‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ will be over after their 20th season next year

Yesterday evening, some stunning news was announced! After 14 years and 20 “seasons” of reality television, Keeping Up with the Kardashians is over and done. The reality show which was built upon Kim Kardashian’s sex tape turned into a global hit which changed reality-style programming. To be honest, the Kardashian sisters outgrew KUWTK years ago, but the money must have been good and the “work” must have been pretty easy, so they stuck it out. Kim got to announce it:

To our amazing fans –

It is with heavy hearts that we’ve made the difficult decision as a family to say goodbye to Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

After what will be 14 years, 20 seasons, hundreds of episodes and numerous spin-off shows, we are beyond grateful to all of you who’ve watched us for all of these years – through the good times, the bad times, the happiness, the tears, and the many relationships and children. We’ll forever cherish the wonderful memories and countless people we’ve met along the way.

Thank you to the thousands of individuals and businesses that have been a part of this experience and, most importantly, a very special thank you to Ryan Seacrest for believing in us, E! for being our partner, and our production team at Bunim/Murray, who’ve spent countless hours documenting our lives. Our last season will air early next year in 2021.

Without Keeping Up with The Kardashians, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who has watched and supported me and my family these past 14 incredible years. This show made us who we are and I will be forever in debt to everyone who played a role in shaping our careers and changing our lives forever.

With Love and Gratitude, Kim

[From Kim’s IG]

As I said, I think several of the sisters outgrew it long ago. It’s getting harder for Kim to manufacture drama without showing what’s really happening with her disastrous marriage to Kanye West. I actually wonder if that will be the finale cliffhanger: Kim gets her law degree and files for divorce from Ye. Kourtney tapped out on the show last year, and Khloe doesn’t want people to know what’s actually going on with Tristan Thompson. And Kylie? Kylie doesn’t need any of this at this point. She was barely engaged in her sisters’ drama anyway. And no one gives a sh-t about Kendall.

Anyway, the end of a Pinocchio Butt Era, for sure. But people celebrating like we just defeated Donald Trump… lord.

Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian head to Kanye West's Sunday Service

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.

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82 Responses to “‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ will be over after their 20th season next year”

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  1. Velvet Elvis says:

    I honestly didn’t realize that the show was even still on.

  2. SheaButterBaby says:

    It’s about time 😭 was anyone really watching that show still?! The last time I saw it Kylie and Kendall were in elementary school.

    • ME says:

      So before Kylie morphed into Kim 2.0 ? That really was a long time ago !

    • bettyrose says:

      I’ve never watched it, but with these announcements the throwback pictures of Kyli and Kendall are really disturbing. Can’t a kid just be a kid?

  3. Lauren says:

    Ding dong the witch is dead!

  4. SShehheh says:

    They photoshopped their faces but not the feet.

  5. Sarah says:

    I don’t get people celebrating this. Don’t like it? Don’t watch it. These people all have the profile and other means of keeping themselves in view if that’s what they want and having never watched the show but followed their antics through this site Kaiser’s analysis of how they are all ready to move on sounds pretty accurate. They don’t need/want this anymore.

    • Escondista says:

      Honestly, in a world when the rich and the middle class and poor are living experiences that are THIS far apart I think a lot of people are done celebrating the insane and undeserved lifestyle of these people. I’d be a lot more happier if all that wealth subsidized our kids education, our social security, and our rapidly declining infrastructure.

    • Jess says:

      This show was a symbol for everything that is wrong with the world (esp America). I suspect THAT is why people are celebrating.

    • tealily says:

      As someone who does not watch, this change affects me very little.

  6. Darla says:

    I never watched an episode. I never watched The Apprentice either. I also never watched the WWE. I was wholly unprepared for Trump’s popularity. I didn’t know about any if this isht. I was always into a heavy mix of prestige tv like Mad Men, and silly scripted shows like TBBT. This all took me by surprise, a huge cultural movement that I just wasn’t aware of. I remember once my aunt and her husband were over, and they were talking about the WWE. She was literally complaining about something that happened, and then she said, “sometimes I wonder if some of it is fake”. I kept my mouth shut because my mom shot me a look right away, like, keep your mouth shut or there will be hell to pay when they leave.

    My aunt and her husband are huge trumpsters.

    • Siggy says:

      I know a ton of Trump supporters that watch prestige television and would never dream of watching the Kardashians. I think it’s easy to “otherwise” trump supporters. What many don’t realize is that there is a large voting block that is college educated and often wealthy. Reducing them down to WWE viewers (how many people actually watch that? Is it a lot?) is asinine. I’ve always thought if it was just a small cadre of uneducated bumpkins 45 wouldn’t be here. Now all of those voters have radicalized even more. It’s disturbing. Underestimating the enemy shouldn’t be a mistake that’s repeated twice.

    • tealily says:

      There are many serious reasons to complain about a Trump presidency, but one of the petty ones I have is that I can’t stand watching him or listening to him, and happily never watched an episode of The Apprentice, but now I have to pay attention to him on television.

      I do, however, love both wrestling and prestige TV.

    • Amber says:

      Mad Men is my favorite show. I’ve also seen probably hundreds of hours of the Kardashians’ show. When it first aired I was in middle school and it was just a slightly zanier reality version of the Brady Bunch–essentially a sitcom about a large, rambunctious blended family. I used to watch it with my dad every week, and if I’m traveling or something (I don’t have cable at home) and reruns are on I always watch it in a hotel room. I also have a bachelors degree and a teaching credential and am generally a pretty cultured, sophisticated person. My point is the sophistication of the content that people consume isn’t necessarily a reflection of their education level or character or their political views one way or another. I also think that the phenomenon of Trump becoming popular and the Kardashians becoming popular are similar in some ways because they both rose to prominence on reality TV but comparing the two as if they’re part of the same broad cultural movement is perhaps overstating it. Trump became a populist figure on his rhetoric of racism, bigotry, and nationalism. The Kardashians’ essential appeal is how basic they are. That’s kind of the whole point of the show. No matter how rich or famous they are, they still have arguments about who ate whose salad from the fridge. And the Kardashians have had negative effects–their relentless plastic surgery is probably very bad for young people, who think that it’s normal now. They promote the fast fashion brands which are bad for the environment…there’s no doubt the Kardashians have changed fashion and beauty (I wish it weren’t true, but they have been really influential). But I see them as a wholly separate phenomenon from Donald Trump.

    • Darla says:

      Anyway…Trump wouldn’t be President without The Apprentice.

      A little thing called a fact.

  7. Eleonor says:

    ABOUT TIME.

  8. Züri says:

    There is a god. Does this mean that looking like an overphotoshopped and pumped-up-with-procedures look is going the way of the dodo as well?

    • Cloudy says:

      Fashion never stays still so it will go at some point. Thank you!

      • Züri says:

        It cannot end soon enough. I see all of these younger girls with multiple procedures (don’t get me wrong, I love the Botox between my brows and Juvederm to fill in my lips), fake lashes, overdyed hair, and pounds of makeup and think, “you’re 15-20 years younger and still look older than me and could be so pretty if you gave up even half of this shit on your face.”

    • Meg says:

      @zuri
      So many young early teenage girls looks much much older than they are with caked on makeup. I’m glad I grew up before social media and reality shows like this. I had a childhood

  9. Joanna says:

    Thank you Jesus!

  10. grabbyhands says:

    At least 2020 gave us ONE thing.

    Although, let’s be real – this family of grifters isn’t really going anywhere. They’re all too attention greedy for that to happen. I would imagine PMK even now us trying to negotiate something that will allow them to exploit the next generation. Or she’s getting ready to appear on one of the Real Housewives shows.

    Kim is going to lay low (or what passes for laying low for her) until she sees what happens with the election. If 45 actually loses, I think we’ll see her divorce soon after that since her husband will have outlived his usefulness as a conduit to the White House (and hopefully Biden won’t give her the time of day). If 45 wins, there is going to be more shows about her as the long suffering wife trying to support her husband’s dream of political aspirations. Lots more baby voiced photo ops with Baby Hands as she worms her way in. And honestly – if we wins a second term, we’re done as a nation so it won’t matter much.

    The bottom line is you can bet they’ve all got the foreseeable future mapped out publicity wise. No one is going off to live a quiet life.

    • Desert Lizard says:

      Exactly right. They aren’t going to live a quiet life. They have another project somewhere that either pays more than this show or has a greater potential than this show. Not one of them is walking away from a paycheck.

  11. Gutterflower says:

    I have never seen an episode, and I never plan to.

    • smcollins says:

      I tuned in once—ONCE—years ago out of morbid curiosity, and after about 5 minutes had all that I could stand. They make great tabloid fodder but to actually watch, or worse yet *listen*, to them on a regular basis? No, thank you, I’d like to keep the brain cells I still have left.

    • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

      This is my personal celebration as well lol. Never seen it. Never will.

    • Lizzie says:

      I am not in anyway interested in these people, but I have watched a few times when they take a vacation. I don’t know who plans them but they really are vacation porn for me.
      Is there any hope E could air something interesting after kuwtk ends?

    • Michelle says:

      I can say the same and I will admit to never watching one episode of Real Housewives of Orange/NY/BH or wherever they film those things. I would rather have a pap smear that watch that crap.

  12. SJR says:

    2020 Finally brings some good news. Go Away all of you.
    And don’t come back.

  13. atorontogal says:

    I could never fathom why this family became so popular. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian and that wealth and in your facedness is not common here.
    Either way, I’m glad they will be moving on as I don’t find any of these women particularly positive roll models.

    • Desdemona says:

      European here… I’m like you, I can and will never understand their popularity….
      They are really bad role models for teenagers…

    • Headbandday says:

      Agreed. On top of the plastic surgery there’s the ultra materalistic image. Of course if they weren’t pushing endless fashion-apparel, supplements, makeup, and hair items they’d never have made it so big monetarily speaking. That’s hundreds of millions of kids thinking it’s essential to consume that much to “be/express yourself” and further helping the planet got down in flames.

  14. Kyla says:

    There is so much snobbery about whether or not people watch this show. I’ve seen most of the past several seasons, watching it on Sunday nights. It was my easy viewing show. Spending an hour watching the family eat large salads, promote restaurants they’d never go to other than for the show, living vicariously through their many vacations, checking out the decor in their homes (my favourite part), and snickerIng at the manufactured fake drama. A harmless hour of TV for me. I enjoy “prestige” TV, but I can also admit that I need to balance that out with some fluff. The world already freaks me out enough, I don’t judge anyone who takes a break from reality to enjoy some “reality” tv. You do you.

    • Chlo says:

      I agree, Kyla. It’s easy for people to be snobby on the internet where the rest of their tastes, interests and hobbies aren’t judged. Enjoy what you enjoy for entertainment. I don’t feel guilty for what I enjoy, including Vampire stories and romance novels. I don’t want to see women apologize for, hide, or defend how they relax or consume media.

    • whitecat says:

      Agree with you Kyla. Lots of snobbery out here. I got into the KUWTK with my sister and mom when my house was in an active war/military zone (yes I know taht’s strange, but it’s not actually). It became too f* miserable being stuck at home, with soldiers outside fighting night and day with my neighbourhood’s kids. I got so tired of watching the news (and seeing my neighbourhood in flames). Believe it or not an hour of mindless drama was often a god sent because I didn’t have to think, and it was a bonding experience for my sister and mother. People really need to chill. Don’t watch it if you don’t have to.

    • Joanna says:

      Oh i have no problem w those type of shows. I watch 90 fiance on tlc lol. I just don’t like the Kardashians.

    • Headbandday says:

      Interesting point, Kyla, but personally I couldn’t waste an hour on that – I am not attacking anyone’s tastes in a snobbish way but to clarify this stuff doesn’t relax me. To relax the same way as you do, I will look up random YT videos. For example, the other day I watched an accent expert critique Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and a bunch of other non-UK actors for their UK accents. (She’s called Amy something (can’t remember her surname) and can do any regional US, UK, Scottish, Irish, Australian, New Zealand accent on top of catching every little nuance in others and being able to correct it; it was incredible). It was relaxing and interesting. I just don’t like “reality TV” and I always feel manipulated, including with talent shows where the judges and competitive process seem so fake. You point out you’re aware of a lot of it being really fake but nevertheless you can enjoy it; I’m the opposite.

  15. Case says:

    Even when the show ends they’re not going anywhere. As mentioned in the article, most of them have outgrown the show and are still very much around all the time. It’s a stupid show with fake drama so yay for it ending, but it doesn’t mean the end of the Kardashians.

  16. shanaynay says:

    I’m proud to say I never watched a single episode of this sh*t show!!!!!! Any time a commercial or anything had to do with anyone of them, I immediately changed the channel. Hopefully, they’re all gone for good. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

  17. JennyJenny says:

    This family of cockroaches will never, ever be gone.
    I’m just so tired of seeing their vapid, open-mouthed gaze…

    • Noki says:

      Hahahahhahahaha. Right? It was easier for Paris Hilton to disappear because she was one individual. If you think PMK and eventually Kim are not going to exploit her 10 plus and counting grandkids Lol
      Keeping up with the Kousins in a few years time.

      • Desert Lizard says:

        And now Paris is working herself silly trying to be relevant again. That does not bode well for those of us who are tired of famous stupid people. You are right. PMK is working on something for the grands, I’m sure. I don’t doubt that they will announce a huge new project in a couple of months.

      • ME says:

        @ Desert Lizard

        There are already rumblings about a Netflix deal.

  18. Girl_ninja says:

    Famous and a millionaire several times over because your conventionally pretty and made a sex tape with your boyfriend.

    Good God.

    It’s good that it’s over.

  19. ME says:

    Oh please, Kim and her family would gladly do another 20 seasons if the ratings were good. The ratings have been crap for years. No amount of fake drama and bad acting could save their show. Also, Kim took the baby bar in August, results have come out. She hasn’t mentioned a thing. Not sure if that means she failed or if she’s saving the results for their show. Those pics above are beyond photoshopped it’s laughable.

  20. Otaku fairy says:

    Yay! Maybe now people will finally start to get over them. It’s a win-win situation.

  21. Mirage says:

    I will miss them!
    I’ve watched every single episode of the show. It’s great entertainment and I really relate to their family dynamics. They have this unbreakable bond that I find inspiring and comforting as I’m far from my own family.
    Yes the plastic surgery is insane but their houses are fascinating to look at.
    A lot of people don’t understand how I can read the Guardian, have a subscription to MUBI and the TLS be well educated AND enjoy this show.
    I can’t entirely explain either.

  22. outofthecloset says:

    Everyone here seems thrilled by this decision, and I agree. But I am actually happy for the family most of all. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to live with the expectation of being watched and scrutinized for everything you do. It must have felt like the golden handcuffs more and more every year. Family relationships got frayed, marriages crumbled, infidelities were out in the open. I know they brought it on themselves in the beginning, and the schadenfreude is REAL with their fans and foes alike, but after the painful experience of Kanye’s own “reality” show, I can’t imagine wanting to go forward. I hope they find peace in relative anonymity–which they will never have, but this is the best they can get. My only famous friend has horrendous mental health issues, and it is painful to see. That’s not a life.

    • ME says:

      You’re talking about a family that has TMZ on speed dial. They call the paps themselves. They put out rumors about themselves for attention and then vigorously deny them. The show is ending because of low ratings, not because this family doesn’t want to film anymore. This family isn’t going away. They will find a new avenue to keep in the press.

    • MsIam says:

      If any of that scrutiny was an issue they wouldn’t have done the show. I’m waiting for the announcement of all of the spin offs, you know like Kim’s Big Divorce, etc.

  23. Ann says:

    My conspiracy theory is someone is pregnant. Probably Khloe, maybe Kylie. Kourtney is a long shot but not impossible. And they are all over it. They’ve been over it. It could be as simple as that but no way they aren’t going out without doing something splashy. A new baby would make for a better exit strategy than what is bound to be a messy af divorce.

    • Desert Lizard says:

      I’ve read that Khloe is back with Tristan Thompson so she can have another baby that is a full sib to their daughter. IDK if it’s true. Just what I read. That would make sense though. End the series on a high note.

  24. February-Pisces says:

    I loved this show especially in its heyday. I think it was best probably before Kim got with Kanye around 2011. I’m not sad it’s ending because I think it’s time, they were running out of steam and it showed. I haven’t watched much of the later seasons yet, but I will at some point. I think E have tried so many times to find the ‘new KUWTK’ but have most definitely struggled to find anything like it. I loved the spin offs even more. I don’t agree with a lot of the things the Kardashian’s do, but to have a Tv show running for 14 years is quite an achievement.

  25. Bishg says:

    Well, there is no need to feel bad for them, at all. All members of the family (and beyond) are set for life. The KKKlan are shrewd business people and there is no doubt whatsoever that if they’ve decided to pull the plug on the reality show, it’s because it is not as profitable as in the past and I’m sure they’ve already moved on to their next enterprise. The show has drifted away from its original format and content (a campy, merry-go-lucky family show with just the right amount of drama leading to the inevitable happy ending + morals). I started watching reruns on Netflix just a couple of months ago and honestly, even from Season 7 and the advent of Kanye you could tell that the show had lost its vibe. With their heavy and constant use of and presence on social media and tabloids, people have now a deep insight on their lives in real time, it makes no sense for them to wait 3-4 months to watch the plots unfold on TV in a condensed-scripted version. Literally, Keeping Up with the Kardashians cannot keep up with the Kardashians any longer.

  26. anp says:

    This is Great news!

  27. paddingtonjr says:

    Oh noes! How will E! fill up its broadcast hours?

  28. Queen Meghan’s Hand says:

    What’s the E! channel going to do now? They cut good shows (The Soup) to accommodate the Kardashian-Jenners and now what?
    They should have ended the show years ago, but the E! network must not be run by the brightest of bulbs. The ratings have been declining, the storylines stale, and the Kardashian-Jenners’ ubiquity on TMZ and other entertainment news outlets made the show obsolete.
    Honestly, it’s more of an embarrassment to E! that they kept this dead horse of a show for as long as they did.

    • pk says:

      I think I heard that tik tok girl Charlie D’Amelio and her family were offered a reality show on E…I could be wrong though. Anyways KUWTK went downhill once Kim and her sisters became executive producers. They tried to hide way too much and the “acting” was horrible. Plus the show aired months after any drama happened, so it was old news by then. Not to mention people caught on to them re-shooting scenes to fit their own narrative when actual REAL events happened.

    • February-Pisces says:

      E! Have been looking for another cash cow for years and have failed miserably. They have tried to re-create the Kardashian’s with all their other reality shows and non of them have ever come close to KUWTK hence why they kept it going for so many years. I loved the show especially during its peak, but the last 5 years have been dragging.

    • Meg says:

      Once ryan seacrest took over E! its changed completely and dominated by this family so if youre like me and you dont like them, you stopped watching E! entirely. Im not sure how theyre not terrified of what to fill hours of time without them

  29. Suz says:

    I had to think back 14 years to when this started. My long term memory is scarily good so sorry that I remember this so clearly. I was working from home at that point and would put pointless tv on for company as I didn’t interact with anyone for my job other than supervisors’ emails. I remember E! News was at noon and they had Kim on. I didn’t know who she was. But they asked her about her sex tape and she talked about how she felt violated – I remember thinking she was completely devoid of personality and just a Paris Hilton wannabe. (Had no idea til years later that she was her assistant.) And then that’s when their show started. So yes this was built on her sex tape and yes Kris sold her daughter’s sex tape to get famous.

  30. Grace says:

    Yay! Seen a few episodes…and I’m all for some *good* trash TV to escape every day life, but happy dance about them leaving. It is about time.

  31. Amando says:

    The show became obsolete years ago. Their faux drama happens in real time, so there’s no need to wait for it to air 4 months later anymore. I am happy the show is ending, but I’m sure there will be more spin-offs. We have not seen the last of this dysfunctional family…ugh.

  32. Meg says:

    I saw lots of great tweets about this yesterday -that this family normalized lots of plastic surgery, contributes even more to fat phobia, and they double down in their defense of their behavior which reflects their unwillingness to learn. The normalization of young female instagram influencers without real jobs directly infuenced by this family is gross-thats their legacy

  33. Headbandday says:

    They have far better channels on social media anyway, to deliver their content at a far more flexible production time frame for themselves, and with far more control. How normal did Kylie used to look?

  34. Zia says:

    I think this has EVERYTHING to do with Kanye and his mental health. I believe that Kim is considering a divorce and needs to be out of the spotlight to do it. Kanye is a loose canon at this point. She now knows he has loose lips and that he will throw them under the bus if she doesn’t go his way. I believe she may be trying to protect her kids. I believe his whole presidency manipulation shenannigans is something she is probably really not happy about and there is some potential legal ramifications to that…. Its just time for her to go, and that means all of them with her. I believe that several of them have been over it for a while. Sure. But they like the money. I think this has so much to do with Kanye being ill and uncontrollable.

    • jenellesTiktok says:

      Just from the statements released so far, Kanye has spent at least 7 million on this ridiculous campaign and had the kind of signature gatherers who filled in fake names themselves like “Mickey Mouse”. He also didn’t get on the ballot in one state because his televangelistic running mate didn’t want to file the required financial disclosure. Might have another budding Jim Bakker there…

  35. AppleTartin says:

    I’m not holding my breath they are gone from our lives forever. They could just be holding out for a better deal from another streaming service. I am looking at you Netflix.

  36. Emily says:

    Shows rarely survive when they recast the characters. I’m surprised they were able to go through so many Kims, Khloes and Kylies, honestly. Good for them.

  37. Don't Trust the B in Comment 23 says:

    People acting like they didn’t watch the show, yeah ok you ain’t got nothing to prove to nobody. The Internet is anonymous and this is a gossip site. It’s ok lol

    “And no one gives a sh-t about Kendall.”

    This is so true it made me laugh irl.