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Kate plus 8 plus Palins plus camping equals lots of whining

Last summer, Kate Gosselin and her eight kids went to Alaska, rang up Sarah Palin and scheduled the ultimate multi-family playdate: a camping trip. The idea itself is a little confounding and the episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" that features the colliding worlds is even more so. The great camping incident (to call it a "trip" is to oversell the experience a touch) airs on the TLC reality show th

Last summer, Kate Gosselin and her eight kids went to Alaska, rang up Sarah Palin and scheduled the ultimate multi-family playdate: a camping trip. The idea itself is a little confounding and the episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" that features the colliding worlds is even more so. The great camping incident (to call it a "trip" is to oversell the experience a touch) airs on the TLC reality show this Sunday -- but I was lucky enough to screen it early. Here's what you need to know, in a nutshell: don't go camping with Kate Gosselin.

To be fair, it was not ideal weather for tent-pitching and camp-firing. It was obviously colder than the families had hoped it would be and it was raining. A source who was there with the families can attest to a copious amount of mosquitoes, too. However, Kate could have tried a little harder to be part of the experience. If she had, say, wandered out from under the tent that was already pitched when she arrived, maybe she would have distracted herself from being so miserable. But as she said herself, "somebody's gotta be."

While Sarah Palin and her family gamely entertained all eight kids in the same weather momma Gosselin refused to wander out into, Kate whined. "I'm not worried about bears right now, I'm worried about keeping my toes wiggling. Because they're freezing," was one of many gripes. She appeared to be tossing a sandwich (she did not make) on the ground while simultaneously whining, "I'm so hungry." And there were burning questions to address about the reasons one would camp: "They did this before there were houses, why do it now? ... Why would you pretend to be homeless? I just don't get the concept." Clearly.

But one concept you'd think Kate would get by now is that of reality television, which follows one basic rule: if you behave badly, that behavior exists in an echo chamber. This is especially true for Kate, who knows quite a bit about being portrayed fairly, and not. Kate admits, "We are not camping people," and that is perfectly fine. But you are a television personality, and you know how the game is played. A little bit of effort here would have gone a long way.