by emergency c-section three months early.

So as you know, Michelle Duggar, 45, miscarried around her 19th week of pregnancy. It would have been her 20th child. They named the baby Jubilee Shalom and held a family service for her. At a larger memorial for friends and family yesterday, the Duggar family shared black and white photos of Michelle holding Jubilee’s tiny hands and feet. On the photo of Michelle holding a little foot about the size of her thumbnail, there was writing in mixed cursive and serif fonts. It said “There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world.” It was an effective message, I’ll say that. It brought their sadness home for me. TMZ and Radar got ahold of the scans of the photos, which a relative of the Duggars tweeted. You can see them there. Here’s more:

The family from TLC’s “19 Kids & Counting” chose a unique way to commemorate the life of their 20th child, who passed away this week in a miscarriage — they took an artsy picture of the fetal corpse … and distributed it at the memorial.

Jubilee Shalom Duggar was due in April … but Michelle Duggar suffered a miscarriage on Sunday in her 2nd trimester.

The Duggars held a memorial today at their church in Arkansas, where they distributed the above photographs — containing messages like, “There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world.” – From TMZ

---

The deeply religious Duggar family held a memorial service Wednesday for the baby that Michelle Duggar tragically miscarried, and family members joined in prayers for the child.

Named Jubilee Shalom Duggar, Michelle and Jim Bob announced the sad news on December 8 that the pregnancy was not continuing as the baby had tragically passed away, and Michelle had a miscarriage days later.

Amy Duggar, a cousin who frequently appears on their hit TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Tweeted a picture of Michelle holding the tiny hand of baby Jubilee and wrote “RIP precious Jubilee Shalom Duggar! Can’t wait to meet you someday, thank you Lord for giving our family peace.”

Michelle was five months pregnant when she miscarried what would have been the Duggar’s 20th child.

Jim Bob spoke lovingly of the child that they lost.

“We won’t be able to see this child’s life and the phases that we’ve seen for our other children, but we know we will see this child in heaven one day. We are thankful for each child, and we are blessed to have the children we have here and the ones we will meet someday in heaven.” – Radar

[From TMZ and Radar]

Now I’m wondering if they’re going to air any of this memorial or the service on their TLC show. I would assume they’ll show at least part of it, they’ve been open about the pregnancy and their loss. Those photos from the memorial that their cousin tweeted were deleted from her Twitter feed, though. It seems like cousin Amy realized that she shouldn’t have made those photos public, but they’re out now. I feel so bad for admitting this, but I wondered if they were trying to save those to reveal on their reality show. Maybe they were just meant to be for friends and family. It just seems like as nice as these people may be and as much of a tragedy they’re suffering, they’re reality stars and that trumps everything. Even if they don’t mean for it to, you know?

We heard the sad news last week that Michelle Duggar had lost what would have been her 20th baby while she was in her second trimester od pregnant. Mrs. Duggar was at the obstetrician to learn the sex of the baby when she was told that the baby’s heartbeat couldn’t be found. She was sent home to let the miscarriage happen “naturally.” (Those of you who have gone through that harrowing experience wrote that there’s nothing “natural” about it. My heart goes out to you.) Michelle went home to rest and started feeling lightheaded, so she returned to the hospital and was kept for observation. The Duggar family issued a heart wrenching statement about their loss. The baby was a little girl that they named “Jubilee Shalom” in keeping with the tradition of naming all their kids with letter “J” names. “Jubilee” has meaning in Christianity as a “special year of remission of sins and universal pardon.” “Shalom” is a Hebrew word that means “peace” and “completeness” and can be used to say “hello” and “goodbye.” The family held a service for Jubilee Sunday and will have a memorial for friends and family.

Following the miscarriage late Sunday night, Michelle began to feel lightheaded and as a precaution was taken to the hospital, where she was kept for observation, according to a family spokesperson. Michelle is recovering well and expected to return home later on Monday, the spokesperson adds.

“We have had many tears today,” says Jim Bob Duggar, 46. “This is life, and I understand that we are going though something that many others have. You think about the what-ifs, but God gives us strength to go on. We won’t be able to see this child’s life and the phases that we’ve seen for our other children, but we know we will see this child in heaven one day. We are thankful for each child, and we are blessed to have the children we have here and the ones we will meet someday in heaven.”

Jubilee Duggar’s memorial service will be for friends and Duggar family members, who on late Sunday already held a private service in their home.

“We would like to thank everyone for their prayers, emails and outpouring of love,” Jim Bob wrote in a letter he shared with PEOPLE. “As our whole family is grieving, we also know that God promises to work all things for good in our lives. Our prayer is that Jubilee’s passing will help us all realize that this life is short, and our relationship with Jesus is the most important thing. He gives us a peace in our hearts as He guides us through whatever we might face.”

Though the family is in mourning, Jim Bob says they are grateful for the health of youngest daughter, Josie, who turned 2 on Dec. 10. Josie survived against all odds after being born at just 25 weeks and 1 lb., 6 oz. and has developed normally with no lasting impairments.

[From People]

The family’s statement got me choked up. I read an article on Fox 411 yesterday in which doctors were interviewed about Michelle’s miscarriage. The Chief Medical Officer of BodyLogicMD, Jennifer Landa, pointed out that the miscarriage rate for women over 45 is about 50%. Michelle is 45. Landa said that she would advise Michelle against future pregnancies, and she didn’t mince words about it. “I would advise her to consider stop having children. In my opinion, she has a duty to the children she already has not to incur unnecessary risk that may occur with trying to have another child. She needs to be there for the kids she already has. Additionally, her odds of having a baby with special needs are extraordinarily high and this may take away time and resources from the other children. I feel for her because miscarriages are never easy. There are lots of hopes and dreams that are born with each positive pregnancy test, but in my opinion, it is time for her to hang up the baby booties.” Many people agree with Landa.

Michelle Duggar, 45, has suffered a miscarriage of what would be her 20th baby. Her children range in age from two years (littlest Josie’s birthday is tomorrow) to 23. When I first heard this news I was hoping that it was an early stage miscarriage, and that she had made the announcement of her pregnancy relatively early. Sadly, she was in her second trimester and was at the doctor to learn the sex of the baby when she was told that the baby’s heartbeat could not be found. The family is now preparing to have a funeral. That’s very sad.

At a routine check-up Thursday to find out the sex of their 20th child, their doctor was unable to find a heartbeat and told the couple they had miscarried in the second trimester.

“After the appointment, we came back home and told the children,” says Michelle, 45.

“We had just been talking about baby names last night and they were getting excited about naming a boy or a girl. It has been a real sad disappointment.”

She says the family will select a name after they know if the baby was a boy or girl, and then plan to have a funeral service.

“I feel like my heart broke telling my children,” says Michelle. “They have all been so excited about this baby and looking forward to April coming around and having a new little one in our arms. That was the most difficult. The Lord is the giver of life and he can choose when that life is ready to go on and be with Him.”

The stars of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting previously weathered a medical ordeal with their youngest daughter, Josie, who was born in December 2009.

This was their second miscarriage; Michelle lost her baby during her second pregnancy. She was taking oral birth control at the time and cites this as one reason the couple together decided to leave the number of children they have “up to God.”

[From People]

Michelle and Jim-Bob started having babies just about every year after she suffered a miscarriage while taking birth control. At that point they “decided to allow God to determine the number of children” they would have. I’ll kind of leave it there. It’s always very sad when someone suffers a miscarriage. Condolences to Michelle and the family.

It took me a couple of minutes to find that the biggest risk factor for pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition leading to high blood pressure in late pregnancy, is a previous instance of pre-eclampsia. Another risk factor is maternal age. Michelle Duggar, the reality show mother who is currently pregnant at 45 with what will be her 20th child, had pre-eclampsia in her last pregnancy, resulting in a dangerous very early term delivery of her daughter Josie at just 25 weeks old. According to Michelle, she can’t be too worried about any risks associated with this pregnancy, because pre-eclampsia “is a crazy, random thing.” I guess we can’t expect her grasp basic probability. This woman also believes that the earth was created 6,000 years ago and that dinosaurs and humans lived together at the same time. (I’m not kidding, the Duggars home school their kids so that they can teach them young earth creationism, they took their kids to the “Creation Museum,” and they link to the Creation Museum from their official website. The Creation Museum includes exhibits like this one, which show humans and dinosaurs co-existing.)

Michelle also told People Magazine that she takes a power nap every day, that she eats healthy, and that she knows that having a ton of kids isn’t for everyone.

With 18 kids still at home, one on the way and two grandchildren, how does Michelle Duggar get any rest?

“I am taking a power nap every day,” she tells PEOPLE. “And I’m eating a lot of protein and green vegetables and no caffeine, which is a new thing for me.”

Michelle, 45, and husband Jim Bob, 46, stars of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting are expecting their 20th child after the premature birth of daughter Josie in Dec. 2009 following Michelle’s life-threatening preeclampsia.

“I read up a lot on preeclampsia [while pregnant with Josie],” says Michelle, “and it is a crazy, random thing. I have been getting counseled from a high-risk pregnancy doctor in Little Rock and taking good care of myself.”

The family’s frightening medical journey with Josie – born at only 25 weeks and weighing just over a pound – was documented on 19 Kids and Counting as the tiny micropremie was in and out of the hospital and Michelle’s own life was in danger.

Now, Josie has been released by Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and is developing normally.

Michelle and Jim Bob watch her oxygen levels using a finger monitor. She accompanied her family on a recent trip to Europe (part of TLC’s Duggars World Tour: Scotland & Ireland, which airs Nov. 13 at 8 p.m.), and she also visited Israel with the whole family.

“The last day of the trip, Josie caught the cold that some of us had,” Jim Bob says. “She couldn’t fly back with a cold, so Michelle and Jill stayed longer in Israel with Josie.”

Michelle, who had just found out she was pregnant, says she had yet to experience any morning sickness.

“I get motion sickness anyway, but thankfully the morning sickness didn’t kick in until I got home,” she says, noting that it hit her hard upon her return but is now gone and she’s feeling good.

“We know having this many kids isn’t for everyone,” she says. “But we are open to receive whatever gifts God wants us to have. And we are so excited and thrilled about this pregnancy.”

[From People]

Power naps typically last about 15-20 minutes, so I can’t begrudge her that. She also revealed on the Today Show that prior to learning of this latest pregnancy she was spending an hour on the elliptical machine every day. To those of you who ask where she finds the time, she has an entire house full of babysitters.

So God blesses these people with children, it has nothing to do with their choices. He also made the earth and everything on it in one fell swoop a few thousand years ago. The mind boggles. Watch this video and listen to Michelle Duggar explain creationism at 3:11. A little bit later several of the kids are interviewed about their beliefs. The kids say that the world is 6,000 years old, and one older girl says “it’s actually more scientifically proven [that the world is 6,000 years old] than [that the world is] billions of years old.” Holy crap.

Yesterday Michelle and Jim-Bob Duggar and their 19 kids, daughter in law and two grandchildren were on the Today Show to gleefully announce Michelle’s pregnancy at 45 with what will be her 20th child. The collective response seemed to be “give it a rest already,” “don’t you have enough?” and “this family is a cult.” It was bizarre to see how happy the parents were compared to how understandably dazed all of their children seemed during the announcement. Plus Michelle acted like it was no biggie to her that both she and her last baby almost died while giving birth the last time. She had the time to work out an hour a day, she explained, and this was the longest she’d ever gone between pregnancies. Well now Michelle and Jim-Bob are defending the fact that they’re having even more kids. They say, predictably, that every child is a gift from God, that they spend a lot of time with their kids since they homeschool them (and ensure they’re not exposed to any scientific concepts that would put their beliefs into question) and that there’s no reason not to have another baby just because Michelle had so many medical problems during her last pregnancy.

“Every child deserves to be excited they are a part of life,” Michelle tells PEOPLE after just revealing that she is pregnant with her 20th child. “Even when we were having our 5th and 6th [kid] … we would celebrate each pregnancy.”

The reality stars have faced mounting criticism over the size of their family and the risks of Michelle’s new pregnancy following the premature birth of their daughter, Josie, in Dec. 2009. But the couple insists that Josie’s frightening premature birth and Michelle’s life-threatening preeclampsia were not enough to convince them that 19 kids were enough.

“If we felt that way, we would have stopped back with our second birth,” insists Michelle, 45, who experienced preeclampsia during her second pregnancy with twins John David and Jana, now 21. “There are many women who have experienced preeclampsia and have gone on to have more children.”

“That whole mind set that you stop after a problem pregnancy isn’t realistic,” she continues. “You may encounter struggles along the way. You may not have a perfect pregnancy, but each child is a precious gift.”

The Duggars, who star on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, live debt free in a house they built themselves in Tontitown, Ark. They have also come under fire from those suggesting that their older kids have too much responsibility caring for the younger ones and that they don’t pay enough individual attention to their kids.

“We homeschool, so we are around our children day in and day out,” says Jim Bob, 46. “Because I am in real estate, I am home and can be with the children a lot. When we go to the store or run errands, we take the kids one on one and we get to spend more time individually than a lot of parents do.”

Michelle, who is under the care of a high-risk pregnancy doctor, agrees: “The beauty of being in a large family,” she says, “is that everyone works together as a team and it is about teaching our children responsibility.”

And, she says, the family doesn’t take their critics to heart.

“There are a lot of good things we can learn from our critics,” she says. “We really believe we are following our faith and there are sometimes going to be people who don’t agree and we aren’t going to worry about the negative things stated.”

“We are thankful for those out there who are happy,” says Michelle, “and we are grateful for each and every gift of a child.”

[From People]

Michelle is not fulfilled unless she’s pregnant or currently has a baby under one. It makes me wonder if she’ll have some sort of breakdown after menopause, or if she’ll finally start to pay attention to her older kids. Maybe she’ll become more self-centered and get a new hairstyle for once. As I’ve said before, I do hope that this pregnancy is a healthy one for her. I just hope it’s her last. She surely doesn’t feel that way.

All photos are from The Duggar Family website, where you can learn all about creationism.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Michelle Duggar almost died while having her last and 19th baby, Josie, who was born at just 25 weeks old and spent four months in the NICU. Michelle and her husband Jim-Bob have been open about the fact that they want more children, that they think “God” gives them children, and that they’re trying for more. There was even a story in The Enquirer that Michelle would “die” for another baby, if that’s what God wanted.

Now Michelle is pregnant again, and she just announced it on the Today Show. She’s super excited about it, of course, and doesn’t seem concerned at all about the medical risks:

Eight isn’t enough — and apparently neither was 19.

Michelle Duggar and her husband Jim Bob made the surprising announcement Tuesday that they are expecting their 20th child.

“We are so excited,” Michelle Duggar told the Today show in an exclusive interview.

Michelle — who’s three and a half months pregnant — says she was surprised to discover that she’s expecting again at 45. “I was not thinking that God would give us another one, and we are just so grateful.”

Michelle says she’s over her first-trimester morning sickness and has been craving dill pickles. She says she hasn’t had any health issues and that she’s been working out five or six days a week for the past year. “I’m really in better shape than I’ve been in 20 years,” she said.

The kids thought their dad Jim Bob was joking when he told them they would have a new brother or sister, Michelle said. They lined the family up on the staircase for a photo, she recalled, and Jim Bob said, “Smile — Mom’s going to have another baby!”

“Their mouths dropped,” Michelle said. “They all looked at me to see if he was joking.”

Jim Bob says he’s thrilled for their 20th child. “Michelle and I both feel like some of the most blessed parents in the world. Our children are so sweet… we are so grateful to God.”

And, he adds, “We didn’t want to stop on an odd number.”

Watch the video on RadarOnline.com

Michelle says she’ll find out the gender of the baby around Christmas.

Their last child, Josie, suffered from gall-bladder problems as well as preeclampsia and was delivered three and a half months prematurely in order to save her life. (Josie is now a healthy toddler who will celebrate her second birthday in December.)

The Duggars’ 19 children, who range in age from 23 years to 23 months, are: Joshua, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn-Grace, Josie.

[From Radar]

This bothered me so much. Michelle and Jim-Bob aren’t taking care of all those kids, their other kids are. This pregnancy is extremely risky for her given the complications she had with her last pregnancy and the fact that she’s 45. She doesn’t seem to mind, though, she’s having another baby and that’s what’s give her life meaning. I hope she’s ok and that the baby is ok, but I also hope that she goes through menopause very soon after the birth.

Rob Shuter of HuffPo has a new interview with The Duggar Family to promote their reality show. This is probably not news to Duggar-loonies, but this family with 19 kids doesn’t let them watch any regular television or have pets at all. The television thing makes sense in a way since they’re devoutly religious and homeschool. They’re starring on a reality show on a trashy network, though. I mean TLC airs My Strange Addiction, Strange Sex and Toddlers and Tiaras. What do they think about those shows? The Duggar kids do get to watch wholesome old shows like “The Andy Griffith show” on DVD, though. Jim Bob explained that they don’t have pets because they were told by some doctor that they would be a distraction. They didn’t get any pets at the start of their marriage and their kids aren’t allowed to have any either.

Oh and Jim Bob heaped praise on Kirk Cameron, that former “Growing Pains” actor who believes evolution is a myth. Cameron is so self righteous he won’t kiss anyone on screen apart from his wife. I’m sure that explains his current lack of an acting career.

According to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” the secret to a successful marriage is pretty simple: ditch your TV and say no to pets.

“I grew up watching TV, but when we got married a doctor friend of ours encouraged us not to have a pet or a TV the first year of marriage. So we did that. For the first year we lived on love,” Jim Bob tells me. “And after that someone gave us a TV and for the first three weeks we were both glued to it. Communications dropped off, we weren’t talking as much and we couldn’t believe the content on TV we didn’t think was appropriate. This is detrimental to our marriage. We prayed about it and felt we had to pull it out of our house, which we did. And I would say that is one of the best things we have done for our family.”

The couple admits they do now have a television in the house — not to watch other reality shows, but to watch “wholesome” family programs on DVD.

“We do watch DVDs — ‘The Andy Griffith show,’” Jim Bob tells me. “We are very selective about what we watch. We actually don’t watch broadcast TV.”

And forget Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. Michelle’s favorite actor is Kirk Cameron because he refuses to kiss anyone but his wife.

“I really appreciate what he stands for. He says whenever he plays roles and whatever movie he will not kiss another woman besides his wife,” Michelle explains. “Whenever they have to do that they have figured it out that they will bring his wife in and he will kiss his wife and I’m so impressed. That’s one of my kids’ favorite actors.”

[From Huffington Post]

What are the Duggar kids even watching Kirk Cameron in, this Biblical Armageddon series called Left Behind? (Check out a trailer for the sequel here, the bad acting is hysterical and it looks violent.) As for the “no pets” rule, there are enough babies and toddlers for the children to care for, they don’t need a damn dog or cat. Every kid’s job is to look after another kid though that “buddy system” they have going. The youngest one is going to have it easy.

That TLC reality show staple, “19 Kids and Counting,” is back with new episodes starting tonight. Radar has a preview where they all go to Niagara Falls, and it makes me want to bring my kid to the Falls. I used to go to college less than an hour from there and was constantly visiting the Falls. We would go out all night and then drive to the Falls in the morning like a pilgrimage or something, but I digress. We’re talking about The Duggars, who are using this presumably drama free journey to Niagara Falls as a plot point for their reality show. In the clip on Radar, most of the kids and their dad walked down the walkway on the American side to see the Falls close up, but Michelle stayed up top because she didn’t want to mess up her perfect AquaJet 90s hair.

I’ve watched a few episodes and it seems like the most boring reality show ever. I mean, they come across like great parents when they have the energy to pay attention to a specific kid. The kids don’t really fight and they’re all Jesus-y. It’s like Ned Flanders had a litter. They had that scary issue with a premature baby, but obviously that didn’t stop them from wanting to continue populating the world with as many Duggars as possible. Duggars don’t care.

So with Kate Gosselin imploding and the polygamist Sister Wives kids freaking out, what do the Duggars have to offer? They’re surprisingly well adjusted and high functioning for a huge reality show family. I’m hoping everything goes fine for them and especially for their kids, but why are they seemingly immune to the insidious effects of fame? Whenever I see that show it’s like the entire family is operating on another planet, where everything is fine and they don’t seem to let a single thing bother them. That makes it boring, especially when you’re forced to listen to Michelle’s droning baby voice. The concept of the Duggars is interesting and fuels a lot of debate about religion and overpopulation, but in practice they’re just so vanilla. It’s like the highlight of the year is having a new kid come into the family. Take that away and they’re just a record setting homeschooling family where everything is okely dokely.