If you wanted to be famous back in the day you became an actor or singer or athlete. That progressed into reality stars which progressed into having sex with a celebrity and selling it for sale. The thing is that all of those situations, you had control over. It was your choice to become one of those things. If you wanted to make the most boring sex tape the planet has ever seen, it was your choice. If you wanted to be on Real World, it was your choice. If you wanted to be on Teen Mom it was pretty much your own choice. Now, if you were a child actor, was it really your choice? Maybe that is why so many child actors have messed up lives. That and they have horrible parents who belong in prison and not collecting management fees. Yeah, I'm looking at you Michael Lohan. Oh, and you too Gary Coleman's parents. I was going to say one other parent, but that one might actually try and hunt me down and kill me. That guy is crazy. I'm surprised his daughter is alive. Anyway, where was i? Oh yeah, Honey Boo Boo. How did she become famous?
Her mom makes her drink Red Bull and Mountain Dew which will make any toddler seem faster than Usain Bolt. So, mom gets daughter hopped up so daughter will get noticed so daughter will win and daughter will get famous which means mom will get famous because she has always wanted to be famous but never left this tiny town and her daughter is the ticket. She will be famous and mom is going to take 25%. So how does the mom who forces her child into this and hops her up? She gets rewarded by TLC and gets her very own show.
So, if you are a mom on Toddlers & Tiaras and see that TLC is throwing shows to toddlers, that is so much easier than trying to have sextuplets. All you have to do is be more outrageous and have your kid do crazier things and dress crazier and then they will have a show and mom will be famous. It is not about the kids. It is about the parents wanting to be famous. What mom would give a 6 year old Red Bull and Mountain Dew? The same kind who is going to be taking home a huge check from TLC every week. What about the kid? Mom doesn't care.
And so again, life imitates art, ala "Gypsy".
ReplyDeleteRemember to sing out, Louise!
The kids on Toddlers and Tiaras are little shits 98% of the time. And the parents are always missing teeth.
ReplyDeleteI guess her Mom is just preparing her for when she is filmed for 16 and pregnant. I'm convinced they'll all end up on there.
Lol about the teeth. Whenever i feel like im in a skeevy situation- say in any walmart- there is always a missing teeth situation. Interesting.
DeleteRe the teeth - IMO it's a sign of ignorance, meaning lack of education. I always try hard not to jump to conclusions, but people with lots of missing teeth - I judge them. It's a deal-breaker. Get thee to the free clinic and get the work done. And brush every so often.
DeleteEnty, you pretty much just summed it all up!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all , i hv never seen that show, but years agi i saw ithers. It makes me sick to my stomach what they put these kids thru. This boo boo's mother is some piece of work. Why cps of their state isnt involved, i dont know. This is child abuse. She has f*cked this girl up beyond redemption. Was that her intention??
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it, but I love this child. I have taken to calling people honey boo boo child. I called someone that yesterday. I know, I have issues. Like Brooke can't quit Charlie, I can't quit this freakin show. I'll try harder. I know that I'm going to hell. But hey, at least I'll have a lot of my friends and family there.
ReplyDeleteAwful....
ReplyDeleteI read about this earlier & the show also focuses on the older sister, a pregnant teen.
ReplyDeleteWhattt I just wanna know about the horrible stage dad Enty mentioned! Who is it who is it??
ReplyDelete@sea, my first guess is Hayden P's dad. Just who I thought of when I read it.
DeleteOhhh yep, I bet you're right.
DeleteAre these people "interesting" enough to carry a show? I have to believe that humanity hasn't quit it for good and there's some hope left. A tiny sliver of hope that we will all, communally turn our backs to this nonsense.
ReplyDeleteThey are just so unlikeable, how can anyone stomach this nonsense? I saw the clips of them, there's nothing redeeming about them, they are truly awful. I watch Hoarders and the American Gypsies trainwreck (hate that it's on against Mad Men) but I wouldn't want to spend anymore time with those people. An hour is enough.
Child abuse is what it is - I'll say it. I promise I'm not judging y'all who watch, I get the train wreck factor here. Children are a parent's most precious gift (for real, not being sarcastic, if you can believe it), and I don't think you hop your most precious gift up on goofballs and parade them around.
ReplyDelete"...selling it for sale." The Bloody Marys are flowing...
ReplyDelete@nolachickee, I am RIGHT THERE with you, I cannot get enough of this show! I also call folks "honey boo boo child", along with announcing we're on the "CRAZY TRAIN TO GLITZVILLE! CHOOCHOO!" (Alaska's toothless mother said that gem...)
ReplyDelete98% of the kids are terrors, 98% of the parents are toothless, use poor grammar, and would sell their child's soul to the devil for a case of Monster Energy and Pixie Sticks if it meant their little "angel" will get to be an Ultimate Grand Supreme at the Darling Diva pageant. Sparkle baby, SPARKLE!
I loved this column on the same topic from TVLine.com on Thursday. I don't watch any of these shows, and now I'm pretty sure I never will. They are all scripted and set up anyway, but now I really do see that they are not educational, it's all just exploitation.
ReplyDeletehttp://tvline.com/2012/05/31/toddlers-tiaras-spinoff-exploitation-reality-tv-criticism/
What about Thora Birch's dad? She was a child star at six, I think.
ReplyDeleteAnita, two words: Parking Wars
ReplyDeleteCivilization is over. We're in an entertainment Dark Ages.
Oh Good Lord! Parking Wars highlights the dumbest of the truly stupid. There is always one true idiot who bitches and complains about getting a ticket every single day when she parks in the same place. Does it not dawn on them to, I don't know, PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!!!!! Sigh, Saturdays are Parking Wars day on A&E so sadly, I've seen my share. Speaking of which, what marathons are running today? It's raining out and I've got a writing assignment I'm procrastinating on.
ReplyDeleteDidn't TLC have a commercial for a show about people who make balloon animals? That's really scraping the bottom.
Having good teeth is a luxury in the U.S. Few have access to a free clinic. If you've genetically or from lack-of-good-childhood-nutrition bad teeth--the kind that crack easily--and you're middle or low income, the best that can happen is a pull. No capping or implants.
ReplyDeleteI really condemn these parents for the reasons you state, but I suspect they're not only looking for attention, but also a little glamour and more money in their lives.
I think they should be taking the money spent on those costumes and using it to improve the family nutrition.
But, speaking personally, I've never been able to do that which I've never knew could be done.
My dog is purebred and beautiful. I wouldn't even think of entering him into a beauty contest.
ReplyDelete....and that's a dog.
The hell? I quit this bitch.
ReplyDeleteI'm also with erg about the teeth thing. I (thankfully) have all of mine but know a couple of folks way more intelligent than I missing a couple. It's great to read that folks who live elsewhere on here have amazing insurance.
ReplyDeleteI had to take out a loan to get my teeth fixed!!
DeleteWanted to follow up about my teeth remark. ITA dental care is expensive - had to delay a lot of it for many years due to cost.
DeleteMy point is that poor dental hygeine and poor diet are (usually) the root causes of dental problems. And I'd like to think those two factors are due to lack of education, not just laziness or whatever.
Preventive steps can greatly reduce adult tooth loss. And those habits usually start in childhood.
End dental rant. Please don't give your kids soda in baby bottles!! Ok, really end rant.
Soda in bottles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw that on a documentary about Applachia. I could not believe giving 12 month old mountain dew in their bottle!!!! How dont you know that is just so wrong??!!
DeleteEnjoy and feel better.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/cIZ9IS4qgU8
Eh. More coffee
ReplyDelete"... I've never been able to do that which I never knew could be done."
Oh yeah, came here to say that what Entry recommended for the Lohan shows should be applied here too. Boycotting child exploitation shows should be top of our list. Ratings talk.
ReplyDeleteTLC needs to change their name unless the 'learning' they hope to impart on the masses is how NOT __.
ReplyDeleteTLC needs to go BYE BYE
ReplyDeleteAmericans take good teeth for granted? I had a bad cap put on when I was about 15. I'm 33 and have a snaggletooth I can't afford to fix. My British bf has PERFECT teeth, how is that fair??
ReplyDeleteWhat mom would give a 6 year old Red Bull and Mountain Dew?
A mom that weighs 400 pounds. Seriously, google her. She's put anything into her body if it was coated in artificial coloring and sugar.
I don't think TLC has used "The Learning Channel" in a long time. Notice A&E no longer says, "Arts and Entertainment?"
ReplyDeleteMy brother calls TLC the "mental illness channel." He's right.
Yeah my friend needs a deep clean. He didn't have insurance for years and just now has been able to go. I thank god my parents had the $$ and insurance for braces for me as a kid. I take care of my teeth!
ReplyDeletePlease tell me there's not really a show about people parking.
ReplyDeleteTLC also has a new show about the airport happenings. I kid you not, the cameras follow around airport employees and document their daily workplace struggles.
ReplyDeleteI like Toddlers and Tiaras, I will admit it. Heck who am I kidding, I DVR that show every week and have a growing episode collection.
Sister Wives totally skeeves me out though. The way Kody (wannabe Kardashian maybe?) walks and bobs his head so that his hair flaps in the wind a la Farrah Fawcett is priceless. I think he likes the breeze it creates 'round his face.
And lets not forget about Birth Mom's on TLC which features 8month prego Candice or Cameron or Carmen or something like that, drinking a strawberry daq with extra tequila and chain smoking cigarettes in between rounds. My oh my, what a classy world we live in.
I think reality shows are the bane of civilization - and I turn my nose up at them. Until I get sick and lay in bed watching marathons of the trashiest reality shows on TV, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of you on the teeth - great dental care is a luxury in the U.S. Sadly, it seems that a lot of people who exploit their children on the pageant route have low self esteem and believe their kid will be the ticket to their happiness and fulfillment. It's really sad. I don't watch "T&T" because I know I'd be hooked. bloody train wrecks are hard to turn away from, even though you know you should. :(
Remember when TLC had educational shows like Dr Desmond Morris documentary the human animal? Wtf happened to TLC's mandate?
ReplyDeleteJust finished a nutrition class. The average American eats over 100 lbs of sugar a year.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I think it's Thora Birch's dad.
Still, this stuff is classier and more civilized than the darker age when people watched Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Dlisted, TLC now stands for "Traumatizing Little Children."
ReplyDeleteThat 3rd horrible parent Enty referred to is likely Kit Caulkin. He was a bully and a thief.
ReplyDeleteBravewoman, from the people I've seen I'd think it's more like 100lbs a month. We are a disgusting people.
ReplyDeleteI agree that reality television is probably Sign No. 1 that as a people we are Doomed. Hell yes I judge people who choose to appear on RT and secretly? Deep down? I judge people who watch it - and everyone I know watches some type of it. I am self-righteously, smugly proud that the only RT we watch are the ones about peoples' businesses. The auctions, the Louisiana gun guys, the fishermen and alligator hunters - those type. No wives, families, kids, any shit like that. As a romance author I have no business looking down on other peoples' forms of entertainment but yeesh.
ReplyDeleteI wish social services would get involved in cases like this. Millions of people are watching this child being abused, being damaged, being set up for a lifetime of fucked up, and no one in a position to stop it will lift a finger.
Don't have anything extra to add about these stupid reality shows that hasn't been said already, but did want to throw my vote behind Thora Birch for the unspoken child actor and her uber-controlling porn star thug of a Dad/Manager. Creep.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the teeth thing: Absolutely it's socio-economic. BUT, these women are buying thousands of dollars worth of costumes and hundreds of dollars in entry fees!!! Where are they getting this money?
ReplyDeleteTHAT is their priority.
DeleteTLC has become the most relevant network on television. Television or cable--they dominate. It may not get the highest ratings, but if TLC disappeared, I don't know what blogs and interviews and articles would be writing or talking about. They've cornered the market on all content outside of hard news like AP or Reuters.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at any blog you read or any tabloid magazine on the stands. Aside from a Kardashian (and THEY can't keep up with the sheer mass of subjects coming from the TLC industrial machine of ever more horrible 'reality' stars) what do they talk about??? Teen moms get some coverage but there's not a lot of interest. Kate Gosselin and her divorce got the ball rolling with a rabid interest in her personal life and then they realized they had hit on something. Start with the crazy situations until a story line develops--real or contrived. So it's Dance moms and Toddlers in Tiaras and Gypsys and people arguing over parking spaces or having breakdowns at the airports (and haven't we all been there?)
Other networks try to do this with limited success. TLC just has a way of exploiting people and situations in such a way they are now the source for American media to go to when they want a story on "real" Americans. Now we don't see the celebrities as often on the cover of the magazine covers. It's the TLC reality people. I wonder what will happen to celebrities because they are becoming more irrelevant all the time. They aren't in movies much anymore with the new animation and now they don't have the interviews and tabloid covers as much either.
TLC is one big manipulation that works so well they should get an Emmy.
I hate the network and yet I do watch a show on it. Sister Wives.
I like the idea that Cody thinks he is in charge but the women are slowly outnumbering him. He has to keep them all happy to keep the freebies from companies coming in along with the money from TLC, so he can't allow them to just run off and start new lives (as a couple of them have done before the program started). He is an example of someone wanting to exploit the viewers with an idea of himself he wants us to believe and exploit TLC and he hasn't yet realized that TLC is exploiting him. He's such a user and narcissist that it's fun to watch and I admit I do just to see TLC what the network will do to him after they have lured him in completely with the cars and houses and fame and money. That one is a house of cards. It's already falling apart and now his whole livelihood will depend on keeping all those wives happy and in the home when he really only loves Robyn. How long can he keep it up? And how long until he meets another Robyn drawn to his celebrity and new found money? See? I'm sucked into one of those blasted TLC shows. They've manipulated me right along with Cody.
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ReplyDeleteI am not going to judge what anyone watches, (esp. on a gossip website) but I do believe these shows are the worst of the reality genre b/c of the children's involvement. I have only been able to stomach an episode or two of the Jon&Kate/Todders&Tiaras type shows b/c the parents make me CRAZY.
ReplyDeleteenty, or himmmmm idk? is it true, project monarch? do they really begin traumatizing and abusing babies in the womb, then showering them with love, (like fritz springmeiers how to build an undetectable illuminati slave)..see, im not trying to troll with comments about the 'illuminati', i really do hate that word, and i am sick of ppl acting like im stupid when i say please research project monarch, MK ultra, project bluebird etc. they are victimized since childhood to develop multiple personalitys, alters...DID, (think britney spears)...psuedo occult media is a good source of information....however, i just need to ask someone who is actually IN the entertainment industry, because this needs to be exposed! some have talked about it, 'roseanne barr', others have eluded to having mental issues, 'megan fox, emma watson,' carrie fisher has talked about receiving electroshock therapy, which is what they do to get them to forget what they are being programmed with. sigh. now i wait for the 'illuminati aint real fool' comments..its sad.
ReplyDeleteabout the teeth issue, some people have more bacteria in their mouths or have low saliva production and even regular brushing and flossing can not be enough to keep from getting cavities...just sayin'
ReplyDelete