Justin'sGirlUK
Sep 5th, 2003, 08:43 AM
Pity the pop princess so desperate for a career that she'll let MTV into her marriage.
The cable network's latest reality series, "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" (premiering tonight at 10:30) follows singer Jessica Simpson and her husband Nick Lachey (of the group 98 Degrees) during their first year of wedded bliss.
Simpson is embarrassingly babyish, a trait she embraces with a certain degree of pride. "I'm so spoiled. I don't know what it is. Somebody has always picked up after me," she tells the camera. Later in the half-hour program, she announces with a bit of defiance, "I grew up with my mother making my bed. She would never tell me to clean my room. She would always do it."
Well, shame on Mama Simpson.
Like her reality predecessor Ozzy Osbourne, Simpson has trouble with simple tasks - throwing out dead flowers and operating the trash compactor - and is easily confused. She wonders if her tuna is really tuna since it is labeled Chicken of the Sea. Ozzy has years of drinking and drugging behind him. What's her excuse?
One of her claims to fame was her very public decision to remain a virgin until she was married. While this might set a nice example, the first episode portrays a 23-year-old who isn't mature enough to marry.Simpson comes across as a young girl dazzled by the idea of a storybook wedding but not up for the reality behind it.
A pile of dirty laundry sits in the foyer for days as Simpson shops for the latest fashions or simply sits and sulks. She whines that her huge new house is never going to look good. If this is how she acts with the cameras around, one wonders how much worse it would have been had her marriage remained private.
Simpson desperately wants a housekeeper. "Is there, like, maids for, like, celebrities?" she asks a friend. But Lachey, who comes across as surprisingly down-to-earth, contends it is not a maid's job to pick up a discarded wet towel. He's quite frustrated with his bride's bratty ways.
"She takes off her clothes and leaves them there," he says incredulously.
Simpson and Lachey were always third-tier pop stars. Even in their heydays, they trailed Britney and Christina and 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys, respectively. As the two try to recapture a corner of the pop market (the review tape of "Newlyweds" included a CD with new singles from both), a reality show may be the best platform to promote any kind of future career. And MTV certainly knows how to turn mundane celebrity life into tantalizing television.
But let's hope Simpson is prepared to be ridiculed. Because this show has more in common with "The Osbournes" than anyone might have thought.
The cable network's latest reality series, "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" (premiering tonight at 10:30) follows singer Jessica Simpson and her husband Nick Lachey (of the group 98 Degrees) during their first year of wedded bliss.
Simpson is embarrassingly babyish, a trait she embraces with a certain degree of pride. "I'm so spoiled. I don't know what it is. Somebody has always picked up after me," she tells the camera. Later in the half-hour program, she announces with a bit of defiance, "I grew up with my mother making my bed. She would never tell me to clean my room. She would always do it."
Well, shame on Mama Simpson.
Like her reality predecessor Ozzy Osbourne, Simpson has trouble with simple tasks - throwing out dead flowers and operating the trash compactor - and is easily confused. She wonders if her tuna is really tuna since it is labeled Chicken of the Sea. Ozzy has years of drinking and drugging behind him. What's her excuse?
One of her claims to fame was her very public decision to remain a virgin until she was married. While this might set a nice example, the first episode portrays a 23-year-old who isn't mature enough to marry.Simpson comes across as a young girl dazzled by the idea of a storybook wedding but not up for the reality behind it.
A pile of dirty laundry sits in the foyer for days as Simpson shops for the latest fashions or simply sits and sulks. She whines that her huge new house is never going to look good. If this is how she acts with the cameras around, one wonders how much worse it would have been had her marriage remained private.
Simpson desperately wants a housekeeper. "Is there, like, maids for, like, celebrities?" she asks a friend. But Lachey, who comes across as surprisingly down-to-earth, contends it is not a maid's job to pick up a discarded wet towel. He's quite frustrated with his bride's bratty ways.
"She takes off her clothes and leaves them there," he says incredulously.
Simpson and Lachey were always third-tier pop stars. Even in their heydays, they trailed Britney and Christina and 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys, respectively. As the two try to recapture a corner of the pop market (the review tape of "Newlyweds" included a CD with new singles from both), a reality show may be the best platform to promote any kind of future career. And MTV certainly knows how to turn mundane celebrity life into tantalizing television.
But let's hope Simpson is prepared to be ridiculed. Because this show has more in common with "The Osbournes" than anyone might have thought.