“We’re back!” kids announce in their first TV appearance since Kate Plus 8 was canceled

May 28, 2014 10:08 GMT  ·  By

If we’re to believe reports online, since TLC pulled the plug on Kate Plus 8, formerly known as Jon and Kate Plus 8, Kate Gosselin, aka the original Octomom, has been struggling to land a new TV series. She’s getting her wish this summer, when she and her brood return to TLC for a 2-hour special.

Keeping with the tradition started by the name of the original show, which also featured ex-husband Jon Gosselin and was a smashing hit, this special will be called simply Kate Plus 8. It’s not a promise on the network’s part for more airtime, but we’re guessing this is what Kate’s hoping for, if the special does well in ratings.

So, Plus 8 will catch up with America’s formerly favorite family, see how the kids are doing now that they’re older, how growing up has changed their interaction with their mother, and how Kate is coping with everything, especially now that she’s not a high-rated and high-paid reality star.

From the first trailer, released to People magazine, we can take one thing for granted: discipline is still the word of the day in the Gosselin household. The video shows Kate sitting all 8 kids down on the couch in the living room, in preparation for spring break – for which she has, of course, prepared some “fun” activities.

You see her lay down the law in the same strict manner she had when she first got a reality show, and which has often been subject to much debate on whether she’s not being too drastic with the kids.

Kate explains in voiceover that, with 8 children, discipline can’t lack or all hell breaks loose.

“A lot has changed since you last have been here. It's all still happening with or without cameras. We've all been through a lot, we've learned what's important,” she says.

“And I'm getting older, tireder, more worn out. The kids are getting older and smarter... They are giving me a run for my money, daily and hourly and moment by moment,” Kate continues.

At the end of the video, she explains how her biggest weapon is knowing which buttons to push with her kids: so she got them iPads and phones just so she could have something to confiscate when they’re not being obedient.

Word on the street is that Kate has burned through the money she made as a reality star slash author, so she’s dying to get back on TV. It is believed she tried pitching ideas to various other networks but they always turned her down.

If any of this is true, then TLC is her only chance of ever coming back into the spotlight, this being the network that launched her (and husband Jon). Granted, she might never attain the same levels of fame and exposure, or make the same kind of money as before, but at least she will have a steady income for a time.

If this 2-hour special does well in terms of ratings and reviews, and TLC sees that there’s real interest in Kate again, don’t act too surprised when they’ll announce a new reality series with her and the kids.