Here Comes Honey Boo Boo

Cast and premise

In addition to Alana, who was six years old when the first season was filmed, the show features her stay-at-home mother, June "Mama June" Shannon; her father, Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson, a chalk miner; and her three sisters: Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon, Jessica "Chubbs" Shannon, and Anna "Chickadee" Shannon. Anna Shannon gave birth to a daughter, Kaitlyn Shannon, in the first season finale.

The first season of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo aired from August 8 to October 26, 2012, and was followed by four specials airing in early 2013.

In September 2012, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was renewed for a second season. The second season debuted July 17, 2013, and concluded on September 11, 2013. The second season featured preparations for the wedding/"commitment ceremony" of June Shannon and Mike Thompson. For the second season premiere, TLC distributed "Watch 'N' Sniff" cards, allowing viewers to release scents correlating with specific scenes.

It was announced on September 20, 2013, that TLC had ordered a twelve-episode third season and three specials. The third season premiered on January 16, 2014, and concluded on March 6, 2014.

Ratings and reception

The series premiere episode attained a 1.6 rating in the 18–49 demographic, attracting 2.2 million viewers. The series was one of TLC's highest-rated shows in its first season. The August 29 episode, airing on Wednesday night during the 2012 Republican National Convention, attracted almost 3 million viewers and scored a 1.3 rating among 18- to 49-year-olds, the highest rating in that age group for any cable program that night, though about 20 million in all were watching the convention. Fox News convention coverage was second in the time period with a 1.2 rating, followed by NBC coverage with 1.1.

Critical reaction to the series has been mixed, with some characterizing the show as "offensive," "outrageous," and "exploitative," while others calling it "must-see TV."

Criticism

The A.V. Club called the first episode a "horror story posing as a reality television program," with others worrying about potential child exploitation. James Poniewozik mostly praised the show, but criticized the producers for "the way that the show seems to assume that those viewers will look at this family and the world."

A reviewer for Forbes criticized TLC as trying to "portray Alana's family as a horde of lice-picking, lard-eating, nose-thumbing hooligans south of the Mason–Dixon line," stating that "it falls flat, because there’s no true dysfunction here, save for the beauty pageant stuff." The Guardian also criticized the attempt to portray the Thompsons as people to "point and snicker at," saying, "none of the women or girls who participate in the show seems to hate themselves for their poverty, their weight, their less-than-urbane lifestyle, or the ways in which they diverge from the socially-acceptable beauty standard."

The Hollywood Reporter pronounced the show "horrifying," explaining:

You know this show is exploitation. TLC knows it. Maybe even Mama and HBB know it, deep down in their rotund bodies. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a car crash, and everybody rubber-necks at a car crash, right? It's human nature. Yes, except that if you play that card, you also have to realize that human nature comes with the capacity to draw a line, to hold fast against the dehumanization and incremental tearing down of the social fabric, even if this never-ending onslaught of reality television suggests that's a losing effort. You can say no to visual exploitation. You can say no to TLC. And you can say no to Honey Boo Boo Child. Somebody has to.

TV Guide's "Cheers & Jeers 2012" issue commented, "Jeers to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo for existing. Alana Thompson and her family have lowered the TV bar to new depths while introducing viewers to the terms 'forklift foot' and 'neck crust.' In a word, ewww."

June Shannon herself has been criticized for her daughter's diet, which includes "Go Go Juice," a mixture of Red Bull and Mountain Dew that contains as much caffeine as two cups of coffee. The drink is used to get her daughter ready for pageants. Shannon has responded to this criticism, saying. "There are far worse things...I could be giving her alcohol."

Praise

Out praised the show for Alana Thompson's attitude toward her gay paternal uncle Lee "Poodle" Thompson; Thompson stated, "Ain't nothing wrong with bein' a little gay." Out noted the show's "clear message of equality" and said that Alana's acceptance of her gay relative "confounded" the stereotype of the "redneck" working-class, Southern white female.

June Shannon has been praised by Mother Nature Network for her "keen business sense" with which she feeds her family on $80 a week by clipping copious coupons, playing bingo, exploiting roadkill, and acquiring child-support checks from each of her four children’s fathers.

Prior to the show's second season, Hank Stuever of The Washington Post said the show "feels as real to me as the Great Depression images shot by the WPA photographers" and praised the "solid—if unorthodox—family values."

Parodies

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo has been lampooned by the animated TV series South Park, in its season 16 episode "Raising the Bar", by the animated TV series MAD, in a short called "Here Comes Yogi Boo Boo", and in an online spoof uploaded on CollegeHumor called "Precious Plum."

Christopher Walken, Colin Farrell and Sam Rockwell took time from promoting their new film Seven Psychopaths to deliver a dramatic rendition of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

The film Scary Movie 5 featured a scene parodying Sinister where Simon Rex is frightened by an Alana look-a-like that pops out of a cardboard box and says, "A dollar makes me holla, honey boo boo child."

Cancellation

On October 24, 2014, TLC announced the cancellation of the show after reports surfaced that June Shannon was dating a man convicted of child molestation. Shannon denied these reports. The man in question, Mark Anthony McDaniel, Sr., was convicted of aggravated child molestation of an 8-year-old in March 2004. McDaniel is listed as a registered sex offender with the Georgia Sex Offender Registry. Shannon's eldest daughter confirmed that she is the child who was molested by McDaniel 10 years earlier. TLC commented on the future of the series regarding the current situation with the following statement: "We are currently reassessing the reports, but we do not currently have Here Comes Honey Boo Boo in production".

An entire season's worth of episodes – which could reportedly fill six months of schedule – are left unaired, following the cancellation of the show.

Post cancellation

Upon hearing of the show's cancellation, Vivid Entertainment president Steven Hirsch sent a letter to June Shannon, offering her and her former live-in mate, Mike Thompson, US$1 million to appear in a pornographic film. Hirsch stated that the studio’s BBW themed productions have become a very popular genre on Vivid.com and VividTV, and he would make the couple’s experience “enjoyable” for them both, as well as give them creative input.

In February 2015, Alana and June had appeared on an episode of The Doctors after Alana had noticeably gained more weight and had weighed 125 pounds (57 kg). Upon seeing the family's refrigerator, a health intervention was staged to help Alana lose weight with healthier food. The former child star was to lose 12–25 pounds (5.4–11.3 kg) before the end of April.

During an interview with Inside Edition it was revealed that Alana, with Lauryn and Adam Barta, were set to release a song called "Movin' Up". TLC had threatened to sue the family as they were not allowed to release anything until their contract expired in late May 2015.

Inside Edition had again interviewed the family in late April 2015 about Alana's sister Lauryn coming out as bisexual. It was revealed that June was also bisexual after she was outed by Lauryn in the interview.