‘The Kardashians’ refreshes reality TV family

Hulu’s latest series takes a different view into the lives of the Kardashian-Jenner family than previous series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” The series opens as fast camera movements reintroduce the audience to the well-known family. They begin a commentary on what life was like without cameras and how their lives are changing. 

Kourtney Kardashian, the eldest sister, is seen in a new relationship with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. The couple plans to buy a house together, and Barker makes arrangements to propose to Kourtney. There’s a lot of commentary from other family members about their relationship and frequent PDA. 

There’s a slight focus on Kourtney’s ex-boyfriend, Scott Disick, and how the family tries to keep him involved. Kim Kardashian discovers through her son’s Roblox game that someone is trying to release new footage from her leaked sex tape. This causes her to investigate and want to take legal action. She calls ex-husband Kanye West and breaks down with him over the phone. 

Later on, “Saturday Night Live” asks Kim to host, so she decides to ask comedian Amy Schumer for opinions on her opening monologue. Schumer gives insight into which jokes she should and shouldn’t include in her opener. Kim is also preparing to take the baby bar exam for the third time after failing the first two tests. The baby bar is an exam that law students who aren’t taking the traditional route of law school must take after their first year of law study. 

Khloè is juggling motherhood and her relationship with NBA athlete Tristan Thompson. Kylie Jenner is expecting her second child with rapper Travis Scott. Kendall Jenner continues her modeling career, and Kris Jenner, the mother of the family, helps manage everyone.

The majority of the first two episodes focus on Kim’s life and antics as she is facing many different scenarios in her life. The series takes a lot of its beats from “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” but showcases the family more conversationally. There’s less focus on their lavish lifestyles and more of a presentation of what each family member is working through. 

The downside to the series is that it doesn’t leave me wanting more, because a lot of the scenarios covered on the show have been trending topics on social media for the past year. For example, Kim’s “SNL” hosting gig happened in October 2021, and Kourtney had already been engaged to Barker for several months before the show aired. However, this could be proven to help the series as multiple different media outlets say that the first episode is the most-watched premiere Hulu has ever produced.

New episodes of “The Kardashians” release every Thursday exclusively on Hulu.

Share This