When Amazon Prime Video announced plans to release a documentary series about the scandalous Duggar family, the project became an instant source of social media buzz.
After all, the Duggars are arguably the most controversial family in the history of reality television, but for the most part, they’ve managed to keep a low profile in the years since they were finally canceled (both by TLC and polite society).
But even the most optimistic execs couldn’t have anticipated that an enthusiastic fan response and the resulting word of mouth would lead the project to record-breaking success.
Yes, according to a new report from Variety, Shiny Happy People is now the number one documentary in the history of Amazon Studios.
Perhaps even more importantly, Shiny has resulted in a larger increase in new Amazon Prime subscribers than any doc that’s been previously featured on the platform.
Yes, thousands more people will now be enjoying free two-day shipping thanks (indirectly) to the Duggars!
“I’d love to tell you that we knew for sure it was going to do exactly what it’s done,” Vernon said. “But it’s been multiples higher than what we anticipated.”
That’s wonderful news for everyone who was involved with the project — but not such great news for Jim Bob Duggar, whose checkered past provided many of the series’ most shocking moments.
Not only is Jim Bob once again at the center of a national discourse, the success of the series has prompted talk of a sequel.
During a recent Reddit AMA, executive producer Cori Shepherd revealed to fans that she’s sitting on a pile of unused footage.
“Go to Amazon Prime Video on all socials and begggggg! We have SO much more to tell!” Shepherd wrote, according to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup.
“There is more incredible stuff to come. It was hard to decide what to leave behind. There was a lot of discussion about like, ‘Oh, we can’t cut that. How can we cut that?’” Cori said.
“It wasn’t left on the cutting room floor. We like carefully picked it up and set it aside, hoping for exactly this moment, exactly for this kind of success, so that we can make an argument that the world needs more.”
We don’t know exactly what would be covered in a second season, but fans have been clamoring for more details about the secretive life of Jana Duggar.
Jana, as longtime Duggar-watchers know is Jim Bob and Michelle’s eldest daughter.
Unlike her sisters, Jana has chosen to remain single and continue living at home, and as she enters her mid-thirties, fans and critics alike have become convinced that there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
You can be sure that Jana will not participate in the documentary as Jill Duggar did, but insiders say there’s no bad blood between the sisters.
“My dad does control a lot of things in the family,” Jill said in the fourth episode of the series.
“Family relationships were already kinda rocky … Everything within the family dynamic has shifted, and not for the better,” she continued.
“We’re very much on the outside with the family,” her husband, Derick Dillard, added.
For their part, Jim Bob and Michelle have condemned the series and dismissed its most shocking claims as outright lies.
“The recent ‘documentary’ that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love,” the couple said in a joint statement.
“This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days,” they wrote.
“Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our faith all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort, and purpose.”
It sounds like Jim Bob and Michelle will soon need to prepare a second statement, as the announcement of Shiny Happy People Season 2 looks to be increasingly inevitable!
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Documentary Shatters Viewership Records; Producers Vow to Dig … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.