Polygamist Series to Debut on TLC in March; Features the Williams Family From 'My Five Wives'
TLC already has one series featuring a polygamist family, the Brown family, in Las Vegas. Now, though, the channel will debut another series about a polygamist family, the Williams family, who lives in Utah. The Williams family has already been featured in a one-hour documentary but will star in nine episodes starting in March.
Brady Williams, his five wives and 24 children will all star in the newest series from TLC. They are no strangers to being in the limelight. The Williams family was the subject of a special from TLC, "My Five Wives," earlier this year. The show brought in good ratings for the channel and TLC decided to offer the Williams family the opportunity to have its own series, at least for nine episodes.
Polygamy has been in the news lately thanks to another TLC polygamist family, the Browns. They had to flee the state of Utah due to an investigation into the family and later filed lawsuit against the state. The Brown family was successful in the lawsuit, and a federal judge in Utah ruled that parts of the state's polygamy laws were unconstitutional, making it safer for polygamist families to become public.
"There is no threat over our heads now," Brady Williams told the Associated Press. "It's a first step in the right direction toward the de-marginalization of polygamists. Women are not a commodity and they shouldn't be treated as such. There needs to be complete symmetry within a marriage."
The Williams family started out as members of the fundamentalist Mormon Church but decided to leave in order to follow their own beliefs, which include Christianity and other prominent religions.
"Since we have left the religion, it's now about love and it's about commitment, and it's about happiness as a family. It's not about the fear of hell or the promise of heaven," Brady told the cameras during the special "My Five Wives."
The new series will premiere on March 9 and air nine episodes on TLC.