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DAN DeWITTThe city has been chosen as a possible location for the Fox TV reality show starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Auditions are Saturday.
BROOKSVILLE - The Simple Life is the title of Fox network's popular reality show. And simple is the premise:
Place the spoiled offspring of rich people in the home of a working-class family and fun will automatically follow.
Whether that is true, and whether the fun is harmless or mean-spirited, is suddenly a pressing question in Brooksville, which Fox has chosen as a possible stop for an episode of the show.
The upcoming season, to be filmed in the spring, will feature the show's stars - Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie - touring the country in a recreational vehicle. Fox was unavailable to say whether the two will definitely stop in Brooksville, and, if so, why the town was selected.
What is certain is that the show's production company, Bunim/Murray Productions, will audition possible host families on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., at the Hernando County Fairgrounds.
Brooksville council member Richard Lewis sees this as a chance for the right family to make a national name for itself.
"I presume the family will be given a videotape or DVD and they'll be able to say, "We were on a national television show.' And it would be part of their history and ancestry," Lewis said.
Another council member, Joe Johnston III, knows that he would not welcome the two women into his home. Hilton, 22, is the great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton hotel chain; Richie, 22, is the daughter of pop musician and songwriter Lionel Richie.
"They basically make fun of people who work for a living," he said.
The previous episodes were all shot in Altus, Ark. Though Johnston said he has not seen it, he has read that it ridiculed the community.
"That's why I don't think it's the best thing for the city of Brooksville."
The city does not have to give its approval, but it has chosen to cooperate. Representatives of the show called City Clerk Karen Phillips several days ago. She gave them the names of a few potential host families, selecting ones she thought would put the community in a good light.
"If they are going to do it, we would prefer we know the quality of the people they are interviewing," Phillips said.
The Fox employee told Phillips the show was interested in portraying family values, and Phillips said she believes the woman was sincere.
"It's not our intention to have the community dissed," she said.
That is almost inevitable, said Jennifer Brown, a clerk at the Altus City Hall.
"They were cussing, flipping people off, just being rude," Brown said of Hilton and Richie.
During one episode, when they worked at a Sonic drive-in, they posted an obscene message on its outdoor sign.
"People here were having a fit," Brown said.
Once the show aired, though, Altus residents became less hostile when they saw that Richie and Hilton were playing to the camera and, usually, making themselves the butt of the jokes.
"It reflected badly on the girls, not on the city," she said.
The hundreds of people who called the city hall, including many newspaper reporters and radio show hosts, confirmed this impression.
"Everybody was saying, "You guys in Altus look awesome. We're proud of you and we're proud of the (host) family,' " Brown said.
"The publicity was awesome," she said.
That is the potential benefit of the show, Lewis said, "especially because the city and the county are in a growth mode ... I don't think it will be in any way degrading to Brooksville and I don't think it would be in any way degrading to the family."
But, then again, that is possible, Lewis said.
"They can come in and insult anyone they want to because, chances are, they won't ever see that person again," he said.
- Dan DeWitt can be reached at 323 754-6116 or by e-mail at dewitt@sptimes.com