Airing for 20 seasons. Keeping Up With The Kardashians have been providing us entertainment and a glimpse into the luxurious lifestyle of the Kardashians for two decades. It was a controversial show at the beginning. Some people questioned the privacy of the family, since everything they do and all the places they go to were obviously visible in the show. Kylie and Kendall were also minors when the show began, so it was also a question of ethics. Should an underage person be involved in a show that is not really age appropriate? Whatever the answer and the criticism was, the show remained one of the highest watched of all times. Even though the 20th season will be the last one, the fame will continue to grow for sure.
How did the D’amelio family get their own show?
It became obvious that after KUWTK airs its last episode, there is going to be an empty spot in the schedule of the audiences looking for real-life drama. So deciding to fill that spot with an already internet famous person was a good idea. And who could be more famous on the internet than a TikToker? And not just anyone, the infamous Charlie D’amelio.
Charlie started her TikTok career with dance videos in 2019. In just 2 years, she gained the biggest following on TikTok with over 100M followers. Appearing in various artists’ video clips and on TV, her fame keeps growing on other platforms as well.
With a loyal fan base like Charlie, it was a matter of time until she got her own show. Her life is fun & exciting for her followers, and knowing this Hulu jumped at the opportunity to create a reality show about Charlie and her family called, The D’Amelio Show.
The criticism of The D’Amelio Show
Even though Charlie and her sister Dixie have huge following on social media, there was a slight oversight by Hulu. These people are internet famous, not TV famous. The show wasn’t going to be as successful as Keeping Up With The Kardashians because even though Charlie and Dixie and the family are now extremely rich, they are not as sensational as the Kardashian sisters. The Kardashians had conventional fame before their own show, and all their friends were also known by the public. The D’amelio sisters on the other hand had their fame on social media, and they had non-famous friends. Both boomers and Gen-Z know the Kardashians, but D’amelios only addressed to the Gen-Z.
The show was also criticized on how slow it progressed. The sisters’ lives looked a lot entertaining on TikTok, but on TV they were just regular teenagers with a lot of money. The show focuses on Charlie & Dixie’s dreams too. But even these parts seem boring to the watcher because they are always complaining, in true teenager form. Sure, it’s hard to be that famous when you are young, but do you really need to complain about practicing a dance move for a few minutes?
Towards the end of the show, Dixie breaks down due to the online hate & bullying she receives for her singing career. To give a back story, Dixie’s passion is singing, and she put out quite a lot of music videos. However, both her singing and the plots of her music videos received a lot of hate instead of thumbs up. Having your passion be torn apart like that is hard to take in, especially if you are a teenager. And at this point, as a watcher I also questioned how much did these girls need this TV show along with their fame? They already had a lot on their plate, and they received a lot of criticism for everything they have done until now. Did they need another platform of criticism, really?
It is not only the sisters’ problem though.
The show practically has no characters that are worthy of watching apart from the 2 sisters. Everyone is too normal to appear in a reality show. Again when you compare the show with KUWTK, the Kardashians have a number of friends who are already famous, and who have quite interesting characters for a regular audience. The D’amelios however, do not have anyone that the public knows of, which makes the show revolve around Charlie and Dixie a whole lot. In return, the audience becomes bored of the sisters, and turns the TV off.
Whether the show continues or not, it is obvious that it won’t be as successful as KUWTK. However, I sincerely hope that the girls won’t be put under much more pressure to succeed in an area that they didn’t even need in the first place.
What do you think about reality shows? Do you think KUWTK set a really good example of keeping the ratings up that new shows can’t reach that level? Let us know what you think about The D’amelios down below or hit us on our socials to start a conversation.