The Simple Life is a reality television series that broadcasted from December 2, 2003 to August 5, 2007. The first three seasons aired on Fox, and the final two on E!. The comedic show depicts two wealthy young socialites (Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie) as they struggle to do manual, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, doing farm work, serving meals in fast-food reastaurants & working as camp counselors.
Show history
Beginnings
The idea for The Simple Life was generated in Fox's comedy department.Senior Vice President of comedy development, said The Simple Life was born out of a challenge from Fox Television Entertainment Group Chairman Sandy Grushow and News Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin to find another way to do comedies outside of the traditional sitcom format.
"The areas that seemed simplest and cleanest was to go back to those high-concept '60s sitcoms and say let's do them for real," Mr. Johnson said. The Simple Life was inspired by Green Acres , a sitcom about a New York society couple who moved to a farm. Mr. Johnson said they originally thought of moving an entire family to the South. Cameras would observe as the former socialites, deprived of access to their bank accounts and Beemers, attempt to get a job, buy groceries and fit in with average Americans.
At the same time the comedy department was developing the idea, Paris Hilton was meeting with the studio's casting department. Sharon Klein, senior VP of casting at the studio, said she was immediately fascinated by Ms. Hilton and wanted to do a show with her. "I'm used to meeting with actors who are putting on a facade," Ms. Klein said. "She was so real. She was funny. At that first meeting she did not come off stupid. She was in her own reality and not embarrassed to talk about it. There was a sweetness to her."
The two departments talked and realized they had their show: Send Paris Hilton and her sister Nicky, who had never worked a day in their lives, to live and work on a farm. At the time, the studio was working closely with Mike Darnell, head of reality programming at Fox, who liked the idea. "They wanted to see stilettos in cow shit," Ms. Klein said. Paris was convinced to come on board, however Nicky, being somewhat shy to the limelight at the time, opted out. Paris told some media that she was in talks to do the show by herself, but ultimately, Fox decided the city-living cast had to be a duo.
Paris allegedly asked several close friends on board, including Bijou Phillips and Kimberly Stewart, and ended up making the agreement with Nicole Richie. Fox hired established reality producer Bunim/Murray to produce. Bunim/Murray found the Leding family in Altus, Arkansas, for Paris and Nicole to move in with. A band known as The Penfifteen Club recorded one of the show's themes, a tribute song called "Hey, Miss Hilton". Production began May 2, 2003.
Fox cancellation
Bunim/Murray originally had plans to send the cast on a trip to Mexico in its fourth season, but plans were quickly put on hold, and rearranged. In an interview with USA Today , Paris confirmed the longstanding rumor that Nicole and she were no longer friends by that time, and that Nicole would not be part of the fourth season. Plans at this point were now to shoot on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Instead, said Paris, the new co-star would be Paris's friend Kimberly Stewart, the daughter of rocker Rod Stewart, and someone Paris had wanted on the show to begin with. Kimberly said that producers would attempt to mollify Nicole by giving her a new reality show of her own, a Newlyweds -styled effort focused on her then-upcoming wedding to Adam Goldstein, known professionally as DJ AM.
Fox was quick to debunk what Paris and Kimberly had said. Fox Network head Peter Ligouri told the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles that Paris and Nicole were actually both contracted for another two seasons. Kimberly was not going to be involved at all, and Paris and Nicole are, in his words "TV professionals, who will be ready to work together when the time comes."
Fox then unexpectedly canceled its plans for any further seasons of the The Simple Life in October 2005, both because it had filled its mid season show quota, and because Paris and Nicole had the falling out as friends.
Picked up by E!
After it was dropped by Fox, other networks, such as NBC, The WB, VH1 and MTV were all reported to be interested in obtaining the rights to air new seasons of the show. On November 28, 2005, E! announced that they had picked up The Simple Life and had ordered production go ahead on the fourth season, along with the rights to re-air the first three seasons. Shooting for the new season finally began February 27, 2006.
The fifth season complications
Despite the fact that the stars of the show had sorted out their differences and agreed to shoot the season together, the fifth season had many complications during production. It was originally set to begin production in November 2006 and air in March 2007 but was put on temporary hold, as Nicole had to enter a health care facility for her ongoing weight issues."
Production resumed as of March 2, 2007, however more complications arose. Both Paris and Nicole faced major charges for DUI, and were at risk of serving jail time. Paris was sentenced to 23 days in jail, though this was after production of the season had finished. Nicole accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to 4 days in jail, again after production had wrapped.
During some early shooting days, Nicole complained of illness. After she was examined by the on-set doctor she was taken to a nearby hospital where she received intravenous fluids for 15 minutes before being released. This incident set production behind schedule.
Courtney Love described Paris's birthday party on her website as having a "big pile of white powder" in the bathroom. It was thought the description of the incident, which took place on the eve of the Oscars, might have cost Paris and Nicole the new season. Despite all the problems, the shooting of the season finished in time and the season actually premiered earlier than otherwise expected.
Final cancellation by E! and attempted continuation
Nicole confirmed on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles that she and Paris signed a contract for a sixth and seventh season of the show.
In an interview on Larry King Live , Paris confirmed that she and Nicole would start shooting Season 6 by the end of 2007. "In a couple of months" in her own words.
Despite the initial hopes for continuation, E! announced they had canceled the show on July 30, 2007, mainly due to personal problems overshadowing the show.
E! networks final statement: " The Simple Life has been a wonderful addition to the E! Schedule for two years and we will always be grateful to Paris and Nicole for their hard work and graciousness."
Paris herself made a statement at the premiere of Rush Hour 3 saying "It's been a great five years and we had so much fun, but I'm happy to end it at that." suggesting she has opted out of any continuation of the series.
It appears Nicole will also be unavailable to shoot any further episodes of the show, having just had a baby and wanting to focus on her family in future.
While E! canceled The Simple Life , and the stars seemed less than enthusiastic to continue, series producer Twentieth Century Fox held out hope another network would pick it up for another go-round. However, it was reported a new incarnation may not feature Paris and Nicole. Other networks were said to be interested, including MTV as a strong possibility.
A new incarnation nearly occurred, in a newly-developed spin-off that, following negotiations, was set to air on E!, featuring Kelly Osbourne and Kimberly Stewart in Paris and Nicole's shoes. The show was not picked up, however, after Kelly opted out of the project after a few days shooting, branding it "demeaning and juvenile".
Instead, E! picked up Keeping Up With The Kardashians , and no other network came forward to announce plans to pick up The Simple Life in any form. The series has finally come to a close.
Distribution rights to The Simple Life are still held by 20th Century Fox, who may submit the series for syndication in the USA in future. In Australia, it is already syndicated; with various seasons now airing on Arena TV (on Foxtel & Austar).
Seasons
The First Season
In the first season, Paris and Nicole agreed to leave behind their cellphones, credit cards and celebrity status to move in with the Leding family in Altus, Arkansas for a month.
What was supposed to be an experiment in learning how to adapt to doing chores and getting their hands dirty turned out to be a failure. In the process they would ruin a dairy farmer's milk supply, wreak havoc at a local Sonic Drive-In and take advantage of an employer's credit card, ultimately getting fired from every job they took up. This was greatly upsetting to the Leding family. Despite all of this, the two would often get a reality check from the family themselves. Whether Paris and Nicole took it to heart remains to be seen. <
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