Jon and Kate Plus 8: Pop Culture Sickness

I knew nothing about Jon and Kate or their 8 kids until he was seen going out with a 23-year-old. When I first saw the story on an Internet headline, and perhaps it led to OMG, I looked it up and then read about their show on TLC. I saw the web site for the show and how wonderfully cute the kids were described. They were described too cute and nice in my opinion. Reading on the web site, it seemed like life was so wonderful and here was this amazing couple raising 8 kids. But then he was seen with another woman. Hey, maybe life was more stressful than the show let on and maybe Jon and Kate didn't get a chance to communicate well.

Now Jon and Kate are getting a divorce - and the show's going to continue? Or not?

I followed their trials via Internet headlines splashed over MSN and tabloids while standing in line on occasion at Rite Aid. I almost never looked more deeply than what the headlines showed. But it started to gnaw at me. Reality TV and the fame that it brings can rip people apart.

So here are my thoughts: okay, the man has 8 kids and they're on a television show which means they probably have demanding schedules. And if the kids on the web site are made to look overly cute and happy - then something's not right.

My wife and I had up to 9 people in our home until this past spring. We have older adopted children plus a guardian plus . . . I won't go into it all. Life can be rewarding but it's never overly cute and happy.

So what happens with Jon and Kate's kids?

Does anyone care? Do the producers of the program really care? Maybe. It's possible. What about the executives at TLC? I'm sure the human side of them feels badly for the family. But at the same time, the show may have more exposure than ever before. If they cared, they would have ended the show.

Oh, yeah, here's how it goes. They'll release a statement saying now we can see how a formerly happily married couple will deal with the reality of divorce. Has anyone asked the kids if they want to continue in that perspective?

Do the paparazzi care - the photographers who need to push people into the limelight in order to photograph them for the sole purpose of destroying them via gossip and showing them at their worst?

I definitely don't think they can give a s_ _ _ - nor do the editors of People, Star or other tabloids that need the destruction of otherwise ordinary human beings on their covers in order to generate sales.

I never watched a single episode of Jon and Kate plus 8. I didn't know it was on the air. Nor did I ever open the pages of the magazines, and I've only read two or maybe 3 quick online articles, but I know more about them now that their lives are torn apart than when their show was running well and their lives were seemingly happy.

Their children are still in elementary school. Did the kids see the picture of mom on the cover of a national magazine wading in the surf in a bikini with a headline insinuating she was on a trip with her bodyguard and the kids? How will that affect them this year, next year or five years from now?

Divorce is proven to be tough on children under the best circumstances. Perhaps in 10 to 15 years, we'll see the effects of divorce on the children of pseudo-celebrities thrown to the Reality TV dogs.

I thought TLC stood for The Learning Channel, not The Loser Channel.