Counting On has endured for 11 seasons, and is veering dangerously close to airing 100 episodes.
The reality series’ future hangs in the balance, however.
Will Josh Duggar’s arrest and horrific scandal mean the cancelation of the show?
Or will the family’s reactions to Josh’s arrest and trial be covered on Season 12?
96 is a lot of episodes for any show to have, especially a reality series with short seasons.
Many believe that it’s a lot more episodes than Counting On ever should have had.
After all, the series was engineered as a vehicle to keep the Duggars on the air after Josh’s 2015 scandal.
Yes, Josh’s public scandals involving accusations of sex crimes involving children are plural, so we have to mention them by date.
In 2015, the world learned that Josh had molested five young girls as a teenager.
Four of his victims were his own sisters.
19 Kids And Counting was canceled, and not only because Josh had been one of the stars.
Jim Bob and Michelle had directly and purposefully engaged in a cover-up of Josh’s sex crimes.
This, along with the toxic purity culture espoused by their family, church, and cult, set the stage for Josh’s arrest this year.
Josh was arrested and charged with possessing photos and videos of young girls being sexually abused.
These are horrific charges, and not merely because they are disgusting.
Victims of childhood sexual abuse should not have their suffering compounded. These videos should never be circulated.
Josh’s arrest and charges has been dominating the world of Duggar news, despite Jim Bob’s best efforts.
The details of Josh’s bond — his release to the sprawling home of a fellow churchgoer — have also raised eyebrows.
And the world was disturbed to hear that Josh was visited by the only children whom he is allowed to contact — his six kids.
While the world speculates how much Josh’s children know about his sex crimes, Anna is standing by him.
In fact, Josh’s misguided wife is reportedly under the belief that he is being persecuted and possibly framed.
One report said that Anna believes that President Joe Biden is somehow behind this.
Meanwhile, it has nearly been one year since viewers last saw any new episodes of Counting On.
Season 11 came to viewers in July of 2020.
Compared to getting two seasons in 2019 alone, to viewers, this feels like a drought … or possibly, like the end.
Counting On has a somewhat unpredictable schedule, with new seasons airing at different times of year.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic threw many filming schedules completely out of whack.
Unlike scripted television, the very premise of reality TV is that people continue to live their lives between filming.
While it’s true that the Duggars appear to have embraced covidiocy last year, that didn’t mean that the network had an easier time filming.
So there is a lot that we don’t know about what may or may not be in the works.
TLC has not announced new content. Some fans are antsy, others are hopeful.
On the one hand, this is a show that directly enriches Jim Bob Duggar.
(Remember, he pockets the money from the series, telling his family that filming the show is a form of ministry)
This is not a man who deserves more money. He’s a bad person, for covering up Josh’s crimes and for countless other reasons.
On the other, some viewers are very attached to the Duggar girls.
They are victims — of their parents, of their cult, and in a few cases, of Josh himself.
Viewers are interested in their lives and hopeful that they could one day watch them walk away from the family and embrace the real world.
Meanwhile, some are just plain curious to see how that Duggar family is grappling with this.
With the cameras following various Duggars, what would they say to the cameras and each other about Josh?
Oh, they’d all likely stick to whatever Jim Bob told them to say, but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be intriguing.
Frankly, it could be months before we learn anything about whether or not the show is coming back.
Sooner or later, a report comes out about TLC’s plans, or camera crews are spotted in Arkansas.
Until then, we can only speculate and hope — hope for whatever is “good news” to us, and of course, hope that justice is done.