TLC Dumps John

in TV by libchic24 — September 30, 2009 at 11:57 am | 1 comment

John and Kate Gosselin

TLC announced today that John Gosselin will no longer be seen of its hit show John & Kate Plus 8. The show will be renames Kate Plus 8 starting on November 2^nd of this year. The show plans to refocus itself on Kate’s role as a single mother rather than on the shuffling of the kids between the two parents that has been seen so far this season. The changes are most likely due to the falling ratings the show has endured the past few months. The show only pulled 1.7 million viewers during its last episode; an 84% drop from the 10.6 million viewers who watched the return of the show after the show’s short hiatus.

The ratings slump is most likely significantly due to overexposure; there isn’t an entertainment mag or tabloid that hasn’t run at least a few covers on the Gosselins. Lately everything they do from shopping at Target to sunbathing on vaca is front page news. I also suspect that there is a certain amount of backlash from John’s attitude and choice of “dating” partners in recent months. The “reality” was taken out of the show when it continued to show the family on happy outings and vacations (usually with just one parent) when the all the viewers knew that John was living in New York and dating various bimbos and Kate continued to keep up with hair highlighting appointments and scheduled interviews, while supposedly raising the kids alone. I’m not sure how a John-less show will fare in the ratings; he was totally the more likeable parent. Plus the kids are growing out of their adorable stage and quickly approaching awkward. I guess we will have to wait and see how long TLC rides it out.

Tags: John and Kate plus 8 John and Kate Plus Eight John Gosselin JOhn Gosselin leaves show Kate Gosselin Kate plus 8