Jon & Kate Minus a Whole Lotta You

Cable hit's post-split return sustains huge viewer defections from June's record-setting divorce episode

Too much trainwreck—or not enough of one?

That's the question after more than half the crowd that gathered for Jon & Kate Plus 8's divorce announcement tuned out the show's post-split return.

Overall, the back-to-back new episodes averaged 3.6 million viewers, per TLC. And while that number is cable big, it's not Jon & Kate big—certainly not when compared to May's season opener (9.8 million) or June's aforementioned "big announcement" episode (10.6 million).

Last night's shows, while addressing the estrangement of the now-separately couched Jon and Kate Gosselin, focused on activities with the eight Gosselin children, and steered clear of Kate 2.0 and other tabloid topics.