Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets is a hit for Amazon Studios, if the number of people discussing the bombshell documentary is any indication. Since its release on June 2, viewers have taken to Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit to discuss the series and everything covered in the show’s four parts. There is still a lot more story to tell. Cori Shepherd Stern, the docuseries’ executive producer, seems open to a second season.
‘Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets’ focused heavily on the Duggar family
More than a year ago, when Amazon Studios announced a planned project about the Institute of Basic Life Principles, it appeared that the controversial Christian ministry would be the docuseries’ main focus. News about the documentary fell quiet until May 2023, when Amazon announced that the series would premiere in June. The announcement clarified that the infamous Duggar family would be the series’ focus.
Amazon delivered. Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets shared all of the reality TV family’s scandals and secrets with viewers. Even while focusing on the Duggars, the series still delves into the controversial ministry they belong to. While the Duggars made sense to focus on this time, a few more famous faces are attached to the IBLP. Could they be a focus of a second season? It seems plausible.
Could Amazon order a second season of ‘Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets’?
After consuming the four-part docuseries, Duggar family followers are clamoring for more about the IBLP and the other families tied to the ministry. While Amazon hasn’t publicly greenlit a second season, executive producer Cori Shepherd Stern is interested in looking deeper into the IBLP.
During a Reddit AMA, Shepherd Stern made it clear that she certainly is interested in a second season, exploring more about the IBLP. Several commenters offered directions a second season could take, with Shephed Stern enthusiastically agreeing in the comments. One approach for season 2 seems more obvious than others.
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One commenter pointed out that the Bates family was only mentioned briefly in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, despite also serving as the faces of the IBLP via a reality TV show. Shepherd Stern was enthusiastic about covering the Bates family. She noted that there simply wasn’t enough time in the show’s limited run. That doesn’t mean it’ll never happen, though. Shepherd Stern teased that the Bates could appear in a hypothetical second season of Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
Who is the Bates family?
The Bates family was briefly mentioned in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, but there is certainly enough material to make them the focus of their own docuseries. Largely considered the more mainstream version of the Duggars, the Bateses are another supersized family that belongs to the IBLP.
The family patriarch, Gil Bates, serves on the ministry’s board of directors. Gil Bates was also on a reality TV show along with his 19 children and his wife, Kelly Jo Bates. Several of the Bates kids and the Duggar kids remain close as adults. In fact, reality TV fans were first introduced to the Tennessee-based family on 19 Kids and Counting. While largely considered a bit more modern than the Duggars, family followers argue the Bateses are keeping a plethora of their own secrets. The biggest may be why their UpTV series, Bringing Up Bates, was unceremoniously canceled. UpTV canceled the series after filming for season 11 had already begun.
While Amazon has yet to publicly greenlight an additional season, it seems possible. If it does happen, the Bates family feels like a good place to pick up.
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