With programming like Jon & Kate Plus 8 and 19 Kids & Counting, TLC has already cultivated a niche portraying particularly large families. Its latest reality show, Sister Wives, takes things a step further, delving into the day-to-day dynamics of a family of polygamous Mormon fundamentalists. Do Kody Brown, his three wives, and 13 children offer us legitimate justification for "rethinking" traditional marriage, as TLC claims, or is the network prettifying something that ought to disturb us?
Their happiness isn't totally convincing: "Kody and his wives spend a lot of time talking about how well their family functions," says Katy Hall at The Huffington Post. Although viewers are asked to reconsider their ideas about marriage, the sister wives often seem to "have trouble selling their lifestyle even to themselves."
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