Friday, August 24, 2018

A celebration of excess: Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous (1984)

Spun off from Entertainment Tonight, Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous launched in March of 1984, and ran for 12 seasons in syndication, inviting viewers to learn about the upper crust and how they lived. As if the supermarket tabloids weren't already speculating, often falsely, on that subject.

Gossip reporter Robin Leach hosted for the entirety of the show's run, joined by actress Shari Belafonte in the final season. Leach used the contacts he had in print media, and those he had acquired from working on Entertainment Tonight, to take viewers around the world in the course of an hour. Flailing ratings might explain why Belafonte was added in 1994.

Here's a sample episode from season 2:



In memory of Leach, who passed away today at 76.

Rating: B-.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Robin used to work at my TV station as an entertainment reporter (2002 or so). I liked him and that guy knew EVERYBODY! Whenever there was a rumor to track down, he was the man to find out.

I was quite surprised to hear he'd passed.

hobbyfan said...

It's a stunner, to be sure.