Yes, Paris and Nicole and could be heading to Capitol Hill for season three of The Simple Life to serve as political interns for some of Fox's right-wing allies.
The network isn't denying reports that the celebutantes' next stop could be in D.C., working the Moncia Lewinsky beat. A Fox spokesperson said the next installment is in the very early stage of development, but that the producers have been putting out "feelers" in various places, including Washington.
The New York Daily News reports that Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert and hard-line conservative Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania have been approached, but both have declined the offer to have the scandal-plagued reality starlets take care of their business.
"I asked the Speaker about it, and he didn't think it was such a good idea," Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, tells the paper.
Meanwhile, apparently trying for humor, a spokesman for Santorum says the senator had a policy of only hiring interns from his native state, and that Hilton grew up living in "the swanky Waldorf-Astoria in New York City [and] although we have several Hilton hotels in Pennsylvania, we'd don't have any Waldorfs! Sorry, Paris."
One thing that's certain is Fox continues to be delighted with the success of the famous-for-being-famous pair's carefully contrived reality show adventures, first down on farm in Arkansas and then in a cross-country RV trip.
After the debut of the dynamic duo's second season road trip, network president Gail Berman called Hilton and Richie "the undisputed stars of summer," as she announced the third season pick-up. The show is popular among the coveted 18-49 demo and it finished its summer run as one of the most watched shows, averaging 10.6 million viewers.
Paris Hilton may want to give Monica Lewinsky a call for some tips on the hotel heiress' next gig.
Not that--as those well-distributed videotapes suggest, Paris could teach the former Bill Clinton paramour a thing or two. But it's Lewinsky's work experience as a White House intern that might aid the celebutante in her next adventure, as she and sidekick Nicole Richie embark on The Simple Life 3: Interns, the third go-round of their Fox TV reality series.
Production on the show begins Wednesday in New York City, with Paris and Nicole hopping a Greyhound bus and preparing to tour the East Coast for the next month.
Along the way, the pals will make several stops, dropping in as houseguests on local families and performing short internships for various businesses and political offices.
Fox reps say the show doesn't have a premiere date yet, but season two of the series premiered last January, and January 2005 may be a likely date for the network to spring the duo's latest shenanigans on viewers.
In the show's first season, Paris and childhood chum Nicole, the adopted daughter of pop star Lionel Richie, swapped their Beverly Hills mansions and Rodeo Drive shopping sprees for the rural life, living and working--well, sorta--on a farm in Arkansas.
And during season two's action, the women drove an Airstream trailer on a cross-country road trip that was supposed to take them from Florida to California, though they'd had enough of life on the road--and working for a living--by the time they hit Texas.
This time, Hilton and Richie will leave the driving to Greyhound, traveling around on a standard bus and possibly even sharing the vehicle with other unsuspecting passengers.
Meanwhile, with their wanderlust hankerings playing out on TV, both Hilton and Richie have other projects cooking. Hilton will open new Club Paris hotspots in Las Vegas and Orlando on New Year's Eve, and will design her own personal suite at the Aladdin casino and hotel on the Strip in Vegas. The suite will be available for other guests when Paris has checked out, so to speak.
Hilton has also, in recent months, published a book, recorded a pop music CD, begun selling a line of jewelry on Amazon.com, filmed a role in the upcoming National Lampoon big-screen comedy Pledge This! and been linked romantically to tennis aces Mark Philippoussis and Andy Roddick.
And Richie has her own lineup of extracurricular activities on deck, including shopping a proposal for a self-esteem advice book for teens, her own musical endeavors, and, according to a TV insider, pitching a syndicated talk show that she would host.
As for their reality bus excursion, there's one moment that's sure to be a highlight for viewers: Can you imagine the spoiled sports' faces when they discover the Greyhound's on-board powder room? Priceless.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have been forced to explore alternative employment options in New York City, after the Wall Street Journal rejected their job requests.
For the third installment of their hit reality show "The Simple Life," Richie and Hilton will hit the road around the north-east section of America -- traveling around in Greyhound coaches.
The trek, which is slated to begin shooting Wednesday, will reportedly last a month. Along the way, the pair will stop to work a variety of different jobs, from blue collar to managerial.
But when producers contacted the publication to see if the pair could spend a day in the office, the Journal declined and offered them free subscriptions instead.
In past series, the best pals have been seen making a mockery of their jobs, much to the entertainment of audiences but despair of their bosses.
09-20-2004 09:13 AM
