Jessica Simpson: Is she a dumb blonde, or does she just play one on TV?

For a dumb blonde, that Jessica Simpson is one smart cookie.

Or is she?

Before "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" — MTV's hit reality series and Gen Y answer to "The Osbournes" — Simpson was a forgettable third-string player in a field crowded by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Now, with the season finale airing at 10:30 tonight, Simpson is a star. At 23, the whiny, buxom blonde has out-Anna-Nicoled Anna Nicole Smith, rising to pop icon status with her daffy one-liners and fast becoming the beautiful ditz viewers love to hate.

"Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica," which chronicles the lives of Simpson and her already long-suffering new husband, Nick Lachey (formerly of boy band 98 Degrees), is the sleeper hit of the season. According to figures supplied by MTV, "Newlyweds" is the No. 1 cable series among female viewers 12 to 34.

Not bad for a couple of so-so singers whose careers were heretofore going nowhere. The Lucy and Desi of the MTV generation have appeared on "Oprah" and "Larry King Live," been spoofed by Justin Timberlake on a recent "Saturday Night Live" and drawn an average 2.4 million viewers Tuesday nights.

But it is Simpson, befuddled by simple tasks like folding clothes or bouncing a basketball, who has hooked viewers and inspired countless Web sites, including E! Online's page, "The Wisdom of Jessica Simpson."

On the show's first episode, she wonders aloud if the Chicken of the Sea tuna she is eating is actually chicken, and it's a downward spiral from there. Buffalo wings, rigor mortis, the platypus (or "platy-ma-pus," in Jessica-speak) — these are all fodder for Simpson's wide-eyed musings.

Which raises the question: Can anyone really be that stupid? Or is she just smart enough to play dumb on TV? Maybe there's something to the Internet rumor that Simpson is, in fact, a spy for the CIA. Jennifer Garner, eat your heart out.

There is at least one person who believes Simpson deserves the benefit of the doubt. That would be — surprise! — her father and personal manager, Joe Simpson, who tells TV Guide that Jessica is merely playing to the cameras, assuming the role of "dumb blonde" that has been tagged to her since childhood.

"That doesn't mean that's who she is," Joe Simpson said. "It's a part of her personality, but it's one that she's enhancing on the show."

Don't we all know that girl who acts dumb to get attention? Jenny Wohlhueter of Kent has friends who've been known to purposely "pull a Jessica," an Internet phrase that's rapidly displaced "pulling a Mariah," after Mariah Carey's infamous meltdown.

"(Jessica) doesn't seem that smart, but I don't think she's as stupid as she looks," said Wohlhueter, 28, who watches the show every week with her husband. "She's making them laugh, and I think that's why she does it. The show wouldn't be that funny if she didn't have all these great lines."

Certainly, Simpson's what-will-she-say-next appeal is a magnet for office watercoolers and the like.

Christine Lebar of Seattle isn't a faithful fan of the show herself, but can't seem to get away from Jessica Simpson. "Newlyweds" is a weekly topic of conversation among Lebar's colleagues at a downtown Seattle fashion retail office and recently sparked a lively debate at a dinner party.

"There was one person there who had never seen the show. He said she couldn't be that stupid," said Lebar, 31. "That remark opened up a heated discussion on exactly how dumb she was."

Still, the show's popularity has done little to boost the couple's flagging singing careers. Both stars are attempting to reposition themselves in the pop landscape with their new albums: Simpson as the not-a-girl-but-a-woman (oh, the irony) and Lachey as a solo artist. But Simpson's third album, "In This Skin," tanked after debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard chart in August (before the show began airing). Lachey's solo effort, meanwhile, has been pushed back to a November release.

So who gets the last laugh? While you may be making fun of Simpson's antics tonight, consider this: MTV has announced she'll be back for a second season in early 2004. The question is, will you?

Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com