Advocating For The Gosselin Eight

Anonymous (probably my most verbose commenter!) has provided a link about a hearing coming up Wed 4/14/10 in Horsham PA. The hearing is being held to consider the affect of reality TV shows like "Jon & Kate Plus 8" on child actors. Since PA has lax laws concerning the rights of child actors, this is wonderful news for all children in Pennsylvania who are involved in the entertainment industry as actors or participants in reality TV. Anything that draws attention to this issue is a step in the right direction.

Testifying will be the wonderful Paul Petersen of A Minor Consideration, fantastically ass-kicking attorney Gloria Allred, and Kevin and Jodi Krieder, the estranged brother and sister-in-law of Kate Gosselin who were once the Gosselin childrens' loving caregivers. The Gosselin eight and the children of PA could not have better advocates.

Comment Moderation Is Now On

Comment moderation is now on. It may take a while for your comments to show up because I have to okay each one as it comes to me in email, and I'm gardening and doing things other than being on the computer today. Non-flamers, non-insulters and non-porn site linkers, I appreciate your patience.

Two Reasons 2 Not Watch TLC

TLC has announced more details about Kate's new show, Kate Plus 8, features Kate and the children and is described as a series of eight specials, debuting in June.* Kate's second show, Twist of Kate, in which fan letters to Kate are used to profile women facing personal challenges, will be shown in twelve episodes starting in late summer.

The implication with Twist of Kate is that American women are inspired by our good ole' everyday normal mom Kate. Our small town Kate's a regular gal just like the rest of us. Kind of like Jenny from the 'hood, only Kate is much more of a diva than Jennifer Lopez.

Suggested episode: Kate goes to the home of Martha Stewart and demonstrates how to bitch-slap domestic workers into submission. (This episode spawns a TLC special comprised solely of outtakes showing the two women rolling around in the chicken coop while tearing each other's bottle blonde hair out, after Martha has the audacity to try to show Kate how to open an oven door.)

TLC will also be airing Sarah Palin's Alaska. Perhaps TLC could get Kate and Sarah together for a hunting episode in which Sarah stalks moose while Kate hunts for that perfect man.

*Could airing this show as a series of specials rather than as a regular show be a way of getting around Jon's insistance that they not film the children?

What A Way To Make A Living

There were four Gosselin watchers at the Gosselin house this afternoon, no doubt because of Jon's announcement yesterday. This is unusual nowadays.

One of them was a photographer who I've spoken with before. (I mentioned previously that he had lunch with DWTS instructor Tony who he described as a real gentleman.) He sits in his little blue beach chair outside the property fence and waits for something to happen. He said the kids had a fun water gun fight on the front yard yesterday, so those pictures will no doubt be in the magazines any day now. I asked him if there was any truth to the rumor that Jon is living in an apartment over a bar in this area, and he said No. If Jon was, he would know about it.

The police are again allowing people to park on the side of the road very close to the front of the house, and have been for some time. Last summer, at the height of Jon's poor relationship choices, the traffic was so bad that you'd get a ticket if you slowed down to a full stop in front of the house, and the papparazi had to park at least a half mile away in either direction and then walk to the front of the house to avoid being ticketed. Lack of drama/news means the traffic isn't a problem, and there is often no one in front of the house. That's good news for this lone holdout because it means he's got no competition. While the other pros are off chasing Brangelina or this week's other poor tabloid victims, he sits and waits.

How Kate Can Win DWTS

Kate got a reprieve on tonight's DWTS, coming in third instead of being voted off. She's been pretty stiff on the first three episodes, so maybe it would help if they chose a dance that comes more naturally to her. (Move your curser to start the video at 30 seconds to see the guy in the red shirt.) Imagine how much easier this would make Tony's job.

You're welcome, Tony.

Oh, That Obnoxious Papparazi!

On DWTS tonight Kate said the Lady Gaga song Papparazi speaks to her because there are papparazi waiting for her outside her door every day. I don't know what door she's talking about but I live in Wernersville and hoards of papparazi outside her door hasn't been the case for some time. And what little paps do show up from time to time would go away if she would stop going on TV and talking about how awful it is to be in the press all the time. It's been said before and no doubt will be again: Stop feeding the sharks and they'll stop circling.

I also love how she talked about having to wear a happy mask because of the events of the past year. Obviously the past year has been hard on everyone in the family, but get a clue! The events of the past year were not the problem, they were the symptom. A family that pretends to be happy so the show can go on in order to make more money, while the parents have not actually been in a relationship for some time, has to be psychological hell on not only the adults but the kids. The healthiest thing that happened to this family in the past year was Jon coming out about the marriage and show being a sham and him pulling the kids out of the big phony mess. He had the kahoonies to tell the truth no matter how unpopular it made him.

One last note about Kate's hair and makeup on tonight's DWTS. Remember that old movie Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? Well, tonight we found our answer. . .

What Kate Could Get Paid If She Learns To Dance

My blog reader mocha brought up the discussion of what the "stars" make on Dancing With The Stars. The general idea is the same with most reality TV shows: The longer you stay on, the more you make. On some shows, like the bachelor/bachelorette franchises, you only get paid if you're one of the final three or four (some reports state they don't get paid at all.) That means all those 15 - 20 single guys and gals who didn't find true love spent a lot of money of their own for nothing (imagine the clothes alone, not to mention travel, lost work time or even lost jobs, and more.) Meanwhile the producers make millions of dollars on these shows. So keep that in mind when you hear these salaries. These figures are just a drop in the bucket compared to the huge paydays generated by ad revenue for these shows.

This report from The Insider online says each DWTS star gets $200,000 for being on the show no matter how soon they're voted off, with bonuses if they stay in the show to the end, with the longest stayer getting the highest bonus.

WikiAnswers says all the professional dancers get paid $5,200 a week. The celebrities get paid about $250,000 if they stay all nine weeks.

Here's WikiAnswers statement on what Jon and Kate made per episode of J&K+8. If it's true (and I'm sure it's not) that they as a family made $22,500 per episdoe, TLC got one hell of a deal. J&K+8 was TLC's highest rated show ever, which means they made more commercial revenue during that show than any other. Considering the high commercial revenue and Kate's financial savvy and insistence on only the best, $50,000 - $75,000 per episide is a much more realistic figure. Hopefully the kids had their own salaries and that money has been put into trust for their futures. After all, without them there would have been no show.

This link to Extra Online tells the salaries of several reality TV show stars. They report Jon and Kate made $75,000 per episode, which I believe to be accurate. J&K+8 became so popular that season three had 31 and season four had 41 episodes. When you compare the J&K+8 salaries of a half hour show taped in and around the convenience of your home (generating a total of anywhere from $400,000* to $3,075,000** per season) to an entire DWTS season of having to practice dancing for hours a day and the hassle and exhaustion of traveling 3,000 miles for weekly tapings for a grand total of $200,000 and maybe if you're lucky $250,000, which is really the better pay?

*based on minimum salary of 8 episodes at $50,000 per episode for season one

**based on maximum salary of 41 episodes at $75,000 episode in season four