TLC cancels Duggar family’s ’19 Kids and Counting’

LOS ANGELES - Discovery Communications‘ TLC will cancel the controversial "19 Kids and Counting," the popular program about the large Duggar clan that became a hot potato for the network once a member of the family disclosed he had sexually molested teenage girls - including two of his sisters - several years ago.

TLC will not produce any more episodes of the series, according to a person familiar with the situation, which has been off the air for several months. The network intends to air a commercial-free one-hour special on child abuse in the fall, and has consulted with advocacy organizations like the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, in the production of the show. The program will feature the Duggar daughters who have acknowledged being victimized by their brother, this person said.

The Discovery Communications-owned network tried to work methodically once Josh Duggar, the oldest member of the family and one of the central figures in the show, admitted to molesting girls 12 years ago. "19 Kids" has since 2008 chronicled life in the family of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children, all of whom have names that start with the letter ‘J.‘ Discovery worked with the family, which wanted have time to tell its own account of events to the public, this person said. The Duggars eventually gave an interview to Megyn Kelly of Fox News Channel.

While TLC will no longer produce "19 Kids," this person said, the network is open to the idea of launching a new program that could focus on some of the Duggar daughters and their families, this person said.