March 31, 1984 (1984-03-31) – September 2, 1995 (1995-09-02)
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995.[1] The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates.
The show was hosted by Robin Leach for the majority of its run.[1] Leach was joined by Shari Belafonte in 1994.[2] At her request, in order to "bring the show into the '90's", the show was renamed Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte.[3] After Belafonte left in 1995, the show was simply retitled Lifestyles.
Voice-over artist David Greenspan (aka David Perry) provided narration for most of the segments during the bulk of the show's run and could be heard whenever Leach did not appear on camera.[4] Upon Greenspan's death in 1991, various voice-over artists took over narration duties, including Les Marshak and Charlie O'Donnell.[4][5][6]
Lifestyles was created by Al Masini (also credited with Solid Gold, Entertainment Tonight, and Star Search).[9] It was one of the first shows to feature the lives of the wealthy, largely intended to be an insight into the opulent residences and the glamorous lifestyles of those it profiled. However, many of the geographic areas it covered were also ideal destinations for vacations, and in his on-camera appearances, Leach indirectly made references to resorts and tourist attractions. Greenspan, as narrator, made more direct references to such resorts and such tourist attractions.
Leach ended each episode with a wish for his viewers that became his signature catchphrase, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams."[10]
Lifestyles originally aired in syndication from 1984-1995. ABC aired re-edited segments of the show, along with some new footage, at 11:00 A.M. (EST) during its daytime schedule from April 7 to June 13, 1986, and from June 30 to September 5, 1986. It was replaced on the daytime schedule by its spinoff, Fame, Fortune and Romance, which ran until May 1987.
Lifestyles was Emmy nominated for "Outstanding Informational Special" in 1984.[11]
Lifestyles had two companion spinoff series. One was Runaway with the Rich and Famous, also hosted by Leach. Runaway focused on taking viewers on vacations with celebrities to exotic foreign locations. The series also aired in first-run syndication, from 1986 to 1994.[12] There was also Fame, Fortune and Romance, broadcast on ABC from 1986 to 1987.[13]
In 2013, the Style Network was going to reboot Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous but did not move forward when the network was later rebranded the Esquire Network. In 2014, a source said that a new version of Lifestyles would be remade for NBC,[14] hosted by Nick Cannon. Unlike the original, this version would have mostly focused on Cannon's point of view as well as featured profiles of the mega-rich. This version would also have featured tech billionaires, who were quickly becoming the new face of wealth; it was said that philanthropic efforts would also be covered.[15] Cannon said that "Robin Leach passed the torch to me, now I'm producing and hosting the new Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"; he also said "You know what? I think rich and famous people take themselves too seriously, I'm gonna be just like I am on this show America's Got Talent. I'll be like, what the hell? Gold toilet seats? Let's pop bottles!" The idea was later scrapped.
An episode of the second season of Garfield and Friends titled "Lifestyles of the Fat and Furry" had Garfield winning the lottery and being featured on the titular program. At the end though, Garfield loses his fortune because he was underage (he was 11 years old at the time the episode aired), and the winnings are given to the Robin Leach look-alike (played by Robin Leach himself), who is thrilled that he can now "stop hosting this stupid program and talking in this stupid voice!"
In several episodes of Saturday Night Live, the "Lifestyles" program would be spoofed a few times by Harry Shearer as Robin Leach in "Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich and Famous". Another more exaggerated parody of Leach would be made a few years on SNL by Dana Carvey where his Leach character would exclaim "I'm yelling and I don't know why!"
Sergio Aragones often parodied the show in his cartoon drawings, namely in MAD Magazine (other MAD artists and writers targeted Leach and the show as well), but Aragones, like Antonio Prohias, managed to do so without words. One such Aragones cartoon showed a live taping of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" suddenly interrupted by a homeless woman and children requesting food and clothing, much to the surprise of the shocked camera men.
Cryptic Slaughter's song "Death styles of the Poor & Lowly", from the 1990 album Speak Your Peace, criticized the show and included a mocking imitation of Robin Leach.
An episode of the cartoon Tiny Toon Adventures featured Babs and Buster Bunny as presenters of a show called "Lifestyles of the Rich and Rotten". They were supposed to interview Montana Max, but he had snubbed them, so they mainly used the show as a way to torment him.
