Jon and Kate Plus 8: When reality goes bad

In the world of television, success has different affects on various people. Some stars take their success, hone and polish it, and use it not only to propel themselves to greater heights but those surrounding them as well. Others take their success, shoot it at point-blank range, stomp on its head, and throw it into the dumpster.

For stars of reality programs, the effects of success are somewhere in the middle. Not as adept at navigating the world of success as the average television personality, these folks have a harder time adjusting to the success that is thrust upon them. While there are a few who are able to ride the waves of this journey, most of these reality stars crash and burn as it overwhelms them.

Jon & Kate are currently the poster children for the way not to handle this new-found stardom.

At first Jon & Kate Plus Eight was a cute little show with cute little twins and sextuplets. Both Mommy and Daddy Gosselin were harried and exhausted. Yet, though there was a good deal of sniping between the two, you could see that they both loved each other and loved all of their kids. On some level, we viewers could relate to them — even if we had only a share of the kids they had.

Then something changed. Somewhere between their trip to Hawaii, Kate’s makeover, and the purchase of their new home, Jon & Kate started to turn into a program that we couldn’t relate to. There were still moments, but they became farther apart as the focus moved to the excursions and special meetings with the Harlem Globetrotters rather than the day-to-day business of running a family as large as the Gosselins.

When the pictures of Jon’s alleged night with co-eds came out at the beginning of the year, we knew that stardom had hit he and Kate in different ways. For Kate it opened up a whole new world to her that, possibly, she was wishing for while raising the kids while Jon went to work. For Jon it seems to have brought up a huge amount of resentment for not only Kate but the show, as he suddenly became more insular (and, some say more idiotic), while also deciding to sow some of the wild oats he didn’t have a chance to when, at 22-years-old, he married Kate.

Now, after months of further allegations and pictures, we were able to see what reality stardom had done to the couple during the season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus Eight. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was probably the most uncomfortable hour of reality programming to air in recent memory. It was awkward, painful, and very sad to see these two people clearly at odds with each other while their children didn’t have a clue to what was happening. Just watching them interact (or not interact) during the sextuplets’ fifth birthday party gave viewers an idea that having their lives broadcast to millions of viewers has done considerable, and potentially unrepairable, damage.

Who’s at fault for the way that things have turned out? Well, I think they’re both to blame for their current circumstances. Jon, perhaps due to an early mid-life crisis, has been acting like an idiotic teenager who hasn’t realized he’s a television star. Kate, perhaps due to certain pre-conceived beliefs, has been acting a little like a Hollywood starlet who tends to hold her kids at arm’s length (and, if you saw the season premiere you would understand what I mean). Both of them are overly-stubborn and don’t seem to be able to come to a compromise as to what they can do to avert a split-up that looms quite large over the horizon.

Personally, I won’t be watching another episode of Jon & Kate. After this week’s episode, I no longer feel the same way for the series as I had previously. And, maybe that’s a good thing. For, if enough people decide to stop watching the series maybe TLC will decide to end it. If that happens it will hopefully give Jon & Kate a chance to work this out away from the spotlight. If not, then I wish all of them luck with their new-found, and potentially hated, stardom.

Clacked by Richard Keller
on May 25, 2009 @ 23:24 EST5EDT