The Kardashians
reinvent reality TV (again)
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, Keeping Up With The Kardashians ushered in a new era of reality TV. Charting the rise (and rise) of America’s most famous family across 20 series, it’s easy to forget that it was once a ground-breaking format, a phenomenon that spawned countless imitations.
The final season aired last year, but the First Family of reality TV couldn’t stay off our screens for long. On 14 April, Kris, Khloé, Kourtney, Kendall, Kylie and Kim are back with new series The Kardashians, on Disney +, and they’re reinventing the reality show once more, moving away from soap opera-style melodramatics for a glossier, smarter, documentary-style show, in a bid to keep the brand feeling fresh and relevant. A quicker filming turnaround than KUWTK means the show will include more current storylines, too.
Presented as a more meta, behind-thescenes delve into how the Kardashian machine operates within the celebrity news cycle (with key players often breaking the fourth wall and talking about the show), the family have enlisted Emmy-winning TV producer Ben Winston, the man who launched James Corden in America.
Winston is renowned in the industry for creating ratings-winning moments, having directed Friends: The Reunion and ITV’S An Audience With Adele. Still, the Kardashians are worried about how the new show will land, and are now in full-throttle PR mode, with Kris reportedly holding daily strategy meetings to ensure the show makes maximum impact.
Kim, especially, is in a vulnerable position following her public divorce from Kanye West and being forced to apologise for her tone-deaf advice to women (‘get your f**king ass up and work’). She admitted in an interview with Variety that she’s very aware of their children watching the show, saying she would not criticise West (who will appear) on camera. Relations between the pair seemed to be improving after they were spotted at a sports game for their son Saint, but the tension between Kanye and Pete Davidson remains. A source tells Grazia, ‘It will all be addressed on the show and, while neither Kim nor Kris would publicly admit it, they know it will be ratings gold. They’re claiming Pete hasn’t filmed any episodes – but everyone knows that’s coming.’
As for the rest of the family, the show will follow Kourtney’s engagement to Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker (with talk of a potential spin-off chronicling their journey to have a baby). For Khloé, her heartache after her ex, Tristan Thompson, admitted in January that he fathered a child with another woman while he was still in a relationship with her will be covered. But the true test of The Kardashians will be if it addresses the Astroworld incident – when 10 people were killed when fans were crushed against a stage – which involved Kylie’s partner, Travis Scott. ‘The Astroworld tragedy is likely to be mentioned but the challenge there – as with other more sensitive issues, like Kanye’s mental health – is to ensure it’s done tastefully,’ the source adds.
The new show is a pivotal moment for the wider Kardashian empire if it wants to remain relevant. Regardless of how the new series is received, a second series has already been confirmed. So, for now at least, we’ll be keeping up with the Kardashians for a little longer.