myerstownherald.com

By SASHA PASULKA
Jon and Kate have an uphill battle ahead of them. It will be interesting to see how the show’s ratings work moving forward.
TLC just ordered 40 episodes for the upcoming season – probably because they know there won’t be another one.
The Season 5 premiere brought in more than 9 million viewers – that’s an unheard-of number for cable programming.
The next several episodes will see equally high ratings, but after that I expect they’ll drop off.
With eight adorable, innocent children involved, Americans will tire of rubber-necking as this family falls apart. It’s like staring at a terrible car wreck: at first it’s exciting, and then you start to feel kind of dirty and move on. Jon and Kate didn’t start off as a show about a train wreck.
It built its core audience on the appeal of those children and on two parents raising so many young kids in what was, at the time, a typical suburban home.
Today, they live in a mansion on a sprawling piece of land with multiple nannies, assistants and a film crew.
Regardless of what’s happening in Jon and Kate’s marriage, the story has become considerably less relatable for the average American.
Audiences tuned in en masse last week to watch the train wreck, but they’ll move on and lose interest in the Gosselins shortly.
The show is on its last legs. This presents a challenge for a family who has come to rely entirely on income from being famous. Kate has found success as an author and public speaker, and my guess is she’ll continue along that road.
She’s a fascinating on-screen personality – audiences may hate her and judge her, but they love to do so. If she plays her cards right, she can continue to work in television and as an author without actually putting her kids on TV.
If I were her, that’s what I’d do at this point: Refuse to film another season of the show with the kids, and instead focus on promoting herself as a super-mom personality for appearances and interviews.
As for Jon, he clearly has public opinion on his side, but he’s a less intriguing personality in the absence of Kate. Jon’s come to the same terrifying realization that a lot of young starlets have to deal with: Once you’re that famous, you’re famous forever.
It never ends and there’s no way out. The world doesn’t stop watching just because you need some alone time to put your life back together, to make some human mistakes in the process.
It’s almost a paralyzing concept – as scary to a 30-something Jon as it was to a 25-year-old Britney Spears. What Jon wants to do is back away from the spotlight and focus on his children and his personal life, and I expect that’s exactly what he’ll do as soon as this season ends.
Regarding all the speculation involving how this will affect the children: The biggest struggle they are going to face is, ultimately, having divorced parents.
Kids are resilient – the cameras were a part of their childhood, but they may not be a part moving forward, and that will be fine. Right now, paparazzi are stalking their every move because they’re a huge story, but, realistically, these people live in Wernersville , not the Hollywood Hills.
Eventually – and sooner rather than later – it won’t make sense for the photo agencies to pay photogs to wander around Wernersville waiting for a shot.
That attention will die down quickly, and the kids will get back to a normal life.
What it comes down to is this: These children are fed and clothed and housed and educated and supervised and, above all, very clearly loved.
I’ve watched every episode of that show, and I haven’t seen anything that even borders on abuse of the children.
If we, as a society, want to focus on the safety of young children, there are far more pressing cases off-screen that could desperately use the resources we’ve devoted to worrying about the Gosselin kids.
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Sasha Pasulka is the founder and head writer for Evil Beet Gossip.

By ASHLEY DOS SANTOS
The Gosselins are reality television’s latest victims in a long string of Hollywood-induced broken homes.
In April 2007, a slew of TLC executives invited us into the home of “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ with the promise of a modern day Brady Bunch trying to make their hectic lives work in a stressed but fun environment.
Now, two years later, America is chronicling the demise of this larger-than-most family unit.
And we have to ask, did the producers see this coming?
Well of course they did.
Hollywood studios know the statistics just as well as any family or marriage counselor.
Studies have shown that the decline in intimacy within a marriage is one of the leading causes of divorce next to cheating and addiction. Now add media intrusion, twins and sextuplets into the mix.
Jon and Kate not only have cameras invading their private lives every day, but they have eight children in constant need at all times. And for TV producers, the potential collapse of this family structure meant a high probability of record-breaking ratings.
And what do you know?
This season’s “Jon & Kate” premiere attracted nearly 10 million viewers, more than double the audience that tuned in for the show’s Season 4 finale in March.
Estimates also show that the premiere was Jon & Kate’s most-watched episode.
Jon and Kate aren’t the first fallen family in the history of reality TV and they most certainly won’t be the last.
From Newlywed’s Nick and Jessica to the Hogans to the “Girls Next Door,” “reality” couples are no strangers to turmoil.
And it is America’s seemingly relentless addiction to train wrecks that keeps studios on the lookout for more tragedies-in-the-making. These shows signal to viewers that it is now socially acceptable to give into the human tendency to gossip and to want insight into other people’s lives.
Even better, the TLCs and Bravos and VH1s of the world will provide you with a camera-ready view to do so.
Reality TV exploits the institution of marriage and family. Through selective editing and contrived situations, viewers are taught that vows and values should be minimized for the sake of sex and scandal. Jon and Kate started off wholesome but eventually fell prey to the Hollywood machine that dictates no marriage or family under strain will be able to withstand the added pressures of constant media scrutiny.
And with skyrocketing ratings, we as viewers are signaling to the studios that they should continue doing what they do best and find us more families to judge ‘til they drop.
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Ashley Dos Santos serves as a senior account executive at Crosby~Volmer International Communications in Washington D.C. She received her bachelor of arts degree in women & gender studies and romance languages from Dartmouth College.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney finally has provided a voice for the Republican Party. Cheney’s recent vigorous defense of the national security policies of the Bush Administration has been essential to challenge the campaign by President Obama to diminish what his predecessor did to keep the country safe. Cheney has helped keep the conservative view of how to handle national security matters before the public.
Cheney’s effort has been particularly necessary because the Republican Party has been largely leaderless since President Bush’s popularity began a freefall after Hurricane Katrina.
Bush appeared less and less frequently in public to defend his policies on all subjects as his popularity declined. People also may have been less willing to listen to his explanations.
The recent presidential campaign did not produce a clear spokesman for the Republican Party either. None of the Republican candidates for president either galvanized the party’s base or inspired undecided voters.
The nominee, Sen. John McCain, often seemed to be trying to distance himself from the party, rather than embracing it or trying to define its agenda. Since Republicans lost the majority in Congress, they have been unable to effectively oppose the Democrats’ agenda.
While the Republican ship drifted, Barack Obama relentlessly attacked Bush Administration policies during the campaign and after he became president. He advanced the viewpoint that terrorism could be defeated if the United States simply was nicer to countries committed to our destruction and gave greater protection to captured terrorists.
The result of the Republican leadership vacuum and the effective attacks by Obama on the party’s accomplishments in national security is that many good policies implemented by the Bush Administration were not defended. Obama now is trying to undo these policies, including ending tough interrogations of captured terrorists and closing the Guantanamo Bay prison for captured terrorists. Obama has tried to portray tough questioning as ineffective and as torture.
Cheney, whose popularity was even lower than Bush’s, has stepped up to challenge Obama, and he is the only high-profile Republican to defend the party in a meaningful way in a long time.
Cheney does not care about popularity or poll numbers, but he does care about keeping the country safe. He has made the case that valuable information was acquired through tough interrogation and that this interrogation is not torture. He will not convince people who are opposed to these methods, but he has brought important aspects of the national security debate to light.
The Republican Party needs more forceful, vigorous, articulate leaders such as Cheney speaking up for the party’s agenda. These leaders must challenge on Obama on national security and economics. People will be willing to listen if the message is presented in a clear and direct way.

By KARA CONNERS
The buzz around the town is “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”
I hear and talk about it so much at the salon that I’m going to call it something like the latest virus of Swine Flu.
How about a sweet abbreviation like “JKP8″?
Catchy, isn’t it?
Maybe it will be a new catch-phrase; hopefully, it won’t be a deal-breaker.
If you haven’t heard of the Gosselins, you are probably living under a rock.
Their wildly popular reality show pulled in a whopping 9.8 million viewers for the season premiere on May 25.
America needs to be reassured that they are not alone in the daily mishmash of screaming children and arguments with husbands.
I’m not sure if it is so popular in this area because we feel a connection to them. The Wernersville residents are the closest thing to fame around here.
It is hilarious to hear clients talk about a connection they have or had with them in the past.
It’s pretty cool to see where the family goes and visits.
It’s not every day you get to know familiar landmarks on national TV.
In the first episode, they were at Target in the Reading area.
The funniest thing … there was paparazzi!
Holy cow! I didn’t know Reading had paparazzi. It just makes us laugh.
But, the thing that makes no one laugh is Kate’s hair.
Ugh.
Kate, please cut off the cow tongue at the side of your head.
It looks awful! We took votes all this week at the shop, and not one person liked or even asked for that cut.
Remember the posh cut?
Yeah, gave about five of those a day, not one request for “The Kate.”
Maybe it’s because nobody wants to topple over because of hair’s weight.
I have watched the show over the years and Kate really does have good hair and style.
At least, the color part of her hair is great.
Unfortunately, the cut is a no-no.
Maybe Jon should speak up for once and tell her it’s awful. For now, I will be tuning in once a week just like the rest of America to see what will becomes of our “JKP8.”
Hopefully a new hairdo for Kate is in the works, and Jon will be moving back in with his family.
However, that hairdo is definitely a deal-breaker.
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Kara Conners, the Hair Doc, is the owner of Hey Gorgeous Hair Studio, located on 39 West Main Avenue in Myerstown. Please e-mail her comments and questions at:
heygorgeoushair@yahoo.com

By ERIC FISHER
The Pittsburgh Penguins have already made history. By sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes, the Penguins became the first Stanley Cup runners-up to return to the Stanley Cup finals the following season since the Edmonton Oilers returned to the finals in 1984.
You might remember that Oilers team. They were led by a couple of young guys named Gretzky and Messier. They also went on to win four Stanley Cups during the ensuing five years.
Nobody is comparing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to Gretzky and Messier. At least they shouldn’t be making that comparison. Not yet.
The Penguins’ centers form arguably the best young one-two punch at center ice since Gretzky and Messier. But to earn a place in a conversation with these two Hall of Famers, Crosby and Malkin will have to win a few Stanley Cups.
Crosby and Malkin will get another opportunity at their first Stanley Cup when the finals begin Saturday (NBC, 8 p.m.). Standing in their way will be the Detroit Red Wings, the team that defeated Pittsburgh in last year’s finals.
This marks the first time that the same teams have battled for the Cup in consecutive years since the aforementioned Oilers and New York Islanders clashed in the 1983 and ’84 finals.
In another historic note, the Penguins and Red Wings are the only teams since those storied 1980s Oilers squads to win consecutive Stanley Cups. The Penguins won in 1991 and ’92; the Red Wings won in 1997 and ’98. The Red Wings, of course, would like to repeat as champions again this season.
Looking at the talent on these two teams, it isn’t a shock to see them both back in the finals. The Penguins, however, took the long road back to the finals.
As late as early March, there were doubts about whether the Penguins would even return to the playoffs. In addition to missing Marion Hossa, the high-scoring winger who left via free agency and signed with – who else? – Detroit, Pittsburgh seemed to be lacking the grit supplied by players such as wingers Ryan Malone and Georges Laraque.
General manager Ray Shero made his first big move to change the team’s attitude on Feb. 15, when he replaced head coach Michel Therrien with Dan Bylsma. Later that month, Shero traded for left wing Chris Kunitz, who had been a key player for Anaheim’s Cup-winning team in 2007.
By the way, when Kunitz split time between Anaheim and the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 2003-04, one of his teammates was a veteran named Dan Bylsma, who was in the final year of his nine-year NHL playing career. It’s a small world.
The world gets even smaller when one realizes that Anaheim’s head coach that season was Mike Babcock. Yes, the same Mike Babcock who is the Red Wings head coach.
In early March, Shero made another important acquisition: Bill Guerin. This veteran right wing brings toughness, talent and playoff experience to the Penguins. Guerin broke into the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and won the Cup in 1995. The team the Devils beat in 1995? The Red Wings, who were making their first finals appearance in 29 years.
The notion that the Red Wings hadn’t been in the finals for 29 years sounds crazy to younger fans. The Red Wings have become a perennial power, gunning for their fifth Stanley Cup in the past 13 seasons. In fact, the Red Wings are arguably the most successful franchise – in any sport – during the past 15 years.
The Red Wings are overflowing with talent. Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula … the list goes on and on. The Red Wings definitely have a European flavor, but nobody should be fooled into thinking that Detroit can be pushed around.
A ray of hope for Penguins fans are the injuries to Lidstrom, the NHL’s best defenseman, and Datsyuk. Both players missed Games 4 and 5 of the Western Conference finals with undisclosed injuries. (For those unfamiliar with secretive NHL injury reports, injuries are listed vaguely as “upper body” or “lower body” injuries, and team personnel would withstand waterboarding before giving away the true nature of an injury.)
Another reason for Penguins fans to believe the outcome in this year’s finals will be different is goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury has been terrific during the postseason. Without a few huge saves by Fleury at crucial moments, the Penguins may have been knocked off in the first round by their cross-state rivals, the Flyers.
Detroit goalie Chris Osgood doesn’t receive enough credit, but it’s not a knock on Osgood to state that the Penguins have the edge in goal.
Another key for the Penguins is defenseman Sergei Gonchar. It’s not a coincidence that the Penguins’ improved play – often attributed to the hiring of Bylsma and the trades for Kunitz and Guerin – coincided with Gonchar’s return from injury.
But the bottom line is that Crosby and Malkin must play like superstars. Otherwise, the Penguins will be history. And not the type of history they’re trying to make.

By MOLLY DAVIS
John Mayer is trying to mount a “White Horse” for Taylor Swift.
Yay or Nay?
I say Nay.
Why?
Several reasons.
Although he is talented, his rep as a serial heartbreaker precedes him.
Jennifer Aniston, Vanessa Carlton, Minka Kelly, Jessica Simpson, and Cameron Diaz have all fallen for the self-proclaimed “bad boy.”
Be different, Taylor.
Don’t be another notch on this moron’s bedpost.
He is a first-class creep.
Which is clear when watching him try to joke around with the paparazzi — he fancies himself a comedian.
His jokes fall flat.
Stick to strumming, Mayer.
The beauty would most definitely sully her clean-cut reputation with a dalliance with the dorky, ditty crooning Mayer.
Let’s hope the already love-burned Swift doesn’t fall for his over-used lines that so many others seem to buy.
They performed Swift’s “White Horse” and Mayer’s “Your Body is a Wonderland,” which is rumored to be about one of his many previous flings — Jennifer Love Hewitt, at Swift‘s sold-out Staples Center Concert in Los Angeles last week.
The duo’s duets should stay on stage.
Although he is a step up from king dork Joe Jonas.
An itty-bitty step.
But still a step.

Heartthrob singer John Mayer made a stunning appearance at Taylor Swift’s concert at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on May 22.
Mayer, 31, teamed up with sizzling 19-year-old Wyomissing native to perform his song “Your Body is a Wonderland” and her hit “White Horse” before her screaming fans.
The appearance fueled Internet-generated speculation that the ladies’-man Mayer might be looking to make beautiful music with Swift — off the stage.
Despite Mayer’s reputation, Swift was impressed.
“I’ll never forget it, as long as I live,” Swift wrote on Twitter.com on the concert. “Thanks to (Mayer) for being there for me!”
Mayer dated Jennifer Aniston before they split up in March. The smooth Mayer also hooked up and broke the hearts of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Cameron Diaz and Jessica Simpson.
Even though she had a now legendary breakup with singer Joe Jonas, Swift seemingly doesn’t care if dates somebody famous — or a bad boy.
“When I’m thinking about going on a date with some guy or considering liking him, it really doesn’t matter what they do or how that affects my career,” Swift told the Associated Press.
“When you strategize a relationship too much, like, ‘We’re not gonna be public about it, and we’re gonna say this in interviews,’ when you think it all out, I think that complicates the relationship and I think that’s unfair for the relationship.”
Born and raised in Wyomissing, Swift peformed with the Pat Garrett Band and sang Karaoke at the Pat Garrett Roadhouse in Strausstown when she was 11.
Her music first aired on 1510-AM in Lebanon.

By MOLLY DAVIS
You know you’ve truly “arrived” when you get your own story on E!
Welcome, Jon and Kate Gosselin.
Although I did picture the couple’s kids having their own “True Hollywood Story” in about 15 years, this is an early surprise.
Like Halloween in May.
BOO!
It’s more of Kate’s scary hair on TV.
The show will air on May 29 at 10:30 p.m. on E! for all those interested in watching the train wreck barrel onward.
Aptly title “Jon and Kate: Twisted Fate,” the show promises to deliver all things drama — cheating, lying, etc.
I will of course be TIVOing the debacle.
The half-hour long special comes on the heels of the season premiere, which aired on Memorial Day, and shows that E!, along with TLC, will milk this story for every penny they can.
But I think they should have waited until the story played out.
What’s an E! special without drug abuse, drinking and ultimately rehab or jail time?
I can’t see the religious couple falling that far from grace.
Booooring.

By MOLLY DAVIS
I no longer feel sorry for Jon and Kate.
After watching the Gosselins “face each other for the first time,” as TLC promoted the much-hyped season premiere – I felt they showed a sense of entitlement that they are most definitely not entitled to.
John and Kate should be ashamed of themselves.
They have been given more free perks and privileges than most people on the planet.
First class trips to Hawaii.
Utah skiing trips.
Tummy-tuck surgeries.
Hair transplants.
Teeth whitening treatments.
The list is very long.
But they seem to have very short memories of all the “ups” of reality-show fame.
While I admit it’s awful to be under that kind of public scrutiny, I think the good has outweighed the negatives in their situation.
They live in a $1.5 million home and have lots of luxuries they wouldn’t have otherwise.
And when Jon stated “I didn’t sign up for this” I spit out my beverage.
Um, you may not have, but Kate certainly seems to be fully on board.
And the show is titled “Jon and Kate.”
Do the math.
No one deserves to have their private lives played out in the public eye, but it’s a necessary evil of the biz.
Nothing sells like people falling from grace.
It’s human nature.
Not to mention common sense.
So if Jon sincerely wants “out” – of the show and his marriage – he needs to make it known.
‘Cause from where I’m sitting, he looks like a more-than-willing participant.
The free ride will not last forever.
As for the paparazzi, which the couple both seem terribly annoyed with on the premiere, they are biting the hand that feeds them.
If not for them, would as many of the public know who they are?
Are there really THAT many diehard TLC viewers out there?
I speak for myself when I say that the only reason my fingers wander to that number on my remote is Jon and Kate.
I’m sure they had a solid fan base before all of this, but imagine the viewer ship they have gained in the last month by having their biz splashed all over the front of the tabs.
Not to mention being a lead story nightly on every TV tab show.
That helps.
Instead of whining about your circumstances, change them.
Stop production of the show.
No one will take you seriously if you continue to air your problems every Monday night, then complain about your “fame,” then continue to reap the benefits of said “fame,” and repeat that exercise weekly.
Count your blessings.
You know, all the on-the-house extras.
Oh, and your kids.

By MOLLY DAVIS
I’m a bit put off with TLC.
Why?
Their decision to continue filming the train wreck that is “Jon and Kate Plus 8” after everything that has happened.
It seems to me what once was an adorable endeavor has now turned into a money machine.
Yes, it’s the network’s highest-rated show.
But at what price?
The destruction of a family?
If you read all the gossipy blogs, it seems that mama bear Kate is the driving force behind keeping the show alive.
Which means she’s ignoring the obvious impact it has and will continue to have on her cubs.
I’m curious how TLC will incorporate Jon’s supposed cheating ways and the possible pending divorce drama into the reality nightmare.
What, is she going to sit on that oversized chair and actually be civil to Jon?
She never has in the past, so I guess this season won’t be any different.
The usual boring, harmless questions they answer, such as “How was the recent trip to the dentist?” or “How many loads of laundry do you do a week?” now seem silly with everything else that’s gone down in their world.
Some new question suggestions?
Field these, Gosselins:
“So, Kate, are you still banging your bodyguard?”
“Jon, tell us about the 23-year-old hanging out at your house in a bikini. Did she spend time with the kids while there?”
It won’t shock me if Kate pulls out a shiv and scalps those awful hair plugs of Jon’s.
But that would be hypocritical.
Have you seen Kate’s new beaver-tail-in the-front-porcupine-in-the-back do?
What on earth is going on there?
Yes, I digress.
I honestly feel TLC is enabling the downfall of a family for monetary gain.
And if I were one of the elite eight, when I hit 18, I would turn on my parents and sue them for squandering the money that I earned by being exploited every week.
Karma’s a b—-.