’19 Kids And Counting’ Cancellation: Good News For Fans Of The Duggar Family

19 Kids and Counting is still facing an uncertain future, but there are a few rays of hope for fans of the Duggar family who are fearful about the show being cancelled.

The Josh Duggar molestation scandal has tarnished the squeaky-clean image of the Duggar family, and, as the Inquisitr previously reported, TLC yanked reruns of 19 Kids and Counting from the air soon after Josh admitted to sexually molesting multiple young girls, including a few of his own sisters. Obviously, TLC execs are worried about the public backlash that the network could face if it decides to keep the Duggar family on the air. However, outraged viewers might not be TLC‘s top concern — the network also has to worry about losing advertisers because of the scandal.

19 Kids and Counting might be able to keep most of its audience if it doesn’t get canceled, and the Josh Duggar molestation scandal might even encourage new viewers to tune in to the reality show out of curiosity — it has been getting tons of publicity because of the scandal, after all. However, the show can’t go on if too many advertisers jump ship, and, as ETonline reported, it looked like 19 Kids and Counting fans had reason to be worried after over 20 companies claimed that they were pulling their ads from TLC in response to the Josh Duggar molestation scandal. However, it now looks like a few of these companies have pulled a Duggar by lying about their actions.

“A flurry of advertisers last week had a lot to say about TLC‘s now-controversial 19 Kids and Counting, noting they would no longer support the program,” Variety recently reported. “Few if any of them, however, have put their money in the same space as their collective mouth.”

General Mills was one of the companies that said that it was no longer going to run ads on TLC, but a manager of brand relations later told Variety that the company is still advertising on the network. Variety speculates that many companies claimed that they were dumping the Duggar family’s show to “generate a lot of goodwill,” but they haven’t actually taken any further steps to sever their relationships with TLC. In other words, they lied so that they would look good.

It’s possible that some companies really do intend to cut ties with TLC if the network decides not to cancel 19 Kids and Counting, but the Variety report should give Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar a reason to dance for joy. However, Jim Bob probably won’t be doing a jig since his family views dancing as a sinful act.

Perhaps the Duggar family should also be happy that Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is returning to TLC. Commenters on the Duggar Family News: Life is Not All Pickles and Hairspray Facebook page recently noted that TV Guide has reruns of the show listed to air on June 10 and 11. During a recent interview with Extra, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star Mama June threatened to sue TLC if the network keeps 19 Kids and Counting on the air when it canceled her family’s reality show because of a similar scandal. TLC gave Honey Boo Boo the ax after Mama June was photographed with a convicted child molester.

Maybe TLC is bringing Here Comes Honey Boo Boo back because network execs are already planning to keep 19 Kids and Counting on the air, but they don’t want to risk getting sued by Mama June. Or maybe the TV Guide listing is a mistake — Here Come Honey Boo Boo isn’t currently listed on the TV schedule on TLC‘s website.

19 Kids and Counting might not be safe from cancellation just yet, but Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar will get a chance to plead their case tonight during their interview with Fox News host Megyn Kelly. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Megyn has hinted that she’s going to take it easy on the Duggar family, and she seems far more interested in letting Jim Bob and Michelle speak out against the media’s coverage of their son’s molestation scandal than she does in asking the parents any tough questions about their attempts to cover up Josh’s actions.

Megyn Kelly has already made it clear that she doesn’t think that the police report documenting Josh Duggar’s crimes should have been released, so there’s a good chance that the Duggars will spend much of their interview with Megyn venting about how the world has wronged their family. In other words, the Fox News interview might help the Duggars score a few sympathy points. It’s also possible that TLC will feel better about keeping 19 Kids and Counting on the air after the family does a little damage control.

Do you think 19 Kids and Counting should be canceled, and will the Duggar family’s Fox interview help or hurt their chances of keeping the show?

[Image credit: TLC]