Season 2 of My Five Wives is Underway

Not to be confused with another polygyny show, "Sister Wives," "My Five Wives" is back for a second season on TLC. Here's what Erin M. at realitytea.com has to say...

A quick recap of Season 1 shows us Brady Williams and his struggles with his five wives (in order from first wife to 5^th): Paulie, Robyn, Rosemary, Nonie and Rhonda.
It’s summer time at the compound (are we aloud to call their homestead that!?). Nonie wants another baby & is emotional over it “taking so long” to conceive. I guess 24 kids are just not cutting it. Brady claims he is fertile, so no worries in that department. Rosemary is glad to have more relaxed time with the kids, while Robyn has dreams of writing a book. Rhonda is nervous about the results of her next mammogram (she had a breast cancer scare last year). Paulie says things are great & is planning her 23rd wedding anniversary with Brady. As the first “empty nester” of the group, she reflects on how much time she has on her hands now. Don’t worry, Paulie! More kids are on the way via a uterus near you.

She gives a thorough recap of the season premiere.

Over at tvruckus.com is Mechele R. Dillard's take...

The wives, of course, are sharing one man; it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to understand how that is a pressure cooker just waiting to blow. And, the children are placed in, at minimum, numerous social potholes growing up—explaining why one has five “moms” probably gets tired after a while, one would imagine.

Shows like this will help increase awareness.

Apparently, there are up-sides to this lifestyle somewhere, but it is hard to glean just what they are from MY FIVE WIVES. “We just love each other,” Brady has said many times in his explanation of just why this group has chosen polygamy. But, to be frank, none of them (at least, the wives) seem particularly fulfilled by the practice. They are all constantly focused on worries, jealousies, differences, etc. with other wives and their relationships with the group husband.

"Reality" television is still television, episodic television at that. Often with shows like this, the entire season is recorded ahead of time and heavily edited to tell a story that leads to some climax at the end of the season. Often, participants are encouraged by those putting the show together to play up conflicts and emotions.

There are many potential upsides to polygyny, depending on the participants, including sharing resources, multiple parents and role models for the children (as most polygynists do have children), companionship, and how about it being the kind of relationship the adults want? Mabne none of these people would be happy in a monogamous relationship. Yes, there are complaints and concerns, but just about everybody has such about their own lives and relationships. It is possible these women would have many more "downsides" to talk about if they were in monogamous relationships or no relationship at all.

I'm glad there are some US-based polygyny shows and that there was a Polyamory show. Because there are many forms of polyamory and  there's other forms of polygamy in addition to polygyny, I'd like to see more shows, whether dramas, comedies, or reality shows, as long as they give realistic portrayals.