Society princesses Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are about to eschew their parties, wardrobes and trust funds for "The Simple Life."
Fox has officially greenlit the Bunim-Murray Prods./20th Century Fox reality skein, a "Green Acres"-inspired take on two spoiled rich girls who must adjust when they're transplanted to rural America (
Daily Variety, Aug. 30).
Show, 20th Century Fox's first foray into the reality business, will follow heiress Hilton and Richie (the daughter of pop crooner Lionel Richie) as they move in with a farm family. Fox will air six half-hours of "Simple Life."
Producers Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray ("The Real World") said they're still determining which family and rural community the duo will be placed with. Hilton and Richie will spend five weeks living with the chosen family.
"Each episode will chronicle their struggle to fit in and deal with a kind of life they haven't experienced," Murray said. "This will definitely be something like Lucy and Ethel with the conveyor belt."
Hilton, who's repped by UTA and Untitled, and CAA-repped Richie, went to school together and have been tight friends for years.
A model-turned-actress, Hilton has roles in the upcoming features "Wonderland," "The Cat in the Hat" and "Raising Helen."
"What we loved about this idea was it's not about shock value," 20th Century Fox TV prexy Gary Newman said. "It isn't about grossing people out; it's just another way to tell funny stories. It's not that far away from what we try to accomplish in our scripted series."
Beyond "Simple Life," Newman said he didn't expect the studio to become heavily involved in the reality world -- an arena still dominated mostly by smaller producers -- but that it's open to nonscripted possibilities.
"The big studios tend to be more of a home-run business, where we tend to spend a lot of money on development deals with writers," he said. "To focus a lot of our attention away from that, searching for unscripted deals, wouldn't be the most sensible approach to our business.
"In an individual case where an idea comes to us, if we like it, this company will allow us to pursue it," he said. "But you won't see a wholesale shift."
WMA-repped Bunim-Murray hopes to start production on "The Simple Life" in the spring for an airdate later this year.
Hillbilly hopes
"The Simple Life," of course, isn't the only fish-out-of-water reality series set to make waves at the webs in recent months. Despite published reports suggesting that CBS has distanced itself from its "Real-Life Beverly Hillbillies" project, an Eye spokesman said the entry is still in active development.
Despite protests from groups worried about the treatment of rural Americans who might end up on the show, CBS said it's still searching for the right family. Eye hopes to air "Hillbillies" sometime in the late spring or summer once a cast is found.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com