Jon & Kate returns Mon., TLC “will continue to capture this family’s journey in a respectful way”

Jon & Kate Plus Eight returns Monday night after its unexpected summer hiatus that followed the couple’s divorce, and the show will be continuing and following Jon and Kate’s new lives, TLC’s president just told TV critics here in Los Angeles.

Considering that the divorce announcement was the highest-rated show ever for TLC and this year on cable, that’s not a surprise. TLC president Eileen O’Neill said, “we will continue to capture this family’s journey in a respectful” way and “cover the family with great care and thoughtfulness as they deal with thsi subject,” which she said is “familiar to many Americans.”

The only real change is that the “iconic couch is gone,” replaced by separate chairs and separate interviews. As to Jon’s parade of women or other people in their lives, O’Neill said they’ll deal with whether or not to include those people on a “case by case basis.”