You can’t talk about reality television without the Kardashian-Jenner family coming to mind. Kim Kardashian and her siblings skyrocketed to fame after the launch of Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2007, and to this day they remain on the 2024 TV schedule and are among the most recognizable celebrities in the world. Kylie Jenner remembers the day her mom Kris informed her and her siblings about the show, and it turns out she and sister Kendall took issue with the name (but not for the reason you might think). Either way, the title of the show was non-negotiable to Kris Jenner, and Kylie explained why.
Kylie Jenner was 9 years old when the cameras started rolling on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She opened up to British Vogue about her upbringing, admitting that she doesn’t remember a time before their house was filled with lights and cameras, and paparazzi hounded her on the street. What she does recall, though, was having an issue with the E! reality show’s name. Kylie said:
I do remember the moment. My mom came into the living room and announced the name of the show. She’s like, ‘Hey, it’s going to be called Keeping up With the Kardashians.’ And I remember Kendall and I were like, ‘Don’t you think that’s a handful?’ She was like, ‘I’m fighting for this because it’s so important that our name is in the title of the show. So that we can never get replaced.’
There’s definitely a part of me that always wondered how Kendall and Kylie Jenner felt about their name not being part of the show and having to live under the “Kardashian” umbrella, especially with Kendall identifying more with the Jenner side of her family. But it turns out it was the length of the title — not the "Kardashian" aspect — that gave the Jenner sisters pause.
Leave it to Kris Jenner, though, to be thinking 10 steps ahead about ensuring Kim Kardashian’s — and the others, too, of course — longevity in the pop culture realm. The title of the reality show might seem like a very specific hill to die on, but consider this: Not long before KUWTK, two of Kris’ stepsons, Brandon and Brody Jenner, starred on The Princes of Malibu. That reality show didn’t last long, but with a title like that, how easy would it have been to replace the Jenners with another well-to-do Southern California family?
I, of course, have no idea if that thought was anywhere near Kris Jenner’s mind when she went to battle for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, but I can see and appreciate exactly how brilliant the move was.
For one thing, I fully agree with Kylie and Kendall Jenner that Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a mouthful, but that’s part of the genius — it’s memorable. And just as much as having “Kardashian” in the name of the show secured the family’s place as its stars, it also kept their name in everybody’s mouths.
These days there are no gimmicks needed to keep the Kardashians and Jenners relevant, and their current series on Hulu has mercifully been shortened to simply The Kardashians. Because when it comes to one of the most famous families on the planet, that’s literally all you need to say.
The Kardashians is available to stream with a Hulu subscription.
