Critics worry reality TV kids are exploited

* Media frenzy over reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8"

* Billed as family show, ratings rise as marriage crumbles

* Brother and sister-in-law say stop exploiting kids

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) - Hollywood abounds with child stars whose lives went off the rails, but the boom in reality TV raises new ethical questions that have come to a head in the case of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their eight children.

U.S. celebrity magazines, blogs and tabloids are in a frenzy about the new season of reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," in which the parents of sextuplets and twins appear to be barely speaking to each other and contemplating divorce.

The season premiere on Monday, when both parents brushed off rumors of infidelity, drew in nearly 10 million people.

The episode was ostensibly about a fifth birthday party for the sextuplets, but that was overshadowed by the drama of the parents' disintegrating marriage.

On Wednesday, Kate's brother and sister-in-law, Kevin and Jodi Kreider, appeared on CBS News' "The Early Show" to appeal to the couple to stop exploiting their children.