As you may have noticed in a previous post, I'm a big J&KP8 fan. In my own life it's always been a "family first" mentality, so I always appreciated their commitment to the kids and keeping the family together. With Jon & Kate's recent marital troubles, though, the increased press has put a huge strain on the family.
That's not to say the show itself has suffered - in fact, the season 5 premiere in May was the most-watched program on TLC....ever.
Even with record-breaking numbers, it's still unclear whether the show will return for additional seasons. While I'd miss the weekly episodes and seeing the adorable kids grow up, it's important they do what's best for them right now. Whether it's continuing the show, ending the marriage, only filming a couple times a year for some one-hour specials, etc., I don't really care as long as they pull through and make it work for their family.
With that said, imagine my extreme distaste when I read the following comment from Joe Abruzzese in the June 15 edition of Broadcasting & Cable Magazine:
As for the publicity surrounding Jon & Kate, the Discovery reality show about a couple with eight children—the couple's marriage problems are all over the tabloids—he is sanguine about the benefits of such exposure.
“The good thing is, we've got great sampling; it will be a disappointment if they don't come back,” he says. “The fear is, what's the show going to be? That's on everyone's mind. It may not be the show it was. We need to find out what the show will become and sell its value.”
Excuse me? I thought the fear was that a family would be torn apart by the constant media scrutiny and end up suffering in the long-term. While Discovery is obviously happy that the current media exposure is allowing them to rake in the advertising dollars, I don't think it's fair for Mr. Abruzzese to be so openly blasé when he's talking about real people's lives here. Sure, it may help business, but remember that in the end these people aren't TV show characters and their lives are affected by everything that goes on around them.
I don't know, I guess I'm not old and jaded enough by the advertising business to understand Mr. Abruzzese's point of view. Actually, I kind of hope I never do.
(Courtesy of broadcastingcable.com and hollywoodinsider.ew.com)
2 comments:
Please grow up and take his comments in context with the situation. The show was popular for a reason, that being a family..if the family is broken and there is no reason for people to watch it, then all parties lose in many ways..that is the "reality" of reality!
I understand where you're coming from in terms of "reality", however I still disagree.
If the family is broken, why should anyone watch them anyway?
Unfortunately, the network understands that conflict sells. That was the problem I had with Mr. Abruzzese's flippant-sounding remarks about the what the show is going to be and how to "sell its value." It's obvious that the value of the show now is the controversy surrounding it.
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