Kate: 'The Show Must Go On' . . . Despite Divorcing Jon

There was a stark black screen with plain white lettering which said the following:

"On Monday, June 22, 2009, legal proceedings were initiated in Pennsylvania to dissolve the ten-year marriage of Jon and Kate Gosselin."

We knew it was coming. We knew they'd be calling it quits, but Jon and Kate kept it under wraps until the night the episode, "Houses & Big Changes" aired. They didn't even file their divorce papers until very late on the day on which the episode was slated to air in order to preserve the surprise and boost the ratings. But nonetheless, there was something deeply sad about watching the one-hour "special" episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight where Jon and Kate confirmed that they were splitting up.

Here are a few observations:

-- It seems as though Jon is psyched to move on to a new phase of his life, noting that he's only 32 years old. Why else would he say, "I'm excited and hurt." Excited? Excited to have to live elsewhere and swap custody of eight kids? He said he was proud of himself for standing on his "own two feet" and not letting Kate "rule the roost" any longer.

-- Kate, by contrast, seemed deeply devastated. "Jon has a lot of anger toward me and I'd love to discuss it with him but he won't discuss it with me," she said, adding that she'd recently sobbed harder than she'd ever sobbed. Denying that this reality program and their careers associated with the show played any role in the disintegration of her marriage, Kate said that their "goals are different now."

-- "We've always done the show for the kids to be able to provide for them . . . The show must go on," Kate declared. Viewers will now get to see what it's like to be a single parent caring for eight kids. If we thought it seemed tough caring for eight kids when there were TWO parents at home, imagine how much more difficult it'll be for Jon on his own or Kate on her own, even with a babysitter. "I know there are many families out there going through this," Kate said.

-- Other assorted questions: Are the cameras going to follow Jon and Kate into divorce court? Are they going to follow them on dates? How will they handle the kids' reactions to seeing Jon move out?

What'd you think?

Image credit: TLC.

TLC Using Gosselins' Marital Turmoil for Ratings: Monday's 1-Hr Special

This just in . . . TLC will be giving Jon and Kate Gosselin -- the parents of sextuplets and a set of twins who all star in their own reality show, Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- a whole hour of primetime TV. For a Jon & Kate Special. And they'll make "an announcement."

As I've written before, I feel badly for the Gosselins, who clearly didn't bargain that their marriage would collapse in front of national TV cameras. They likely needed the money the show affords them (plus the new house, the ability to snare book deals, etc.) to pay for the care of eight kids under the age of 10. (I don't know the details of their contract with TLC and whether they have the ability to get out of this show if they wanted, given the turmoil in their home.)

But what I do know is that many media outlets, like TLC and Us Weekly (which put a Gosselin-related story on the cover for seven consecutive weeks) have been reaping the benefits while this family is falling to pieces. What will happen during Monday night's Jon & Kate special? One thing's for sure, TLC will likely pull in monster ratings while the Gosselins' hearts, and marriage, are breaking. (Link to TLC promo here.)

Is TLC Exploiting the Disintegrating Jon & Kate Marriage for Ratings?

A couple with eight children is going through an incredibly emotionally wrenching time . . . and this difficult period is being crassly exploited by a national network for ratings. I speak, of course, about Jon and Kate Gosselin, of Jon & Kate Plus 8, the parents of twins and sextuplets who star in a TLC reality show about their lives. For the past several months, the Gosselins have been besieged by paparazzi and have denied reports of marital infidelities and rumors that they're living separate lives as they teeter on the brink of divorce.

After I watched the season premiere of the fifth season of their show last night -- which garnered 9.8 million viewers, a series' high -- I felt like I needed to take a shower. I was heartsick thinking of what those eight kids will think when they grow up and realize that their parents' marriage fell apart in front of a national television audience, never mind if it gets ugly with regards to child custody issues. The premiere felt incredibly manipulative as it pushed the couple way beyond their comfort zones because, as we need to keep remembering, the TLC folks are not on the Gosselins' side. They're on the side of ratings.

I muse about the sadness that is now Jon & Kate Plus 8 in this week's Pop Culture & Politics column on Mommy Track'd.