Jon and Kate Plus 8 Put Too Much Real into Reality Television

Jon and Kate plus 8 is a unique television project. It follows a young couple who have eight children. That's right, Jon and Kate have eight children. Apparently, Kate, like many women today was having trouble conceiving so she turned to fertility drugs and other help. The first time she conceived they had twins. They wanted to have one more child but instead she gave birth to sextuplets. That is the background on the primary players. Oh, and the show is about... nothing.

When reality television hit hard, it came out with game shows. It wasn't like password or the fifty thousand dollar pyramid. They were shows like Survivor, The Bachelor and Big Brother. They were Reality game shows. Essentially, wannabe actors and models were auditioning for spots on these shows to compete for cash prizes. They would have to win by being the last person remaining essentially one way or another. The cameras would follow their every move, hear everything they would say and week to week the viewing audience would get a voyeuristic perspective on the outcome of each series. A bunch of these types of shows are still around, while many have also disappeared.

What seems to have sprung out of the reality television show genre is another kind of viewing experience. Jon and Kate plus 8 is just like one of these types of shows. There is no longer any kind of competition. There are no wannabes in the classic sense, vying for the eyes of television executives in hopes of being chosen for a television show of their own. There is no great cash prize at the end. All you see are people, walking around in their daily lives, doing what anybody else could be doing at that very moment. The shows are about essentially nothing. Each episode goes nowhere special and the people being shown could not be less interesting.

The network most responsible for hijacking our quality television time with this sleep fest is TLC. Jon and Kate epitomizes this fiasco. A typical episode starts with Kate getting up and getting all eight little kids ready for the day. She prepares a ton of pancakes. She pours out a couple gallons of apple juice and things begin. There is no denying the kids are cute. All little kids are cute. Ok, maybe some are not that cute but nobody ever tells them that. For the sake of argument however, these kids are cute. Jon is there too. He helps and always looks exhausted.

They talk to the camera periodically and try to seem enthralled about the topic for the day but it can't be done. An episode about going to the grocery store just doesn't have that cliff hanger feeling to it.What makes it worse is that neither Jon nor Kate are big on the personality scale either. To be honest, it doesn't surprise me. They wanted to have only three kids and instead they got eight. That would be a bit of a shock to anybody's system. They spend most of their day running around after toddlers. That is probably a little tiring and so it may be difficult to then stop and smile pretty for a camera. Truth is, it is not that interesting. This isn't entertainment.

This is simple voyeurism at its worst. There used to be shows like this on the internet but those sites realized that if you were just going to watch people in their homes all day, if you want it to be interesting, you better have them engaging in adult activities all day long. Nobody is going to sit and watch laundry being done for hours on end online.However, it would appear with Jon and Kate plus 8, that moving this concept to prime time television is working. If people don't want to watch others online just sitting around eating and doing laundry, they will obviously watch them do those things on television.

Jon and Kate will allow you to watch them do laundry for hours. Then you can see the kids all learning how to pee in the potties, for hours. Then you can watch Jon and Kate empty the potties, for hours. Afterwards, you can watch Jon and Kate get the kids ready for and prepare dinner, for hours. I get it. They have a lot of kids. I just don't believe it's prime time entertainment.The worst part is the message this network and others like it are sending. Basically, if you can have children, you can have your own show. However, if you have a whole bunch of kids, you have a great chance of that show being picked up for a bunch of episodes.

There are other shows now that feature families with a ton of kids. The premise is basically the same. Hey look at us. We couldn't stop having kids. We do our best to get by. All the kids live in hand me downs. Come with us to the grocery store and watch us by food by the ton. It's ridiculous and it's not entertainment.

What could be next. Hey, do you know how to sit in one place for hours on end? Maybe while you are sitting you can watch television. Then people will come and have a camera record you watching television for hours and hours. Then people can watch you on television watching television. That would be a great show. It's not too far away. David Blaine, the magician, realized he could captivate audiences and television networks by sitting or standing or hanging upside down in the same place for extraordinary periods of time. That's supposed to be entertaining? Hey people, I think it's time to wake up and realize the cream has sunk and the crumbs have risen to the top.