Anyone who has heard of Jon and Kate Plus 8 (whether you are a fan or not), know that the couple is going through some extremely tough times.  He said-she said accounts of various affairs, monstrous attitudes, and greed have the show’s PR machine working overtime.  It seems… the more Jon and Kate fight, the higher their ratings are.

In fact, famed anti- Jon and Kate site named Gosselins Without Pity (GWOP) document every calculated move the parents of these 8 children make.  In fact, if sides are chosen in this battle… GWOP would be on Jon’s side as many of the commenters are anti-Kate.  Though, the site and the commenters remain mostly concerned for the welfare of the children, even to the point of boycotting the show in an effort to return the overexposed children back to a normal life.

Still, I have to wonder…  how normal can the lives of these children become?  It seems that their mother (Kate) now accustomed to the lavish lifestyle given to her them by the show, is determined to keep the money machine running even at the expense of her own marriage.

As fans of the show are aware, last season’s finale left a cliff hanger of sorts because Jon and Kate were on opposite sides of the fence in regards to continuing the show.  Jon definitely did not want to continue the show and Kate definitely did.

Though I rarely watch the show, the destruction of family always draws me in like a train wreck.  I can’t help but rubber-neck my way through this ordeal.  Incredulously, I watch these parents destroy the innocent lives of their children not only by overexposing them to the general public but also by exposing them to their marital strife (affairs with bodyguards, tramping around at bars, family members giving interviews about private matters between husband and wife, etc.).

Divorce and family strife is hard enough on children.  The security blanket gets ripped off at that point.  Now imagine that all of this is filmed and that you are forced to grow up sooner than you would have otherwise because you are on a television show.  41 episodes aired last season.  That’s like 20 episodes more per season than a normal television series.

I ask myself, as a mother, to what extent would I go to achieve a small amount of fame and fortune?  When does my own life trump the lives of my children and husband?  Because as we all know from watching Jon and Kate Plus 8… all of this comes at a steep price.

As the cast dwindled down, I quickly began to pick out my favorites.  I loved Jes's spunky hair and 'tude!  I loved Sam's sincerity and her ability to be completely honest with Bret.  Finally, I was dazzled by Heather's cool as a cat personality.

As I became mildly obsessed with my Sunday night reality show crave, I began to wonder how much "reality" the show really had.

The final elimination had two of my favorites on the proverbial chopping block.  Each rocker gal was vying for the ultimate backstage pass of passion.  In the end, it was Jes who won that pass and the final scene ended with a heavy lip lock and Bret enthusiastically albeit romantically ensuing that Jes was indeed his "Rock.  of Love".  Aaaaand Scene!

I waited a whole week after for the reunion show with one question on my mind… did they make it through the 6-month separation?  Are they still together?  I Googled that question a million times over and found more mysteries than answers.  Many people reported that she had two myspace accounts.  One was for the Rock of Love Jes and the other was named "Anchor".  Mysterious Anchor (in real life Jes) had met the designer for Chi clothing and they were now dating, leaving Bret in the dust.

The Sunday of the reunion show, I made sure that I was free for my 8-9 reality show indulgence.  I lived through the painful interview with Brandi C. and Krista.  I think they should have had their boobs pressed together a little more tightly through that segment in the show as their thoughts came out discombobulated-like.  The only thing I got out of their interview was that they were living together, designing weird looking wedding attire and that sometimes they slept in the same bed together.  This of course prompted the reunion show's host to give them more than their share of air-time as he stared open-mouthed at the thought of them pressing their boobs together to come up with one single cognitive thought.

After all that blah blah blah, Heather finally came on and told her side of the story.  She was really funny and immediately I wish she would have won the final pass.  Next, Bret and Jes came on stage.  Jes gave Bret a one-armed hug that was as if someone shot icicles between the two of them.  She made it friendly enough to ensure that she wasn't bitter.

Jes proceeded to tell the world that the show was pretty fake.  Heather did not agree to share Bret and that she (Heather) should have ended up with him.  Jes told of how she was promptly shown to her hotel room after the impassioned kiss, and that it was not Bret, but Big John who walked her up.  She got the impression that they needed to go their separate ways after the taping.  So much for mushy text-messages and phone calls.

In the end, my little heart was broken at the thought of yet another reality show yanking the itchy wool over my eyes.  I was gullible enough to believe that perhaps love could strike a reality show and that perhaps Jes and Bret were meant to be together in some rock version of Cinderella.  Only her prince had a bandana on his head instead of a helmet.

In the end, I vowed not to watch another reality dating show again.  I was over Bret Michaels and his band of rocker chicks.  THEN, I heard that they are making a "Rock of Love 2" and Bret Michaels is once again on the quest to find reality show love.  I would like to say that i'm going to stay strong and not watch the show… but we both know what i'll be watching on Sunday nights.