Paris tries to be serious but just doesn't manage it

Paris Hilton vows that she will make that promised charity trip to Rwanda. And she definitely plans to build that transitional home for women leaving prison that she spoke so enthusiastically about last summer when she was released from jail.

But after also pledging at the time of her parole to rid herself of all those hangers-on “who are not going to be beneficial in my life,” Ms. Hilton, the socialite-actress, first has to take care of some other business.

Namely, finding a new BFF, or “best friend forever” in the language of the texting, instant-messaging, nothing-lasts-forever generation. And what better way to do so than with a new reality television show?

So it was that the cream of the Hollywood press corps trooped far up into the Hollywood Hills on Thursday night to be introduced to “Paris Hilton’s My New BFF,” the working title for a coming reality series being produced for MTV.

Ms. Hilton arrived — a fashionable 35 minutes late, of course — and preened for the photographers in her Erica Davies gown, diamonds dripping from her neck, wrist and fingers, then explained what exactly she was looking for in a new best friend.

“Someone who’s not going to stab me in the back, like has happened a lot in this town,” Ms. Hilton said cheerily.

Discerning a good friend from a bad can be difficult, acknowledged Ms. Hilton, 27, who previously blamed an ex-boyfriend, Rick Salomon, for releasing a video of them having sex.

“I’m a really good judge of character,” Ms. Hilton said, “so I can tell” who will measure up to her standards.

Casting for the show started immediately, as Ms. Hilton invited prospective friends, male or female, to apply at her new Web site, ParisBFF.com. Twenty contestants will begin the show by living with Ms. Hilton in a house, where they will undertake tasks to prove their friendlike qualities.

Ms. Hilton said that Nicole Richie, her co-star on “The Simple Life” and longtime BFF, remained so. But “she’s home with her baby,” Ms. Hilton said. “She understands.”

The new series is being produced by MTV and Ish Entertainment, a new production company founded by Michael Hirschorn and Stella Stolper. Mr. Hirschorn, a former executive vice president at VH1, played a large part in that cable channel’s explosive growth in recent years, as viewers flocked to the “celebreality” shows he produced, including “Flavor of Love,” in which the rapper Flavor Flav searched for a soulmate.

And Ms. Stolper, who formerly oversaw celebrity talent development for VH1, said she had been in discussions with Ms. Hilton about the idea for some time.

Neither the producers nor Ms. Hilton would disclose exactly what tasks the new friends would be asked to undertake, but they could hardly be expected to make sacrifices as substantial as those of Ms. Hilton herself, who after release from jail last summer said she was giving up the party life.

“You know, I’ve been going out for a long time now, and yes, it’s fun, but it’s not going to be the mainstay of my life anymore,” Ms. Hilton told Larry King on his CNN talk show last summer.

On Thursday, though, she said she was ready to dispense with such deprivation for the sake of her new best friend. “We’re going to be doing all the fun things I do: going to Vegas, going out, teaching them how to be on the town, see if they can get into clubs,” she said. “Just the usual things that we all do.”

Stepping back into crowded, dark clubs and living in a house with 20 others carries some risk for Ms. Hilton. But she said she was not worried about aggravating her claustrophobia, the “medical condition” that led her to be released from jail in early June only five days into a 45-day sentence for probation violations stemming from an alcohol-related reckless driving case. (She was soon returned to jail and served almost three more weeks.)

And what about that transitional home for women leaving prison? Moved by the friends she made in jail, Ms. Hilton described to Mr. King in June her desire to build “a place with food, shelter and clothing and programs,” where ex-cons “can get themselves back on their feet.”

A group home of 20 supportive men and women, all working to display their deep and abiding devotion to one another, would seem to suit that need perfectly.

“No, this is different,” Ms. Hilton said of the show — although, she promised, “anyone can apply.”