Can you explain why the Kardashians are entertaining to you?

I know confessing to being a watcher is a big painful thing to out yourself as, I think we all understand that things can be entertaining for various reasons… I just can’t fathom what it is about the Kardashian’s that people find entertaining. They strike me as not very witty, intelligent, wise, goofy, silly, fun or interesting on any level. They seem as bland as white cake.

So what is the draw beyond one or two episodes?

I find them to be generally attractive, well-groomed and pleasingly-shaped, so seeing their pictures on CNN or IMDB from time to time is fun. I am, therefore, easy to please, so there are actually a lot of women who fill the bill; however, the Kardashians, like Rihanna, tend to be way ahead of the pack as far as consistency is concerned. So, eye candy, on the occasional basis.

They have a TV show? Huh.

I don’t ever watch the show itself, but I’m glad it’s on because it provides some of the funniest material for Joel McCale on The Soup!

As to why they’re on? Because they’re rich and pieces of ass. That’s about it…

Actually, I think they are on because people like to watch them… That’s why I’m asking the question, I don’t understand what the entertainment value is.

why do people like things I don’t like?

it’s a mystery

Anyone who can unite the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans against them must be a force to be reckoned with.

Really? I find it easy tounderstand why people like things I don’t like. I despise the sound of Celine Dion, but I easily understand why others adore her. I find Honey Booboo completely lacking in the slightest sort of appeal, even the car-crash kind…but I get why others feel differently.

I also cannot stand any of the following, but have no problem at all understanding why other people enjoy them:
[ul]
[li]Duck Dynasty[/li][li]Dynasty (the old soap)[/li][li]CSI: anything[/li][li]Fox News[/li][li]Family Guy[/li][li]Ballet[/li][li]Lawrence Welk[/li][li]Three’s Company[/li][li]Survivor[/li][li]Opera[/li][li]Rush[/li][li]The Bee Gees[/li][li]Project Runway[/li][li]Racheal Ray[/li][li]Say Yes To The Dress[/li][li]Boxing[/li][li]Car racing[/li][li]Baseball[/li][li]The Simpsons[/li][li]Jay Leno[/li][li]Glee[/li][li]Dancing With The Stars[/li][/ul]

And a great many more. That’s why I wrote the OP… I can generally figure out why people find things entertaining even when I don’t. But the Kardashian’s stump me. I just don’t recognize anything going on that anybody I’ve ever heard of considers entertaining… They strike me as stunningly dull from every angle, so I am hoping to have some clarify for me what I can normally discern without assistance: what is the appeal?

dang

so do you actually like anything

Thread over.

Of course!

I have enjoyed or I’m even downright crazy about:

[ul]
[li]Breaking Bad[/li][li]Rectify[/li][li]Scandal[/li][li]Colbert Report[/li][li]Russell Brand[/li][li]Ripper Street[/li][li]The Fall[/li][li]Homeland[/li][li]Walking Dead[/li][li]Restaurant Impossible[/li][li]Next Food Network Star[/li][li]American Horror Story (asylum and Coven, not crazy about the first)[/li][li]Six Feet Under[/li][li]Dexter[/li][li]Jethro Tull[/li][li]Kanye West[/li][li]Joni Mitchell[/li][li]Eminem[/li][li]Jake Johansson[/li][li]Law & Order: Criminal Intent[/li][li]Sons of Anarchy[/li][li]Luther[/li][li]Hemlock Grove[/li][li]Orange is the New Black[/li][/ul]

And of course, many more.

I watch solely for the purpose of snarking about them in TWOP.

It took me several years to figure out what a Kardashian even is. The best I understand is that they’re the step-kids of an athlete from the 70’s. Why that would make me want to keep up with them is a mystery to me, but seeing as it’s been on for 8 years I guess a lot of people do want to.

After checking his wikipedia page, I see that his kids from his prior marriage also had a reality show (that only lasted a few episodes before he divorced their mom).

Wasn’t their dad (not step-dad) one of OJ Simpson’s lawyers?
Teen-aged kids of some of my friends find them glamorous in a totally palatable, mundane way. They seem like everyday folks, like themselves, but with better houses, cars, wardrobes etc. the kids can fantasize that they can stay ‘mundane’ and hit it rich some day.

The only two people I know who like the show are my two developmentally disabled nieces. That’s probably not much help. Or maybe it is.

I don’t get it either, but I do love what Joel does with the material.

I have no idea why they are famous or who they even are, so I came into this thread to see what people said. I just learned that they are step children to a famous athlete of the 70’s. But. I don’t know if that’s true. I’ll look it up after I write this to check exactly who they are.

I did know that one of them married a football player, right? Wasn’t Reggie Bush tapping one of them?

Honestly, I can’t figure this one out. I am a straight guy, and I like watching sexy bimbos as much as anyone, but they seem to be just a random family that was chosen to live part of their lives in front of a camera crew and have drama created for them to “act” through. But the show, for a reality “escape” just doesn’t work for me.

Most of those shows that were listed by stoid that were of the “reality” genre I don’t really care for, however I do watch a few “reality” shows, like the tattoo contest. Watching the Kardashians is true escapism, and I just don’t get it. I think for me, at least, I need the show to have a point, or some stated goal, like who created the best tattoo that day. Watching a few big breasted sisters who are not exactly scientists talk about issues important to them just bored me to tears. I made it through 15 minutes. The only way I would watch the show again is if it was moved to late night cinemax, and they showed them having naked tickle fights.

In my considered view the main appeal of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton and the Real Housewives etc is this:

  1. “They have lots of money and nice things. I like money and nice things. If I watch them it helps me imagine what it would be like to have money and nice things.”

  2. “Those people are stupid. I feel better about my terrible life by watching people who have money and nice things act stupidly because, even though I don’t have money and nice things, at least I don’t do things as stupid as the things they do.”

There was a youtube video about how one of the Kardashians does facial contouring with makeup. I thought it looked pretty rad.

Well I do not find the Kardassians entertaining, but I also do not hate them at all. I find Kim Kardassian beautiful, her sisters less so. Her mother is the brains of the outfit, she seems to have a genius for keeping them in the spotlight well past their 15 minutes. I think the base of their appeal is precisely that they have not done anything to merit their fame other than Kim being boned by a famous singer and making a tape of it. Frankly, I think a lot of women follow the Kardashians … and they DO constitute the Karedashians’ fanbase … precisely BECAUSE the Kardashians are very ordinary people like their fanbase. The fanbase members like to imagine that THEY could be the Kardashians. It’s precisely the same appeal the lottery holds for most people. If they had a program about the lives of lottery winners it would attract the same fanbase, for the same reasons. (This is why Jersey Shore was so successful, with an added element of “rubbernecking at the strange people.”)

I find it hard to believe that the Kardashians need explaining.

It’s a drama. One positing itself as “reality” but edited and semi-scripted to create a narrative in the same basic vein as Grey’s Anatomy or a soap opera any of these other shows.

The one’s long-term boyfriend does something thoughtless, will they reconcile? Two sisters have a fight. Two others have an uplifting and happy shopping trip to Europe. Oh no, some bad photos leaked! How will they cope? Will the big party go off as planned or will it be stopped by unforeseen events?

I don’t find it particularly entertaining but then I don’t watch fully scripted dramas in the same vein either. It’s TV candy that hits the marks for those who like those conflicts/resolutions and doesn’t want to be challenged.