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Free at Last

She is known to many as the most annoying mother on the face of the earth. And by many I mean Jon Gosselin… and a few more.

Yes, the Gosselin eight (plus Kate) are back in the news, but this time the headlines are good… at least for the kids… and the millions of parents and parenting experts who thought that the family’s reality TV show was a severe detriment to Cara, Mady, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel.

The Gosselin’s fraternal twins and superstar sextuplets may have finally seen the last of their film crew. According to reports, “Kate Plus 8” is about to be chopped from TLC’s primetime line-up.

Cruel irony or a divine intervention?

Speculation that the show wouldn’t be around to document the sextuplets turning seven has been growing steadily in the last few weeks. Recent episodes of “Kate Plus 8” barely attracted enough viewers to pay the fame-seeking mom the small fortune she demands.

Online reports reveal that the April 18th episode of “Kate Plus 8” drew just 874,000 viewers. That rating reflects a 50 percent drop in viewers compared to the last episode of “Jon and Kate Plus 8” and a massive free fall from the nearly 10 million viewers the show drew when the couple announced their split. You’ll recall that “Jon and Kate Plus 8” was canceled by TLC after Jon decided to take on the cable network in court. Jon lost and “Kate Plus 8” was born.

TLC bills “Kate Plus 8” as a regular series of specials, but since its downward spiral the network has been mum on its future. In fact, tonight’s episode is reportedly the last TLC plans to air in 2011.

Frankly, I couldn’t be happier. I’ve seen bits and pieces of “Kate Plus 8” and frankly, the show should have been called “Kate Plus Kate.”

Seriously.

The majority of the 50-some minutes that airs are almost exclusively about the self absorbed mom and very little about her kids.

Tune in and you’ll see Kate swimming with sharks in Australia, Kate riding horses in Wyoming, Kate complaining about the heat in Chinatown, Kate kvetching about erecting a tent in her backyard, Kate screaming about spiders in Philly, Kate, Kate, Kate.

For the sake of those poor children , who deserve to live life without cameras following their every move, I hope that TLC cans “Kate Plus 8” forever.

Good riddance to Kate and hello to much needed freedom for those kids.

This entry was posted in Parenting in the News by Michele Cheplic. Bookmark the permalink.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.