Jon and Kate Plus Hate

I really think the show started out innocently enough. It probably struck Jon and Kate Gosselin that having a reality show document their lives as well as that of their 8 children was a smart means of earning money for their large brood, plus it had the very real advantage of documenting their children when the gang of 8 were so young. (Something that in the course of caring for 6 new-borns and 2 twin toddlers) would have been impossible.

I watched the show in part because I couldn't believe that a family could have that many children and maintain an organic-eating, church going, tough love lifestyle. Simply put, the sheer number of children and the endless demands that all children make made it seem as if someone whether we saw it or not, was always going to be getting the short end of the stick. That's an uncomfortable proposition to see or think about given that the children were far too young to have a say about whether they wanted cameras documenting each moment of their lives. Equally alarming, were the parents and their mismatched personalities: him a reticent hang-dog who always gave off an air of quiet shock that he had 8 little ones and she a highly aggressive know-it-all who seemed eager to broadcast how much she did for her children.

While I don't think that there is any doubt that having 8 children is an exhausting, expensive endeavour, I never got the sense that there was any overwhelming joy that righted the scales for Jon and Kate. As the show grew in popularity, it seemed to take on a new angle - how to showcase a product, gratis trip(s) and surgical procedure(s), etc.

But it seemed to have soured before everyones eyes. Who knows exactly when the formula itself soured, spoiling the parents relationship and some of the children as well? It's over now and at least the tabloids have spit them out and seek the taste of another new story.