Jon and Kate Return, No One Cares

As if you haven’t heard, Jon & Kate Plus 8 returned to TLC last night after a month’s hiatus. Good news for the network right? Eh, not so much.  While the show is still a cultural touchstone and dominates most tabloid mags, it no longer dominates in the ratings.

Last night’s back-to-back episodes had about 4 million viewers.  The episode aired before the long break? About 10 million viewers.  Ouch.

While 4 million viewers isn’t shabby, it certainly isn’t good news to TLC, which was probably counting on several more seasons of the series.  With their personal problems being paramount in their lives, I can imagine that Jon and Kate Gosselin (especially Jon, who has gone on record saying how much he dislikes being filmed) are weighing their options. Meanwhile, TLC might want to invest more attention in The Little Couple.  Have you seen that show, by the way? It’s awesome.