TLC drops Jon and keeps Kate

[grantcart]

Source: CNN.com

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Kate plus eight minus Jon equals TLC.


"Jon & Kate Plus 8" will continue without Jon Gosselin, TLC has announced.

The breakup of Jon and Kate Gosselin's marriage this year changed the composition of the reality show's November relaunch, the network announced Tuesday.

"Given the recent changes in the family dynamics, it only makes sense for us to refresh and recalibrate the program to keep pace with the family," TLC President Eileen O'Neill said.

After 10 years of marriage, the couple announced their separation and divorce filing on a special one-hour episode of their TLC reality series "Jon & Kate Plus 8" in June.

"I'm tired of smiling on the outside while I'm crying on the inside," Kate said in June. "I've been doing that for a long time."

"The series will continue to chronicle the Gosselin family as they go on outings and tackle daily challenges and adventures," the network said. "It will also document Kate's journey as a newly single mother raising 5-year-old sextuplets and 8-year-old twins."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/29/jon.gosselin.dropped/index.html

---

Maybe people will start to reevaluate their willingness to expose themselves in reality TV.

[tanyev]

1. Kate plus eight minus Jon = tanyev still doesn't care

[Lerkfish]

3. the problem is that no one cares.... about the kids.

the kids are just props. I foresee massive therapy in their future.

[tanyev]

4. It is sad about the kids.

I've never seen an episode, don't plan to, and I wish all of them would disappear out of the headlines and off of the front pages of magazines.

[grantcart]

5. actually neither do I but I am getting bored waiting for the Finance committee to

stab us in the back.


I wish they would hurry up with their perfidy.

[Honeycombe8]

13. I care (as much as I care about anything on TV). And I'm glad they've dropped Jon...he's an a-hole.

Kate + Eight = interesting show, and totally relatable to many single moms in America, I'm sure.

Jon will still make an occasional appearance, I heard.

[mamalone]

30. Speaking as a single mom...

Kate is not "relatable" to me in the slightest. In fact I find the very idea that my life is anything like hers to be incredibly insulting. Most single mothers I know, work very very hard and deprive themselves of... well, almost everything.. all in the hope that we can somehow manage to bring our children to adulthood in as unscathed a state as possible. Kate appears to care little for her children, and appears to spend as little time with them as she possibly can. Any mother worthy of the name would pull back from all this publicity and give those poor kids some shred of privacy and dignity. Kate, here's my advice to you: Get a regular job. Get up early and make the kids' lunches. Stay in on Friday nights and watch a video with them. Take the time to listen to them. Don't make your children support your own inflated lifestyle. Grow up, for crying out loud.

Sorry to get so riled up, but I truly despise that woman.... and I don't despise easily.

[Honeycombe8]

49. Just because she's famous and has $ now doesn't make her any less a

single mom. She has admitted that she is aware that most mothers don't have the resources she has. Even with teh resources, it's tough, she says.

There are and will cont. to be many of the same issues. How do you handle the male role model thing as the boys get older, without a man in the house? How do you handle temper tantrums when there's only one of you and a bunch of kids? How do handle misbehavior arising from abandonment issues because of divorce? How does a woman still retain her womanliness while being a mother of that many children? Do you have to give it up and forget your appearance totally? There isn't much time to devote to a daily beauty routine, like most single mothers. How does a single mother deal with no men in the picture anymore? Not only is the husband gone, but not many men are interested in a woman with a bunch of kids.

Being driven, goal oriented, ambitious, and an action person doesn't make her a bad person. Most famous women are that way. Barbara Walters, Joan Rivers, Jane Pauley....all took tons of criticism for being famous women continuing to work instead of "getting a regular job" and "staying at home" with their children.

Women have a right to pursue their dreams. Something can be said for the fact that a woman who doesn't pursue her dreams isn't a great example to her kids, and her unhappiness will soon have an effect on the children. There's probably a midway point to that ambition vs. staying at home thing.

BTW...Kate probably spends more time with her children than most single mothers. She travels a lot, but then she's home ALL DAY LONG for long stretches, as well. And as someone who had a stay at home mom, that's not all it's cooked up to be. I would have learned much mroe if my mother had worked, taught me the value of hard work and the value of a dollar.

[mamalone]

50. I suppose we will have to disagree.

I have no problem with a woman having ambition and being driven. And I certainly have no problem with anyone working hard to get what they want. I do, however have a very large problem with an adult sacrificing their children's privacy and dignity all to the end of attaining their own personal goals. She chose to have all these kids, she chose this path, they didn't choose to live this life. In my opinion, she is making her money on the backs of those children and that is just wrong. But then again, that's just my opinion. What do I know.. I'm just a single mom.

[Honeycombe8]

51. Agree to disagree. What do I know...I'm just the daughter of a single mom...

and of a married couple. And of a "stay at home" traditional mom. What do I know?

[mamalone]

52. I meant that last part as a joke...

but I don't know if it came across that way. No snark intended, truly.

I can see you have a lot of respect- or at least sympathy for Kate. Although I don't share that, I can see that your judgment of her and this unfortunate family's situation comes out of your own personal experience... and I can respect that. I do appreciate hearing your insights and thoughts, even if they do disagree with my own.:-)

[JeanGrey]

37. Watch him backtrack now and try to get back in the good

graces.....he is such a jerk.

[Lerkfish]

2. although I wouldn't nominate either one for a parent of the year prize, Jon was obviously more

emtionally connected to the kids than Kate, by all appearances.

the saddest thing is these poor kids have been subjected to constant filming, substandard parenting and now divorce and being stuck with the parent that appears to be more exploitive of them for her own "career".
She was the one who started all the talk circuits, book deals, etc, while leaving the kids with Jon and the nannies.

Don't get me wrong, I think Jon is a loser as well, but this whole thing is just one major screwup.


so-called reality tv should end.

[sarah FAILIN]

14. I never really watched that show because what I saw of Kate was that she was a harpy

Kate seemed like a spotlight seeking drama queen to me and I only watched bits of that show as I flipped past. Not once did I ever see Kate being kind and loving to her husband or kids. It was always Jon that was caring for them when I saw it and I said many times that I wondered how long he would last because it seemed like he was more her servant than anything else. I wondered if the stress of everything she left on him was part of why he bolted. Not saying he's right for leaving his kids for the swinging single life, but I can see how it happened.

[Honeycombe8]

48. It was Jon who was caring for them? Like, in what way?

Let's see...did he cook for them? No. Oh, except one time...for the show.

Did he dress them? Only when Kate asked for his help.

Did he feed them? Nope. Unless Kate asked him to help with that.

Did he discipline them? Nope. Kate had to (the disciplining parent becomes "the bad one," as we all know. So much easier to be "the fun one.")

He pretty much just stood around, eating, complaining, helping when told to, but mainly doing his own thing. He didn't like watching the kids. As he put it, "I'm a guy. Guys don't watch kids."

It's no wonder Kate had to ride his ass. He didn't do anything unless he was told to or asked to. Then he'd sigh and help, and sometimes make a big deal out of it (rolling his eyes or whatever).

Yeah, Kate was hard on him at times. She had 8 kids to get dressed and fed in the morning. She didn't need a ninth. She needed a husband to help or get out of the way. So he and his girlfriend (we now know he was unfaithful during that time period)...anyway, he and his girlfriend decided to get out of the way instead of buckle down, grow up, and be a parent to his eight children.

It's just more fun going out to bars with your 20-something blonde girlfriend than staying at home putting shoes on a bunch of kids, dontcha think?

[Scurrilous]

6. I heard they kept Kate...

...because Jon doesn't rhyme with 8. :9

[tomm2thumbs]

7. TMZ meets DU /nt

[demoborn47]

8. WHO CARES!?!?!? eom

[Plucketeer]

9. SO MANY things to concern ones self with on this globe

And this is NOT one of them. Stupid shows featuring phony pholks. All this "reality crap" is SO FAR FROM SUCH, that........... I gotta quit wasting keystrokes.

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. Obligatory "Who are they?" post coming in 3...2...1....nt

[951-Riverside]

11. No... not here n/t

[mitchum]

12. Nine more of that family to go

[edbermac]

15. I think they should both be dropped...

...off the top of the Sears Tower.

[MaineDem]

16. This is LBN? n/t

[grantcart]

21. well it was more like what else can I do before the Finance committee votes on the Schumer amm.

[daleo]

17. Darn same sex marriage

Must have caused this breakup of a wholesome reality show family. (yes, that's sarcasm)

[Buck Feck]

18. Who the hell cares???

:boring:

[shanti]

19. NO.THANK.YOU.

i will not be a party to that train wreck!

[Raine]

20. Kate should be dropped too

it's obvious she's just an attention whore and it's hurting the kids. This family needs to withdraw from the public eye and concentrate on undoing the harm that all the public attention has brought them.

[WriteDown]

22. Fellas, this reinforces the general rule...

If you're getting divorced, you're going to be the bad guy. You'll likely lose your kids, and you'll likely have to pay up.

[rd_kent]

27. The only thing redeeming about this thread is your post.

because it is true.

[WriteDown]

43. Thanks....

That's a great compliment.

[Xithras]

45. True, though in Jon's case...

If they're getting royalties for the children appearing on the show, he is probably entitled to a percentage even if he isn't living in the home anymore. I'm sure that makes his child support more tolerable.

[Andy Canuck]

23. This should not be in the news section.

It is bad enough when you go to CNN.com and they post this shit as news, but please not here.

[mamaleah]

24. How about dropping any cheater, control freak, or media whore from the show? Then you'd call it:

Just the 8, no Jon or Kate.

[question everything]

25. This is news?? (nt)

[rd_kent]

26. THIS is LBN????!!! WTF???!!!

Who gives a shit? Take this crap to the lounge......

[rd_kent]

28. 8. Do not post frivolous or off-topic news stories. - Straight from the LBN rules....

[grantcart]

29. good point - it shouldn't have been posted

[mamalone]

31. Nah...

I'm glad you posted it. It's not earthshaking news, obviously. But I am mildly curious about the family, in an I-can't-stand-them-kinda-way. I didn't want to click on the stories on the news sites because I didn't want to encourage the whole fiasco. I'm glad to be able to read it here without doing so.☺

[marshall]

41. I used to think Kate was a shrew and John was the long suffering hero

I finally watched a few episodes because friends were big fans. The meme of the show was to portray Kate so negatively, and I suppose she fed into that both naturally and by design.

But since the endgame publicity started, I've seen how unprepared John was to be a husband, much less raise eight children.

[mamalone]

44. Me too.

Now, I have come to the sad conclusion that they both are narcissistic and pathetic. Actually I don't even have tv at my house, so I've never watched a complete show. Friends would tell me how much I'd "love" the show, as I have a large-ish cadre of kids myself, and am kind of an organizational freak... apparently Kate is thought to be well organized, so they thought I'd be into that. Just before all of this hoopla, I finally gave in and watched a bit online. Needless to say, I was horrified. I can't imagine treating my family as she does- plus she just doesn't seem terribly bright to me.

I feel so badly for those beautiful kids... especially the boys.

[Xithras]

46. Can anyone really be "prepared" for 8 kids?

Hell, I have three and still consider myself unprepared for parenthood...and one of them just reached driving age.

[Vidar]

32. Sigh, I remember when TLC really was The Learning Channel.

I could joyfully flip betwee TLC, A&E, Discovery and The History Channel and actually learn something. Those were the days.

[Blue_Tires]

42. days long since passed

how did they go from something covered in awesome sauce like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Universe_Changed

to the programming trainwrecks they have now??

[Xithras]

47. The problem is that it's a public company.

Once upon a time, Discovery Communications was a private company that only had to answer to three shareholders. Then those shareholders decided to get greedy and wanted to go public, so they brought in the MBA types to improve profitability. That means more ad revenue. That means lowest-common-demonimator programming. Then the original owners decided to get REALLY rich, and made Discovery Networks a public company, traded on NASDAQ. Once that was done, it's sole reason for operating became the aquisition of dividends for its shareholders. If a Discovery officer were to pass up a financially lucrative but brainless show in order to run low-profit educational programming, he could not only be fired, he could be arrested and charged with malfeasance. It is actually illegal for officers in publicly traded companies to deliberately take ANY actions that reduce the profitability of the company, without a shareholder vote.

That's why specialty TV channels never last. If they're successful, the founders will inevitably try to cash in. Once they do that, the profit race starts. The best way to profit? Generalize and eliminate the specialty programming.

Same thing happened to The SciFi Channel...err, pardon, SyFy.

[ovidsen]

33. What is TLC??

(after 10 seconds of google action)

Right, it used to be called The Learning Channel years ago. I remember watching it because you actually learned something from it.

Not any more. Not for a long time. And if "Jon and Kate" is the face of TLC, I don't think I've missed a thing

[NoodleyAppendage]

34. Here's an idea. How about a show called, "Social Services Kicks Kate in the Ass"?

I'm SO FRIGGIN' SICK of hearing about the travails of a narcissistic and hysterical woman who cares more about her "TV face time" than the ultimate well-being of her kids. The biggest loser in this whole debacle are the 8 kids who are nothing more than pawns for Kate and her ambition for fame. She makes me puke.

J

[mamalone]

38. I see you think as I do. nt

[Jkid]

35. I don't watch that shit

And I still would not watch it now.

[SoCalDem]

36. Just retitle the show.. Parasitic Mom & the 8 Hosts n/t

[Blandocyte]

39. Never watched it. Probably won't ever watch it. This is LBN?

Next can I find out how Britney went from fat to fit?

[LTR]

40. One down, nine to go?

I hate 'reality' TV.

[ki83760]

53. that's too bad