Jon and Kate Plus 8 Official Thread - Part 6

[TanyaLovesPooh]

From a local news channel, Gosselin divorce set for October 20th.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/entertainment/092209_Jon_Gosselin_divorce

According to this news website, Kate has a local attorney and Jon went with a high profile celeb attorney. I didn't realize that the new lawyer he hired wasn't a local.

 

[walden]

From a local news channel, Gosselin divorce set for October 20th.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/entertainment/092209_Jon_Gosselin_divorce

According to this news website, Kate has a local attorney and Jon went with a high profile celeb attorney. I didn't realize that the new lawyer he hired wasn't a local.

Kate's "local" attorney is Cheryl L. Young. Something of a hard hitter in the business and well known in PA. Not exactly a high street hole-in-the-wall attorney.

An educated guess is that Jon actually fired his first attorney because he was not being aggressive enough, and then went with his new high profile firm. Clients can fire attorneys at will. Tabloid rumours painting Jon as the bad guy aside, it is infinitely harder for attorneys to *fire* clients.

Just saying.

.

 

[madge]

As good as the source that said Kate is drinking.

I think most of these sources, named or unnamed, are pretty much full of crap. there might be (and probably are) bits of truth to what they're saying, but between their need to be part of the story + the need of the tabloids to keep cranking out JK8 material, I'm inclined to believe it's not exactly factual.

 

[madge]

Thanks Madge. I did check the Neilsen site and couldn't find them (Duggar's) at all. They must have a low amount of people watching..which isn't unusual for cable shows.

TLC's average viewership last week was 942,000. Jon & Kate Plus 8 had 1.78 million .. so the Duggars fall somewhere in between.

an article about the ratings drop:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2009/09/jon_kate_loses_more_than_80_pe.html

From what I can tell, if viewership drops below 1 million and certainly down to the 900,000 .. the question of whether or not the show is profitable will have to be addressed.

 

[mousey]

The low viewer numbers are probably the reason the family is staying home and not going on another "stress relief" trip. One comment from an article on the ratings said that the show use to be relateable. Now its just a rich spoiled women and a rich spoiled man trying to outdue each other. I say the show ends when the divorce is final.

 

[madge]

Jon must be back at the house again the weekend .. Kate has an appearance in Danbury. With one of the real housewives. That strikes me as so funny, for some reason. I have no idea why.

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13412338

 

[DMRick]

TLC's average viewership last week was 942,000. Jon & Kate Plus 8 had 1.78 million .. so the Duggars fall somewhere in between.
.

If the average viewers are 942,000..K & J are still quite a bit above that. I'm surprised the average viewer is so low for other shows.

About the Duggars, why do you think they are between the average and what K & J have? Some of the shows must be below average, to get the average. I wonder which shows those are that are below average.

I wonder if they are sticking around home more because one, the custody. t would be hard for Kate or Jon to be off with the kids and the other person still see them. Two, we the viewers wrote, posted and complained they weren't home enough. Maybe they listened. We can't have it both ways.

 

[DMRick]

Jon must be back at the house again the weekend .. Kate has an appearance in Danbury. With one of the real housewives. That strikes me as so funny, for some reason. I have no idea why.

Wasn't Jon at a party with one of the Real Housewives?

 

[madge]

If the average viewers are 942,000..K & J are still quite a bit above that. I'm surprised the average viewer is so low for other shows.

About the Duggars, why do you think they are between the average and what K & J have? Some of the shows must be below average, to get the average. I wonder which shows those are that are below average.

I wonder if they are sticking around home more because one, the custody. t would be hard for Kate or Jon to be off with the kids and the other person still see them. Two, we the viewers wrote, posted and complained they weren't home enough. Maybe they listened. We can't have it both ways.

clearly, I shouldn't be thinking and/or trying to do math. first of all, it's never been something I'm good at and second, I've spent 2 days working at a consignment sale with a computer adding things for me.

Good grief. I need to go to bed. LOL. I have no idea how I came to the conclusion that the Duggar's ratings fall between the average TLC show and JK8. Not a clue. I saw the average, saw JK8's ratings and that was that. Totally missed the concept of average viewership.

Anyway, back in the summer, The Duggar's show was rated in TLC's top 25 shows, with JK8 & the Cake Boss show. Ratings at that time were around 1.5 million. But that was also at the height of JK8 popularity. No idea if they pull in the same ratings now.

 

[madge]

Wasn't Jon at a party with one of the Real Housewives?

he might have been. He probably was. I have no idea.

It just made me laugh, that's all. America's favorite mom and one of the Real Housewives. An interesting pairing for an appearance.

 

[redrosesix]

Jon must be back at the house again the weekend .. Kate has an appearance in Danbury. With one of the real housewives. That strikes me as so funny, for some reason. I have no idea why.

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13412338

Wasn't Jon at a party with one of the Real Housewives?

Yup -- the same housewife -- Jill Zarin. When he went out to dinner with Michael Lohan and Kate Major in the Hamptons.

Well, that's just weird.

 

[redrosesix]

If the average viewers are 942,000..K & J are still quite a bit above that. I'm surprised the average viewer is so low for other shows.

About the Duggars, why do you think they are between the average and what K & J have? Some of the shows must be below average, to get the average. I wonder which shows those are that are below average.

I wonder if they are sticking around home more because one, the custody. t would be hard for Kate or Jon to be off with the kids and the other person still see them. Two, we the viewers wrote, posted and complained they weren't home enough. Maybe they listened. We can't have it both ways.

I think you're right about this.

As for the Duggars, they don't do nearly as many shows and I'm not even sure when it's on. It's probably hard for them to develop as much of a following so IMO it's not surprising their ratings won't be as high as a show that is on at the same time every single week.

 

[mousey]

I think the ratings are different for the cable shows. If J & K had this rating on national tv they would of been cancelled long ago. Just because there are blogs and threads about them doesn't mean everyone in the world is watching them. The show ran its course, the vision changed and time for TLC to pull it. They have enough reruns they could fill in until a new show is developed.

As for the Duggars, they don't come close to the amount of taping that J & K do. They aren't depending on the money from the show to live off of. Same with the Little Couple, they have jobs, in fact, she is a doctor so they aren't depending on there show to live off of. Like Kate says, we have to keep the show going for the kids--I'm a single mother and we need the money!

 

[madge]

I think the ratings are different for the cable shows. If J & K had this rating on national tv they would of been cancelled long ago. Just because there are blogs and threads about them doesn't mean everyone in the world is watching them. The show ran its course, the vision changed and time for TLC to pull it. They have enough reruns they could fill in until a new show is developed.

there was a time when JK8 was pulling in ratings close to what you'd see on network TV... they've had ratings impressive for a cable show in the past, even without considering the "announcement" shows.

regarding new episodes: Monday's is a tea party .. that was filmed when they were on vacation. I can't tell if the October 5 show is a rerun or not:

Time to Organize!
TV-G
Kate has always had a love for organization, but with such a full schedule and a house full of kids, she's had less and less time to organize. With the guidance of an expert, Kate and the children attempt to give the basement some much needed order.

 

[redrosesix]

Like Kate says, we have to keep the show going for the kids--I'm a single mother and we need the money!

If they've been putting the money away, they could arguably live off the interest from their assets. But the way they spend money is probably more the issue. Would the kids need to go to private school if they weren't doing the show? Is there really such a huge difference between public education and private eduction there? It seems to me that with 8 kids in school, that is their biggest expense after the houses (of which they still own 2 -- wonder if the judge will make them sell the old house to help divide the assets?)

Where we live, the public system is pretty much the same as the private schools until you get into the higher grades. But the private schools have always let children start younger (which made a huge difference when the cut-off date was Dec. 31st -- that has recently changed to Sept. 30th) so many parents put their kids into private school when they were nearly 5 and just kept them in that system. We also have laws against teaching anything about religion in public schools, so some parents chose private schools for that reason.

 

[DreaGirl]

there was a time when JK8 was pulling in ratings close to what you'd see on network TV... they've had ratings impressive for a cable show in the past, even without considering the "announcement" shows.

regarding new episodes: Monday's is a tea party .. that was filmed when they were on vacation. I can't tell if the October 5 show is a rerun or not:

Time to Organize!
TV-G
Kate has always had a love for organization, but with such a full schedule and a house full of kids, she's had less and less time to organize. With the guidance of an expert, Kate and the children attempt to give the basement some much needed order.

So they are playing a episode from the NC or was it SC vacation now?

As for the organize episode, isn't that the one where she went to IKEA w/Beth?

 

[mousey]

I can't believe they are still pulling episodes off that vacation. This one has to be the girls and Kate.
As far as the organization of the basement goes, it probably will end up like the "go green" episode where the lights that lined the driveway are bundled up next to a tree.
My prediction is these two shows will put them at there lowest ratings ever. The shows are just so boring!!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

So they are playing a episode from the NC or was it SC vacation now?

As for the organize episode, isn't that the one where she went to IKEA w/Beth?

I think it must be, Beth and Kate went to Ikea for organization ideas. Then they came home with storage shelves, desks and such.

I feel so blah about J&K lately. I know they saw the show as an opportunity in the beginning to provide for the kids, espceially with Jon's sketchy job history. However, with this whole divorce fiasco going on, I feel like an intruder in their lives when I watch the show lately. What I mean by that is I'm looking at the kids for any sign that they're not handling the divorce well. And that's really none of my business. I feel badly for the kids having to go through a divorce which is hard enough without their parents in the limelight. I don't know, I just feel like it might cause them pain or resentment later on. I hope I'm wrong, I really do but I'm just remembering what I was like as an 11 year old going through my own parent's divorce. It would have been very upsetting to me to see photographers everywhere probably asking impertinent questions about my parents. I realize I'm projecting my own experience here but I just wonder how much all of the circus is affecting the kids. Kate should just focus on this new show and back out of the TLC contract somehow. I think she could pull it off too. She could easily say that the kids need privacy to deal with their divorce and if she continues the show, it might cause problems for them. I would imagine there must be some kind of clause in the contract addressing the welfare of the kids. Who knows for sure though. I've just been feeling unsettled when I watch the show lately. I think the kids need way more time and space to deal with this. I don't doubt that J&K love them, I never have. But I think they're both blinded right now with animosity toward each other and a stubborness to continue generating income.

OT, Dreagirl, but I noticed you only have 3 weeks till Disney! Yeah! Only 30 more days for me!

 

[redrosesix]

I can't believe they are still pulling episodes off that vacation. This one has to be the girls and Kate.
As far as the organization of the basement goes, it probably will end up like the "go green" episode where the lights that lined the driveway are bundled up next to a tree.
My prediction is these two shows will put them at there lowest ratings ever. The shows are just so boring!!

Makes me wonder if there was any part of that vacation that was just a vacation.

 

[redrosesix]

I feel so blah about J&K lately. I know they saw the show as an opportunity in the beginning to provide for the kids, espceially with Jon's sketchy job history. However, with this whole divorce fiasco going on, I feel like an intruder in their lives when I watch the show lately. What I mean by that is I'm looking at the kids for any sign that they're not handling the divorce well. And that's really none of my business. I feel badly for the kids having to go through a divorce which is hard enough without their parents in the limelight. I don't know, I just feel like it might cause them pain or resentment later on. I hope I'm wrong, I really do but I'm just remembering what I was like as an 11 year old going through my own parent's divorce. It would have been very upsetting to me to see photographers everywhere probably asking impertinent questions about my parents. I realize I'm projecting my own experience here but I just wonder how much all of the circus is affecting the kids. Kate should just focus on this new show and back out of the TLC contract somehow. I think she could pull it off too. She could easily say that the kids need privacy to deal with their divorce and if she continues the show, it might cause problems for them. I would imagine there must be some kind of clause in the contract addressing the welfare of the kids. Who knows for sure though. I've just been feeling unsettled when I watch the show lately. I think the kids need way more time and space to deal with this. I don't doubt that J&K love them, I never have. But I think they're both blinded right now with animosity toward each other and a stubborness to continue generating income.

ITA with all of this

And I think it's fine for you to project your own experience here, because there are some life-altering events that all children experience in a similar way to some extent -- divorce is one of those. Otherwise, nobody would ever be able to write a book about how children handle divorce, death, etc., and nobody would know how to counsel children going through those events. Actually if you google "children and divorce" the advice and issues in every website are shockingly similar.

So, thanks for your input on this -- I'm trusting your opinion on this partly because you went through this yourself, but also because you were a little bit older than the Gosselin kids so you would be more aware of how it affected you.