Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht: Season 3 [DVD] [2008] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I'm assuming people looking at this already know whether or not they like the show, if you don't know or haven't seen it yet it's not hard to catch the episodes playing almost round the clock in syndication on TLC. The third season is still the lovable Gosselin family, the episodes are the finest of the series so far as it showed us the families real daily lives around the home more than recent episodes but the children were older and more mature than earlier seasons. This set also has the especially enjoyable episodes that focused on individual time between Jon & Kate with each individual child on their own special day. Episodes included in this 4 disc set are:

Trip To The Zoo
Day In The Life
Twins Turn 7!
Kate Hires A Nanny
Winter Preparation
Potty Training the Boys
Family Photo Shoot
Kate's Wardrobe Makeover
Gosselin Family Christmas
Plane Ride to Utah
Gosselins Go Skiing
Twins Get Musical
Cooking with the Twins
Carpeting the House
Valentine's Day
Color me Gosselin
Leah and Joel
Aaden and Hannah
Alexis and Colin
Mady's Day
Cara's Day
Jon & Kate's Special Day
Oprah Here We Come
Household Chores
Gosselins Take the Stage
Games Gosselins Play
Memorial Day Picnic
Discipline
Jon's Hair Raising Experience
Jon & Kate Family Movie Night

Plus Special Features: Behind the Scenes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (which originally aired as an episode).
Viewer FAQ (Which originally aired as an episode)
Music Video: A Hug & A Kiss (Which was promoted and aired once on television)

All episodes this season are shot and shown in 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Aspect Ratio. Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. There Are English Subtitles, the set is rated G and has a running time of approx. 698 minutes.

This season is in my opinion the best Jon & Kate has to offer. I haven't enjoyed recent episodes as much as these ones, possibly because they've been away from home alot doing too many out of the ordinary things that I can't relate to when I always found that sense of home to be the heart of the series. Hopefully now that they've settled into their new house the show will return more to the format I enjoyed. Though the hype the show has received and the affect it seems to have had (in my opinion) on the family will never allow it to be as great as it was in this third season it is still and probably will always be an enjoyable family series for most and they're who I recommend this to.

The DVD sets could be a tad bit better. Season 5, the saddest and most controversial season due to the nasty divorce of Jon and Kate, is cut too short to be worth the money for it. Netflix has the whole series including season 5 with BONUS episodes. The DVD does not. The final episode on the DVD is FAQ with Kate (and only Kate), when there was so much more captured on tape during that train wreck of a time. Season 3 is my favorite season, however it's missing the episode where the Gosselins head (by way of the big bus) to Disney World. To this day, I have NEVER seen that episode. That's my criticism for the purchase of the DVD's, though worth it only on Amazon where the DVD's are super cheap.

As for the show~I can say that I have driven my poor husband nuts with this melodramatic and zany reality show, and I'm not even a fan of the typical reality show genre. However, my husband rolls his eyes and sighs a frustrated sigh every time he hears the obnoxious opening ("ON THIS EPISODE OF JON AND KATE PLUS EIGHT!"). I think that the only way that I'll ever stop watching this show is if my husband threatens to leave me. Reruns and all, I can't stop watching.

BUT! The main reason I can't stop watching is because I'm addicted to the drama and as previously mentioned, the train wreck of it all. I am such a self-professed hypocrite because it drives me crazy that the kids are exploited right down to toilet scenes (I usually fast forward through those, to my credit). They have NO PRIVACY! Every tantrum, every tear, every flu epidemic is caught on tape. And narcissistic Kate, as well as overly passive Jon will proudly proclaim that there are no boundaries in this show.

I admire how organized Kate is. She definitely knows how to run a tight ship as far as making lists and schedules, as well as a spic and span house, and home-cooked meals as opposed to takeout which is what I would be tempted to do if I had that many kids to feed. However as much as Kate likes to brag that her kids only eat organic and healthy foods, Eggo waffles, Pop Tarts, and M&M's are not organic. I'm not faulting her for BUYING non-organic, but it makes me laugh every time she brags about their organic diet, which she does in MANY episodes. Oh well. The kids eat healthy enough and it is better than takeout for sure.

DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW UNLESS YOU LIKE MELODRAMA, NARCISSISM, AND OCD MOMS! YOU WILL HATE THIS SHOW! I like it because as sick as it is, it is comical at times to watch Kate meltdown in a Crayola Factory over her kids wanting to experiment with the WASHABLE magic markers, and then simply refuse to let them do so at all. It's compelling and disturbing to watch her get upset at one of her kids for vomiting on a comforter (again, washable, Kate) during a severe flu bout. It's infuriating and exasperating to listen to her lament in the same episode ("Cooking With the Twins" ~ Season 3) that she spends soooo much time (WAHHH!) doing laundry as it is without having to deal with Joel "choosing" to vomit on his comforter. In almost the same breath however, she says that all she has to do is wash and dry because her friends do the folding and putting away, as well as ironing. Then she says, "That's probably why I don't mind doing laundry." And to solve the vomiting dilemma, she sticks her kid on the linoleum laundry room floor for easy cleanup, never-mind that the kid is already racked with high fever and flu symptoms...let's stick him on the cold, hard floor for Kate's own convenience! I understand that she has sextuplets and twins, and that I would go insane often enough, under the same circumstances, but jeez, I wouldn't make it worse through Joan Crawford-like traits, I would hope. You'll see (if you bother to watch) in the same season, beloved Aunt Jodi comforting the same child during a relapse of the flu, while not just babysitting the eight Gosselin kids, but her own four at the same time, most of them dealing with the flu, so while it must be hard to keep your cool and maintain motherly comforting, it's not impossible, as the episode ("Jon's Hair Raising Experience") will show.

You'll also see that Jon has his flaws as well (childishness, passiveness, and alleged poor decisions in season 5...etc...etc), and yes, the kids aren't perfect, but Kate is the alpha female that makes the show tragic and compelling at the same time. I've already written a blow-hard review and for those that have bothered to read it in full, I have given away too much, but there is so much more! So if you're ever bored and think your life is bad and you like this sort of fluff, sit back and enjoy. Be warned: It is addicting.

I now own all 3 available seasons of the Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht series. I love them all. As usual, Kate is her nasty self. Some of the antics the kids pull are unbelievable but funny. I watch young children and so have to just laugh when I watch these guys - especially the younger 6.