''The Little Couple'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series on

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

that debuted May 26, 2009. The series features Bill Klein, a businessman, and Dr. Jennifer Arnold a

neonatologist Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The ...

, who both have

skeletal dysplasia Osteochondrodysplasia is a general term for a disorder of the development (dysplasia) of bone ("osteo") and cartilage ("chondro"). Osteochondrodysplasias are rare diseases. About 1 in 5,000 babies are born with some type of skeletal dysplasia. Non ...

. Arnold is 96.5 cm (3'2") and Klein 122 cm (4 feet) tall. They moved from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, after Jen completed her pediatric residency and masters of medical education at

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and do ...

Production

The show begins with the couple having just moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where the series has documented the customized building of their home and attempts to have a child. Arnold is a

who works at the

Texas Children's Hospital Texas Children's Hospital is a nationally ranked, freestanding 973-bed, acute care women's and children's hospital located in Houston, Texas. It is the primary pediatric teaching hospital affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and is located wit ...

, and Klein is a medical supplies and telemarketing businessman. They were originally introduced in a one-hour TLC special, ''Little People: Just Married''. Season 1 of the show premiered on May 26, 2009. Season 2 premiered on October 27, 2009. On February 22, 2010, TLC renewed ''The Little Couple'' for a third season consisting of 20 episodes. The mid-season finale aired after 9 episodes on July 27, 2010, and season 3 returned on October 12, 2010. It was announced on Facebook that the show would be returning for its 4th season on May 31, 2011. Again, the season was split, with the second half of season 4 premiering on September 27, 2011. In February 2012, Klein opened ''Rocky&Maggie'' in Rice Village Houston. named after their pets Chihuahua Rocky and rescue mutt

terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...

Maggie. Arnold's mother Judy manages the store. Season 5 began on March 20, 2012, and follows Klein and Arnold as they move into their custom-built dream home and launch a brand-new business. In March 2013, they adopted their son, Will, from

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The adoption of their son, who also has dwarfism, is featured in Season 5. On October 15, 2013, they adopted a daughter, Zoey, also a little person, from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The series went into an hiatus on June 4, 2013, and returned on August 13, 2013. In December 2013, Arnold revealed that she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, stage 4

choriocarcinoma Choriocarcinoma is a malignant, trophoblastic cancer, usually of the placenta. It is characterized by early hematogenous spread to the lungs. It belongs to the malignant end of the spectrum in gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). It is also c ...

, due to a non-viable pregnancy she had suffered in September 2013. She allowed the cameras to document her struggle. Season 6 premiered on March 4, 2014. It features Zoey's adoption, Arnold's cancer treatment, Will's fourth birthday,

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

s, the holiday season, and Arnold's 40th birthday. The twelfth season premiered on August 6, 2019.

Television appearances

* ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'' (March 9, 2009) * ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' (July 7, 2009) * '' The Dr. Oz Show'' (October 1, 2009) * ''

Good Day L.A. ''Good Day L.A.'' is an American morning television news and entertainment program airing on KTTV (channel 11), a Fox owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles, California, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corpo ...

'' (December 16, 2009) * ''

The Wendy Williams Show ''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar- ...

'' (May 25, 2010) * ''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

'' (May 25, 2010) * ''

KHOU KHOU (channel 11) is a television station in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Conroe, Texas, Conroe-licensed Quest (American TV network), Quest station KTBU (channel 55). Both sta ...

'' Great Day Houston (multiple appearances) * ''

The Doctors (2008 TV series) ''The Doctors'' is a daily American Broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show featuring medical advice. It debuted on September 8, 2008 and aired until August 8, 2022. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay M ...

'' (October 6, 2010) * '' ABC 13'' (November 18, 2010) * ''

'' (August 2, 2011) * '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' (October 16, 2011) * ''

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

'' (March 19, 2012) * ''

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

'' (March 20, 2012) * ''

Tamron Hall Tamron Hall (born September 16, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist and television talk show host. In September 2019, Hall debuted her self-titled syndicated daytime talk show, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award. Hall was formerly a n ...

'' (July 20, 2020)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2009)

Season 2 (2009–10)

Season 3 (2010)

Season 4 (2011)

Season 5 (2012)

Season 6 (2013)

Season 7 (2014)

Season 8 (2014–15)

Season 9 (2016)

Season 10 (2017)

Season 11 (2018)

Season 12 (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Couple, The 2000s American reality television series 2010s American reality television series 2009 American television series debuts English-language television shows Television shows set in Texas TLC (TV network) original programming Works about dwarfism