As a writer for Luxist, I was particularly interested in seeing how well this show captured the luxe life. Would the contestants really be let into the world of New York society? The most annoying theme song ever leads us into this show that seems to delight in making fun of middle America. We start with the contestants extolling the virtues of "becoming a Hilton." They are taken to a private club where they cocktail about while Kathy Hilton observes them from above as they spit out caviar and get hammered on free booze. Kathy appears and our hapless folks are all agog. They are given silver spoons, divided into teams (Madison and Park) and the posturing and grandstanding begins.Each team has to select a member of the other team to choose a shopper to pick out a hostess gift. Jabe goes out and buys over four pounds of chocolate while JW goes for wine and flowers. At dinner each team has to coach their representative (Jabe and JW again) through dinner at 21. The Hiltons have roped Queer Eye For The Straight Guy's Ted Allen, Billy Bush and some Yugoslavian prince into being part of their social experiment for the evening. Poor Ted looks about ready to faint during the whole process. The Park team wins and gets to go to a vineyard via private jet. The other team does the traditional who-did-what deconstruct. In the end, perfume salesman Alain gets the boot.
I wanted to like this show but it seemed that rather than showing the contestants how to enter the good life, the editing was done to make the aspirants as foolish as possible. Kathy Hilton, while charming enough, doesn't seem to really be able to connect with her charges or to be genuinely interested in their progress. Additional things that annoy me about this show: the sepia-toned intros, lock-jawed narrator and the inevitable double-sided air kisses. Instead of highlighting the pleasure of luxury, they are highlighting the fakery.
Next week: Paris and Nicky take the contestants to the Hamptons.
Saturday Morning: Speed Racer - VIDEOS
American Idol: My fantasy top ten
Why we need a Veronica Mars movie
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-22-2005 @ 4:29AM
forzaq8 said...
each time i wonder , is there a way to go lower , and each time i'm amazed that they can go lower and lower
now standup comidian should be carefull , the joke may trun into a tv show
Reply
6-22-2005 @ 6:38AM
ooda said...
Even when listening to Kathy Hilton on Howard Stern today she did not seem to be interesting at all, and didn't have the sort of charisma needed to be a host. Love him or hate him, at least Donald Trump is interesting.
To be honest, I'm not sure if The Apprentice:Martha Steward will be any good, though I guess with all the exposure on television which Steward has had over the years should at least give her somewhat of a good on-screen presence.
Is there any saving NBC?
Reply
6-22-2005 @ 9:07AM
steven said...
I'm sorry, but this show was horrible.
It just tries to make people into something they're not.
Talk about a show for your self esteem.
Reply
6-22-2005 @ 11:21AM
Arek Michaels said...
The reality show, I want to be a Hilton, left a sour feeling in my head. It was uncomfortable watching these foolish contestants trying to impress Kathy Hilton in order to win a prize of being something they aren't. But, for me, it was a bit more irritating watching those celebrities, or other so called "important people", judging them and clutching their pearls. I'm not saying that this reality show was any more degrading than the others, but it seemed to be facing in the direction of Rachel Hunter, Randolph Duke and Lorenzo Lamas' mean reality show, 'Are You Hot? I like peeking into the world of the "old money" people, because it's in their blood, but when I see these other characters judging other people as if they have the secret to quick improvement, it just isn't any fun. I won't be running to turn on the T.V. set next week to watch this one.
Arek
Reply
6-22-2005 @ 2:23PM
Vince said...
Kathy Hilton has NO personality at all she is like a generic realit show host, like in "the apprentice" the Donald isn't in the picture very often but he still manages to make it relatively "interesting".
Reply
6-23-2005 @ 12:46PM
M gann said...
Maybe Kathy Hilton should put more effort into trying to teach her trampy daughter how to act instead of picking on middle america.
Reply
6-27-2005 @ 10:40PM
Lee said...
That asian chiquita embarrassed the entire asian race by singing that, "...moment like this," crap. OMG. I asked my wife after she did that, "Please say at least she's not chinese."
Reply
7-04-2005 @ 9:06AM
PATRICIA said...
HEY LEE
I HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOU . AM NOT ASIAN BUT THE GIRL SEEMS TO HAVE TOURETTE SYNDROME BECAUSE SHE JUST BUST OUT SING. SHE SOUNDS LIKE A TERRIBLE ALREADY TERRIBLE CHER. YVETTE NEEDS TO GO BECAUSE AM ALREADY TIRED OF HER. SHE CAN TAKE OVER OMAROSA'S TITLE OF THE REALITY TV QUEEN BITCH
Reply