The Simple Life
Paris Hilton and her friend Nicole Richie are thrown into awkward
situations they would never have otherwise experienced.The original serie is
shown by FOX in the U.S.A. and started being produced in 2003.
The
Simple Life Official Website : here.
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 the girls took it to heart remains to be seen.
The show started airing on Fox December 2, 2003, to surprisingly well received ratings. The premiere episode drew 13 million viewers, increasing Fox's Adults 18-49 rating a phenomenal 79%.The second episode drew 13.3 million viewers, an increase of 200,000 viewers over its premiere.During the airing of the series, Fox added two extra episodes and a reunion special, which continued to draw ratings. With results like this, it was only natural that Fox would order a second season.
The DVD of this season was released in U.S.A on January 20, 2004.
Some international releases included the bonus episode and the reunion
episode.
A second season, subtitled Road Trip, began broadcasting in
the summer of 2004. In this season, Paris and Nicole traveled across the United
States in a pink pickup truck (driven by Paris), pulling an airstream trailer.
They participated in such activities as catching crawfish, working as maids in a
nudist resort, and sausage-making.
The premiere episode (drawing 9.8 million overall viewers)showcased Hilton's horseback-riding accident, which made headlines when they were still filming.
The ratings continued to climb during the season, and Fox was quick to announce heading into production on Season 3, not before airing a special episode titled The Simple Life - The Stuff We Weren't Allowed To Show You on November 17, 2004. The special showcased several cut scenes from the season (some of which appear on the Season 2 DVD) as well as preview clips for the third season.
The DVD of this season was released in U.S.A on November 2, 2004. A CD-soundtrack for this season was also released.
The third season, began shooting October 27, 2004. The first
episode premiered January 26, 2005.
The third season, subtitled Interns, would see Paris and Nicole take various internships with companies along the East Coast of the United States. The girls traveled around the northeast United States via the Greyhound Bus company's publicly available bus routes. But unlike season 2, this time around the girls did not have a swanky home on wheels and instead were travelling around the northeast in a regular Greyhound bus that was also ferrying normal members of the public that are travelling to the same destination.
The season featured one memorable encounter with twin baby orangutans from Parrot Jungle Island in Miami, Florida. Nicole Richie's fiance DJ Adam Goldstein also appeared in this season when he surprised Nicole and took her on a date. In this season, there were episodes where they were given little or no money while interning, or their internships were shortened because instead of being professional, they would goof off or fail to do the work properly.
An episode set in a funeral home drew minor controversy among viewers. The girls struggled with unloading a casket from a hearse, then spilling cremated ashes on the floor and using a vacuum to clean it up. The show's producers claimed the casket was empty and the "human ashes" was just a stage prop. [16]
In the last episode of the season, there was no party shown with friends or family. Instead, they were hounded by paparazzi, one of the final times the two were seen together on good terms for quite some time.
The DVD of this season was released in U.S.A on March 14,
2006.
The fourth season premiered on June 4, 2006, drawing 1.3
million viewers. While those ratings would have been dismal for Fox, it was
actually more than four times E!’s prime-time average. And in key adult
demographic groups, ratings more than tripled from the network’s average.
The season features Paris and Nicole playing "Wife" to a different family every episode, in a similar manner to Wife Swap. The girls alternate between the family each episode, with the family then deciding which of them was better in the role.
This season was also unique, as Paris and Nicole did not leave L.A. The families they stayed with were L.A area residents, and the episodes often focused on Paris and Nicole's personal lives and careers as well as the challenge of being a wife and mother. This season also featured guest appearances from the girls' well-known friends, family and associates. Since the season was set in their hometowns, the girls had cell phone and credit card usage, previously denied to them in earlier seasons.
The season finale ended with Paris confronting Nicole, stating "We have to talk", followed by a screen that read "To be continued...next season!". Many viewers were shocked and angry over this cliffhanger ending.
On Thursday, July 27, 2006, several E! series were added to the iTunes Music Store. Among these series was The Simple Life Seasons 1 and 4.
The DVD of this season was released on December 26, 2006.
