Quick Takes: ’19 Kids’ may add a 20th

The TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting” may soon need a new name.

Arkansas couple Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar appeared with their burgeoning clan on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday and announced they are expecting their 20th child in April.

Michelle Duggar, 45, said she’s in good physical shape and that she’s not worried, despite complications during her last pregnancy that led to the premature birth of their youngest child two years ago. She said she’s made it through her first trimester safely.

—Associated Press

Spying several familiar passages

Mulholland Books, an imprint of Little, Brown, pulled its novel “Assassin of Secrets” Tuesday after passages were found to be copied from other spy novels.

The paperback book, a first novel from Q.R. Markham, was published Nov. 3.

In a statement, Michael Pietsch, executive vice president and publisher of Little, Brown and Co., said, “Upon investigation, it was clear the passages in question were lifted, and Little, Brown determined that the only course of action was to immediately recall books from retailers across the country.”

The passages in question, which were not shared with the press, were lifted from James Bond books by Ian Fleming and thrillers by Robert Ludlum and Christopher McCrary, the Associated Press reported.

—Carolyn Kellogg

‘Deadliest Catch’ man hospitalized

Rescuers flew a member of the cable TV series “Deadliest Catch’s” fishing crew to a remote clinic in Alaska after he collapsed and showed signs of shock and dehydration on board a fishing vessel in the Bering Sea, the Coast Guard said Tuesday.

The agency didn’t identify the 28-year-old man but said he’s a crew member of the 150-foot Wizard, part of the hit Discovery Channel reality series that depicts the crab fishing industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew flew the man Monday to a clinic in the Alaska Peninsula community of Cold Bay, 60 miles to the south. He was then flown to an Anchorage hospital.

Wendy Whitney, a nurse practitioner at the Cold Bay clinic, said the man was conscious, adding that his condition wasn’t seasickness and needed further evaluation.

—Associated Press

About Winfrey’s honorary Oscar

Oprah Winfrey says she understands why some balked when the film academy announced it would give her an honorary Oscar for her humanitarian contributions.

“I understood it because I was equally surprised,” Winfrey said in a recent interview. “I was surprised because I am not known as an actress. I’ve done film and I love the films that I’ve done,” but she acknowledged that the list is not long.

The 57-year-old media mogul will receive the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on Saturday at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ third annual Governors Awards.

Actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith also will be honored at Saturday’s ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, both receiving Oscars for their long and notable film careers. Jones will not be present.

—Associated Press

Harrison guitar is auctioned

A signed guitar that the late Beatles member George Harrison donated to the Borders book chain has been sold following the company’s liquidation.

Harrison made the gift of the Fender Stratocaster about a decade ago in gratitude for Borders Group Inc.’s support of one of his reissued records, former employees told AnnArbor.com for a story published Tuesday. Harrison died in 2001.

The guitar was on display at Borders’ Ann Arbor, Mich., headquarters until the company’s bankruptcy and closing.

The proceeds of the sale are being pooled and will go to Borders’ creditors.

—Associated Press