Kody's a regular guy, except he has three wives and a dozen kids. TLC's newest family-circus will be as addictive as every other show on the channel, but probably won't do anything to erase the stigma of being a polygamist.

Meri is the first wife, and she married Kody when she was 19-years-old. Having been raised in a polygamist family herself, she expected to take more wives into their marriage from the beginning of her relationship wtih Kody. From Kody's explanation of his religious background, it sounds like Meri's father played a big role in his finally deciding to convert to polygamy.

Christine and Janelle are Kody's second and third wives, and Christine plays more of a mommy role in the house while Janelle has a hectic schedule and busy career. Christine seems to relish in her maternity, and Janelle says that having sister-wives to do all the things you don't want to do is a big part of why she thinks polygamy is awesome. Kody is in the process of "courting" a fourth wife, which means that he is dating someone. From what the show leads you to believe, there is no physical initiation of the relationship until after there is a commitment to enter the family-this gets explored more next week.

[There was a video here]

Just like Bill's wives on HBO's Big Love, the third wife is sassy, a little bit younger than the other two, and adorable. Christine also has some interesting perspectives on why she has always wanted to be a third wife. Oddly enough, the strangest part of the episode was about toast. Christine refuses to have a toaster in her house, because apparently toasters kill more people than sharks every year. What?

[There was a video here]