FOX’s “The Simple Life” set yet another low
for reality television. Paris Hilton, heiress to the Hilton hotel
fortune, and Nicole Richie, daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie,
were uprooted from the luxury of their California abodes to the
natural plainness of an Arkansas farm.
The recently concluded, abridged season is now available on DVD.
The five episodes follow the two spoiled women as they slowly
adjust from mingling with the rich and famous to rubbing elbow
— literally — with four-legged farm animals. Taking
residence with the hard-working, no-nonsense Leding family, the
girls constantly forget their chores and try their best to have a
good time in a dull Southern city.
The special features are shallow and offer little in terms of
actual content, much like Paris and Nicole themselves. The outtakes
are comparable to video footage of a family vacation, as they are
entirely too long, and the laughs are few and far between. For
example, one of the features shows the brain-dead Nicole fumbling
to use a can opener. Aside from one entertaining feature that
follows the girls as they shop for clothes in a hunting store and
collect carcasses for the local taxidermist, the “outrageous
bonus footage” is entirely pointless.
The DVD feature section also includes a longer episode-length
trial show of the girls cleaning dogs in the less upscale
neighborhoods of California’s valley.
“The Simple Life” DVD is simple in itself, but
that’s to be expected when you’re working with Paris
and Nicole.
Show: 2 out of 5 stars
Picture/Sound: 2 out of 5 stars
Features: 1 out of 5 stars