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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: October 6, 2009 Distributor: TLC Cast: · Jim Bob Duggar · Michelle Duggar · Joshua Duggar · Anna Keller · Kirk Cameron Related Sites: · Official TLC Website: 18 Kids and Counting · Duggar Family Homepage Grade: B+

When I was a kid, I never understood the appeal of The Waltons. Here was -- to my eyes -- a family with an uncountable number of children, living a fairly unexciting life in the country.

And yet, at 42, I find myself watching just that kind of show: an enormously large family in northwest Arkansas, living with conservative values and making things work -- and work with great success. Granted, the financial disparities between the Duggars and the Waltons are an ocean apart (while the Duggars do budget religiously, patriarch Jim-Bob is financially sound and stable), and the house they live in (and built) looks nothing like the ramshackle farm on the fictional mountain, but the excitement level (which is negligible, to say the least, from a viewing perspective -- Michelle Duggar, who must ride herd on a grood this size, would surely disagree) is about the same. And yet, I faithfully check in every Tuesday night.

The series, formerly called 17 Kids and Counting, and which soon ought to become 19 Kids and Counting, follows Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and their large family, going about daily life. This season, featuring twice the episode count of its freshman season, viewers accompany the Duggars as they go about planning the wedding for eldest son, Joshua. His courtship with Anna Keller is probably one of the more controversially discussed engagements, and for all the oddest reasons: in a world where celebreality stars get married in gowns purchased in the maternity section, Joshua and Anna surprised people with the revelation that they had not even kissed. Holding hands is as far as they have taken things, physically, and dates were always done with chaperones -- by their own request, no less. Lips touching after the "I do"s are exchanged is the first kiss for both of them, and the TLC cameras are there (which, one would think would detract just a bit from the romance). Viewers are taken there as well, as one of the two bonus features on the third disc of this release is "A Very Duggar Wedding."

And the Duggar apple doesn't fall far from the Duggar tree: midway through the season, Josh and Anna announce that the first of the next generation of Duggars is on his way! For those trying to do the math, my own calculations show that if each of the Duggar children marries and has only 10 children each (assuming they only achieve half the level of their mother), and that generation follows the same example, the fully accounted for generation of great-grandchild Duggars would number -- including spouses -- 4,442. That's a zip code. Another generation later and it's a congressional district.

Halfway through the episodes on the first disc, the family welcomes the titular 18th child -- Jordyn-Grace -- and shortly after travel to New York to share the newest Duggar with the world through the cameras of The View. And the preparations for the latest arrival (although one wonders how much preparation one must take, as the Duggar household seems to be in a state of perpetual preparedness) are shared in the other bonus feature, "17 Kids and Counting: And Baby Makes 18."

This season sees quite a bit of travel, actually. In addition to the trip to New York, Jim Bob and Michelle head off to celebrate their 25th anniversary by touring San Francisco, which makes for some interesting contrasts when this very conservative couple explore the Haight Ashbury district. Later, several of the family trek south to El Salvador to perform missionary service, bringing aid to orphanages. In San Antonio, the Duggars show up for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, where they spend some time chatting on camera with Kirk Cameron. Finally, there's the road trip to Big Sandy, Texas, when the Duggars attend the ATI Homeschool Conference. (Yes, the kids are all homeschooled by mom, and that educational experience gets contrasted to the public school system when some of the kids visit a public school with their mother.)

The season also bears witness to a family tragedy, as Grandpa Duggar passes away and the kids learn a lesson in how to say goodbye to a loved one.

The expansive family niche of reality programming seems to know no end, as cable continues to serve up such series as Table for 12 and the now-infamous Jon and Kate Plus Eight. And while all have their compelling elements, 18 Kids and Counting retains its innocence and charm. One hardly expects to hear of any breaking news stories, affairs, or splits with the Duggars (although there are probably odds being kept on this somewhere).