(2006 TV Special)

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3/10
My stomach hurts
vulgar_ostentation19 December 2006
I just finished watching this show and my mouth is still agape. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how this guy got one woman to agree to marry him, let alone three. It's not even the polygamy that bothers me. Quite frankly, I could care less. It's a lifestyle choice, not MINE,but whatever. The thing that bugged me was,on the day that he's going to town to pick out a ring for his new "wife",he chooses to don a t-shirt with the words "The Man" across the front, and a giant red arrow pointing,er,downward.Then,on top of that, he takes her to the pawn shop to pick out a ring. This pitiful woman is standing there in front of a row of used compound bows and shotguns,obviously trying to find that one ring that doesn't look like it was snatched off the hand of a dead pimp,and the whole scenario just reeks of desperation. Even if there were no other wives involved, every molecule in my body would've still been screaming, "Don't do it lady!!!" I'm willing to bet that he paid almost as much for that stupid t-shirt as he did for that ring. I don't even want to get started on those poor messed up kids. Still,I watched it all the way through, so I suppose I'm obligated to give a "better than watching paint dry" rating...but not much better.
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5/10
Things don't always work out
icycreature9 August 2009
I have met Brian Wachtendorf and his three wives at a Christmas party held at his house close to Waller Texas. I am sorry to say that he is a controlling narcissist that has an immense need to be the center of attention. I think he has more problems than he can handle. Not only does (no-did) he have three wives he is heavily involved in wife-swapping. What is wrong with a person like that? Don't look for a sequel to the first show on TV, two of the ladies have left him including Pam. Even thou the Wachtendorf home is something to see, the family is very unhappy and the children specially the youngest one have big problems. They are loaded down with chores and have to dance to Brian's tune or else.............. Brian should have stuck with the traditional marriage concept, maybe then his life would not be all upside down now. By the way, the huge home and land is up for sale.
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5/10
1 wife, 2 women , and a hypocrite!
jerry_32_19992 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This show was originally shown in 2006. But....at the very end, is commentary as to who and where things are now. IN the beginning, Brian Wachtendorf states he doesn't like monogamy. Go thru the who show and the drama to the end. SPOILER ALERT!!!!! First off, potential "wife #3" is expelled from the house. The following commentary say she left and has ceased communication; as the the voice-over says that he will have her in his heart. Next, at the very end the commentary says that "wife #2" Kathy has separated from him(Brian Wachtendorf). It also states that "wife #1" Pam, the legal wife has divorced him and gotten remarried. And then to top it off, Brian Wachtendorf has gotten remarried and committed to monogamy. So much for not liking monogamy!!!
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1/10
Absolutely Nauseating!
zeleztial-eclipze18 December 2006
My Husband's Three Wives is a documentary about a man named Brian Wachtendorf and his family, which consists of two wives and six children. He is legally married to Pam but because the state of Texas believes firmly in monogamy, he has had to resort to private ceremonies to 'marry' his second wife, Kathy. Besides the fact that the husband is overbearing and arrogant, the family is kind of happy. The wives are friends, the children are...well, the children are confused. Not that the adults care, of course, they're all too busy dealing with one another. As a matter of fact, one child was raised not knowing which woman was his mother. But such is typical in everyday life, no? Anyway, chaos ensues when a third woman shows up on their doorstep; Brian's third lover and soon-to-be 'wife', Denise. Suddenly there is tension in the house and the curse words fly...not between the people on screen, but between the viewer and the TV. If they weren't flying already.

Bigamy is resented by a fair amount of people. Therefore I assume it's safe to say that TLC aired this trash to allow a glimpse into the life of a bigamist/polygamist and allow us to judge for ourselves. Me? I'll stick with one or none, thanks. Call me close-minded, but having more than one significant other is adultery, no matter how much you claim to love all of them. Besides, it is quite clear that Brian does not care for any of his three wives. He cares only for himself, first and foremost, and this is apparent in the show. He has a cult-like presence and orders his submissive spouses around as if they were dogs. The entire family is completely dysfunctional and quite revolting (not the individuals themselves, but the situation they have placed themselves in). {{--Possible Spoiler: In once instance, he sits his wives down and told them how to behave, telling Denise that he would end their relationship if she didn't obey him.--}}

Brian Wachtendorf also has a book out, in which he apparently talks about some criminal activity (I hear he's quite the idiot). Anyway, my suggestion to you is to not watch this unless you feel like getting frustrated, angry, and have something soft and/or squishy on which to vent your anger once the show is finished.
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What the heck, three wives
nelsonskibum1 February 2009
The comments on on this are hilarious. The premise of the feminist comments is that women are like retarded children, incapable of making their own decisions. It seems that they have to be under the guardianship of senior feminists, unless they decide to marry another woman which is OK. A lesbian I know told me she has had so many wives she can't remember their names and always at least two at a time, no problem. CBC TV showed a woman with ten children and ten husbands, great support network!

I don't know why this man wants to live with the three women or why they want him. None of my business. They are adults, let them work it out. As for the children they seemed better off than the normal children raised by single mothers. The divorce rate is about two out of three for for married couples. That is the norm.
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10/10
Loved it
tieson112318 December 2012
old People these days see things as just black and white i honestly loved this documentary and would love to see it become a TV show orange county housewives has better reviews but that show makes me sick, this show shows real love and caring. something most family's just don't have these days. one thing i really loved is that the wives seemed to have a very loving and genuine relationship with each-other and the family looked happy and healthy. overall i think that this if it was a show would be one of the best on TV! honestly the concept of marriage these days makes me want through an egg at someones face, it is just for two dumb people to tie themselves to each-other and have a beautiful ceremony and all their friends and family to bring their attention but then its done and they grow apart, love is love and this show shows how different love looks! and can be. i think the fact that he has more than one wife shows how much he really loves them. that is love not most marriages today.
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1/10
Wow....Just Wow....
areea0411 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
If you have read the other three reviews of this documentary, then yeah, mine is pretty much the same. I have several things to address about this program: 1. Who in their right mind would put themselves on TV engaging in an ILLEGAL activity? While watching this show, I kept thinking, "Wait, is there a state where polygamy isn't illegal?" So I checked, and no, there is no state where polygamy is legal. I have to wonder if there were any cops around that part of Texas watching the show.

2. Apparently it wasn't a secret because one of the husband's friends knew about it and said that others in town did, too. Um, so, do they not have laws in that town? Or police? Or judges? Or anyone with a sense of decency? 3. What woman in her right mind would share her husband with another woman? Especially when it was him who brought in the extra wife, anyway. I found myself wanting them to gang up on him. He ASSIGNED them chores like he assigned his kids chores. And there were so many passive-aggressive things that came out of his mouth. At an anniversary dinner (for all three wives) he made the newest wife try a bite of something because one of the others did. Then when picking out a ring for that same wife, he wanted her to pick out a ring that he liked. And at the end *SPOILERS* when the other two wives wanted her gone, all he did was get up, pat her on the head, and leave. Followed by Wife #2 who was undoubtedly the most selfish of them all. This guy was not extremely good-looking, nor was he even that nice. At one point he even said that it would be easier to have no wives at all. SO WHY DID HE WANT THREE WIVES IN THE FIRST PLACE? 4. As was said in another review, I saw very little parent-child interaction that was shown in a loving and fun way. Everything seemed very civil between the wives and between the wives and husband. The husband was constantly on his children's cases about something. And the adults were too busy dealing with their own problems to even talk to their kids about how they were feeling.

The kids, in fact, didn't really talk about how they felt living with two "mothers" and then three. Apart from a few passing comments about it being fine or some other generic comment, they didn't really delve into it. In fact, the whole program focused on the adults' feelings about a new woman in the house.

I'm really surprised at TLC for doing this program let alone airing it. And even more surprisingly, there seem to be a lot of people who are fine with it. I just have to pose this question for all of the guys out there: how would you feel if your wife had three husbands? Probably not very good. Stuff like this makes me wonder if we as a society have lost almost all of our values. Have we all grown so cynical as to think things like this are fine? I personally don't think these things are fine.

TLC: think before you make a program.
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1/10
Maximus Vomitus
kstryker-224 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This show made me feel as though I wanted to vomit. Brian is one of the most dysfunctional, manipulative, abusive egomaniacs I have ever seen (even on t.v.) - and he stated that he is a psychologist??!!?? These women are nothing short of victims. Pam - the subservient, non-confrontational pleaser, Kathy - the insecure other woman, and Denise - clearly abused in previous relationships and feels she doesn't deserve a decent man. As other commenters have remarked, the children have lost the most and will carry the dysfunction consciously brought on by their ignorant parents for the remainder of their lives. I can almost understand polygamy for religious reasons (while recognizing the welfare fraud, statutory rape, and other associated criminal acts that commonly accompany this lifestyle), but this pig of a human openly states that his polygamy has nothing to do with religion - just his inability to keep his organ in his pants. The only redeeming moment was when Denise finally left (even if it was not of her own doing). At least she stands a chance at getting some counseling for her self-esteem issues. It is disappointing that TLC would air such a low class show. To give them the benefit of the doubt, though, perhaps they were hoping to shed some light on abusive relationships. They could have done a better job of it, though. Would I ever watch this again? No way. It was a complete waste of one hour of my life. I write my first ever post to save someone else an hour of their time and a bottle of pepto to quiet an upset stomach.
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1/10
Three Women & A Clown
surroundedbywhales18 December 2006
So, we already have a summary of the show. I suppose it is a good thing that we are learning about different lifestyles. ???Maybe? However, I just do not understand how any self respecting woman would allow this. I am almost able to stomach this family, they do seem normal besides the whole multiple wives thing, however, a third wife? How "hot" does this guy think he is? (By the way, he's not). It is a confusing show because all of the adults are claiming "true love", and that Brian is all of their "soulmates", but I find it hard to grasp how a woman can settle for only a part of that man's love, and part of his attention. This show doesn't seem like it is supposed to educate the world about polygamy, but more about Brian's "stresses", and how he's going to "handle" all these women that are "so desperate" for him. All of the women in the show seem very nurturing and kind, yet brainwashed by Brian. Basically, it totally blows.
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7/10
Want an update
lana_rodlie12 March 2007
I've seen this show twice. Maybe I watched it a second time because I didn't believe it the first time. Apart from the madness of someone thinking this is a normal way to raise children, my question is: whatever happened to Denise? It seems to me, she was sucked into this family and put in a bunch of money to bail them out. (Note the 4-poster LOG bed, the mega-money motorcycle, and closets the women slept in.)It never said how much money she contributed, but my guess, it was a lot. Here is a woman who probably gave up her career, most or all of her life savings and walked away with her car and some clothes. I'd like to hear HER side of this now that she is out of it.

I gave this show an above average rating because it is sometimes good to see how other people live - to see how screwed up they are makes the rest of us feel better than normal.
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5/10
Drama or Documentary
moxie_vixen24 September 2007
I watched with some fascination to see if it might be different than what I imagined it would be like. I was disappointed. I'm all for a different life style, if there aren't children involved, but the children's POVs, for the most part, seemed to be against living like this. It wasn't in their best interest, so how can this man inflict his wants on them like this? On the flip side, I would be interested to know how he would feel if the shoe was on the other foot? What if one or more of the women wanted to "branch out" and have themselves another gentleman? This seems very one-sided and unfair to all but him.

As far as the show, I guess since we don't see much of this (yet), it may pioneer to what's to come, but I hope not. It's like a mini-soap opera and the fantasy soap operas don't hurt real kids.
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1/10
What the heck?!
je_tiame211 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Three wives and one husband in one house! What a mess! Apart from the moral issues I have with this situation, it seems detrimental to nearly everyone involved. This guy doesn't have three wives. He has three concubines and no wives. Not one of these women can possibly be having a fulfilling relationship with her husband. The guy has variety in bed and doesn't seem to really care about anything that goes on in the house, let alone the children. The most important problem with this arrangement, in my opinion, is with the children. You'd think having three moms would make it easier for the kids to get attention, but... NO!! The women are so busy competing for their husband that they don't have any time for the kids. The kids are just there kind of on their own. It's awful!

The husband asks his wives to be sisters. EWW!! He's just crazy. He tries to order his wives around as if they were his children. I don't know how this situation can possible work. It is certainly REALLY messed up! It seems like the buy wanted to have a lot of slave labor so he can go out and play pool. I just don't get it.

Overall the whole situation is just weird! The man seems like he's been very creative in trying to justify his unwillingness to commit and have just one wife which is what man's and God's laws decree.
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2/10
finally saw the show
mikegolf1 February 2009
Well I had heard this show was on at various time over the past couple of years. It was interesting seeing it. I do know Brian somewhat and know he has a "sketchy" past. What I didn't see in the show, ( and it may be mentioned in his book - which I haven't read) is where is his actual first wife? Pam isn't wife number one, he was married before to a girl named Sherrie. He has two kids with her named Candy and BJ. Where are they? TLC, do a follow up and investigate him a little more. Don't focus on the polygamy, see what kind of con-artist this guy really is. It's a shame Pam has to put up with this guy, and the other's as well. What a crock!
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1/10
My Husband's Three Wives
plainlyspoken2 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Warning: This review contains spoilers. This snippet of reality t.v. isn't about polygamy in the truest sense of the word. It's about a man (Brian) who admittedly craves sexual variety and works overtime to rationalize his lust into something respectable. While married to his first wife, Pam, he has an affair with Kathy who bears him a son out of wedlock. His cons Pam into accepting Kathy and her son as a part of their family. Pam, admits that she is very angry and resentful of Kathy when she first moves into their home, but now, 18 years later, she loves her and can't imagine life without her. Enter Denise, the woman Brian has met in his Ph.d classes--Brian the psychologist wannabe who tells his aging mother whom he blames for his need to have a variety of sexual partners "You can call me doctor, now." Take a beat to ponder the irony of this self-involved sociopath dishing out relationship advice. Though she is attractive, Denise appears older than both Brian and his two other "wives." His motivation for choosing her becomes apparent when he admits that Denise has made the payments on his house that kept them out of foreclosure. Denise's motivation becomes apparent in her love-starved gazing at him coupled with her deer-in-the-headlights pleading for acceptance from both Kathy and Pam. No surprise that neither of his current women like or want Denise in the mix. It is difficult to feel anything but contempt for a continually pouting Kathy who doesn't like being in the very position in which she placed Pam so many years before. Foolishly, Denise appears to have tried to buy her way into their lives because she's so desperate for love and for a family, but it also appears that she likes the role of favorite woman, lounging around while the others are cooking and cleaning. She's clearly there for sex with Brian and is accepting the package deal to get to him. The argument about being an family unsoiled by divorce as a rationale for their lifestyle is a smoke screen. These are single parents. Brian is out riding his motorcycle when things don't go his way. My advice: Don't waste your time on this show about a man, his passive wife and his shack jobs. He's just a user. If you're looking for a peepinto real polygamy, read Carolyn Jessup's book "Escape." It paints a disturbing picture of what polygamy really is and why it persists. This is just a show about a guy who's trying to satisfy his ID 24/7 and three women who sadly feel he is the best that they can do--well, that is until Pam divorces him and remarries, Kathy is separated from him and who knows what happened to Denise. Once he didn't need her money any more, he kicked her to the curb. He is apparently working his charm on a new woman to whom he became engaged.
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What are these women thinking?!?!
ladynorthwest25 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I just watched the show, with my husband and we were both sickened to think that ANY woman would want to share her husband. This man is a PIG, only thinking of his own self, not caring for his own children, or the women in his life, what is this world coming to? I just don't understand how wife #1 could even had thought about him bringing wife #2 home, I would have kicked him to the curb! Then #3?, that was just crazy, why would she think so little of herself to want a man like this. Then taking #3 to get ring wedding ring, I can't even guess how she felt going to a PAWN SHOP, cheap SOB! What woman would want to wear a ring that was some other woman's heart ache. Oh, then him standing in front of the mirror saying "If I wasn't so pretty I would be vain"! GAG The cows in the pasture was prettier than he ever thought of being. These women need to wake up and smell the LOSER for who he is, come on, the sex can't be that wonderful. I can say one thing, I'm happy #3 left, maybe she will find her TRUE soul mate, one that will love her and not have to share him, she deserves that much.
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