The Next Duggars? TLC’s New Reality Show ‘Meet the Putmans’ Focuses on Extra-Large Family

“Our girls are allowed to wear pants, so there’s that!”

Move over Duggars! Here comes the Putman Family!

Jim Bob & Co. will need to make some room for the newest extra-large family coming to TLC. The network has announced that its newest reality show focuses on a family of 25 people, all living under one roof.

In Meet the Putmans, which premieres tonight on TLC, viewers will get to know Bill and Barb Putman, a married couple from Michigan with four adult children, all of whom still live with their parents. When the kids got married, they moved their spouses into the family home, and continued to raise their growing families there.

“Imagine being part of a family where no one leaves home,” Barb says in a trailer for the special.

The family, which consists of 10 adults (Barb and Bill, their four children and their spouses) and 15 children. According to the TLC press release for the special, the Putmans all live as one large family unit, rather than individual families, and pool all of their finances.

“With one house, only two bathrooms and one bank account and one set of rules, there’s always drama,” Barb says in the trailer.

The trailer does not reveal why the adult children and their families have chosen to continue to live with their parents and siblings, but the family does say that they are not a cult, and that no one has forced them to stay home and live this way. It appears that the Putman adults take a vote to decide things for the household.

“Each episode will not only detail the little things that test this family of 25, but also highlight those extreme ‘for better or worse’ moments they experience as both couples and a family,” the press release for the show reads.

Of course, the Putmans aren’t the first supersized family to get a reality show on TLC. This is the same network that introduced us to the Duggars, as well as the polygamous Brown family from Sister Wives. The network also once aired The Willis Family, a show about a large family band from Nashville, but that show has since been cancelled.

‘Meet the Putmans’ premieres tonight on TLC.

Watch the trailer for ‘Meet the Putmans’ below!

(Photo: TLC)

59 Responses


  1. Two huge Christian families with sexual abuse. So sad about the Duggar and the Willis family. Now, another odd family. How does one study and do homework with all the noise? And the son in law who took the Putman name? Seems unnecessary there are so many of them.


  2. Mama And PAPA PUTNAM NEED TO GET A LIFE and understand that children are not forever…. let the birds leave the nest… totally unrealistic… wait til the grandkids become adolescents !


  3. I watched two shows and lost it. When is it going to be aired again? I enjoy large family seneRios. Please continue this family show.


  4. I have not seen the show, nor do I want to. This sounds incredibly dysfunctional — one bank account? The whole family goes to the grocery store together? That’s dumb. I think it’s dumb for any family to take the kids to the grocery store, much less this many kids. I think the family likes the notoriety. “Look at us, we’re a freak show!” (Too bad the Ringling Bros. circus is shutting down; these people could be the main act.) One of the son-in-laws changed his name? Mom and Dad Putman must be sitting on a big inheritance to keep this many people in line. They ARE a cult; they just don’t realize it. Sad that it exists and terrible that TLC likes to justify these freaky families, like this group and the Duggars.


  5. I loved watching the show but it looked like a one time show. I don’t see that it is a weekly show. If it is a weekly show when will it air each week. They are going to have to give more than the first episode to get to want to keep this show going. I would like to know more of why they are all at home and to understand why the son in law changed his last name to theirs if not being forced.


  6. Make no mistake, This family is a cult. A brainwashing, family destroying, cult who should not be allowed to profit from it.


  7. making a big mistake!!! bill used to beat his wife barb when they lived in caro mich,she was seen by many ppl walking around with bruises on her face and at their business they owned in caro, this is the truth all tlc has to do ic come to caro and and ask a few ppl,and i remeber shopping at their one business they owned,i did not go back because they were not friendly,as for the duggars there was never any sort of abuse what so ever and when i saw this article them meet teh next duggars,i had to respond to this,the truth shall come out soon


    1. You must not consider molesting children for years to be abusive. You also must not consider teaching your children that they must forgive their pedophile of a brother for abusing them for years on end, or else they’ll be damned to hell for all eternity to be abusive…or and of the other myriad of things they can do wrong to be damned to hell for all eternity, for that matter.
      I do hope, someday, you come to realize that abuse comes in many forms. Just because you can’t see physical evidence of it, does not mean it fails to exist.


  8. It’s still not right.. They are paying to build a home that we all darn well know the father will call it his own.. This family is unhealthy..


  9. I LIVE AT HOME ANAD CANNOT WAIT TO MOVE OUT I AM A FELON SO IT IS HARD TO FIND A JOB SINCE AMERICA DOOMS YOU A BAD PERSON FOR MISTAKES MADE YEARS AGO.I AM MORE OF A GOOD PERSON THAT HALF OF THE PEOPLE WITH NO RECORD SO NEVER JUDGE A PERSON BY THEIR RECORD.ANYWAYS 25 PPL I WOULD BE IN A FIGHT ONCE A DAY I WOULD HATE THAT HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR SANITY?


  10. The one bank account and one set of rules things creep me the hell out. The rest of it though…all living under one roof, doesn’t bother me in the least. Two bathrooms for only 25 people would be difficult, but more power to you if you can manage that, lol. For me, personally, my kids, adult or not, are free to live with me as long as I’ve got the room. If they bring spouses, children, etc…go for it, again, as long as I’ve got the room, we’ll find a way to make it work. They can handle their own finances, their own “rules”, whatever else…but my home will always be open to any of my children, regardless of their age(s), and whether or not they bring baggage, so to speak.

    I’ve known many families that live similarly, either under one roof or at least on one property, so that might be why I don’t find that part odd.(and none of them are religious, in the least, lol) But the bank account and rules…hell to the no. Grown adults can, and should be able to, handle their own finances, and the “rules” or raising their own children.


  11. Ah yes TLC, because showing these megafamilies has worked out so well in the past for you. And this one comes with huge red flags. One bank account?!? Come on!


  12. Why do Americans like this weird cult-ish shit. The last big family that was tolerable was Jon and Kate Plus 8. Everyone else want their cult to be accepted as a religion. I miss the days when TLC would show people with rare illnesses and I did know i was pregnant, only thing i from TLC watch now is my 600lb life.


    1. Umm, people like this live all over the world, lol, and always have 😉
      Jon and Kate plus 8 was not tolerable, that was a show that gave a good example of how NOT to raise your kids, regardless of how many of them you have. Just take a look at that family today….those poor kids will need therapy their entire lives, having such horrid role models as parents. Sure they’re not the worst, but they’re not good examples, either, lol.


  13. These folks were way too weird.. The kissing reminded of that SNL Sketch.. I hope this was the first and last episode we would have to endure..


  14. Their premise/foundation is off, and a family can’t build successfully on a faulty foundation. The Bible says “For this reason a man will LEAVE his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31.


      1. With all due respect, the Bible is a book of life. Please allow me to share two examples: “The words of God give life.” Proverbs 3:1. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68

        I would encourage you to read the Bible for yourself and suggest a good starting place is the Gospel of John, found in the New Testament.


  15. UGH I would go mad! I’m still at home but everyone has their own bank account and it will stay that way! I can’t wait to move out at the first chance!


      1. Because it’s not right! He gives up his privacy having his own bank account & Now his last name.. It’s not right!


    1. Many men take on their wife’s last name, it’s not nearly as unusual as you think. Just like many women never take on their husband’s name 😉


      1. But do they get rid of their bank accounts so they can pull money together? This family is eerie and cultish & The giving up his last name after jumping through hoops is sad.. & They way they didn’t care if he lived or died driving to work so they can stay living there really vexed me..


        1. No, the bank account thing is beyond creepy. But the name thing..is not really a big deal, it happens far more often than people realize, lol.


          1. Yeah.. But.. This is a sign of control..This is the MO of a cult.. The last name thing to each it’s own.. But I think he got pushed to change his name.. I wonder how his family feels about this..


    2. They have to. It’s the brainwashing cult mentality. They can’t have their own identity. They are property of the family. Ask ANY of those in law children when the last time they saw their parents was. One of those parents lives near me. They didn’t know their daughter got married, and never met their grandchildren. The putmans are violent disgusting people and TLC has been duped.


    1. they said they are building a very large house with like 15 bedrooms and like 19 bathrooms(35,000 sq ft) at end of show it said basement part was done and still working on rest of house.


  16. I will admit I watched it, and really liked the family. At first I felt like an anthropologist, studying this foreign culture, but they weirdly won me over. They don’t seem to be religious whack-a-doos like some of TLC’s families. As each family member explained why they chose this lifestyle, it was clear that this was their choice and they seem really happy together, The dad was an orphan in foster care most of his childhood and as an adult just wanted to keep the people he loves most as close as possible. The adult children are well educated (two medical doctors, and the rest run a large commercial construction and real estate business), well spoken, and funny. Every adult in the family is given a vote on decisions and each vote seems to carry the same weight.

    Their lifestyle isn’t how I live, or would even choose to live. Having my sisters living in my same town can feel like too much sister-time for me, but if this a happy family, more power to them. I had no expectations when I started watching and I liked the show. I would WAY rather watch them over Sister Wives, the Duggars, or Kate Gosselin (she’s a terrible person and her kids are demon children–just saying). I don’t typically share this much of an opinion in a forum like this, but hopefully someone will appreciate my thoughts before rushing to judgment.


    1. I’ve read from people who said to know them that especially the father is very controling and has each one of them tied down like a dog but this doesn’t sound anything like that.
      I don’t get it, lots of people saying they know them that simply love them, others who paint them pitch black.
      What on earth is going on in their town?


  17. i think its great that you all love each other.you can still love each other be close but its time to grow up and raise your own family in your own place and to vote about grown people that should make there own minds up!!!!! just crazy.


  18. Finally a new family in TLC..The Duggars can get jobs now and support their own instead of free stuff and begging for money and being snobbish and deserving ..Tell others how to live when they hide that they don’t have the perfect life but act as if they do..


  19. I was like “aww a multigenerational household!” riiiight up until I read “two bathrooms” and “one bank account.”
    What the fuck? I’d love to have my kids grow up and live close by, but what the hell is with turning your kid’s families into your own little commune? WEIRD and CREEPY


  20. This sounds so incredibly unhealthy. And the one bank account makes it sound like any of the adults wouldn’t be able to leave even if they wanted to. Very controlling.


  21. This just sounds so sketchy! Who in their right mind would live with their parents who make them all pool their money and STILL have “one set of rules”. No. If I’m giving you my money I will parent my kids how I wish. Or I’ll keep my money. I just can’t imagine why Simone would do this and what spouse would go along with it. And to make a point to say toure not a cult just adds to the sketch factor.


  22. Sounds like the father must have a Jim Boob Duggar-esque control over the whole family. The grown sons/son-in-laws must have had their balls chopped off as part of the initiation into the group. Sounds sketchy to me.


    1. Thank you for the link. Now I’m interested. I’m wondering if it will even make it to the air with all these accusations flying around.


  23. You must really love your parents / like your inlaws or be very broke and lazy to share two bathrooms with 25 people. Having two teens and one bathroom can be a challenge.
    Let’s hope for the first, might be very interesting to see how they do and solve things.
    I want tips, I want my kids to live in indefenately too.
    I have a friend who lives like this on smaller scale but they don’t share a bank account and they live in seperate units in the building.


  24. Bring back the Duggers, but mostly The Willis family. The Willis’s are very wholesome and the best example of what a family should be. Bringing up Bates should be on TLC also.


    1. You do know that the dad from the Willis family is a child molester right? As is Joshua Duggar? Only time will tell if this new family contains a molester as well. Something tells me yes because you’d have to have some screws lose to live this way…


  25. One bank account???

    I dont think so!!!

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