Sister Wives
Encyclopedia
Sister Wives is an American reality television
series broadcast on TLC
in 2010. The show documents the life of a polygamist family, which includes patriarch Kody Brown, his four wives
and their 17 children. The family began the series living in Lehi
, Utah
, but has since moved to Las Vegas
, Nevada
. The seven-episode first season ran from September 26 to October 17, 2010 and strong ratings according to Nielsen Media Research
. Season two of Sister Wives returned to TLC on September 25th.
Brown and his wives have claimed they participated with the show to make the public more aware of polygamist families and to combat societal prejudices. Brown has claimed his polygamist arrangement is legal because he is legally married only to one woman, and the other marriages are spiritual unions. Nevertheless, the series led the Brown family to become investigated for possible prosecution.
Concepts:
Sister Wives is an unscripted television series that started with following the lives of advertising salesman Kody Brown (43), his wives Meri (39), Janelle (40), and Christine (37), and their thirteen children among them. In the first season the show also televised Brown's courting and eventual marriage to a fourth wife, Robyn Sullivan, 31, who herself has three children. Sullivan is the first new wife to enter the family in 16 years. The only legal marriage is between Kody and his first wife, Meri, while the others' marriages are considered spiritual unions. As of the September 2010 debut, Kody has been married to Meri for 21 years, Janelle for 18 years, and Christine, who is the homemaker, for 17 years. Kody and Meri have a 17-year-old daughter named Mariah. Kody and Janelle have six children: daughters Madison (16) and Savanah (7) and sons Logan (17), Hunter (15), Garrison (13), and Gabriel (10). Kody and Christine have six children: daughters Aspyn (16), Mykelti (15), Gwendlyn (10), Ysabel (8), and Truely (1) and son Paedon (13) Robyn had three children from her first marriage, which was monogamous: Dayton (12), Aurora (10) and Breanna (8). Meri, Christine and Robyn were all raised in polygamist families, but Janelle was not. On April 9, 2011, Robyn confirmed to People magazine that she is pregnant and due in mid-October 2011. On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, Kody and Robyn Brown welcomed their first child together, son Solomon Brown. Solomon was welcomed at 2:02 am weighing in at 9 pounds 10.5 ounces and 22 inches long.
The Browns are a fundamentalist Mormon family belonging to the Apostolic United Brethren
Church. The title of the series, "Sister Wives", refers to a concept prevalent in Mormon fundamentalism that the wives in a plural marriage not only marry the husband, but are eternally united to each other. For years prior to the series, the family kept their polygamist lifestyle what they called a "quasi-secret".
-based company, with the concept of a reality series about the Brown family. Bill Hayes, the president of Figure 8 Films, said the company agreed to the idea after meeting with the Browns and deciding their lives would make a great story. Camera crews shot footage of the family in mid-2010 to be used in the first season, ending in May with the marriage of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan. The crews continued to film them afterward in case the series was picked up for a second season. Sister Wives was publicly introduced on August 6, 2010 at the Television Critics Association
summer media tour in Beverly Hills
, California
. The series's first episode, an hour long, was broadcast on TLC
on September 26, 2010, and the first season continued with six half-hour chapters until October 17, 2010..
The broadcast of Sister Wives comes at a time that polygamy and multiple marriages are a prevalent topic in American pop culture. Big Love
, the hit HBO series about Utah polygamist Bill Henrickson his three sister wives and their struggle to gain acceptance in society, had already been on the air for several years. In early September 2010, the drama series Lone Star, about a con man on the verge of entering into multiple marriages, premiered on Fox
but was quickly cancelled after two episodes, and when Sister Wives first debuted, actress Katherine Heigl
was in the process of developing a film about Carolyn Jessop
, a woman who fled from a polygamist sect
.
In October 2010, TLC announced it had commissioned a second season of ten episodes, which began in March 2011. A TLC interview with the Brown family was broadcast on October 31, 2010, and a one-hour program featuring the honeymoon of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan aired on November 22, 2010.
Later, Kody and Meri go to Mexico
to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary, where Meri discussed her sadness about her infertility problems and the jealousy that has arisen from Kody's engagement to Robyn. Kody proposes in vitro fertilisation
, but she turns down the idea as she is only interested in a naturally-occurring conception. As Robyn's wedding approaches, the three sister wives help Robyn prepare and they begin to bond. Kody, however, upsets his wives when he reveals he secretly chose Robyn's wedding dress himself, which makes Christine feel so betrayed that she angrily walks away in mid-interview. Kody eventually apologizes and the five reconcile. The first season ends with the wedding of Kody and Robyn, where Meri, Janelle and Christine present her with a Claddagh ring
to welcome her into the family.
staff writer Hank Stuever called it "refreshingly frank", and found most interesting the small details of the family's everyday life, such as the food supply, division of labor and minor arguments. Los Angeles Times
television critic Mary McNamara said she was intrigued by the matriarchal nature of the polygamist family, a unit which is traditionally considered patriarchal. McNamara said the wives form the center of the family, and that "their bonds appear far stronger and more vital than the casual fondness with which they all treat Kody". Salon.com
writer Schuyler Velasco praised Sister Wives for introducing viewers to unfamiliar subject matter, and called it "refreshingly modest" considering its controversial subject matter. Velasco said it has "a natural, honest presence in a genre fabled for the camera-hogging antics of Jersey Shore
". Shelley Fralic of The Vancouver Sun
called it fascinating and surprising, and was impressed with the sensible and articulate way in which the family defended their lifestyle. When the Brown family made an October 2010 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
, talk show host Oprah Winfrey
said she found particularly fascinating the relationship between the sister wives.
Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald
criticized Kody Brown for opening himself and his family up to potential criminal prosecution by appearing in the series, describing him as "a lawbreaker who is risking himself and the family he claims is so precious just to star in his own TV show". Elizabeth Tenety of The Washington Post
called the series "one part domestic drudgery, another part sensationalism", and claimed it relied on a "familiar reality TV recipe" shared by other TLC series such as 19 Kids and Counting and Kate Plus 8. Religion Dispatches
writer Joanna Brooks shared Tenety's perspective criticizing the show for presenting polygamy in a manner that "is about as interesting to me as Kate Gosselin’s latest makeover." In this vein Brooks criticized the show for not engaging the theology of plural marriage, and for letting Kody Brown's superficial comments about the dissimilarity of Fundamentalist and mainstream Mormonism pass onto the viewers without any critical scrutiny or added nuance. Shari Puterman, television columnist with the Asbury Park Press
, felt the sister wives had issues with jealousy and self-worth, and compared Kody to a cult
leader. Puterman added, "I can't speak for everyone, but I believe in the sanctity of marriage. It's sad to see that TLC's capitalizing on people who don't." Former prosecutor and television personality Nancy Grace
criticized the show and said she believed Kody Brown should go to jail, but expressed doubt he would based on Utah's history of overlooking polygamy. Christine Seifert, an associate professor of communications at Westminster College
in Salt Lake City, said the show could give viewers who are unfamiliar with the LDS church the incorrect assumption that polygamy is accepted by the mainstream church. Several commentators have taken notice of the fact that the family's religious convictions are downplayed in Sister Wives.
, the September 26, 2010, one-hour premiere episode of Sister Wives drew 2.26 million viewers, a strong rating for the network. It marked the biggest series debut for TLC since Cake Boss
launched in 2009, and was a stronger rating than any of the season premieres for HBO's Big Love. The remaining episodes of the first season were each a half-hour long, with two broadcast together each Thursday. In the second week, the first episode drew 1.88 million viewers, while the second drew 2.13 million. The third week drew similar results, with 1.89 million viewers watching the first episode and 2.05 million watching the second. Sister Wives drew its strongest ratings during the fourth and final week of the first season, with 2.67 million viewers for the first episode and 2.74 million for the season finale. As a result of the 2.7 million average viewership for the two episodes, TLC ranked first among all ad-support cable channels in the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups. The series drew double- and triple-digit ratings gains in all key demographics and ranked second in ad-supported cable network shows during its time period.
s. On September 27, 2010, the day after Sister Wives debuted, police in Lehi, Utah, announced they are investigating Kody Brown and his wives for possible charges of bigamy
, a third-degree felony. In response to the investigation, the Browns released a statement: "We are disappointed in the announcement of an investigation, but when we decided to do this show, we knew there would be risks. But for the sake of our family, and most importantly, our kids, we felt it was a risk worth taking." The Brown family hired constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley
, a vocal critic of anti-polygamy laws, to prepare a legal defense in the event that charges are filed.
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series broadcast on TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
in 2010. The show documents the life of a polygamist family, which includes patriarch Kody Brown, his four wives
Kody Brown and family
The family of Kody Brown includes patriarch Kody Brown and his wives Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown, a family known for starring on reality television series Sister Wives and also for their activism against U.S...
and their 17 children. The family began the series living in Lehi
Lehi, Utah
-Attractions:Lehi Roller MillsLehi Roller Mills was founded in 1906 by a co-op of farmers. George G. Robinson purchased the mill in 1910, and since then it has remained in the family. It is run today by grandson R. Sherman Robinson....
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, but has since moved to Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The seven-episode first season ran from September 26 to October 17, 2010 and strong ratings according to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. Season two of Sister Wives returned to TLC on September 25th.
Brown and his wives have claimed they participated with the show to make the public more aware of polygamist families and to combat societal prejudices. Brown has claimed his polygamist arrangement is legal because he is legally married only to one woman, and the other marriages are spiritual unions. Nevertheless, the series led the Brown family to become investigated for possible prosecution.
Concepts:
Sister Wives is an unscripted television series that started with following the lives of advertising salesman Kody Brown (43), his wives Meri (39), Janelle (40), and Christine (37), and their thirteen children among them. In the first season the show also televised Brown's courting and eventual marriage to a fourth wife, Robyn Sullivan, 31, who herself has three children. Sullivan is the first new wife to enter the family in 16 years. The only legal marriage is between Kody and his first wife, Meri, while the others' marriages are considered spiritual unions. As of the September 2010 debut, Kody has been married to Meri for 21 years, Janelle for 18 years, and Christine, who is the homemaker, for 17 years. Kody and Meri have a 17-year-old daughter named Mariah. Kody and Janelle have six children: daughters Madison (16) and Savanah (7) and sons Logan (17), Hunter (15), Garrison (13), and Gabriel (10). Kody and Christine have six children: daughters Aspyn (16), Mykelti (15), Gwendlyn (10), Ysabel (8), and Truely (1) and son Paedon (13) Robyn had three children from her first marriage, which was monogamous: Dayton (12), Aurora (10) and Breanna (8). Meri, Christine and Robyn were all raised in polygamist families, but Janelle was not. On April 9, 2011, Robyn confirmed to People magazine that she is pregnant and due in mid-October 2011. On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, Kody and Robyn Brown welcomed their first child together, son Solomon Brown. Solomon was welcomed at 2:02 am weighing in at 9 pounds 10.5 ounces and 22 inches long.
The Browns are a fundamentalist Mormon family belonging to the Apostolic United Brethren
Apostolic United Brethren
The Apostolic United Brethren is a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist church within the Latter Day Saint movement. The sect is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
Church. The title of the series, "Sister Wives", refers to a concept prevalent in Mormon fundamentalism that the wives in a plural marriage not only marry the husband, but are eternally united to each other. For years prior to the series, the family kept their polygamist lifestyle what they called a "quasi-secret".
Parents
| Name | Relationship | Children | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kody Brown | married to four wives | father to 14 children; step-father to 3 |
| 2 | Meri Brown | first wife of Kody Brown | has one daughter |
| 3 | Janelle Brown | second wife of Kody Brown | has six children |
| 4 | Christine Brown | third wife of Kody Brown | has six children |
| 5 | Robyn Brown | fourth wife | has four children |
Children
| Name | Age | Parents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan | 17 | son of Kody and Janelle |
| 2 | Mariah | 17 | daughter of Kody and Meri |
| 3 | Madison | 16 | daughter of Kody and Janelle |
| 4 | Aspyn | 16 | daughter of Kody and Christine |
| 5 | Hunter | 15 | son of Kody and Janelle |
| 6 | Mykelti | 15 | daughter of Christine and Kody |
| 7 | Paedon | 13 | son of Kody and Christine |
| 8 | Garrison | 13 | son of Kody and Janelle |
| 9 | Dayton | 12 | son of Robyn |
| 10 | Gabriel | 10 | son of Janelle and Kody |
| 11 | Gwendlyn | 10 | daughter of Christine and Kody |
| 12 | Aurora | 10 | daughter of Robyn |
| 13 | Breanna | 8 | daughter of Robyn |
| 14 | Ysabel | 8 | daughter of Kody and Christine |
| 15 | Savannah | 7 | daughter of Janelle and Kody |
| 16 | Truely | 1 | daughter of Kody and Christine |
| 17 | Solomon | newborn | son of Robyn and Kody |
Development
In the autumn of 2009, independent producers Timothy Gibbons and Christopher Poole approached Figure 8 Films, a North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
-based company, with the concept of a reality series about the Brown family. Bill Hayes, the president of Figure 8 Films, said the company agreed to the idea after meeting with the Browns and deciding their lives would make a great story. Camera crews shot footage of the family in mid-2010 to be used in the first season, ending in May with the marriage of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan. The crews continued to film them afterward in case the series was picked up for a second season. Sister Wives was publicly introduced on August 6, 2010 at the Television Critics Association
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
summer media tour in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The series's first episode, an hour long, was broadcast on TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
on September 26, 2010, and the first season continued with six half-hour chapters until October 17, 2010..
The broadcast of Sister Wives comes at a time that polygamy and multiple marriages are a prevalent topic in American pop culture. Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
, the hit HBO series about Utah polygamist Bill Henrickson his three sister wives and their struggle to gain acceptance in society, had already been on the air for several years. In early September 2010, the drama series Lone Star, about a con man on the verge of entering into multiple marriages, premiered on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
but was quickly cancelled after two episodes, and when Sister Wives first debuted, actress Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl is an American actress and producer. She is possibly best known for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series in 2007...
was in the process of developing a film about Carolyn Jessop
Carolyn Jessop
Carolyn Jessop is a former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community. She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and...
, a woman who fled from a polygamist sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
.
In October 2010, TLC announced it had commissioned a second season of ten episodes, which began in March 2011. A TLC interview with the Brown family was broadcast on October 31, 2010, and a one-hour program featuring the honeymoon of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan aired on November 22, 2010.
Season 1
The seven-episode first season ran from September 26 to October 17, 2010. The season premiere introduced viewers to Kody Brown and his three wives Meri, Janelle and Christine, and their twelve children, all of whom live in a ranch-style home with three interconnected apartments. It also chronicled Kody's dating and engagement to Robyn Sullivan, who herself has three children, marking the first time in 16 years Kody had courted another wife. The new relationship creates insecurity and jealousy issues among the other three wives, but they ultimately accept her and welcome her into the family. During the fourth episode of the season, Christine gives birth to her sixth child, Truely, which brings the family to 16 children including Robyn's three kids.Later, Kody and Meri go to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary, where Meri discussed her sadness about her infertility problems and the jealousy that has arisen from Kody's engagement to Robyn. Kody proposes in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
, but she turns down the idea as she is only interested in a naturally-occurring conception. As Robyn's wedding approaches, the three sister wives help Robyn prepare and they begin to bond. Kody, however, upsets his wives when he reveals he secretly chose Robyn's wedding dress himself, which makes Christine feel so betrayed that she angrily walks away in mid-interview. Kody eventually apologizes and the five reconcile. The first season ends with the wedding of Kody and Robyn, where Meri, Janelle and Christine present her with a Claddagh ring
Claddagh Ring
The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring given as a token of friendship, love and/or as a wedding ring. The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the city of Galway...
to welcome her into the family.
Critics
Sister Wives drew national media attention after its first season, and garnered generally mixed reviews from critics. Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
staff writer Hank Stuever called it "refreshingly frank", and found most interesting the small details of the family's everyday life, such as the food supply, division of labor and minor arguments. Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
television critic Mary McNamara said she was intrigued by the matriarchal nature of the polygamist family, a unit which is traditionally considered patriarchal. McNamara said the wives form the center of the family, and that "their bonds appear far stronger and more vital than the casual fondness with which they all treat Kody". Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
writer Schuyler Velasco praised Sister Wives for introducing viewers to unfamiliar subject matter, and called it "refreshingly modest" considering its controversial subject matter. Velasco said it has "a natural, honest presence in a genre fabled for the camera-hogging antics of Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore (TV series)
Jersey Shore is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 3, 2009 in the United States. The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Season 2 followed the cast escaping the cold northeast...
". Shelley Fralic of The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
called it fascinating and surprising, and was impressed with the sensible and articulate way in which the family defended their lifestyle. When the Brown family made an October 2010 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, talk show host Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
said she found particularly fascinating the relationship between the sister wives.
Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
criticized Kody Brown for opening himself and his family up to potential criminal prosecution by appearing in the series, describing him as "a lawbreaker who is risking himself and the family he claims is so precious just to star in his own TV show". Elizabeth Tenety of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
called the series "one part domestic drudgery, another part sensationalism", and claimed it relied on a "familiar reality TV recipe" shared by other TLC series such as 19 Kids and Counting and Kate Plus 8. Religion Dispatches
Religion Dispatches
Religion Dispatches is a daily online magazine covering religion and culture from a progressive point of view....
writer Joanna Brooks shared Tenety's perspective criticizing the show for presenting polygamy in a manner that "is about as interesting to me as Kate Gosselin’s latest makeover." In this vein Brooks criticized the show for not engaging the theology of plural marriage, and for letting Kody Brown's superficial comments about the dissimilarity of Fundamentalist and mainstream Mormonism pass onto the viewers without any critical scrutiny or added nuance. Shari Puterman, television columnist with the Asbury Park Press
Asbury Park Press
The Asbury Park Press is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state...
, felt the sister wives had issues with jealousy and self-worth, and compared Kody to a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
leader. Puterman added, "I can't speak for everyone, but I believe in the sanctity of marriage. It's sad to see that TLC's capitalizing on people who don't." Former prosecutor and television personality Nancy Grace
Nancy Grace
Nancy Ann Grace is an American legal commentator, television host, television journalist, and former prosecutor. She frequently discusses issues from what she describes as a victims' rights standpoint, with an outspoken style that has won her both praise and condemnation...
criticized the show and said she believed Kody Brown should go to jail, but expressed doubt he would based on Utah's history of overlooking polygamy. Christine Seifert, an associate professor of communications at Westminster College
Westminster College, Salt Lake City
Westminster College is a private liberal arts college located in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. The college comprises four schools: the School of Arts and Sciences, the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business, the School of Education, and the School of Nursing and Health...
in Salt Lake City, said the show could give viewers who are unfamiliar with the LDS church the incorrect assumption that polygamy is accepted by the mainstream church. Several commentators have taken notice of the fact that the family's religious convictions are downplayed in Sister Wives.
Ratings
According to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, the September 26, 2010, one-hour premiere episode of Sister Wives drew 2.26 million viewers, a strong rating for the network. It marked the biggest series debut for TLC since Cake Boss
Cake Boss
Cake Boss is an American reality television series, airing on the cable television network TLC. Set at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey, the show mainly follows Buddy Valastro, his mother, four sisters, and three brothers-in-law, as they operate their business, with a focus on how they make...
launched in 2009, and was a stronger rating than any of the season premieres for HBO's Big Love. The remaining episodes of the first season were each a half-hour long, with two broadcast together each Thursday. In the second week, the first episode drew 1.88 million viewers, while the second drew 2.13 million. The third week drew similar results, with 1.89 million viewers watching the first episode and 2.05 million watching the second. Sister Wives drew its strongest ratings during the fourth and final week of the first season, with 2.67 million viewers for the first episode and 2.74 million for the season finale. As a result of the 2.7 million average viewership for the two episodes, TLC ranked first among all ad-support cable channels in the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups. The series drew double- and triple-digit ratings gains in all key demographics and ranked second in ad-supported cable network shows during its time period.
Litigation
Even before the show debuted, legal experts opined that the Browns could open themselves up to criminal prosecution through making their lifestyle known. Kody Brown has claimed the family is breaking no laws because only the first marriage is a legal marriage, while the others are simply commitments. However, experts claim the fact that the family has been a unit for 16 years and includes children from all three wives could lead prosecutors to characterize the non-marriage unions as common-law marriageCommon-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
s. On September 27, 2010, the day after Sister Wives debuted, police in Lehi, Utah, announced they are investigating Kody Brown and his wives for possible charges of bigamy
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
, a third-degree felony. In response to the investigation, the Browns released a statement: "We are disappointed in the announcement of an investigation, but when we decided to do this show, we knew there would be risks. But for the sake of our family, and most importantly, our kids, we felt it was a risk worth taking." The Brown family hired constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley is an American lawyer, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism...
, a vocal critic of anti-polygamy laws, to prepare a legal defense in the event that charges are filed.