Yes, I am on vacation, but I just saw this and felt compelled to share the burden with all of you. Maybe if we take it on together, it won't feel so gross.

In an interview with RadarOnline, Nadya Suleman (aka "Octomom") says she thinks Jon Gosselin is hot and also that she thinks putting children on television is exploitative. Um, OK. As my friend Beth said, "There is something terribly wrong with every line of this article."

Judge for yourself here.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

Jon and Kate Gosselin were having an argument Thursday night when police were called, People.com reports.

There were no arrests or citations, and the disagreement was apparently over which babysitter Jon had made arrangements with during his time with the kids.

Read more at the link above.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

What will Jon Gosselin's paramours probably not be dressing up as for Halloween?

This.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

You've had a few days to process the return of Jon & Kate Plus 8. The return of the show Monday captured less than half the audience of the season opener (4.1 million viewers Monday vs. 9.8 million viewers in May). We want to know whether you'll tune in again come next Monday. (Come on, don't you want to see whether Jon will wear yet another Ed Hardy T-shirt?) Take our poll and tell us!

Posted by Carla Correa at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

The joke in my house (and probably lots of others) was that now, Jon & Kate Plus 8 should be called Jon OR Kate Plus 8. But a funny thing happened ... After the trainwreck of the beginning of the season, when the Gosselins' divorce was finally announced, tonight's two episodes seemed almost normal.

I think it's been pretty obvious of late that Jon is kind of off the grid lately, with his barely old enough to drink girlfriends and weird priorities. A lot of the folks who had been in his corner are starting to side with Kate (as several, including my former colleague Lisa Respers France, have noted).

So having two episodes that focused mostly on Kate and, especially, the kids was kind of refreshing. (TLC executives told David Zurawik that it was "relatable"; I was skeptical, but it actually wasn't that bad.)

There were still some unfortunate moments: one of the girls going on about how Daddy knows all about how to put up tents as Kate has trouble with the task, all the product placement of the camping equipment, the seeming insanity and waste of redoing a kitchen that looked lovely and serviceable to start with.

One telling quote came during the first episode of the night, when Kate was talking about how she avoided worrying about the mess going on with the kitchen renovation at home. She said that the things that seemed like the biggest worries turned out to not be that big of a deal when bigger issues arose. In some ways, this whole divorce situation seems to be mellowing her out a little.

I still can't really believe they are back on the air, and I desperately wish they'd stop filming and let all the kids deal with their parents' divorce off camera. But for these two episodes at least, the awkwardness level was a lot lower than I anticipated. 

I expected a lot worse, but I still think it must be difficult for the kids, especially the two older girls, to put on a happy face and pretend like everything is OK when the cameras around.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

Well, this is a move in the right direction. It seems that after next week's episode, a "retrospective" (aka clip show), Jon & Kate Plus 8 will be on hiatus until Aug. 3, EW reports.

The network told EW: "TLC continues to support the Gosselin family and will work closely with them to determine the best way to continue to tell their story as they navigate through this difficult time."

My advice: Don't! Just live your lives and figure things out WITHOUT the cameras.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

TMZ.com and People.com are reporting that tonight's big announcement on Jon & Kate Plus 8 is that J&K have filed for divorce, but the producers drag out the news until the tail-end of the show, of course.

Weirdly, the show is combining two major story lines: product placement of "Crooked House" brand playhouses for the kids and whatever this at-the-moment-amorphous big news is. Maybe they are taking a break from the show, but they had to get coverage of the latest freebie in first? Seriously, Kate says, "Crooked Houses" about 495 times.

They try to pull the two halves of this together by setting it up as if J&K are going to have a huge fight over where the playhouses (see, that works just fine!) are going to go, but they compromise, and it works out.

Then they finally start talking about the issue:

Jon: "Yeah, Kate and I have not been communicating very well. And some things are going on, but we're there for our kids. ... [Unfortunate devolution into product placement]."

Kate: "I love my kids. I have become very hard, very crass, very jaded, maybe. And I'm sure that is what people see about me. But that is my survival self digging in and saying, 'I will not lay down and die.' I will go on for my kids, and I'll say it till my dying day. ... If I have to pull this whole ship on my own, I will do it."

Continue reading "'Jon & Kate Plus 8': The marriage is off, but the show goes on" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (110)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

I stopped watching a couple of weeks ago (not that that's stopped people from continuing to comment on the entry from the premiere), but I felt I had to acknowledge that Jon and Kate Gosselin are making "an announcement" in, of course, a one-hour episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 on Monday.

Time writer James Poniewozik said it the best and first, so I suggest you read his entry on the promo of the announcement episode.

I'm definitely one of the people hoping they're giving up the show to focus on their family, but totally agree with this sentiment: 

One effective way of making an announcement is to, you know, announce it. Not turn it into a freaking Rose Ceremony, the shocking-dramatic-reveal at the end of a stunt episode—which just happens to fall on the heels of a vertiginous drop in your show's ratings.

Yes, that.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

Sorry, y'all, but when it came time to decide whether to watch Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night, I opted for sanity (aka a nice run at the gym).

And you know what? It was liberating, freeing, relaxing to not have that albatross on my shoulders.

Maybe the Gosselins should try it.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

I don't know how to post about this without looking like a total hypocrite, but here goes.

US Weekly just posted an exclusive interview with Dr. Michael Brody of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and he is pretty harsh about Jon and Kate Gosselin and the harm they might be doing by having their kids work on this show.

Here's a quote, as an example:

They are constantly exposed and they are going to see this later on. I wonder how they are going to view it. ... Again, we have evidence of this, of child stars who view this later on in their life about the way they were exposed and exploited. They get very, very angry. The other thing is, they are working. I don't think it's normal for five and eight year olds to be supporting their families.

Hard to disagree with that, right?

But just above that, embedded in the middle of this extremely harsh Q&A, is a link from the magazine, screaming: "See adorable photos of the Gosselin kids."

So maybe, just maybe, if the magazine agrees with what Brody is saying, then that link ought to go bye-bye. But I suppose I am not exactly helping the point by posting about it, either.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8
        

I didn't see all of the Ace of Cakes crossover episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 tonight, but one line did jump out at me.

Upon discovering that Cara and Mady had set up a birthday surprise visit to Charm City Cakes, Kate walked in, gushed over the cast of that show, and then said: "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm acting like a fan." Nice.

Kate Gosselin seems to have forgotten that the only reason she is at Charm City Cakes with a camera crew is because she has fans.

Tonight's two episodes (two! Argh!) weren't quite as awkward as last week's birthday-party-for-the-sextuplets premiere, but that's fine by me. Of course, for TLC, less drama means (probably) lower ratings. Last week worked out well for them. (Them being the network, not, say, the Gosselin kids.)

-- Charm City Moms blogger Kate Shatzkin and her John react to tonight's episode here. I agree, except for the "Don't use fertility drugs" part. If doctors properly monitor patients during the use of fertility drugs, the chances of sextuplets are infinitesimal. Much of the time, you end up with one. (That's what happened to me anyway, so please pardon me if I sound a touch defensive.)

-- Here's Z on TV blogger David Zurawik's recap. He rightly notes that the biggest problem with this "family" show is that the mom and dad were on opposite sides of the country in both episodes, not showing off much of a family at all.

-- Last week's premiere drew record ratings for TLC, as Z reported, but I don't think that's going to hold. Lots of people tuned in last week for the tabloid factor, and I don't think they will all stick around. Plus, as a trazillion people commented to me last week, they are disgusted with the show and done with it. We'll see tomorrow how that affects the ratings.

-- One story that struck fear in my reality-TV-recapping heart: Apparently, TLC is planning 40 episodes this season. Why? That is crazy. I don't want to watch 40 episodes of anything in one season.

-- And let's not forget the other J&K story of the week, the fact that the Pennsylvania Department of Labor is investigating whether the show breaks child labor laws. I can't imagine the TLC doesn't have itself covered on that front, but I know we'll know the results of that soon enough. 

Did you watch? What did you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (54)
Categories: Jon & Kate Plus 8