The Simple Life’s immediate success - 13 million people watched the premiere on Decemwas never a guarantee. Here came a show that further legitimized their fame. The genre had recently turned its eye toward celebrities thanks to The Osbournes, The Anna Nicole Smith Show, and Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, and a new breed of media-savvy debutantes far removed from Edith Wharton or the Barbizon Hotel wanted to seize the tabloids’ gaze.
Twenty years ago, it was that filthy frolic from The Simple Life that marked a turning point in reality television. Photo: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett CollectionĪs soon as the world became ready to witness one young socialite chase another around a barn with cow dung on her glove, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton appeared.