kate plus 8 minus mate?

Ask anyone who knows me—I couldn't care less about celebrities.

I rarely see movies. I watch very little TV. I've never seen American Idol, Lost, Dancing With the Stars, Grey's Anatomy, or most of the other series people obsess over. I'd never seen Jon & Kate Plus 8 until Friday morning, when I was at the gym flipping channels, hoping to distract myself with a rerun of What Not to Wear. (I will admit to an embarrassing weakness for that and for 10 Years Younger, and in fact secretly fantasize about working behind the scenes on both shows, but that's another post for another time.)

What Not to Wear wasn't on, but a two-year-old rerun of Jon & Kate was. I'd heard the couple was on the rocks and was curious. Would I be able to spot clues to their future marital problems?

In a word: Yes. In three words: Dear heaven, yes.

For anyone who hasn't seen the series—apparently the rest of America has known this forever—those two are a train wreck. The story is, via fertility treatments, they had twins and then sextuplets, for a total of eight children over just a couple of years. Not surprisingly, she seems overwhelmed and compensates by trying to control everything she can. He seems overwhelmed and compensates by checking out as often as he can get away with. In the episode I saw, she'd asked him to install shelving in the garage and proceeded to pick apart every little thing he did. He, meanwhile, sulked and acted put-upon.

In other words, they're a cliché, your typical overworked, overstressed, overpressured couple with kids.

And now here comes the next cliché—every wife-and-mother's nightmare: He may or may not be cheating on her, and most everyone seems to be blaming her. She nags too much. She's too controlling. She treats him like a child. She's neglecting him and her kids, paying too much attention to her career (as a public speaker and writer).

Maybe I identify with Kate a bit too much—I can be, ahem, overanxious, and try to compensate by making sure my life is super-organized. And, surely, Kate has something to do with the trouble in her relationship. But doesn't Jon deserve some public scorn? Couldn't he have suggested couples' therapy? For the sake of the kids they care so much about, couldn't he have taken action, instead of foolishly letting himself be photographed with another woman?

My friend Danelle thinks the whole thing is a ratings gimmick. I don't know. The problems seem too typical—yes, too much a cliché—to be completely invented.

And despite that I still couldn't care less about celebrities, I sheepishly hope these two can work it out.