All Eyes On Jon and Kate

I meant to write about Monday's Jon and Kate Plus 8 season premiere earlier, but it's taken me a few days to get my thoughts in order. (By the way, I had a feeling that this was going to turn into a serious entry, so I have some poorly-attempted humor for you in the form of my Carlos Zambrano post which follows this one. Just trying to look out for everyone.)

Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I've always found it interesting to see how the family manages different, everyday challenges as such a huge group. The show is incredibly entertaining and I always end up smiling when watching it. Plus, the kids are ridiculously cute. So with all that being said, the season premiere made me really sad. By now, you've no doubt heard about the Jon and Kate Gosselin fiasco that's been going on so I won't go over it again. What exactly happened still isn't entirely clear and everyone seems to have their own opinion on that matter. But nonetheless, Monday's episode was the first one since everything went down and it was an opportunity for Jon and Kate to have their say.

Going into the episode, I had tried my best to convince myself that the tabloids had blown everything out of proportion like they normally do. Those fools were just looking for a story by smearing the good names of Jon and Kate. With that in mind, I kept expecting the two of them to come on the show and say that things were okay, that things were getting better, and that their relationship was still strong. But that moment never came. Instead, Jon and Kate took turns on the couch separately, commenting not only on the sextuplets' birthday party, but also on the current state of their relationship. (Also, it's worth noting that the children have been kept in the dark about the whole situation.) Eventually, the two shared the couch together like we're accustomed to seeing, but the tension was thick. The glimmer of hope for the family that I had been waiting for failed to transpire. They talked about going in different directions, the possibility of divorce, and the uncertainty of the future. One thing was very obvious: there was still a lot of pain, hurt feelings, and anger.

The biggest news the next day, however, was that a ridiculous 9.8 million people had watched the season premiere of JK+8. The official numbers aren't out yet, but chances are that it was the most watched show on ANY network ALL WEEK. That includes the NBA Playoffs. The question that everyone seems to be positing now is why do we care so much? And how stupid are we to be so interested in a family on the television that we don't even know?

Well, is it silly? Yes, it probably is to some extent. But at the same time, I can see why it's so easy for people to be drawn to JK+8. Most reality TV features people who are unique in some way (American Idol, Dancing With the Stars) or who are off-the-wall personalities (The Real World, pretty much all VH1 reality shows). But in Jon and Kate and their children, viewers see part of themselves or what they hope to be. Yes, the Gosselins have a non-typical family that hardly anyone will ever experience, but they are also common, down-to-earth people who are trying to raise their children the best they can just like any other person would want to do. There's no physical challenges or duels, there's no tribal council, and there's no elimination. It's just a family trying to find happiness in the world. Jon and Kate Plus 8 is true reality television.

To many people, this was the sort of TV show that made you feel good about yourself and your family. It was inspirational, in a way, to see this family overcome the difficult and unexpected circumstance of having eight children and turn it into a blessing. Yes, the show became much more successful than probably anyone could have imagined and turned the family into celebrities. Was it what they were hoping for? I doubt it. With eight kids, any source of income probably seems like a good idea at the time and there was no knowing that the show would become such a hit. However, after a couple of seasons of increasing popularity, Jon and Kate had to have had an inkling of what they were getting into.

From the season premiere, it's clear that the fame and fortune has affected both Jon and Kate. I don't necessarily blame them, though, because I think anyone who was in their situation would find it very difficult to avoid that attraction. However, with all the attention and craziness that's come with the success, I fear that the show is now at risk of devolving from a smart reality show about an incredibly interesting family into another typical reality show that's driven by drama. Viewers weren't tuning in Monday to watch the sextuplets' birthday (which is what they used to be interested in); viewers tuned in because they wanted to know what was going on with Jon and Kate (myself included).

At the same time I believe that many people are especially interested in what's going on with JK+8 right now because it scares them to some extent. Jon and Kate Gosselin seemed to have risen above so many unexpected adversities and created a strong, tight-knit family in the process. In many ways, they were role models for a successful family. But now that it all appears to be in danger, people may begin to think, "if it can happen to them, this family that seemed so happy only a season ago, then it could easily happen to me and my family."

Any good television show, reality or not, survives on strong characters and the viewers' ability to relate to them. In that regard, Jon and Kate Plus 8 has perhaps been too successful.