Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Gets a Reboot

Nick Cannon, host of America’s Got Talent and accessory of Mariah Carey, has been signed by the Style Network to host (and executive produce) a reboot of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

For those of you who haven’t learned your essential TV history, Lifestyles was a Dynasty-era cheesefest that did exactly what it set out to do in the title: invade the homes of the rich and famous. It made a star of host Robin Leach, who, in a super-affected voice with a vaguely British accent, signed off each episode with “champagne wishes and caviar dreams.”

The Hollywood Reporter says the show will “take viewers into the homes of dot-com money, hip-hop fame, one-hit wonders and old money glitz. Cannon will introduce people who either live the dream or are maintaining the opulence while providing relatable, funny and informative play-by-play through the tours.”

The idea of reviving the original look-at-how-the-1%-live show isn’t necessarily a bad one, but this particular update sounds about as exciting as an IRS audit. Maybe because there’ve been so many shows just like Lifestyles since it last aired in 1994. Cribs, for example, and The Fabulous Life Of. In fact a whole industry of wealth-watching has sprung up in the last two decades, creating youthquick gangs of teen have-nots who, as we saw in Bling Ring, literally invade the homes of the rich and famous-for-being-famous.

Unless the project is as campy as its predecessor, we predict it’ll go straight to Netflix. A better idea would be to bring back Solid Gold, created by the same producers as Lifestyle. Now that’s an 80s reboot we’d set the DVR to record.

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