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Hot off their season finale, Cynopsis is reporting that TLC has renewed 'Little People, Big World' for a sixth season. This, despite rampant Internet rumors that father Matt Roloff suffered a heart attack or died.
Originally a series of specials on TLC, 'Little People' focuses on little people Matt and Amy Roloff and their four children -- three normal-sized and one little person. Over the last five seasons the show has dealt with issues the couple had living in a world of bigger people, as well as the daily operations of Matt's various projects, including maintenance of Roloff Farms. It has also focused on the Roloff children, as they have grown up and moved on to high school and college.
This season took viewers on a trip to Europe with twins Jeremy and Zach, to the 2009 World Dwarf Games and to the farm's annual pumpkin season, which has grown in popularity and size since the show began.
The last moments of the season finale showed a seemingly weak Matt lying on the ground; hence, the reason for the heart attack and death rumors. Those rumors have since been dashed with corrections by sites who first reported the medical issues, as well as updates from Matt himself on his Facebook profile.
Production on 'Little People, Big World's' next season is underway. New episodes are slated to debut September 6.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From TV Squad June 15, 2010:
