Jon and Kate Plus 8, Official Thread-Part 4

[Gabes_mommy]

Sorry if this was already discussed (I can't keep up with this thread ) but I read in one of the tabloids that Jon took his "friend" Deanna with him on a ski trip. At the time I thought it was talking about the trip he took with Cara, but now I realize it was talking about the trip on last night's show.

What kind of man takes his "friend" out of town on a solo vacation during his wife's birthday? Horrible....

 

[Buckalew11]

What kind of man takes his "friend" out of town on a solo vacation during his wife's birthday? Horrible....

I don't know but if I were Kate, it'd be over for me also. She doesn't need a *man* like him. I'd say, "Good luck Deanna" and others...

 

[KSchwagg86]

Is anyone NOT going to watch anymore? I don't want to have any part in destroying their marriage even more than it already is!

 

[jpaxton1118]

Is anyone NOT going to watch anymore? I don't want to have any part in destroying their marriage even more than it already is!

I hate to tell you but it is not up to you. There are so many pro Jon and Katers out there that it does not matter what we say or if we watch. For me it is like a train wreck that i can't turn away from. I know to say that is wrong but it is true. I will say I did not watch last night because I knew it was all bs and nothing new was really going to happen.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

I hate to tell you but it is not up to you. There are so many pro Jon and Katers out there that it does not matter what we say or if we watch. For me it is like a train wreck that i can't turn away from. I know to say that is wrong but it is true. I will say I did not watch last night because I knew it was all bs and nothing new was really going to happen.

That's exactly how I feel! I can't help but watch...

 

[DMRick]

Is anyone NOT going to watch anymore? I don't want to have any part in destroying their marriage even more than it already is!

I plan on watching, and I don't accept that I have a part in destroying their marriage. It is reality, just like the 60% of divorces 'normal' people end up with. I think there would have been a divorce eventually no matter what. Neither of them have been respectful to each other (one nice and loud, and one under his breath), and that is one of the (IMO) main reasons people break up..lack of respect for the other. My bet is on this being a single mom of 8 show, and how will she do it. Some say this isn't reality, but from my cheap seat, it's very much reality when it comes to what is going on in their marriage now.
We'll have to wait for the kids books, to see if this has any more affect on the kids than divorces of others. Some handle it well, other's do not. The adults, that is.

 

[Sophie_2003]

Frequent lurker here...

It IS like watching a train wreck and we tend to watch that stuff as human beings. One of my issues is the denial about "I just happened to go on a ski trip bla bla bla when it was Kate's birthday" and the "sometimes it will be Jon on the couch, sometimes Kate because we are very busy". I thought the premiere episode was much more refreshing in that it at least "felt" honest. Last night was not. The cake thing? Like 2 8=year-olds could orchestrate that. As a mom I was actually sad about that, that the kids have to "plan" surprises that are camera worthy.

I'll keep tuning in to see if the tone changes. I realize it has to do with the whole sequence of events (that last night's epis were in the can before the crap hit the fan)

 

[Promomx2]

I'm not a genius when it comes to math, but something doesn't add up right. If the show is celebrating it's 100the episode next week in only a few seasons, how many hours have the children been in front of the camera. Didn't TLC say they only shoot 2 days a week? It just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[1stluvispooh]

I'm not a genius when it comes to math, but something doesn't add up right. If the show is celebrating it's 100the episode next week in only a few seasons, how many hours have the children been in front of the camera. Didn't TLC say they only shoot 2 days a week? It just doesn't seem right to me.

Ding ding ding we have a winner!!!

I also remember Kate once saying. We never stop filming. So..... Maybe the great state of Pennsylvania will shut them down.

 

[LoraJ]

Ding ding ding we have a winner!!!

I also remember Kate once saying. We never stop filming. So..... Maybe the great state of Pennsylvania will shut them down.

They won't shut anything down. They will just tell TLC to make sure they only shoot them X amount of hours a day.

 

[C.Ann]

Is anyone NOT going to watch anymore? I don't want to have any part in destroying their marriage even more than it already is!

-----------------------------
I've stopped.. I watched the Season 5 opener to get a list of the sponsors so I could email/write letters to them - voicing my displeasure over their being involved with this train wreck - and that was it for me..

However, I did not stop watching because of the state of Jon & Kate's marriage.. Either they'll work it out - or they won't.. They are adults.. My concern is the children..

Generally speaking, I see there is nothing new on this thread recently that has come directly from Jon - or Kate - so I'm wondering if the producers have told them to "zip it".. I guess time will tell..

 

[DMRick]

I'm not a genius when it comes to math, but something doesn't add up right. If the show is celebrating it's 100the episode next week in only a few seasons, how many hours have the children been in front of the camera. Didn't TLC say they only shoot 2 days a week? It just doesn't seem right to me.

And each show is usually a 1/2 hour a week. Can you show us the incorrect math?
Sounds to me like they have shot 50 hours worth of shows (100 shows, half an hour each) in a couple of years (of course they shot more, to use what is good..but it still makes sense if they film twice a week). If they only filmed 25 weeks, that would be an hour a week of good film. Is my math wrong?

 

[FergieTCat]

And each show is usually a 1/2 hour a week. Can you show us the incorrect math?
Sounds to me like they have shot 50 hours worth of shows (100 shows, half an hour each) in a couple of years (of course they shot more, to use what is good..but it still makes sense if they film twice a week). If they only filmed 25 weeks, that would be an hour a week of good film. Is my math wrong?

The show started in April 2007, so it's been going on for 2 years. That's 104 weeks. 100 episodes over 104 weeks. I don't know how much footage they need to make one 1/2 hour episode, but I assume it IS a few hours a week.

Also, FWIW, not all the kids were in all the episodes for the entire 1/2 hour. Some of the episodes were Leah's day or Aaden's day. There was viewer's mail, or Jon & Kate go shopping or Kate and Beth go to Ikea.

 

[C.Ann]

The show started in April 2007, so it's been going on for 2 years. That's 104 weeks. 100 episodes over 104 weeks. I don't know how much footage they need to make one 1/2 hour episode, but I assume it IS a few hours a week.

Also, FWIW, not all the kids were in all the episodes for the entire 1/2 hour. Some of the episodes were Leah's day or Aaden's day. There was viewer's mail, or Jon & Kate go shopping or Kate and Beth go to Ikea.

--------------------
I thought that I read here on the DIS - on one of the J&K threads - that it took 2 to 3 days of filming to create one half-hour episode.. I could be wrong though.. There's been so much stuff talked about here it's like trying to remember a conversation from 20 years ago..

 

[Epcot luvr]

And each show is usually a 1/2 hour a week. Can you show us the incorrect math?
Sounds to me like they have shot 50 hours worth of shows (100 shows, half an hour each) in a couple of years (of course they shot more, to use what is good..but it still makes sense if they film twice a week). If they only filmed 25 weeks, that would be an hour a week of good film. Is my math wrong?

That is just being silly. I am at that one.

 

[kidshop]

The show started in April 2007, so it's been going on for 2 years. That's 104 weeks. 100 episodes over 104 weeks. I don't know how much footage they need to make one 1/2 hour episode, but I assume it IS a few hours a week.

Also, FWIW, not all the kids were in all the episodes for the entire 1/2 hour. Some of the episodes were Leah's day or Aaden's day. There was viewer's mail, or Jon & Kate go shopping or Kate and Beth go to Ikea.

I don't think it matters if they are shown on the episode, it is the actual amount of filming even if it is cut out. I guess they could be out of the house or not at the outing, and that wouldn't count in the allotment. However, I do not think there is any restriction on the amount of hours filmed for a child on a reality show in Pennsylvania. They are not acting and are not paid. So they are likely filmed a lot, even if we don't see it on TV.

 

[FergieTCat]

I don't think it matters if they are shown on the episode, it is the actual amount of filming even if it is cut out. I guess they could be out of the house or not at the outing, and that wouldn't count in the allotment. However, I do not think there is any restriction on the amount of hours filmed for a child on a reality show in Pennsylvania. They are not acting and are not paid. So they are likely filmed a lot, even if we don't see it on TV.

I don't know. I did find this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090529/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_jon___kate_investigation

In part:

Child labor laws vary by state. Pennsylvania law permits kids who are at least 7 to work in the entertainment industry, as long as a permit is obtained and certain rules are followed. Kids can't generally work after 11:30 p.m., for example, or perform any place that serves alcohol.

The law allows performers younger than 7 to have "temporary employment ... in the production of a motion picture," and spend up to eight hours a day and 44 hours a week on set as long as their "educational instruction, supervision, health and welfare" needs are being met.

And also:

"Jon & Kate Plus 8" tapes off and on throughout the year, averaging two to three hours a day, two to three days a week, Goldberg said.

I'll give you they might be under-estimating, but I don't know. I just don't think the show is going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[kidshop]

You do realize that there's very little reality in most reality shows, right? Even news shows (20/20, 60 Minutes) edit stories to suit their needs.

Yeah. But in a show about happy children and a happy family, you'd like to see a little reality! It may be difficult for an average family to raise 8 children, however it is not as difficult for Jon and Kate now, with untold wealth and fame. Kate can complain all she wants, she is not taking those kids out all by herself (or doing anything by herself) and we all know it!

 

[Kycha]

The show started in April 2007, so it's been going on for 2 years. That's 104 weeks. 100 episodes over 104 weeks. I don't know how much footage they need to make one 1/2 hour episode, but I assume it IS a few hours a week.

Also, FWIW, not all the kids were in all the episodes for the entire 1/2 hour. Some of the episodes were Leah's day or Aaden's day. There was viewer's mail, or Jon & Kate go shopping or Kate and Beth go to Ikea.

The show premiered on April 10, 2007. But they started filming much earlier than that. The first episode was the day in the pumpkin patch. Which suggests Halloween to me. So, they probably started filming Sep/Oct 2006. Well over 2 years and 104 weeks.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I 100% disagree with you that there is little in common.

Of course no one's life is like another's in EVERY detail. But if you read the letter I posted from the Dionnes to the McCaugheys, the Dionnes were not warning the McCaugheys of the possibility that their children would be taken by the government, sexually abused, etc. -- some of the unique things that happened to them -- they were warning them against turning their children into a commodity for money-making purposes. Which is, in fact, EXACTLY what happened to the Dionnes -- and is what is happening to the Gosselins. Their warning had to do with marketing children's personal lives and profiting off of their being multiples.

Tell me, how that is any different than what Jon and Kate have done to their children? The children's pics are used to sell books, promote a TV show, promote products and vacation destinations on the show, etc.

As for "performing daily" for the viewing public -- the Dionne quints had their "playtime" put on public display when they were children -- tourists could walk past and observe them through viewing windows. How does putting children on 40 TV episodes a year compare??

Up until now, the Gosselins have filmed 58 episodes in total. This year alone the family will do 40 more episodes -- almost doubling the TV time for their kids in one year. And the parents will make $3 million dollars.

I just don't see any fundamental difference between the marketing of the Dionne quints and the Gosselin sextuplets.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree!

I would say their is a big difference in having your playtime filmed by a small camera crew to 'playing' in a public viewing arena with scores of tourists walking past staring at you.

But the same is true for all the families on 'reality' TV shows, and up until recently I would say the Gosselins did a good job of keeping their kids 'grounded'.

But then the world would be a very boring place if we all held the same points of view!