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Wendy! Wendy seeks help from Supernanny  for her 4 sons prior to touring with Carnie. Airs on ABC TV on February 20, 9:00 p.m. EST and PST. Get the popcorn ready.

:lol Awesome!

I'm not familiar with Supernanny, so I don't know if it's a sitcom or a reality TV show, or what...but does Wendy really have 4 sons!?!?!?!?  :o

I think it's a reality show.

What's so weird about having four children?

"... As the daughter of Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, she was raised in a household where the children had few boundaries, and is often a pushover with her rambunctious toddlers, Leo, 4 and Beau, 3. Husband Dan, a former rock singer, was raised just the opposite way, with clear-cut rules and a strict schedule. Having had twins Willem and Jesse just six weeks prior to filming, Wendy and Dan are exhausted, overextended, and realize that their current parenting style won't work. ..."

http://www.abcmedianet.com/Web/progcal/dispDNR.aspx?id=012808_24
 

Twins. Damn.

Supernany - phooee!

Make it SUPERGRANNY and bring on Marilyn!!

A little bit of Granny love will set those kids straight!!

Alright, I guess I'll just have to come out and say it, reality shows stink. I really don't care who's on a show. I hope Wendy gets help with watching her kids, but why make an entire tv series out of it? I can't believe people want to pollute their brains with "celebreality" crap. I"m looking forward to shows getting their writers back (but only if the writers get a fair deal from the producers/networks, if not, then they should keep striking).

Well, I believe "Supernanny" features a new family every week, so Wendy's "storyline" should only last one episode. Otherwise, I agree with everything you said.

Wendy must be trying to catch up with Carnie.  Carnie has been on more reality tv shows than you can shake a stick at.  She's currently on "Gone Country" on CMT, trying to become a country star along with Maureen McCormick (Brady Bunch) , Dee Snyder, Bobby Brown, and others.

I take it youre not watching Big Brother 9...:lol

Nothing's weird about it, but I could have sworn she just had her first child a couple of years ago!  Guess it's been longer...

She was also on "Celebrity Fit Club" last year...I usually don't watch these shows but if Carnie is on I am more inclined to watch for some reason.

I think Wendy's four have been born within a four year (or less) span.  That's why it seems so remarkable.  She went from none to four in a very small span of time.  That would be a little taxing for any family.  It  might be interesting to see how Supernanny can help.  Most of those kids aren't even old enough to be reasoned with yet (the twins, in particular, they're just babies).

I am not a fan of reality shows. But I might check this one out. If only because I know hardly anything about Wendy. I think it would be interesting for one or two episodes just to see what she is like.

Wilson-Knutson Family
Wed Feb 20 9/8c
Supernanny helps her first celebrity family when Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips reaches out for help in managing her four boys -- including newborn twins.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/supernanny/index?pn=index (http://abc.go.com/primetime/supernanny/index?pn=index)

Oh, boy, here it comes, right up against fabulous American Idol.

whoa, here goes the brian wilson guilt trip...

(and cool pics, never seen before?)

Let me precede this at first by saying I have nothing against Wendy, and I can't possibly know what it was like to grow up  in that house... but I found it a little offsetting that she nor anybody else mentioned one time that Brian Wilson has severe mental disorders that have made him incapable of functioning as a responsible adult.  Everytime they mentioned what a bad father he was, she just said he was absent.  She alluded a few times to a feeling that he gave more to the music than he gave to her, and while that may be true I think it's fair to say that after his illness set in he wasn't very good to the music either. 

I just think it would have been a little more fair to give Brian a small bit of mercy and mention that the man is sick and not just a jackass who didn't raise his kids right. 

I felt the same way...  plus: what about Marilyn?  Doesn't she deserve any 'blame'?  That said, maybe Wendy did mention Brian's condition in detail, but the show's producers/editors didn't include it...?

You know, actually you may be right.  I should have thought of that... they may have edited out any explanation she gave.  Plus I've still got to be fair and say again that she's entitled to whatever opinion she has, and I won't pretend to know any better than her.

Still kind of messed up when they do a hit-piece on him about 5 or 6 times then show Wendy saying she's moved on and doesn't dwell on it.  what?

She doesn't dwell on her childhood, but when the producers ask why she's such a pushover with her kids...well, that's the answer. She has always struck me as a nice person but very passive.

I also was annoyed that she made it sound like Brian was just a jerk, a deadbeat dad... but it's true that she might have mentioned drugs, and maybe ABC felt it wasn't appropriate for a family show, so they just left in that he was "absent" and "incapable of being there," or whatever she said. Marilyn was hardly mentioned, but I guess she was pretty easygoing with her kids. They seem to have turned out okay, all things considered.

Was I the only one surprised that Wendy didn't have a nanny of her own, even just to help out part-time?

Yeah I agree, Brian really didn't come off too well here.  Some reference to mental problems might have at least provided a better explanation.  To the casual viewer, he probably came off exactly like you said: a deadbeat jerk of a father. 

Maybe there's still some resentment there for Wendy, who knows.  I just think it would have been more accurate to say that he had mental and drug problems and was afraid he wouldn't be a good father, so he left the parenting to Marilyn because he thought they would be better off that way.  It was only a small part of the show so like others have said, maybe she elaborated on it but those parts were edited out.

Didn't Wendy mention in one of the docus, I think in "I Just Wasn't Made", that she still has bitter feelings against her dad? We can only speculate about Brian the father, but with all the little anecdotes they decided to make public, I don't wanna know what else happend in that household. And IMO, mental disorder is not an excuse for everything.

Yeah, but it should be between Wendy and Carnie and Brian.  What I don't like is the way Carnie, and now Wendy, have used their father's name to gain publicity, including dragging his name through the mud.  I'm not sure Wendy would have gotten a spot on "Supernanny" without featuring Brian, former Beach Boy,  as part of the story line.  Wilson Phillips is yesterday's news, and they used the show tonight to promote an upcoming tour.  It really kind of sucks.  And yes, if Brian was a co-dependent, then Marilyn was an enabler.  A lot of kids are raised by single moms, and they don't let their kids get away with everything (which is how Wendy portrayed her upbringing, as very lax).

This is the kind of lame excuse I detest - "I'm a crappy parent, but it's because of how my folks brought me up".

Only one reason why she's on the program: Brian Wilson.

I actually like Supernanny and think it shows some useful ways of dealing with kids. Without having seen the show, I think it's ridiculous that these sort of problems from the 1970s are repackaged as voyeuristic, self-pitying attention-grabbing entertainment. But I guess that the attention-seeking is because of her upbringing, right? Just like their upbringing was used for effect in the Wilson-Phillips music videos, showing Brian in old home movies?  :-\

In the late sixties and early seventies home movie footage you can see Brian having fun with the kids, but this was before the real decline. Perhaps Carnie remembers Brian in better shape (the story she told about him helping her in Holland for instance), but as Wendy is younger it can make her memories differ. I only filped through it ans was bored so I didn't get to see the pictures. Any good ones?

That would fly if there was a big difference in their ages, but there isn't. Carnie was born 4/29/68, Wendy 10/16/69.

Well I understand what you are saying but I know I remember being 3 or 4 a lot better then most people I know. In other words Wendy's clear memories miight have kicked in at an somewhat older age. Besides with perhaps the exception of 1976-77, Brian declined perceptably over any given sixteen months of the seventies. I am not trying to defend the show, by not including the reasoning behind Brian's behavior it is an unfair attack.

If defense of Supernanny, and of Wendy, she did not only get on the show because she's Wendy Wilson. This is a show where the main focus is on families where parents need to improve their skills-- it's not a celebrity show. She was the first celebrity featured. With or without the fame, that family was a good candidate for the show. Two toddlers and twin infants? Come on.

Also, Wendy had said in an article publicizing the show that she didn't realize that it would become a therapy session, and maybe she meant she didn't realize she'd be asked about her own upbringing. But having seen the show before, I know that Jo (the Supernanny) sometimes asks parents about their own upbringing because it's a clue as to why they act the way they do with their own kids. She doesn't permit it to become an excuse-- she helps them break the cycle or the effect or whatever it is. But _of course_ they're going to explain who Wendy is. It's a coup to get her on the show.

I don't think Wendy is very publicity hungry, judging by her past actions. I think she genuinely went on the show because she was desperate for help. I mean, did you see her kids? She needed help.

Carnie, on the other hand...She also seems like a decent person, but she loves publicity and she loves attention. There was no reason to have her on the show, yet there she was with her daughter, ringing the doorbell. I could see if she had something meaningful to say about babysitting Wendy's kids and what she knew about their behavior, but all she said was that raising 4 kids is hard work. I wonder whose idea it was to have Carnie on the show--ABC's, or Carnie's?

So...more episodes?  Are they going to give Wendy and Dan some help?  Or was this a one-shot deal and they're now left on their own to try to cope with what sounds like a bad situation?  [I didn't see the show; i was out.]

Yeah, the whole point of the show is to assess the situation, teach the parents new parenting skills and give them an ooporunity to try out those skills with feedback/supervision until they are making headway.

I shouldn't have said that's the whole point of the show. That's just the premise/plan.
The point of the show is to sell advertising.

I don't regularly watch the show, but I'm pretty sure its always meant to be a one-shot deal.  By the end they had strategies in place to help them deal with things, so the assumption at the end is that they're going to be okay now.

I saw it, and it wasn't that bad really.  Though I do agree this episode's "hook" seems to have been she's Brian's kid, he was a bad dad because he was nuts, and she wasn't sure how that would translate to her parenting skills.  From that point of view the remarks about Brian were a bit of a cheap shot, especially if you don't know his story, which many folks don't (for all they know he's still nuts).  But as others noted above being nuts is no excuse for being a bad parent, and if her memories of him are of his absence/reticence then that's her truth and there's no shaking it.

Compared to other shows I've seen, actually Wendy and Dan were just overwhelmed, but their heads were screwed on pretty straight, they were trying to work as a team, and their only real fault was not being stricter in terms of structure and discipline - not uncommon at all.  Yes it's a one-shot, all the shows are.

My daughter loves this show, and she thought it hysterical how the four year old kept soiling himself to act out.  I've heard other kids like to watch it too -- so they can see how bad the TV parents are, and tell their own folks "see?  I'm nowhere as bad as those kids."  She does know Brian's story (she saw Beautiful Dreamer) and her only remark afterward was she didn't want anything bad happening to me like happened to Brian.  (Too late!)

The intersting thing is I thought Marilyn came off fairly poorly too on the show, but not nearly as bad as Brian. She didn't say "my dad was unavailable  but my Mom was the Rock of the household" or whatever.  Has anyone noticed the diference in how Carnie and Wendy talk about Brian in public?  The "the world got more of him than I did" was definitely bitter.  Contrast that to Carnie on the Fit Club finale - before her final weigh-in, the show's producers actiually got Brian on the show where he gave Carnie a rather nice message and words of encouragement and praise. She, of course was visibility touched and said that "knowing how my father has struggled with his own problems, that meant a great deal to me".

I don't think any of us are in a position to discuss, much less disect, the relationship between Brian and Wendy...

You must be new to messageboards...

Nope, still won't stop us.  :-D

Yeah I agree Rob, Carnie has always been very defensive of Brian when she talks about him...like I said before, I think Wendy might still harbor some resentment towards Brian, whereas Carnie seems like she has moved past any bitterness she may have had.  Obviously we don't know a lot of what has happened in the past that may explain the difference, but you are right in that there certainly is one.

southbay, I'm gonna agree with you on this. We just don't know enough. Actually, we hardly know anything. It's not like there have been countless books, articles, interviews, and threads devoted to Brian's relationship with his children.

However, it is a subject that would be very interesting to learn more about. It's probably just as fascinating as the other aspects of Brian's life and career. But, due to the personal nature of the relationships (or lack of), and that Carnie and Wendy are innocent victims, it might be best to leave it be. I have a feeling we might be disappointed....

I have to think, too, that Wendy and Carnie might be jealous of their little sisters and brother.  Maybe they see Brian being more present with his new family, in spite of whatever problems he still might have, and wonder why he couldn't be around as much for them.  Maybe it gives him less of an excuse for his past behavior, in their eyes.

As I mentioned before of course we don't know about Brian and Wendy's relationship... but any outsider can make the comment that it's kind of unfair to paint Brian as a horrible father (which he was) and not mention *at all* that he has severe mental disorders that have made HIS life a living hell as well.  I don't understand why they didn't.  How hard is it to say "My dad struggled with drug addiction and mental disorders that left us children in the lurch" or whatever?  There's nothing wrong with that and it accurately paints his culpability.  Everybody I've seen that knows him basically says He's a great guy with a big heart except he's fucking crazy!

Also about the Carnie thing, on the first episode of "Gone Country" they mentioned Brian, and John Rich told her something like "Coming from music royalty and having your dad be one of the greatest of all time" and Carnie just smiled and was so gracious, it was pretty interesting.

Again though, I have nothing against Wendy and it could have just been an editing decision, but it kind of seemed in poor taste to me. 

Some people are prepared to play games, others aren't.

Watching the show I was impressed by how ONLY the "absent" rock star parent was the cause of so much of Wendy's under-developed pareting skills while Marilyn essentially got a free pass from Wendy and the producers/editors. 

Bad vibes, man.
I want to see both B-Wilson families joining daddy for an encore with Melinda & Marilyn sharing one Mic together. I prefer that to a BB reunion.

Uh oh, sounds like another reality show in the works...   >:D

Oh God, what an idea! Can you imagine a reality show, "The Wilson's", starring Brian Wilson, with Carnie, the little kids, the dogs, the (ex)wives? It would make the Osbournes appear normal. Brian would be the new Ozzy.

It would be a ratings spectacular, and Brian Wilson would be a household name. Uh oh, better not give Melinda any ideas. :police:

I picture it being more of a therapy show, centered around Carnie, like "Breaking Bonaduce." She'd talk about her addictions, her weight, her family, and her mom and dad. Every week they'd show her interacting with the people who have hurt her the most and trying to work out her issues with them. The premise would be to help Carnie, but it would really become about the Wilsons and the circus that has always surrounded Brian Wilson.

That's terrible. I think the Wilsons are a very decent lot, all in all. All of them. I'd hate to see them exploit themselves, but I'd probably watch. Oh, who am I kidding? I'd definitely watch.

I agree with that. I certainly realize Brian was not an acceptable father in the 60s/70s by any stretch of the imagination, but Wendy and Carnie turned out alright, didn't they? When you see all of the pathetic casualties that celebrities have spawned over the last 40 years (yep, even the Osbourne offspring), one would even think that Wendy and Carnie came from a loving, stable home!

Well, that's what Marilyn struggled to give them, isn't it?

I've noticed you're always in the camp that prefers to play games.  You like the "I'll say something cynical and see who can figure it out!!!" game. 

I wouldn't call that playing games...more of "you guys are wrong, but I can't say why".

I think I know why! :D

Uh, tell us why?

I'm just not sure who or what situation AGD's comment was directed to. 

Carnie plays the game and protects her father in public, Wendy doesn't and tells it the way she feels it is.

Ultimately, I have to agree with MBE. If Wendy resents and hates her father, there's nothing anybody can do about that.  But, Mike's right: Brian's portrayal on that show was highly unfair.

It might not be that Wendy "resents and hates" her father. She might just have serious issues with him. I remember noticing that there were no pictures of Brian and Wendy together when the Hawthorne house site was dedicated as a landmark, even though they were both there. And I think I remember someone mentioning at some point that Brian had never met the youngest three of Wendy's kids, whereas we all know Brian knows Carnie's daughter and was even at her birth. Carnie seems like she genuinely wants to be around him-- she did go to the MusicCares thing and talks about him in a very loving way all the time. But she probably has lingering issues too (who wouldn't?).

I read that Brian went to know Carnie's newborn, and there in the hospital he met Wendy's kids for the first time.

Maybe hate was a poor choice, but cetain;ly resents. "The world got more of him that I did" doesn't strike you as bitter?

Strikes me as probably both bitter and accurate. 

Yeah its certainly the truth I think...just a bit of a low blow for a national TV audience who knows little else about Brian. 

Like others have said earlier, she may have said more complementary things that were edited out, either for time or because the producers felt that the worse Brian came off, the more sympathetic Wendy would be.  We really just don't know, and probably never will.

On a somewhat related note, has anyone else ever heard "Flesh and Blood" by Wilson Phillips?  I had heard about it but never actually heard it until yesterday.  Damn if that doesn't hit you like a ton of bricks.

The  2nd best song on that otherwise Gawdawful 2nd Wilson Phillips disc.  The best being "I Hear You", which might be the best track WP ever did, IMO.

Wendy also said on the IJWMFTT documentary that "I still have feelings of resentment, but I realize that this is what he's here for...to make beautiful music." So it's as if she knows that he was meant to serve the world rather than a family. Of course, that was over 10 years ago. Maybe she's more resentful now.

I thought I was just stating a fact. Carnie chooses to play the game. Her sister doesn't.

And in this respect, nor do I.

Someone just told me a new episode of this Nanny show aired last night that focused on Carney & her daughter.  True?