Washington ? U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback and Kit Bond are adding their voices to a chorus of criticism surrounding a reality TV show patterned after “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

CBS has drawn fire from Capitol Hill for its plan to follow the experience of a poor, rural family in opulent Beverly Hills. Several lawmakers who represent rural regions have followed the lead of Georgia Democratic Sen. Zell Miller, who last month accused the CBS of making a “minstrel show” and “cracker comedy,” and using “bigotry for big bucks.”

“Never has so much been written or said about a program that doesn’t even exist yet,” said CBS spokesman Chris Ender. “It has not been cast, and not a single frame of film has been shot. But it certainly was not our intent to offend anyone by considering this program.”

Brownback, R-Kan., wrote CBS President Les Moonves on Tuesday that as the nation ap-proaches war, the last thing it should do is to mock military service men and women who are putting their lives on the line.

“Many of these brave individuals hail from the same locations this show plans to deride,” Brownback wrote. “A full 42 percent of our military’s new recruits hail from the South, particularly the rural areas.”

Bond, R-Mo., said “The Real Beverly Hillbillies” would reveal less about the unlucky family and more about “the moral and creative bankruptcy of the once-respected CBS.”

“What’s next? Live hit-and-run coverage? A show called ‘Bad News in the Emergency Room?’ Or how about a show named ‘We Found Something Troubling on Your CAT Scan?”‘ Bond wrote in a letter supporting the Center for Rural Strategies, which is campaigning against the show.

The Center for Rural Strategies has rounded up foes on Capitol Hill and used newspaper ads to protest the series.

“Reality programs are pretty easy not to like,” said Marty Newell, the group’s vice president. “What we hope they do is just back away quietly.”

The group says thousands of people from rural communities have e-mailed to complain the show will perpetuate a stereotype of them as hicks.

CBS has already responded to the criticism by dampening expectations for the show. Moonves said recently there is still no schedule for when, or if, the series will get on the air.

Bond, meanwhile, has his own idea for a reality TV show: Hollywood writers, directors and producers should be dropped off “somewhere in the fly-over country between New York City and Los Angeles” to fend for themselves.

“We could film them cleaning their own houses and even cooking their own meals,” Bond wrote. “They would attend church bake sales, volunteer with the local fire department and even be expected to help their elderly neighbors from time to time. My goodness, we would have to call the show “Cruel and Unusual Punishment!”