Did you see the show last night? If you didn’t and you plan to live under a rock today, you’d ought to stop reading here (and then come back after you’ve watched it, of course!)
Nearly a year ago, I wrote this post about how much my Kate enjoyed watching the show, but how I had some reservations about the interests of their kids. Now those days of questioning whether the world watching their potty training experiences was going to harm the kids’ future psyche seem almost quaint.
We had no idea what a train wreck we were about to witness.
In case you missed it, Jon and Kate Gosselin announced last night that they intend to separate and end their marriage. They plan to split time at their house, so the kids will remain there consistently while their parents swap in and out.
The whole show last night was just so depressing. Kate looked like she’d been hit by a bus, and Jon just looked like an idiot (nice earrings, too bad you’re still a 32-year-old man with eight children). The kids looked… well, I don’t know how the kids looked, because we hardly saw them at all. The show was nearly exclusively focused on Jon and Kate’s marital struggles, and what lies ahead.
A couple things kept running through my mind:
1) I feel so bad for the older girls, Maddie and Cara. I can’t begin to imagine all the inappropriate things they hear at school every day; I bet they get more information from their classmates about their family than from their parents. I wonder how many times they’ve insisted to their friends that their parents are not getting divorced, and at what point they’ll find out that yes, they actually are. I wonder what rumors they’ve heard about their dad’s soirees with co-eds and their mom’s alleged relationship with the body guard. It seems to me that Maddie and Cara might just get the shortest end of this stick.
2) At what point should Jon and Kate put a stop to the wild ride that their show turned out to be? I have to think that their intentions were good at the beginning, and honestly facing the prospect of raising eight kids, who are any of us to say that we’d turn down a lucrative opportunity like that? Especially since in its inception, the show was a wholesome documentary of sorts. What was it, exactly, that made this spiral out of control?
And 3) To quote one Jenny Rapson, here’s a tip: don’t have a tv show if u want to stay together. I mean, let’s look at the statistics here. Did it work for Nick and Jessica? For Jon and Kate? For Flava Flav and that tall scary chick? I don’t think so. They’re great for notoriety, C-list fame and fortune, but as far as maintaining marriage vows, reality shows just aren’t a good plan.
So what are your thoughts on this whole thing? Let’s discuss.
I think they should have put a stop to things when they realized it was interfering with their marriage. It was obvious after last season that Jon didn’t want to move forward with the show anymore. I feel bad for everyone involved and I don’t think just one person is at fault here. It’s just too bad that the kids are going to be the ones to really suffer from this. You are right. The show was depressing.
And I agree with you about Jon’s earrings. Seriously?
I feel bad for the kids. You are right, they probably do get more info from their school friends. As I have heard it called “Jon & Kate Exploit Eight”. Now is the time to get off the ride and live in private. They’ve had their fame and now is the time to have private time.
It just makes me so sad. I hate to see families split up. It breaks my heart. I sincerely hope something turns around for them and they consider reconciling. I know that’s optimistic. I don’t intend to watch the show anymore. They’ll have to re-name it something depressing like “Jon & Kate Fight Over 8” 🙁
Being cable-less I have never seen the show. But from all I’m hearing and reading I think it’s safe to say somewhere, some rehab center needs to reserve 8 places for about 15 years from now. I hate to say that, but I doubt it’s all that unlikely. Ugh. Whole thing makes me super-sad.
Super sad, I hate to see any marriage end, especially when there are kids involved. I told myseld I wasn’t going to watch it, but I couldn’t resist. The whole show was depressing.
It’s all about the show… why else would they file for separation THE DAY THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT AIRED! I believe they are in it for the fame and the money that goes with it, which is sad. Money isn’t everything, especially with the price that they’re paying.
That’s my two cents, at least.
I have never seen the show but since I don’t live under a rock, I’ve heard and seen all of the talk about affairs and seen the gawd awful haircut the woman has and the dazed look her husband wears like he isn’t sure how he ended up where he is in life.
I find it tragic for the children but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the parents. They let things spiral out of control when it was their responsibility to provide a safe and happy place for the children they chose to bring into this world and the limelight.
So true. If we can’t learn a lesson from Nick and Jessica, then what hope do we have in this reality-TV world?
Seriously, this situation is so very sad.
Last night was on of the few times I have ever watched the show. For some crazy reason my husband wanted to see it. I have choose not to watch it due to I can NOT support something that is basically Pimping out kids. That to me is all that the show is doing. I find it very sad that Jon and Kate are the parents but they aren’t doing what parents should be doing. They are using what God has given them to love and protect and they are using them to make money. They never did the show for the kids like they kept saying. Greed got in the way. What kind of parent puts their child in open public eye. Leaves their kids with nanny’s all the time.
I hope that they find their way back to what is important. I am willing to bet if they were asked to give up what they have because of the show to save their family they would refuse. I don’t blame this on either one I blame it on both.
They need to get off the air. Millions of Americans should not be in on how this divorce plays out for these children. It’s already tragic enough that as the kids grow up, everybody they meet (who doesn’t live under that rock you mentioned) is going to have seen or heard about the details of this marriage crashing and burning (and be able to purchase boxed sets to watch it all over again! good grief!) It’s hard enough to be a kid and grow up.
I’ve never seen the show either. The whole thing sounds horribly sad.
I believed when the show began, that they were making a choice to give up some privacy to have a way to provide for their family and allow one parent to stay home and care for the kids. I believed later that they achieved that goal and then were able to provide things for the kids that they never would have been able to otherwise – trips and such. While the kids did have to give up privacy, they also received the benefits of extra income in the family.
I have not watched the show in about a year – mainly because we gave up our cable. I have been disappointed in J & K though as I see them each alter their appearance and clearly become more materialistic as their funds increased. It was probably the change of focus driven by greed and materialism that led to this demise. It’s sad really.
I agree it is probably time to let the show go, unless TLC cancels the contract. I doubt J&K will, because the cash flow will end.
I have hated that show from the start. Frankly, I would have left her after about a week. What he did was inexcusable, but she is a whining, b****y Harridan ( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harridan ) who was in it for the CA$H and nothing else. I feel for the kids, can you say “dysfunctional!!”? Having been told we’d never have kids (we have two), and doing EVERYTHING the Drs. told us to do to have them…I unnerstan what they were up against. It will either make you or break you…guess what!!
I have watched some of the shows now and again but really never cared for it. Watching Kate interact with her family was not fun for me to watch & the show was really all about Kate. I’ve always felt like she was a really nasty person and very negative about everything. I wonder if she has any friends? Their marriage failed because they didn’t have their children’s or each other’s best interests at heart. I really feel for all of their children, they didn’t ask for any of this.
You know, I’ve only seen the show a few times and we don’t even get TLC anymore. So I haven’t kept up on the J&K&8 Saga. But it seems to me that you cancel your show and try to make real life work before you give up on your marriage and your family of 10???
Or is that just me?
I’ve never seen the show but I know their story pretty well after reading the tabloid headlines in the grocery store checkout line.
The parents just totally blew their kids chances at having “normal” lives all for $$. And even if the show is cancelled and they ever would try to put things right, they are now firmly in the public eye as a carnival side show. The papparazzi will stick with them (parents and kids) for good.
Just sad and fundamentally wrong on that basic “what’s best for your kids” level.
Kate and TLC are protraying her as the victim. Which I believe is so not true.
Read the truthbreedshatred blog its written by the sister-inlaw Jodi’s sister.
We have all been deceived for along time.
Everything is for ratings.. They portrayed for along time that they were together and were not. Its so sad but they’ve been lost for along time and greed has taken over and their family is lost because of it..
Read the blog it sheds a light on alot of things..
Pray for them and their children that maybe someday that they’ll see the light again..
Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne the ONLY reality tv couple to make it through an antire reality series and still manage to stay married?
Shelli: my husband and I were talking about his last night. The Osbourne’s and Gene Simmons ( but they aren’t married maybe that is the key) We come to they were completely in their own world and don’t pimp out their kids. Well the Osbourne’s kids were screw up at birth.
The whole thing is very frustrating for me. Especially since at the begining they openly talked about their faith and church as a huge part of their lives. WHERE IS THAT CHURCH NOW? last season they constantly had on Isaiah 40:31 t-shirts and thier renewal of thier vows was complete with a cake covered with scripture verses….My question now is this – was it all for ratings or have they given into the enemy – SATAN – who seeks to steal and destroy – which is exactly what has happened!? I pray God gets a hold of them and thier kids. I fear this will do irrepairable damage to the kids in the long run….they may not want anyuthing to do with their parents when reality hits them as they get older.
I agree with Ruth! I want to know what happened with going to church and where is God in their lives? I do believe that the money played a huge roll in this marriage breaking up. Truely, money does not buy happiness. I remember when the show started and Kate was home with the kids and when they acted up, she would call Jon at work to talk to them. What happened to team work? I’ll tell you what happened…money bought them help so they no longer had to rely on each other. I know they announced that Kate filed for divorce yesterday but my prayer is that they will quit the show and go back to a normal life so the kids can enjoy some of their life and struggles in private! I will get off my soap box now…haha!
Well, I can’t say I am a “regular” of the show…Kate turned me off early on. The way she would talk to Jon …forget the camera…but in front of the kids….OMG… And of course after alot of it…well…he was to blame too. But I watched the tail of last season and had to get on the wagon for this one. Their 100th show turned my stomach. It was Kate…The Kate Show. The kids were on very very little…too bad because Emeril was in their home supposedly “teaching” the kids to cook and cooking a “big family sit down meal”. Due to the stress…they delegated Jon to the back of the kitchen to peel garlic and have Kate spears him with little verbal jabs about it being a good place to have him so he won’t screw too much up.
Their problems go so much deeper than what tv did to them. I don’t really blame the tv aspect of it…it didn’t help…but this went way beyond that.
Money …hmmmm…what do we do for it…what do we give up for it…what are we willing to let DIE for money???
That is the saddest of it…Maybe Jon and Kate should ponder THAT part of their dysfunction….
I know this is pretty random. But Jon and Kate…Your 15 minutes is up…Time to get back to work and be a MOTHER AND FATHER to your kids.
1. I can only pray that God will shield these children from the inevitable fallout, or use this situation to a greater good.
2. I think that they should have dropped the show as soon as it became the focus of their family life. Having said that, I doubt that point came with flashing ‘danger’ signs. I’m sure that this has been sneaking up on them very quietly. Consequences have a way of doing that – it’s what makes it so difficult to attach consequences to their causative actions/choices.
3. Totally!
Please bear in mind that no one, not TLC, not in-laws, trusted friends, et cetera, knows all of the details of a marriage. There will always be things that people just can’t or won’t share. This family is obviously troubled, and needs prayer, prayer, and more prayer. That’s just my opinion, and maybe this hits a bit close to home for me. Sure, we think they should have made different choices – but does it really matter now? They can’t undo what is done, but with God’s help (based on some of the other observations I’m assuming they are Christians), wounds can be healed. I hope this doesn’t offend, it’s not my intent. I just feel for people who have to wear the ‘scarlet letter’ so to speak. Cheers!
I feel sorry for any child that has to go through watching their parents split up. And in this situation, these kids, especially the older girls, are under a microscope. The whole world is watching and who knows what sort of information they’re getting from school, friends and other family members. The show needs to stop. I know I won’t be watching. I can’t support this.
UNCLE PAUL: I don’t know you, but agree with you wholeheartedly! I watched one and a half episodes a long time back and Kate was so annoying and *itchy and humiliated Jon to the point where I just couldn’t stand to watch it. I wanted to slap her, and although I don’t condone domestic violence (as opposed to other kinds? lol), I am saying, she’d be getting one from me if she treated me like she treats Jon. She’s 10 yrs OLDER than Jon, and I think she treats him like one of her kids. He got some money, some backbone of independence and he’s off and running…who wouldn’t be? Unfortunately, the kids are the ones who will pay the price. I am sure Jon and Kate didn’t plan on the money changing them, but it obviously has and how could it not? Seems to me, neither Jon nor Kate seems to put the kids first in this matter. It’s sad to see, for sure. I understand that the twins already require therapy for other issues. The irony is that all the money they have made exploiting (at some point, it became exploitation) the kids, WILL probably go into either therapy, rehab or bail.
I am so glad some one else was mad a JON. Kate gets sooooo much bad press, but no one says anything about his behavior (aside from his hooking up with CoEds). I want to say I DO NOT agree with how she speaks to her husband, but I understand her frustration with him. To me Jon acts like an impulsive child. We know he was in on the decision to have 8 kids, but now that he has them he doesn’t to seem want them. He is always whining about how he is “stuck at home” and he “doesn’t know what he wants.” And what is up with the earrings, the teen-aged clothing, and the 2 seat sports car. Where do the car seats go Jon? In the episodes before their relationship blew up, he always seemed to be avoiding helping with the kids too. Every time I watch the show now I find myself yelling at the screen, “the kids aren’t going anywhere, grow up, and get over yourself!”