Tonight’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8” final episode will start with how it all ended –a shot of the infamous sign Jon Gosselin posted last September on the gate to his house, warning TLC film crews “and production staff” to stay away.
That was the moment he withdrew permission for his eight kids to be filmed, effectively ending the two-year journey that started out with such promise.
In another scene during tonight’s episode, Kate is taking a photo of her kids and speculating that it was “probably the last thing” they’ll do for the show — which turns out to be true.
In the midst of the most public divorce since Ivanka and The Donald, bickering Jon and Kate Gosselin have been filming their final scenes in and around their Wernersville, Pa. home separately, on different days, in order to avoid running into each other.
And the show’s production crew has been scrambling right up to this weekend to edit the footage in time for tonight’s finale.
There will be no final appearance on the couch by the couple — who met over the weekend at Kate’s lawyer’s office for a court-ordered session to finalize child custody arrangements.
On tonight’s final episode, Kate is seen driving the family van, telling an unseen producer that it feels odd — because Jon should be driving.
She feels like her place should be in the passenger seat — emphasizing that’s what she always wanted (a none-too-veiled swipe at Jon’s claim that she’d always wanted total control).
According to TLC, which airs the show, tonight’s episode is about the Gosselins preparing “for the unpredictable future of the show” — which turns out to be no show, as we know now.
It was after the taping had finished that TLC decided that the family crisis was simply too much and that it would not go ahead with “Kate Plus 8,” a show built around just the mom and kids, at least for the time being.
“We are focusing on the launch of Kate’s new [talk show] in early spring,” said a network spokeswoman.
” ‘Kate Plus 8’ is not in production.”
In most other respects, tonight’s finale is a typical “Jon & Kate” episode: Kate takes her brood to a local dairy farm — where they learn to milk a cow — while Jon and the kids visit a firehouse and help in fundraising efforts.
The moments are played as an emotional reminder of how the series started in 2007 and what might have been.