'Jon & Kate Plus 8' ratings plummet. Whose fault is it? Hmmm.
"Jon & Kate Plus 8" returned to TLC on Monday night after a month's hiatus.
And -- yawn -- no one seemed to care.
Us Weekly reports that the back-to-back episodes brought in less than half the audience of the previous show, which had announced their much ballyhooed separation.
Last night's first half hour with Kate Gosselin and the kids vacationing and Jon Gosselin supervising kitchen renovations (wow -- exciting stuff) drew only 3.9 million viewers. The following episode, with Kate camping with the kids without Jon, was watched by 4.1 million.
Both episodes were also down significantly from the May 25 premiere, which brought in 9.8 million viewers.
If you do the math, this means the ratings dropped 61%.
Are you surprised?
Hey, you don't think Jon's dalliances with Hailey Glassman and Star reporter Kate Major, getting buddy-buddy with Michael Lohan in the Hamptons, hanging out in St. Tropez with designer Christian Audigier and the new rumors about his overnight nude model babysitter have anything to do with this slump, do ya?
Nah, me neither.
It's probably the fault of those gosh darn pap bait, headline-grabbing eight kids of his.
If you really want to laugh, check out this Us Weekly photo of Jon simultaneously showing off his bald spot and his enormous belly. And that's not easy to do!
(For the record, a previous version of this post said 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' airs Tuesday instead of Monday.)
More Jon Gosselin dish:
Jon Gosselin is dating a tabloid reporter?
Jon Gosselin's new girlfriend has a mug shot?
Will Jon Gosselin's girlfriend appear on the show? Euuuw.
"Jon & Kate" on hiatus after divorce announcement
Will Jon and Kate announce their divorce tonight?
Kate Gosselin spanks her daughter Leah. Ouch!
Jon Gosselin parties with 23-year-old on Kate's 34th birthday. Ouch.
Photo credit: InTouch
What a jerk. I think the clock is ticking on his 15 minutes of fame.
And....it is interesting that he's talking about why the marriage failed.. seems like he is trying to do spin control.
Now that we see him in plain view, on his own, we should give a medal for his wife for staying married that long.
Bye, Bye Jon
Maybe people are getting tired of these two narcissistic and greedy fools....
ah, one can only hope....
It's so funny reading a story that is so misleading. Think about it ... the show was one of the most-watched cable programs when it averaged roughly 2-3 million viewers. Then, a failing marriage caught temporary attention of a nation and 10 million tuned in. Remember the headlines for that? "Unheard of Viewership" for cable. It was never sustainable. Those 10 million weren't their fan-base. Just curious people. So now where do they sit? 3.9 million people tuned in. Holy crap. I can't believe that many people did. But you, the writer of this story, cannot say that their ratings have plummeted. For the real reality is ... they have almost doubled their viewership from over a year ago. Amazing. Try to give a correct perspective to the bigger picture. Your disdain toward them, your desire for readership, or your ignorance reveals your lack-of-professionalism here. Which is it?
Come on now the reason anyone watched in the first place was to see Kate nag Jon and make fun of it. With the split there is no more nagging by Kate so why watch.
He's a jerk, I hope the show fails.
This is a fascinating study in human behavior. Jon clearly wants out of the contract (fishbowl) or he is one of the dumbest people on the planet, foregoing $75,000 an episode. And maybe that's Kate's biggest gripe against him. Sheer stupidity.
Kate on the other hand is desperately trying to hang on. What's missing from the show now is any semblance of reality. And that's why viewers dropped out. They could've forgiven the struggles in the marriage, the nit picking, the insults, the shrew vs the mouse. That is after all true reality and many marriages are similar. But the show was ABOUT how they rallied around those inconveniences for the sake of the kids and the success of a plan. Kate attacking Jon, but at least the got to Disneyland in spite of it all.
Now, who cares if Kate can put up a tent? And the cookout was only marshmallows and not a real dinner. There is no longer ANY antagonist and that's what makes the show boring!
The show is completely transparent now. Kate isn't really doing anything "alone". Nothing is really tough. She has Ashlee and Production Assistants and evidently a cadre of people keeping up the $ million dollar grounds. And still enough money to vacation on the beach and have their kitchen remodeled.
Jon could have added punch to this own defense by hunkering down after the separation / divorce, landing some kind of a REAL job even if it was pushing hamburgers. And proceeded to demonstrate how he was going to be the world's BEST separated / divorced dad for his kids.
He could have totally blown all the blame onto Kate, who was transparent enough to begin with, and left her with the responsibility of the separation / divorce. And for keeping those kids in the spotlight. Instead of even addressing how they might be responding to their parents on and off presence in their lives.
Unfortunately they have both and together built a house of cards (plush money never really earned) that they can no longer do without.
And as Kate admitted long ago, probably the most "real" thing she's ever said, is that now they have no backup plan.
Maybe THAT should be the next reality show. The backup plan that never was. Or the rise, the fall, and the diversification of reality stars simple survival.
If some production company was smart, they'd be doing a documentary of the behind the scenes "foolery" that's been going on for 5 years!
Now THAT would be a reality show. J&K+8 is just making TLC look stupid. Obviously, a contract is a contract.
May they both die, slow painful deaths. Who f$#king cares about this lame s$%t!
I hope the show fails, but only to take those kids off camera. Can you imagine how those children will look back at the foolishness Mom and Dad put them through years from now?! Poor babies. I agree with "Lilli's" comment: The parents are narcissistic and greedy fools.
I know people who are purposely boycotting the show.
I think the TV audience is growing weary of the shameless marketing of the Gosselin Family freebies on each and every show (including the new tents for the campout, Crooked Houses, kitchen renovation appliances, cars, vacations, etc.). This is turning into an infomercial.