The Simple Life

Nearly every review of the Simple Life misses its essence -- its a staged show. ALL reality shows are in fact staged, with a script. The "reality" part is a bit of improv. allowance, and the illusion that its really happening.

The Simple Life is just as staged as the Lucy show in that generation. Most of the jokes are already written. All the bits, even down to Nicole's purse getting stolen, are staged. If the girls did some of this stuff in real life, they know they would at least get a misdemeanor offense. Instead, a little town is signed up to play along with the jokes and pretend.

The moral condemnation of Paris and Nicole, as spoiled rich girls with low IQs, is just what the producers want adults to think. Any kid with a brain knows they are just goofing off, and its no more real than the Three Stooges. Relax, folks, the stealing and lying and screw ups are all jokes.

I've seen the first 2 episodes of this show and so far it's a real surprise. I never liked Road Rules, so I went into it a little apprehensive considering the two shows share some creative blood. Plus, the girls (especially Hilton) are really fun to look at.

I was expecting to see a show that made fun of the hillbilly family they're staying with, but the writers and editors have done an excellent job squashing that notion: the starts of the show are living with a "Real" family with morals and rules. The girls aren't used to living under those conditions and it's fun watching them make fools of themselves while trying to be California cool. Some classic moments already: Paris asks "What's a well for?" or "Do you know what generic means?" And the scene in episode 2 that shows Paris getting all dolled up for a night on the town only to go out to meet a group of local boys who don't seem impressed by her famous name - one asks: "So, your last name's Motel6?"

Definitely an amusing way to spend a half hour.

Although I, largely, agree with most of the basic criticisms offered by other reviewers, I could not help but feel a certain sympathy for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie and having some sense that, beneath their often obnoxious, misguided, and generally uninformed behavior; both ladies were fundamentally warm hearted and WANTED to be decent, if only they knew HOW to be so. Perhaps that is a naive assessment, on my part, given that they (and the residents of Altus) had to play to the cameras, to a certain extent, and that may have distorted everyone's more natural behavior. Still, (unless I was COMPLETELY deceived), the series looked like a cautionary tale of what often befalls clueless children of inherited wealth. The girls seemed to have been imprisoned in a cocoon of insular ignorance that crippled their capacity to function in a world structured more on self reliance and, perhaps, their parents owe them an apology for not teaching them the way Warren Buffett taught HIS children?

With a show like this it's hard to tell how much is actual reality and how much are scripted scenerios.

Either way Paris and Nicole come off pretty bad. They're totally rude and condesending to the towns people. They get to run around like retards with no consequences.

These two idiots obviously aren't the representative of what everybody is like in L.A. There's a wide variety of areas and people in Southern California.

Nicole says she's never seen anything like the farm area she was on. I guess she's never traveled up the 5 north. Or been to the Equestrian area in Burbank, just a mile down the road from NBC studios.

Paris surely can't be so dense as to never have heard of Wal-Mart. Granted there's more K-Marts than Wal-Marts in Southern California, but still you think she would have at least heard of the company.

Edit/ pretty wild was better There really isn't a show better than this. Just like arrested development and always sunny, the show was before it's time. It's cinematic genius couples with amazing storytelling through pure character portraits. Proximate to its premiere date, the rating average really make sense. If America wouod have been proposed this masterpiece prior to dubbed reality tv i.e., flavor of love, bachelor, laguna beach, richie would have Have the upper hand and received the credit she deserved which would have played a big part in longevity with regard to the narrative of season one which clearly was the best season. Better than breaking bad? Yes as it's been proven many times before and will continue to hold up to scrutiny in the future - simple life is the best show of all time. Slept on. Yes.