'Simple Life' Will Not Film at N.J. School

Bill's Comment: This serves as an update to my "Pity Party In The Making" entry from this past Friday, January 7.
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'Simple Life' Will Not Film at N.J. School

BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - The Fox TV reality series ``The Simple Life'' will not be using a New Jersey school as the setting for one of its episodes.

The proposed filming had provoked heated opposition from parents who felt it was not appropriate and feared that it would hold their community up to ridicule.

Producers of the hit show starring racy heiress Paris Hilton had approached school officials in December, offering to pay $5,000 to film an episode at a school 30 miles west of Atlantic City.

This season's episodes will have Hilton and co-star Nicole Richie traveling the country trying their hand as interns at various jobs. The idea for the Buena episode was to have Hilton and Richie work as substitute teachers and cafeteria monitors at the J.P. Cleary Middle School.

School district officials initially were amenable to the idea, and permission forms and a letter from the show's production company were sent home to parents last week.

But some responded angrily, saying that Hilton, whose celebrity was fueled by an X-rated home video that made the rounds of the Internet, was not a fit role model for middle school students.

``I just feel that it's ludicrous that the Board of Education and the administration would invite Paris Hilton to teach 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds, and Nicole Richie, too,'' parent Sue Barber said last week. ``Their reputation leaves a lot to be desired.''

Barber and other parents had planned to protest at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

Buena Regional School District Superintendent Diane DeGiacomo said the producers of the show had become concerned about the controversy and had reached a mutual decision with school officials to shelve the idea.

01/10/05 23:06

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Bill's Post-comment: I heard a rumor somewhere that Ms. Hilton may be heading to a firehouse near you.