Honey Boo Boo Going Global

Here comes Honey Boo Boo to international TV screens: The popular US reality show is going global.

Honey Boo Boo (Alana Thompson, age 7) became a household name after her reality TV stints on Toddlers & Tiaras and now Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on TLC. The show, featuring the Thompson family’s quirky “hillbilly” antics, debuted in 2012 to high ratings.

The show is reportedly a ratings hit in Eastern Europe and will soon will be broadcast on TV in Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, and Latin America as TLC expands the franchise. The show is number three in viewership in Poland already.

A Discovery Channel (which owns TLC) executive said that “This is a slice of Americana — not typical America, but of a particular family in the South, and the international audience knows that there are many facets to American lives,” according to the New York Post.

TLC is trying to figure out how to add foreign language subtitles to a show that already needs captions for the American audience. As London’s Daily Mail explains:

“Honey Boo Boo’s unique catchphrases – including ‘a dolla’ makes me holla’ and ‘you’d better redneck-ognize’ – might prove a challenge for foreign viewers.

“Discovery said that it is working on ways to overcome the lingo that might be lost in translation — as the show already subtitles for English-speaking audiences. Other options include dubbing voiceovers and developing a more in-depth glossary of terms”

Do you think Mama June and her extended family including Honey Boo Boo will be a popular US export?

Are you at all surprised that TLC no longer refers to itself as “The Learning Channel”?