LOS ANGELES—Cable channel TLC announced this morning a new addition to its Wednesday night lineup: “The Hendersons: Completely Average,” a show profiling the network’s most anomalous family yet. The Hendersons are one of a small subculture of American families who do not compete in child beauty pageants, hunt ghosts, or solve crimes by communicating with the dead.
In recent years, TLC has found success in profiling unique families. “The Long Island Medium,” “19 Kids and Counting,” and the breakout hit “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” all reside on the network once known as The Learning Channel.
“TLC believes there’s nothing more unique than showing a family that’s completely not unique,” said Marisa Levy, Senior Director of Programming Development at TLC.
According to Levy, a producer discovered the Hendersons parking their grey 2002 Honda Accord outside of Rocco’s Pizza on Main Street in Brownburg, Indiana. The father, Dale Henderson, 45, was putting two quarters into the meter when the TLC team approached.
“What immediately struck me about Dale was that he was not compulsively eating toilet paper or morbidly obese,” explained TLC producer Tom Maynard. “I thought, ‘I have to tell this guy’s story.’”
“From the first time I video chatted with the Hendersons,” Levy said, “I knew that they were absolutely, one hundred percent, out of this world, normal.”
The show will feature the entire Henderson Family including Dale, Suzanne and their strangely unremarkable children Jenny, 11, and Zack, nine. Dale is an accountant and Suzanne runs the local nursery school. According to Levy, both parents are content with their places of work. The children—a mere two of them— attend the local public school and receive consistent grades. The entire family is in good health.
On TLC’s Facebook Page, Levy hyped viewers for a season of reality television firsts.
“Tune in to watch the Hendersons deal with a vacuum purchase, unopened spam mail, and a carnival goldfish that completes its expected life cycle.”
When asked about her family’s newfound success, Suzanne Henderson said, “We hope this helps with the kids’ college fund in the long term and Jenny’s Girl Scout Cookie sales in the short term.”
“The Hendersons: Completely Average” will premiere on TLC in late Spring 2013.
