19 Kids & Counting: Space Camp & Lip Surgery

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Man, I bet if the Gosselins had lasted another year or two, they'd be going to Space Camp, too. It just seems to be what TLC does... the Roloffs went TWICE and now the Duggars are there... any other families that I don't know about? Anyway, the episode wasn't very noteworthy, and takes place WAY BEFORE the recent episodes. As in, this should take place immediately after the third "World Tour" episode. Why? Because Michelle, Jill, and Josie are STILL IN ISRAEL while the rest of the family visits the space camp. I know the show is losing viewers, and it's getting easier to see why! We all know that Michelle lost the baby. We all know that she announced the pregnancy quite a while ago, episode-wise. Viewers who watch regularly have seen her become more and less pregnant over the past six episodes... this has got to stop. None of these recent episodes have been time-sensitive, so why not show them in order? Seriously. Anyway... there's not much below because not much happened.

(The Huntsville Times/Robin Conn)

19 Kids and Counting "Duggars in Space" (S06E06): The family is at space camp in Huntsville, Alabama, immediately after returning from Israel, where Michelle, Jill, and Josie still are. A family approaches the Duggars for autographs and photos. [why show this? Did they really need a time-filler?] Many family members don space suits and receive name patches. [why don't the most of the older girls wear them? and what was with Justin's hat in the interview???] Josh felt he was too old to be there, jokes about being overweight, and realizes that many of his "dreams" are gone already. [get a life.] Some of the kids do a moonwalk simulator, others try rocket simulators and multi-axis trainers, some "float" in air, and a bunch try a mission control simulator. ["Astronaut training takes at least a year to complete." so much for Howard on Big Bang, huh?] We see a few of the family members try each thing, with JimBob attempting the multi-axis trainer. Apparently dizziness isn't a problem because of the placement of the head and feet. [interesting...]

Michelle, Jill, and Josie fly home. After they're back, there's a short chunk of time about Jedidiah needing surgery, as he has developed a second cyst on the inside of his lip. JimBob forgets to bring Jedidiah with him, so the crew takes him. [seriously??] We see some of the operation but not too much. Then we get a recap of some of the other kids who have been to that office - like Johannah and Jason. End fact: the Duggar children have had a total of 156 stitches. [I'm not sure why any of this made it to film, unless JimBob bartered with the surgeon...]