Kardashians mark decade as a pop culture force
Kardashian family celebrates 10 years of crafting their fame
Keeping Up with the Kardashians Season 14 debuts Sunday, E!
On Sunday night’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians 10th Anniversary Special on E!, the Kardashian-Jenners reflected on how their lives have changed in the last decade, going from your everyday quirky blended family (nicknamed the Hollywood Brady Bunch) to a major pop-culture force. As the 90-minute retrospective started, a chyron at the bottom of the screen ran E! News trending headlines. One read, “KYLIE JENNER IS PREGNANT: REPORTS.”
It was the perfect encapsulation of how the family has masterfully cultivated such fame. On Sept. 22, rumours “leaked” of Kylie’s pregnancy. And thanks to some coy not-denials from the family, it ensured the 20-year-old stayed in the news all weekend — right up until the live special. (The 14th season premières Sunday.)
Besides the family’s PR savvy, it was ringleader and momager Kris Jenner who offered a theory about why the show has such staying power, running 10 years and 310 episodes. Although ratings have declined, it’s the “longest running celebrity docu-soap in the history of television,” as host Ryan Seacrest said. Khloe Kardashian also informed the audience that the series is “the first and only docu-series to have the original cast for 10-plus years.”
“Just thinking back to the beginning,” Seacrest asked Kris, “What are your thoughts now, now that the whole universe knows you so well?”
“It’s very difficult to go anywhere without somebody talking about the show,” Kris said. “Our show’s in over 160 countries around the world. And that’s what’s so amazing about it — is how many different people and lives that it’s touched over the years.”
“There’s always something going on in the family that somebody out there can relate to,” Seacrest added.
“Well, I think there’s so many of us,” Kris agreed. “When we started our show, there wasn’t really another huge family with 132 family members. You know? There was a seven-year-old and there was a 60-year-old. So no matter what age you were, somehow you got sucked in and getting, like, emotionally invested in the show.”
This is one frequently overlooked reason why the Kardashians have built up such a loyal fan base over the last 10 years. Sure, they’re unbelievably wealthy and famous and ridiculous. However, if you take that away, they are — at the core — family members with lots of messiness and drama, but people who genuinely love each other.
Most of the special focused on the unattainable aspects of Kardashian-Jenner life, such as what it’s like to marry Kanye West. Or the problems that only a celebrity could have, including being forced to wake up at 7 a.m. and then film your life on camera for the rest of the day. But also, in a very Kardashian way, they managed to make it sound somewhat relatable.
“We were doing 18-hour days,” Kris said.
“We’re not complaining,” Kim quickly clarified. “We love what we do. We love that our job, every single day, is to get up and work with our family members. We could not be more lucky.”