The new season of “KUWTK,” as “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” is so often abbreviated, will prominently feature Kanye, who will be regularly (and novelly) interviewed for into-the-camera confessionals. He and Kim married in 2014 and ever since he has exerted his vision on the show and the family’s related businesses. He’s not just another character coming and going like many of the other men, but a major force behind all of it.

If Kris is the founder and chief executive of Kardashian Inc., Kanye has become the creative director. He frequently texts with the producers, offering input on the opening images which initially had a 1970s sitcom feel and now feature the women in nude tones and sleek, silvery poses. And he shared his thoughts on the backdrop of the confessionals, which now bathe the women in amber light. “He’s a real creative force, clearly, and had thoughts on marketing, thoughts on presentation of the show, on the opening title sequence,” said Adam Stotsky, the president of E!

I told Kim that Kanye’s involvement reminded me of an episode of the show from when they were first dating. In it, she cries as he throws out her clothes during a closet makeover with his stylist . “So, it’s basically like that but for business,” Kim said. “He’ll have a room full of a dozen people or sometimes three of us and we go over packaging and colors and the photo shoot.”

The day I talked to Kris, Kanye had just come over. (They live across the street from each other in the same gated community in Calabasas, Calif.) He pointed to a new piece of furniture. “He said, ‘I really think that little entry table would look better over there. So what did I do? I moved the entry table,” Kris said.

“Keeping Up With the Kardashians” could’ve been a gigantic hit and still faded like “The Osbournes,” another reality show that put celebrity family dynamics on display. Even “The Apprentice,” which attracted 20 million viewers in its first season, had fizzled by the time Trump ran for president, 14 seasons later. “There is no one who can sit here and say they saw or expected this,” Seacrest said.

But Kris insisted that by the second season, she could tell that the show — and her family — had staying power. “I knew we had something, and Kim and I really sat down and made a list of our goals,” she said.

Asked if the sisters had lived up to their mother’s expectations, Kim didn’t hesitate. “Everything she wanted happened,” she said.