Well, that's certainly one way to end a three-week ratings slide.
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"Recently we've made some life-changing decisions. Decisions that will affect every member of our family. Ones that we hope will bring each of us some peace," Kate said during the voiceover of a 30-second version of new promotional commercials the network began running Wednesday night. (Watch the promo)
"Jon & Kate have an announcement." the network stated in on-screen text as Kate's voiceover and background music aired over video footage which showed Jon and Kate maintaining their distance during recent family activities.
"Monday, a one-hour Jon & Kate Plus 8 special. A family in turmoil. A relationship at a crossroads. Where do they go from here?" TLC stated in additional text that slowly flashed on-screen and faded throughout the 30-second commercial.
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This week's episode had marked Jon & Kate Plus 8's third-straight week of ratings declines since the special one-hour season premiere, which TLC had heavily promoted as the couple's first side-by-side interview since reports that Jon allegedly had an affair with a 23-year-old schoolteacher had surfaced in April.
The May 25 premiere had featured Jon and Kate acknowledging their marriage was on the rocks and openly suggesting that they may be headed for divorce.
Although they appeared side-by-side for a brief portion of their season-premiere interviews, the vast majority of Jon and Kate's interviews were conducted separately and were structured around footage of their sextuplets' fifth birthday party in May.
The premiere had begun with Kate stating Jon had decided he "needed a weekend off" and explaining she was planning the children's party alone. Jon later returned in time for the party, however he arrived at it separately and the couple appeared to avoid each other and barely speak during the celebration.
"I remember thinking 'This possibly could be, maybe, I don't know, our last family picture,' so I knew it was important to do," Kate had said about a family photo she had taken during the party in one of her solo interviews.
"It was thinking back five years ago and realizing parents of multiples have like triple the divorce rate and thinking we were going to beat that. But I don't know if I can say that anymore," she had added as she wiped back tears. "Very swiftly we turned into two very different people and it's just hard. I've tried for six months to figure out what the problem is or remedy the problem."
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"I think it was good for them to see their mom and dad together in one place, I mean you know it's been tough right now," Jon had said during one of his own interviews. "It's hard to picture things in the future just because we're going two different directions right now."
Neither Jon or Kate had seemed interested in making physical contact -- or even eye contact -- with each other during their brief joint interview.
"I wish I knew," Kate had answered when an offscreen Jon & Kate Plus 8 producer asked the couple the current status of their relationship.
"I don't know, I really don't know," Jon had added.
All of Jon & Kate Plus 8's subsequent fifth-season episodes appear to have been filmed before the season premiere and have not featured any direct acknowledgement of the status of Jon and Kate's relationship, which has still appeared obviously strained during the episodes.
The fifth-season premiere had blown away Jon & Kate Plus 8's previous ratings record -- the 4.6 million viewers that had tuned in for the show's fourth-season finale on March 23 just as the initial tabloid reports that the couple's marriage was on the rocks began emerging.
Following the premiere, TLC's June 7 back-to-back broadcast of Jon & Kate Plus 8's second and third fifth-season episodes averaged 5.5 million and 6 million viewers respectively. Last week's half-hour broadcast of Jon & Kate Plus 8's fourth fifth-season episode then averaged 4.3 million viewers.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
