Part of the Kardashians in 2008. -

Hector Mata / AP / SIPA

The show begins its 20th and final season on Thursday: 

The Incredible Kardashians

, cultural abyss for some, addictive melodrama for others, will have synthesized reality TV and social networks, as well as the fortune of the clan in passing.

Savvy businesswomen Kim Kardashian, central to the show, and her mother Kris, decided last year to take the streaming train, via the Hulu platform and Disney's new offering, called Star.

And thus abandon their historic program, whose audiences on the cable channel E!

had been divided by six since the peak of Season 4 in 2010.

Family mini-dramas

Between the possible marriage of Kourtney and Scott, the second child of Khloé and Tristan, and allusions to the separation of Kim and Kanye West, this twentieth season promises to be loaded with emotions, feigned or not.

Since its launch in 2007, with sometimes more than one season per year, this is the recipe for this reality show that follows the Kardashians in their daily lives, punctuated with family mini-dramas, in particular quarrels between the Kardashian sisters or juicy stories of couples.

Slightly showy strings

"No one is stupid enough to think that this is not a carefully rehearsed show," said Ellis Cashmore, professor at the University of Aston in the UK and author of the book "Kardashian Kulture".

“But being in the know, it reinforces the entertaining side.

"

Despite these flashy strings, "Kim and her family have created authentic personalities on the show and on social media," said Christine Kowalczyk, professor of marketing at the University of East Carolina.

“Consumers trusted them and wanted to be like them.

"

Social networks take off

Kim Kardashian was very inspired by Paris Hilton, starlet of the early 2000s who knew how to monetize her celebrity.

Like Kim Kardashian later, she "knew she couldn't sing, dance, act or write," Ellis Cashmore says, "but she thought to herself: I can still make money with that." .

The daughter of former successful lawyer Robert Kardashian also benefited from the social media take-off when

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

(“KUWTK”), the original name of the show, was launched.

Family

Kim Kardashian, 40, who now has some 210 million subscribers on Instagram, "has been very innovative" with social networks, said Christine Kowalczyk.

“She used these different platforms to create and maintain her brand.

"

Another key element of the recipe is family, a source of endless interactions and twists.

“It's unique in reality TV and celebrity brands,” says this specialist.

Two billion dollars in wealth

Kim Kardashian made a fortune from this brand, estimated at $ 780 million by Forbes magazine.

By counting the fortune of his half-sister Kylie Jenner, estimated at 700 million dollars, the heritage of the clan, which started from nothing or almost, is now approaching two billion dollars.

There remains the legacy of a controversial program, "which seized the discomfort of a society which is richer than it has ever been, but perhaps also in full moral decline", where "we becomes voyeur ”, analyzes Ellis Cashmore.

It also reflects a cynical era in which authenticity is brandished as a cardinal value, but shaped for commercial ends by reality TV and social networks.

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