If you’re a fan of the so-called reality television series phenomena (and even if you’re not), there is a better than average chance that you have at least heard about one called Kate Plus 8, which first hit the airwaves in 2007. It wasn’t so much the show that people followed as it was the antics of the person for which it had been named. Get ready, because she now has a new show called Kate Plus Date. In order to understand whether or not the show is likely to survive, you have to understand something about the history of the aforementioned Kate Plus 8, as well as things that happened after that show went off the air.
There was a time when the show Kate Plus 8 was just another edition in the seemingly unending lineup of reality television choices. For the most part, your average person chose to pass it up in favor of programming that was perhaps more substantial. Nevertheless, most people were familiar with the show, at least enough to have some type of awareness that it did indeed exist. If it hadn’t been for everything that would ultimately come after the end of the show, it’s unlikely that anyone would even remember that it was ever on. After all, there isn’t really anything that memorable about a show that centers around two people and a bunch of kids as they go about their daily lives.
As the show continued, audiences basically lost interest and it’s easy to understand why. It’s not very interesting talking about the day to day lives of people whose primary focus is raising kids. That’s because you’re essentially talking about things like feeding the kids, talking them to all of their play dates, and running a household. It just doesn’t tend to hold the interest of others for very long. As such, once the “new” wore off, the show became less and less popular until it was finally cancelled.
The thing that many people were really interested in involved things going on behind the scenes. Kate and her significant other did not get along, and that’s putting things mildly. He chose to be more silent about things and move on privately. She, on the other hand, got on every tabloid, talk show and “reality” show that would have her, talking openly (and quite loudly) about how much he had put her through. Not once did she take responsibility for her part in their breakup. However, she did become very good at making the rounds so she could get plenty of camera time, during which she always proclaimed that she was left with a mess, crying and telling anyone who would listen how difficult the whole situation had been for her. She never even mentioned that things were hard for the children. The focus was always on her, time and again. For some reason, audiences couldn’t get enough of the whining and she became a “television personality,” for all the wrong reasons.
Now that you know the history, you can fast-forward to the present day. Here she is with yet another opportunity to get in front of the camera, this time on a routine basis. Just as the title of the show implies, she will be followed around by camera crews as she tries to find date after date. When she isn’t dating, she will probably be droning on about how hard life has been for her. Truthfully, she will probably do that even when she is on a date. That’s a word to the wise for anyone on the receiving end of one of these dates- run, and run quickly. Don’t look back, just keep running. Think about this one folks. Unless you want all of your private arguments spilled out right in front of a camera, this is not a relationship you want to get involved with. She’s done it before and you can bet she will do it again.
If you’re smart, you have no doubt been asking yourself for quite some time whether or not these “reality” television shows actually have even the slightest amount of reality attached to then to begin with. For the most part, they flow a lot more like a show that has been scripted and then sold to the public as “reality.” If that bothers you, then you obviously won’t be tuning in to see this show in the first place. On the other hand, if this is one of your guilty pleasures, you may find yourself looking quite forward to seeing it every week, as there is little doubt that it will produce far more than its fair share of drama, and then some.
So, here’s the big question. Will the show make it or will it sink like the Titanic? If you’ve read the previous paragraphs, you’re probably already thinking that I’m going to say we’re more likely to colonize Mars before this becomes a successful show. However, you would be wrong. Why, you ask? It all goes back to her massive campaign when she and her partner, Jon, broke up during the run of Kate Plus 8. As soon as he was out of the picture and she could ratchet up the drama as much as she wanted to without any restraint whatsoever, she became a hot commodity in the television world. As frustrating as it is, people seem to love drama so much that they can’t get enough of it when someone really goes off the rails and starts making a fool of themselves.
This new show is one that focuses almost entirely on her and her self-indulgence. It may very well be sickening to some but others will tune in week after week in order to see what new drama she has created for herself. In short, it’s almost like watching a train wreck. You don’t want to look, yet you can’t stop looking at it. For that reason and that reason alone, Kate will probably be “dating” for a very long time to come.Kate Plus Date
