DVD Review: The Simple Life Goes to Camp
Posted by Nick Wallander on 03.02.2008
Don't judge! I have an illogial crush on Nicole Richie.
I remember all the way back to 2003 when Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were starring in a new reality show called “The Simple Life” which found them spending a couple months living on an Arkansas farm. Well, with a well timed sex tape scandal and some legitimately funny moments, that show was somewhat of a success. That first season would spawn 4 more where we found the girls doing internships, playing mother, and then most recently, working as camp counselors.
The most recent season, “The Simple Life Goes to Camp” was released on DVD January 22. This particular season chronicles the trials and tribulations that Paris and Nicole face while working for Camp Shawnee as the female counselors for various groups that rotate through the course of the season. As you might suspect, the girls handle many of their tasks in a prissy and spoiled manner, which leads to a few funny moments that are mixed with “why am I watching this?” moments.
Nicole and Paris are first given a group of overweight individuals to help through a wellness camp being led by Susan Powter. Yeah, that would be the Susan Powter who did all that crap with “Stop the Insanity” in the early 90s. She apparently didn’t head her own advice since she appears to have gone batshit crazy. Paris and Nicole are surprisingly polite to people you would think they’d mock and call disgusting. The most interesting part about this section of the season is seeing all the offbeat ways that Powter tries to create wellness in her campers.
The second camp that the divas work with is a group of child pageant queens of varying ages. Paris seems to be immediately drawn into the vain world that these children are introduced to by their stuck up parents. While watching this part, you can’t help but get a little nervous that Paris is going to teach these kids about starring in a night-vision movie. Seriously though, this is the camp where you feel like Paris and Nicole are just not appropriate individuals for children to be alone with. I would say that they are a few steps above a priest. All the sleaze aside, the Hollywood Princesses come up with an interesting idea that puts a whole twist on this beauty pageant camp.
The third group that camp Shawnee brings in is a Love Camp, so to speak. Several struggling couples enlist the help of some no name relationship therapist to help them get their crap together. If there was a group most appropriate for the divas, it was this one. They are a raunchy bunch that is not afraid to talk about some things that shouldn’t ever come out of the mouths of people like them. Somehow this whole camp turns into Paris and Nicole giving relationship advice, which, to anyone with a brain, makes no sense.
The fourth camp and most entertaining part of the season was the Survival Camp. Led by an ex army ranger named Mike Hawke, this camp was a strange combination of fear factor and that show on Discovery Channel that everyone talks about. Clearly this could not have been any kind of real camp about survival because most of the activities are a little farfetched. However, this is the part of the season where you get to see a little more of the prissy side that we all remember from the girls in the early season of “The Simple Life”. There is a whole lot of fussing, pissing, and moaning to be enjoyed by all. The best part about this set of episode has to be Mike Hawke who is charismatic and militant at the same time. You’ll wish that he was around all season to yell at the girls.
The final group of the season is acting camp. This might be the most fast forward point of the season, except for when camp lead, Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland, is throwing a fit about something. To put it bluntly, this woman is a freaking loon. She makes Paris and Nicole look like they have their shit together, which is a truly amazing feat to say the least. By this point in the season you will start getting annoyed by all the ridiculous things that campers do at the whim of Hilton and Richie. Lucky for you, these are the final two episodes of the season.
The one ongoing plot of the season is Paris’s flirtation with a commoner male counselor by the name of Hunter. Honestly this is perhaps the most scripted part of this season. For some reason the creators of this show think that they can trick us into believing that Paris Hilton is going to fall in love with a man who isn’t Hollywood. They waste a lot of time in this season throwing this garbage storyline at us and you’d probably rather see more antics of the crazy campers.
To sum up the season as a whole, I can be honest and say that it had a few moments worth watching. Unfortunately they are few and far between to get one really engrossed in the season as a whole. To make matters worse, there aren’t any added bonuses to the DVD to make it worth buying. There isn’t even a commentary track to enhance an episode. You would probably be better off catching these episodes as reruns on the E! Network.
The 411: This is just another run of the mill reality show. Sure, there are a few good laughs and maybe one insightful moment, but it probably isn't worth your $15. If you are fans of these two trashbag trollups, then you might want to rent this or catch it on E!. No Special Features hurts this DVD as well.
