INTERVIEW: ‘The Little Couple’ become new parents

Bill Klein and Jen Arnold, better known to TV audiences as The Little Couple, have had their lives play out on TLC for more than 100 episodes. Their obstacles and triumphs of building careers, getting married and adopting children have kept viewers interested for years. Season six of The Little Couple recently premiered, showcasing Bill and Jen’s journey to meet their new son, Will.

Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with the married couple about the new season. Plus, here’s an exclusive sneak peek of the next episode.

Can you believe The Little Couple series has continued 100 episodes?

It’s hard to believe we made it to 100. We honestly weren’t sure it would make it to #2. Much to our surprise, we have made it a bit further than the pilot.

What’s it like becoming parents? What are the joys and new challenges?

Parenthood has been such a great experience. We have enjoyed every moment we have with William. He is such a good boy with such a dynamic personality. From morning until night, spending time playing, eating, napping nearby or going out on an excursion (to the store, park or otherwise)… are all a blast. Parenting isn’t easy. It’s hard to know when to say no … and just as hard to know when to say yes. But we muddle through like everyone — trial and error and hope we learn from our mistakes.

Do you like having the cameras around so much? Did Will like being filmed?

After almost 5 years of cameras being around, you almost forget they are there. The benefit of having them around now is we get the great moments of our son’s development captured … in HD! The most expensive and professionally recorded home video of all time. Will seems enamored with the camera. He has been that way since his time in China. The foster care facility had taken pictures of all of the kids, but Will seemed to be the most photogenic — though that could just be the proud parents talking.

Is it difficult to handle the demands of the show and your professions?

It’s all about balance. It can be difficult to find that balance with two demanding aspects of your life. Thankfully, we decided a long time ago that we had priorities — us, career, TV. It’s not to say we don’t take TV seriously but that we worked so hard to get our careers to a point that they are at now, and our affection for each other trumps all that we had to agree on a way to handle things when you’re being pulled in many directions. Now, its gotten both more complicated and simpler … now it’s William (and soon Zoey) … and a distant second is everything else — as it should be.

With so much negative programming on TV, why do you think the general positivity of your series has attracted so many audience members?

It’s an enigma. It’s true a lot of TV is based on drama and sensationalism. I would hope that our positivity is exactly the reason we survive in a sea of not-so-positive programming. It’s just what the doctor ordered.

Do you receive feedback from families with little people? How does that make you two feel?

We do. Much of the feedback we receive is very positive. Most are happy that we show the part of life being a person with dwarfism that most should know about but don’t. That we aspire and, from time to time, succeed! It’s a great feeling to hear comments that support what we are doing. At the very least, it makes it worth doing another 100 episodes.