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"Monday&amp;apos;s much-hyped episode of Jon &amp;amp; Kate Plus 8 - in which Jon and Kate Gosselin finally announced they&amp;apos;re divorcing - proved to be ratings gold for TLC.\r\nA record 10.6 million viewers tuned in to the one-hour episode. (It was also the most-watched show among women 18-49 and persons 18-49.)  In comparison, the show&amp;apos;s season 5 debut on Memorial Day attracted 9.8 million watchers.\r\n\r\nOn Tuesday, the network announced it has halted production of the show until August to give the family &amp;quot;some time off to regroup.&amp;quot; (A retrospective of the Gosselins&amp;apos; 10 years of marriage airs June 29.)\r\n\r\nExperts are split whether the show can survive.  Marc Berman, senior television editor at Mediaweek, tells Usmagazine.com: &amp;quot;Once all of this dies down and Jon and Kate aren&amp;apos;t in the news anymore, this could be a problem for the show. They divorce, they move on with their lives and so do the viewers.&amp;quot;  \r\n\r\nRobert J. Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, says the show has lost its identity.\r\n&amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s like if The Cosby Show, mid-season, suddenly became Married With Children,&amp;quot; he tells Us. &amp;quot;I would not want to bet what&amp;apos;s left of my retirement fund on the ongoing success of this show.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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