<p>
</p>
<p>I dont see TLC being bullied and allowing him back on the show. He was getting money from the reruns of the first four seasons. As long as TLC kept showing the reruns he would be getting money, so why anger TLC. Heck, they can stop showing reruns, buy Kate plus the 8 another house and keep filming.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Staying on contemporary episodes with high involvement maximizes the chances of his other ventures garnering sufficient attention. There is a lot more money there than reruns.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>They could do that. Leverage is an interesting relative concept. But your idea would take a lot of time and they have already been filming the new season. Taking a 6-mo break to go end-around a little roadblock like this is tantamount to cancelling the show from a publicity standpoint when you can just negotiate it away.</p>
<p>Well Jon has demanded a 3-month hiatus, which may also be too long.
It’s being reported that he had been asking for his salary without being on the show and the ability to do other things, but TLC wouldn’t let him be involved with another show.</p>
<p>Let the negotiating play out - 80% chance they come to something because it’s in both their economic interests to do so and filming continues. </p>
<p>We don’t know what’s in his contract but if they don’t use him for anything, they still have to pay him. Who knows what else it says about other shows.</p>
<p>
I guarantee TLC has more leverage than Jon.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned near the beginning of this thread that the show was about a Christian… family. That happened to be their religion but the show did not emphasize that aspect of their life, it came out in showing how they managed their lives. If it was meant to be a major factor they certainly have shown that being Christian does NOT make a person better, in fact one could make a case for the opposite… Likewise with nutrition- organic isn’t the same as healthy.</p>
<p>The early episodes were interesting because the showed how parents cope with multiples, something the vast majority of us have no clues about. Now that the kids are older it is just a bunch of average seeming kids (could be neighbors) who get to do activities most don’t get to do. There is no longer the emphasis on the dynamics of so many same age siblings- good for the kids’ privacy, but it has degenerated into a bunch of priveleged kids doing things for the purpose of something different for each tv show.</p>
<p>It becomes an interesting case study for professionals. The more episodes there were the more red flags about the family showed up. So many mistakes made from the beginning of their marriage and child planning. No time for them to mature as a couple before having their twins- and the time from wedding to sextuplets was so short. So many good examples of how NOT to do things.</p>
<p>The best reality shows about multiples are those that do an annual update with the families. The public gets an awareness of the differences in dealing with so many same age kids as the families deal with the same issues every family does. TLC veered far off the original premise of the show. It became a monster that needs to end.</p>
<p>While I’m on a roll- the mega family with 18 kids is disgusting as well. Another example of supposedly following Christian values gone wrong. They are making money off of their ability to breed like rabbits. This show has also been more and more spectaular trips as well as kids parenting kids. Another con artist getting money from the rest of us with their circus. That family proves humans are no better or worse than other animals. No reasons to admire any of them.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>That may be true, but if I am Jon, I have to use what leverage I can if my goal is maxing my exposure.</p>
<p>
I think you’re smarter and more rational than Jon.</p>
<p>Well, I hope his economic ventures are more than just starting his own clothing line. Most clothes, even mens clothing, are purchased by women .pretty certain they wont be buying his brand.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If the house was completely paid for by TLC and the parent(s) actually did set up trust funds to pay for each kid’s education down the road, Jon and Kate should be capable of taking care of their kids’ current living expenses off the salaries they make as a nurse and IT person. It won’t be the same lifestyle they live now, with luxury vacations, weekly mani-pedis, regular tanning sessions, and expensive gifts for the girlfriend. It will be the scrimping kind of lifestyle most middle-class families (particularly those with two separate households) maintain. But they no longer will be prostituting their kids’ future mental health to pay for their own extravagant tastes.</p>
<p>I don’t think Jon’s going to go back to the farm without a fight. He’s too busy in NYC and Vegas. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe they have joint custody, so perhaps that means they both must agree?</p>
<p>I think the courts may tend to side with Jon. You have a pretty easy to make case that the children’s welfare is being compromised and that his parental rights are being violated.</p>
<p>I disagree Barrons. Jon’s rights are not being violated. Kate leaves for half the time. That’s all that needs to happen.</p>
<p>As far as the kids’ welfare, a lawyer could argue that the kids need the parental income in order to be supported. Jobs are very hard to come by, and the cost of childcare for 8 kids would eat up so much money that there would be little left of a regular salary. That’s just the practical reality when there are 8 kids and two households to be supported. It couldn’t be lightly said that the parents should walk away from their income in quest of some theoretical lifestyle</p>
<p>He’s on Larry King (CNN Live) right now.</p>
<p>did you hear larry’s breaking news about Letterman?</p>
<p>[Letterman:</a> I faced extortion over sexual affairs - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/01/letterman.allegations/index.html]Letterman:”>Letterman: I faced extortion over sexual affairs - CNN.com)</p>
<p>I only caught a little of it–something about extortion regarding pay up or expose his sexual relationships with staff members</p>
<p>Kate started this scorched earth tit-for-tat by putting a lot of the cash in the marital estate into trusts for the kids. Taking this pot of money out of the marital estate would leave him poor but she would have the money from the future TV show, books, speaking engagements, etc.</p>
<p>Now he’s retaliated by trying to cut off her access to the TV contract and any future income. </p>
<p>What they’ll be left with is scorched earth all around. Reminds me of that Michael Douglas-Kathleen Turner movie, War of the Roses.</p>
<p>I wish I had counted how many times Jon said the word “mistake” in his interview with Larry King. At least 20 times. I made a mistake, I made a mistake, I made a mistake…it sure got old.</p>
<p>It’s about as old as listening to Kate repeat–“struggling single Mom” and “my kids”.
She also likes to constantly mention that she will never have a nanny yet she always has a “helper”. They both put themselves and their family into this mess. They are both to blame.</p>
<p>“I wish I had counted how many times Jon said the word “mistake” in his interview with Larry King. At least 20 times. I made a mistake, I made a mistake, I made a mistake…it sure got old.”</p>
<p>He was coached to do that. When you go into the media, especially where you have a particular message you want to get across, you are taught to repeat the same message over and over again. Keep bringing the audience back to the storyline. </p>
<p>In his case I sensed he wasn’t coached enough and he’s just not too bright to handle it. He couldn’t answer most of the questions in any sort of way that made sense. He stumbled and stuttered. He seemed completely and absolutely dishonest to me. And I have lost all respect for the guy. Wait…no, I never had respect to begin with, but you know what I mean. </p>
<p>You have to ask yourself why did he go on the show at all? Obviously for personal gain on his part. I think Crescent22 is dead on with this one. Its the only thing that makes sense (and in that sense he’s just using his kids once again).</p>