TLC didn’t exactly get what they bargained for when they started working with the Plath family.
The family’s reality series, Welcome to Plathville, was originally envisioned as a replacement for Counting On, star Olivia Plath said during an appearance on the Positively Uncensored podcast. But once the network realized the underlying tensions in the Plath family, they decided to lean into the drama in a big way.
Olivia Plath opens up about the origins of ‘Welcome to Plathville’
When Welcome to Plathville premiered in 2019, it was described as a look at a wholesome conservative family of 11, with parents who had strict rules for protecting their children from what they saw as dangerous outside influences. TLC saw the Plaths as potential successors to the Duggars of 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On fame, Olivia claims.
“The Duggars name was brought up,” she said, when describing her and her then-husband Ethan Plath’s discussions with network execs before they agreed to do the show. “And it was like, look at this happy family, there’s now an opening for this kind of show. Because the Duggars were kind of phasing out.”
“There was an opening now for a large fundamental family where all the kids are smiling and playing instruments and singing and it just looks so polished and great. And it devolved so far from [that],” she added.
Olivia and Ethan were immediately skeptical of the initial pitch for Welcome to Plathville.
“I remember me and my ex explicitly were like, ‘We are not a happy family. What are you talking about? Like, behind the scenes there’s so much manipulation. We’re not even allowed to see his siblings,” she recalled.
Plath family drama led to a shift on ‘Welcome to Plathville’
Tension within the Plath family was obvious in season 1, as Olivia – who was also raised in a fundamentalist family – clashed with her in-laws over her desire to embrace a more liberal way of life.
“I think when the network first started the show they were thinking it would be this happy family, another Duggar [family], whatever,” Olivia said. “And then they quickly realized that that wasn’t going to happen. So they just fully leaned into the drama of it all.”
The result was a show that was fundamentally different from Counting On, which emphasized Duggar family unity (even though there was plenty of family strife occurring behind the scenes on that show as well).
On Welcome to Plathville, TLC opted to “highlight the drama between the parents and the kids … in the Duggars, if that had happened, it would have been covered up. Because they still wanted to protect this fundamental image.”
“But then when everything happened with the oldest Duggar son, when all that came out and TLC’s reputation was suffering for knowing and covering that up, I think that’s why with Plathville they fully leaned into all of that,” Olivia continued, referring to the sexual abuse allegations against Josh Duggar that surfaced in 2015 and his 2021 arrest for possessing child sexual abuse material. “[TLC] kind of highlighted that drama instead of covering it up. But they still covered up the beliefs underneath everything.”
“TLC really covers up a lot and repackages it as entertainment,” she added.
Kim Plath originally wanted the show to focus on Hosanna Plath
Now in its sixth season, Welcome to Plathville storylines focus almost entirely on conflict between the Plaths. Parents Kim and Barry Plath have divorced, Olivia has split from Ethan, and daughter Lydia Plath’s wedding ended in a brawl between two of her brothers.
It’s hardly the show Kim likely imagined when she started working with TLC. She initially wanted her eldest daughter Hosanna Plath to take center stage in the series.
“When Kim was originally wanting to do the show, Hosanna was the golden kid who did no wrong,” Olivia said. “And she was engaged at that time. Kim had this idea that the show would naturally start to follow Hosanna and her then-fiance as they were playing music and this Godly beautiful Christian example.”
Ethan and Olivia were “not interested” in being on that show. But TLC insisted that the couple participate, and they used that leverage to demand that Welcome to Plathville not revolve around Hosanna. They got what they wanted, and aside from a handful of brief appearances, Hosanna has not appeared on the show.
“Kim was really upset about that,” Olivia recalled. “But she wanted the show even more.”
Welcome to Plathville airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC. Episodes also stream on HBO Max.