Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Early signs show promise that the show will be a hit.
By MIKE DUFFY
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Are they naughty by nature?
Or are shopaholic party girls Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie just playing pouty, pampered princesses for our lively mindless amusement?
Maybe a little bit of both.
The tanned, sarcastic California cupcakes -- Paris the hotel heiress and Nicole the rowdy daughter of singer Lionel Richie -- return for a new season of reality TV whoopee. They take off on a crazed, cross-country road trip in "The Simple Life 2" tonight on Fox.
Love 'em or loathe 'em, Paris and Nicole have become the Laverne and Shirley of a loopily unscripted comedy success. Yes, traditional sitcoms are withering. But from "The Osbournes" to "The Surreal Life" to "Punk'd," many television viewers are getting their jollies laughing at real celebrity people in silly behavior situations.
Produced by Jonathan Murray ("The Real World"), "The Simple Life" created a goofy, guilty pleasures buzz the moment it hit the airwaves last season. The first year offered a daft 21st-century twist on "Green Acres" as Paris and Nicole headed for the boondocks to live in culture-shocked bemusement with an Arkansas farm family.
Instead of laughing at the hicks, "The Simple Life" wisely humanized the Ozarks locals while making self-absorbed Paris and Nicole the target for laughs. All in all, it was a good-natured hoot.
Can they do it again? Early signs are promising.
Road trip adventures
Once again, Paris and Nicole must surrender their cell phones, credit cards and cash before beginning their adventure -- driving a snazzy pink pickup truck, hauling a swanky Airstream trailer, as they travel from trendy South Beach in Miami back home to California.
And once again, these gonzo gal pals dress like they've bought all their clothes from the Barbie Doll Hooker Collection.
Of course, on their cockeyed American road trip odyssey, which includes encounters with everything from trailer parks to a nudist colony, the girls have to earn money to keep going. They'll take jobs making sausage, working for a minor league ball team and shoveling manure for a folksy Tampa rancher and rodeo operator. He wryly observes: "The little girls appear to be relatively intelligent."
Yes, relatively. But there's nothing relative about the fizzy fun of a summertime guilty pleasure carnival like "The Simple Life 2."
And just to kick it off right, Fox is airing a special preview episode at 8 tonight, followed at 9 p.m. by another episode in the show's regular weekly home. OK, Paris and Nicole, get that truck rolling. Let's rock.