VARIETY (EXCLUSIVE): Docuseries on the Duggars and Other Reality TV Families Coming From ‘LuLaRich’ Team at Amazon

Kate Aurthur

After their successful collaboration on the “LuLaRich” docuseries, Amazon Studios has greenlit an investigation from the same filmmakers, about the Institute in Basic Life Principles. That fundamentalist organization is associated with the Duggars, the famous reality TV family that has become the subject of scrutiny since it was exposed in 2015 that Josh Duggar had molested his sisters and other kids. Earlier this month, Duggar was convicted of possessing child pornography and faces years in prison.

After Duggar’s crimes were revealed in 2015, TLC canceled “19 Kids and Counting”­ — sort of. The show evolved into the spinoff “Counting On,” which ran for 11 seasons until Josh Duggar was arrested in April of this year. TLC announced in late June that it would “not be producing additional seasons of ‘Counting On,’” in order to “give the Duggar family the opportunity to address their situation privately.”

The untitled docuseries is currently in production, and is being produced by The Cinemart, Story Force and Chick Entertainment, in addition to Amazon Studios. It will premiere on Prime Video late next year or in 2023.

Here’s its logline: “On the heels of Josh Duggar’s explosive criminal trial, the untitled project will expose shocking connections between some of reality television’s most famous large families and The Institute in Basic Life Principles, a controversial fundamentalist organization and homeschooling empire. In addition, prominent commentators, writers, and social media voices will explore the broader zeitgeist of reality television, social media, faith, fundamentalism, patriarchy, and power.”

The filmmakers’ investigation into the Institute in Basic Life Principles and the Duggars will also focus on two other large reality TV families: the Plaths, of TLC’s “Welcome to Plathville,” and the Bates, of UpTV’s “Bringing Up Bates.”