Well, it’s official.

After 11 seasons and five years on the air, TLC has finally, officially canceled Counting On.

The news didn’t come as much of a shock, as the network was expected to end the series in response to Josh Duggar’s arrest on child pornography charges.

Many have already argued that TLC waited too long, which seems to suggest that execs were uncertain about the move.

But the important thing is that the decision has been made, and the Duggars are officially done with reality television.

Sure, last time this happened, the family quickly returned to television with a spinoff series.

Of course, the last time this happened, no one in the family was soon to be serving a 20-year prison sentence for receiving and distributing graphic images showing children as young as 18 months old.

In an age when celebrities have been cancelled for far less, TLC can’t afford the risk of giving the Duggars yet another chance, and the family is much too toxic for any other network to work with.

“The decision was made by TLC earlier this week to cancel the show,” a source close to the situation recently told UK tabloid The Sun.

“The family was told over the phone shortly after and it’s still very hush hush,” the insider added.

“The petition from those who boycotted Counting On was hard to ignore, and sponsors were very concerned following Josh’s arrest.”

It’s a little disturbing that execs needed a petition to shove them in that direction, but at least they did the right thing in the end.

This is a major problem for Jim Bob and company, as reality TV has been the Duggars’ top source of revenue since 2008.

The Duggars have a lot of mouths to feed and for more than a decade, TLC has been providing them with the resources to do so.

So how will the family of fundamentalists manage going forward?

Well, it won’t be easy, especially since it’s safe to assume that the rest of the family will share the responsibility for Josh’s wife and seven children, if and when he goes to prison.

Jim Bob has several other revenue streams, including a used car lot and a real estate concern that specializes in flipping houses.

All of his sons and sons-in-law who are employed — it’s a short list, and women aren’t allowed to work in the Duggars’ world — work for one of Jim Biob’s businesses.

But the businesses are successful largely because of the Duggars’ fame, and there’s no telling how those companies will be affected by this latest scandal.

While we’re sure no one in the family would admit it, the most likely scenario right now is that the Duggars are desperate to get back on television.

And it will probably be quite some time before they realize that’s never gonna happen.

“There have been a lot of discussions in recent weeks as the network had already spent money on production after months of filming,” says one insider.

“But the bottom line is, the network really wants to be on the right side of this scandal ahead of Josh’s trial. It was important for bosses to be seen to have taken action,” the source continues.

“The case has put the show in such a bad light, and although it’s a shame for those who worked hard on it, and the money spent, there really is no way forward.”

The Duggars pride themselves on their ultra-rural lifestyle, but if the men in the family are to secure jobs that will enable them to feed their many offspring, they’ll likely be headed for greener pastures in the very near future.

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