'The Simple Life' comes to an end

"Given the fact that both Paris and Nicole are engaged and about to be married, there's got to be something in that world that we can play with that can continue the spirit of 'The Simple Life.'"— Fox Entertainment president Peter Ligouri (July 28)

And you thought that Paris Hilton breaking her engagement to shipping heir Paris Latsis was just so much more useless, annoying infotainment. Turns out it may have saved us from being subjected to still more Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie on Fox television.

After picking up an option for a fourth season of "The Simple Life" and insisting for months that The Show Would Go On, despite the fact that Paris and Nicole weren't speaking to each other, Fox has finally announced it has canceled the show.

"We did not see a place for 'The Simple Life' on our schedule this season," the network said in a statement.

Which is sort of a nice way of saying, "We do not think anybody wants to see more of Paris and Nicole."

Ligouri was quite insistent when he told TV critics a couple of months ago that, even though Richie and Hilton had fallen out, more of this faux reality show was possible. "We'll figure it out when we sit down, come up with a concept and talk to them," he said. And he pointed to some sort of parallel "reality" that wouldn't require the two to actually spend any time together as they prepared for their weddings.

Which, of course, became impossible when Hilton broke her engagement.

The producers of the show (which, oddly enough, includes the Fox television studios) insist that "The Simple Life" isn't over. They're shopping it to other networks.

Word is that Richie has been shopping a Paris-less reality show of her own. And Hilton wants to concentrate on her, um, "movie career."

Spare us. With any luck, the clock is ticking at about 14:30 on their 15 minutes of fame.

IT'S BEING REPORTED that Raj Bhakta, who was a contestant on the second season of "The Apprentice," is considering running for congress in his home state of Pennsylvania.

One would think that all his opponent would have to do is run clips of the bow-tied buffoon acting like an idiot on NBC's reality show — which he did quite a bit — in order to sink his candidacy. (Hitting on tennis ace Anna Kournikova and running around in his underwear were highlights. Er, uh, lowlights.)

Of course, buffoons and clowns do seem to be most welcome in our nation's capital. . . .

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com