In 2007, an L.A. family's unvarnished docuseries launched on E!, and reality television, female body image, social media and, above all, the economy of celebrity were forever changed. Now the stars and producers of the mega franchise (nine TV spinoffs, hundreds of millions of dollars earned) reveal the secrets of its improbable explosion into the zeitgeist.
Wearing curve-hugging black workout pants and a white tank top, Kim Kardashian perches on a couch in the media room of her newly renovated Bel Air estate and sips Pedialyte through a straw. The makeup-free 36-year-old appears almost normal — certainly not like a mogul who, according to Forbes, banked $45.5 million the past year from a brand she built on self-aggrandizement, shameless product peddling and nude selfies. At the epicenter of this unprecedented trajectory remains E!'s Keeping Up With the Kardashians, a living record of her happily debauched family — Kourtney, 38; Khloe, 33; Rob, 30; Kendall, 21; and Kylie, 20; as well as matriarch Kris, 61, and her ex Caitlyn Jenner, 67 (who in 2015 transitioned from Bruce). On Sept. 24, a 90-minute special will celebrate the series' 10th unapologetic year. It's a head-scratching milestone for a show that, at its conception, offered viewers little more than a voyeuristic lens into the lives of a celebrity-adjacent family — but quickly became the mother ship for all their product extensions and the platform through which Kris and her five daughters ushered in the era of the reality celebrity as a brand.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians now airs in 167 countries, boasts nine spinoffs to date and has ranked as E! Entertainment's top-rated series since 2010. And while it peaked in 2011 with 10.5 million viewers over two nights for Kim's fairy-tale wedding to Kris Humphries (they divorced after 72 days), it still averages north of 2.1 million every Sunday in its 13th season. In 2015, E! agreed to a reported $80 million deal to keep the family through season 14. But that's a pittance compared to the fashion and lifestyle empire they've built from one boutique in the Valley. With a combined social media reach of 700 million-plus followers and five insanely profitable apps, the family mints millions from a hodgepodge of endorsement deals, paid appearances and can't-stay-in-stock products. And it all grew from a show that opened its pilot with these prophetic words from Kim (already notorious for the sex tape she made with her ex, Ray J, that was made public in 2007): "I hate you all."
As much as the family reveals on the show, on red carpets and on Instagram, one mystery remains. How the hell did this happen? Kris Jenner (star, executive producer) Before the show, I was managing Bruce's speaking career and personal appearances.
Kim Kardashian (star, executive producer) I was going to [Pierce College], and after school I would go work the cash register at our store, Dash. This all happened when I was 27 …
Kendall Jenner (star) That's so crazy because I'm not even 27. We've lived the same amount of time of the same thing, but I'm not even the age you were when you started.
Ryan Seacrest (executive producer) Everyone was talking about The Osbournes, and I said to my development executive Eliot [Goldberg], "Let's try to find something in this world and take it to E!"
Kris One night, Deena Katz [casting director for Dancing With the Stars] came over for dinner and life was swirling around, and she said, "This is a reality show — I think you should really talk to Ryan Seacrest." So I did.
Seacrest Kris told me what she envisioned, and I said, "Let's send a crew to your house and tape some stuff and then we'll take a look at it." Then I realized I didn't have a crew; I didn't even have a camera. I had Eliot buy a camera, and he went and shot them. He called me after and said, "I think we have something special."
Kourtney Kardashian (star, executive producer) We had talked to producers about doing a show about the three of us running the store, Dash, where Khloe and I would do the day-to-day, and Kim would come in as a stylist. It didn't go anywhere.In Caitlyn Jenner's memoir, The Secrets of My Life, released earlier this year, she implies that the series may actually have been her brainchild. She writes, "The house is awash in puberty and adolescence and young adulthood and two parents with very different styles. It seems to me something is there for television. … Kris says she is the one who came up with the idea …" Jenner declined to participate in this story.
Kris It's so absurd. I'm not sure what the motivation was for her to say something like that. Maybe somebody should remind her that it's called Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Ted Harbert (then-CEO of E! Networks) Just like anybody else, I knew of the family through [O.J. Simpson attorney] Robert Kardashian. There was a bit of the stuff with Kim hanging around Paris Hilton and, of course, the fun with Ray J [who made a sex tape with Kim]. That was sort of world news.
Damla Dogan (senior vp development & programming, E!) They were just crossing over into pop culture territory, especially Kim. She had a look that wasn't on TV at the time. She wasn't stick thin, and that was relatable.
Photographed by Miller Mobley
Kim Kardashian
Seacrest We pitched it to E!, and initially they passed. I called Ted and said, "This is a special show, and I want you to know we brought it to you [first]." I was going to take it to Bravo.
Harbert Ryan asked me to take a look at this tape of them at the dinner table. There was conflict, sniping and resolution. I call it, "Fight, fight, fight. Love, love love." I came in the next day and said I wanted to do it.
Seacrest I was overseas and got a phone call from E!. "We're picking it up and going right into production." And I said, "Well, we just bought a camera." (Laughs.) They suggested Bunim/Murray to be our partners.
Gil Goldschein (CEO and chairman, Bunim/Murray Productions) Within 24 to 36 hours, I did a deal with E!, and we were in preproduction early the following week.
Jeff Jenkins (co-president of entertainment & development, Bunim/Murray) During our first meeting, Kris said, "How can we make this successful?" And I said, "Share everything." In other documentary series, you're following a football star or a rock star; in this case, sharing is the career.
Seacrest I remember Kris saying, "In order for this to work, yes, there's a glitz and glamour, but there's got to be honesty and vulnerability. We need to make a pact that the show won't just be pretty pictures. As time goes by, you see some of the most vulnerable moments. There was a deliberate intent to be vulnerable and capture that from the beginning.
Kris I sat everyone down and said, "If we're going to do this, we have to be all in. We have to really be who we are."
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“Sales departments don’t tend to jump up and down about shows that feature people who have been in sex tapes,” says Harbert of launching Kim and her family on E! “They’re usually going to worry about advertiser resistance, but I don’t remember there being much.”
Kendall I was like, "Whatever. What am I having for lunch tomorrow?" She didn't make it seem like it was going to last this long.
Kim I don't think any of us thought it would.
Kris The only person I got any resistance from was Kourtney. She was sort of skeptical.
Kourtney I remember in season one being like, "I have to go the bathroom," and I'd cry in there as quietly as I could because I was still mic'd. I never want to cry in front of cameras.
Khloe Kardashian (star, executive producer) I don't think we knew what we were even saying yes to. Everything was just super-fast. Kim and my mom were steering the ship. We were just like, "Tell us where to be and we'll be there."
Dogan We were up against an airdate and didn't have a title we loved. There were a few contenders: The Kardashians: Krazy With a K.
Farnaz Farjam (current programming vp, Bunim/Murray) Living Kardashian, Krazy Kardashians …
Dogan But none that we loved. We were having our big launch meeting where we invite the producers to come in and tell our internal departments about the show, so everyone can get on the same page.
Farjam We all had been tasked with coming to the meeting with some title ideas and when it was my turn I had to confess I didn't have a list. I made a factual statement that I was "too busy keeping up with the Kardashians."
Dolgan Instantly, we knew that was our title.
Farjam I came up with it on accident because I was living it.
Harbert Internally, everybody had an opinion [about the show before it launched]. It was, who are these people and why do they get a TV show? Ad sales departments don't tend to jump up and down about shows that feature people that have been in sex tapes. They're usually going to worry about advertiser resistance, but I don't remember there being much.
Kris From the network's point of view it was a big success.
Harbert Sisters who wax each other will tend to strike a chord. I'm a big believer in TV that surprises people, and boy, did that surprise me. I was shocked at how they would speak to their mother and, who was then, Bruce.
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