'From Laguna to Los Angeles: MTV Revolutionizes Reality'

[Emory Wheel] - Who needs reality when you have “The Hills?” “Laguna Beach” and its two offshoots, “The Hills” and “Newport Beach,” have become ratings juggernauts and shaped the collective unconscious about reality — except they are not quite reality shows. The infamous statement at the beginnings of these shows states that “the drama is real,” but nothing else seems to be. The sophisticated and glossy camerawork on these shows stands in stark contrast to the hand-held, cinema verité of “The Real World.” There is something compelling about these bizarre soap operas. Why bother watching the fake (and canceled) “The OC” when a more authentic image of Republican-addled southern California is available? The travails of Lauren Conrad, her former friend and roommate Heidi Montag, and Heidi’s clueless and controlling boyfriend Spencer Pratt have captivated an entire generation of teenage girls — a fascination that follows many through their college years.This reality is contrived: The slick editing and multi-camera setups require not only some form of staging and reshoots, but also necessitate an outline of a script. These shows resemble improvised skits rather than the actual lives of a group of overly pretty Orange County teens.The voiceover before the show explaining what has previously taken place and the name tags always placed under the characters make the shows palatable to people with severe forms of ADD. These shows were created by and for the MTV generation. And with all these bleached-blonde people looking alike, the name tags come in handy.The third season of “The Hills” is now in full swing, but developments over the summer — covered in tabloids and Internet blogs — made the premiere of this show highly anticipated. Conrad and Montag, whose friendship was strained at the end of season two, are now apparently enemies. Rumors of a sex tape of Conrad and her ex-boyfriend Jason Wahler proliferated in Hollywood circles. Except when they’re fighting in trendy bars, Montag and Conrad do not appear onscreen together, giving the show two separate story arcs and keeping audiences on their toes. “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” are not dealing with reality. They are, instead, a vision of hyper-reality. They are the way our lives should be. Their jobs are glamorous and merely interrupt their lives of parties and dating. Where does all their money come from for eating at expensive L.A. eateries? Do these girls go to school? Does Spencer have a job? This is the life we all want — no need to ask such trivial questions to demolish our fantasies. So what are these shows? They are reimagined soap operas that claim to be true. They have actually managed to reinvent not only reality entertainment but also the meaning of television by somehow making the most uninteresting things fascinating.What makes these shows so fascinating is how they revel in moments of banality; pregnant pauses and awkward looks punctuate each scene. Instead of a polished show from NBC, where such instances find themselves on the cutting-room floor, MTV is intent on displaying the ditziness of the characters. Unlike other reality shows, this show has no intention of appearing like “The Real World” or “Big Brother,” with secret cameras and grainy footage. “The Hills” seeks to look like a polished drama that could be seen on the primetime schedule of any major network.“Laguna Beach” has ended its three-season run, but “The Hills” is stronger than ever in its third season. A new spin-off has emerged focusing on the exploits of another group of pretty bleached-blondes in Newport Beach, a city just south of Laguna Beach. With the break-out status of Conrad (who is launching a clothing line), Kristin Cavallari (who is now an actress) and Montag (who has just released a single with fiance Pratt rapping in the background), we can rest assured that this form of reality is here to stay. Well, at least until MTV reinvents reality one more time.

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Confirmed: Laguna Beach Moving to Newport

After months of speculation, MTV's executive vice president of series development and programming Tony DiSanto has confirmed that MTV is relocating its hit reality show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County to the even wealthier coastal community Newport Beach, where the FOX hit series The O.C. was set.

The new show, titled Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County, will debut on August 15 on MTV, just two days after the launch of The Hills season 3, which is based around Laguna series 1 & 2 cast member Lauren "LC" Conrad. One of the new characters, Chrissy, is a senior described as "as smart as she is beautiful", and another, a junior named Clay with a "humble attitude [which] belies his looks".

DiSanto said, "It has been three years since the Stephen, Lauren and Kristin love triangle drew viewers to the real-life drama of Laguna Beach. Now we are moving up the coast to a new town with new faces and a new high school, but with the same drama of dealing with relationships, cliques, family and friends."

Like Laguna, Newport Harbor will focus on the day-to-day lives of its cast and the cameras will follow them to all-new clubs, restaurants, beaches etc. As DiSanto explains, "We'd seen all the locations in Laguna, all the hangouts...Newport offers something new and different. The boating, the coastline, the homes. You have a different flavor when you watch the show."

Alongside the debut of the new season, MTV is launching the online Virtual Newport Harbor - a place where fans can interact, hangout, party and shop with the virtual cast.

In other MTV news, Conrad, who was Laguna Beach's first narrator, returns as star of the third season of spinoff series The Hills on August 13.

MTV's Announcement: New Seasons of The Hills and Laguna Beach!

MTV has had a complete network overhaul under the control of new programming topper Tony DiSanto (responsible for producing both Laguna Beach and The Hills). Within his new rulings, DiSanto will commission longer series of some programmes, and shorter ones of others.

Within his new plans, DiSanto has virtually doubled the run for 'The Hills', commissioning an 18-episode series. MTV has also ordered a fourth season of hit show 'Laguna Beach' which it had previously considered cutting. The show will feature an all-new cast, and will "be very much in vein of the show's first season - following a group of classmates in their final year of high school". It won't be shot at Laguna Beach High School, where all three previous seasons have been set, but instead at a currently unnamed Orange County high school - most probably in Newport Beach - and could be set to air later on this year. Execs have yet to decide whether to retain the 'Laguna Beach' title or change it to reflect its new area.

The Dedication Groups: Facebook

It seems that anywhere you go, the endless LC vs Kristin debate will follow. Just browsing Facebook the other day I came across loads of groups - pro-Kristin, anti-LC, you name it. There's even one group for members who claim to have "eye-f*cked Stephen Colletti". No kidding.

Anyway, out of boredom if nothing else, I collated a load of these groups to put up here incase any of you Superfans out there were interested!

Here are just a few, but go searching on Facebook and I promise you won't be disappointed:

Kristin Cavallari :: RealityLASIK.com - created as, I assume, a municipal way to follow Kristin's laser eye surgery.

Kristin Cavallari is my role model - a quirkier group posing arguably a more daring title - expect so-called 'haters' amongst the members. I have to admit, if I had to join any LB/The Hills group, it'd probably be this one.

Fuck Heidi, I'll be your BFF Lauren - if you've got harsh words on Heidi's treatment of Lauren under the wings of idiot-boyfriend Spencer, voice them here. Or more simply, join if you're just a straight-up fan of LC.

Lauren so should have gone to Paris! - another group I'd be inclined to join, this group is basically for voicing your opinions on whether Lauren made the right choice or the wrong choice when she spent the summer in Malibu with then-boyfriend Jason instead of taking a valuable summer-internship in Paris.

Addicted to Laguna Beach and the Hills - a crossover group for fans of both of MTV's hit reality shows.

If you've got any more suggestions of Facebook/MySpace groups that you think would be worthy of a place in this post, e-mail us, providing the link to the group.

An (Old) LC Interview with 'Jane' Magazine

I was just browsing today and came across this old interview with Lauren "LC" Conrad from Jane magazine. They basically ask her all about Laguna Beach and Jason (she was still with him at the time they conducted this interview), and there's some stuff-you-didn't-see about Stephen and Kristin, so if you are/were a fan, it's a pretty fun read.

You're on your second TV show and you've shot an ad for Bongo jeans. What's the craziest offer you've turned down?
The Lingerie Bowl—basically, you play football in your underwear. They wanted me to be quarterback for the L.A. team. I also got offered a spot on Dancing with the Stars. I was like, "Pass!" I can't dance.

Is your bank account reaping the rewards?
We're just making money off of what we can, 'cause it's easy money.

Are you and Kristin enemies or was that created for the show?
We really didn't like each other. If anything, we behaved [well] in front of the cameras. The time we really fought was off-camera. She was always fretting over me spending time with Stephen [Colletti].

Was there actually anything romantic there?
A little bit, but [Stephen and Kristin] had been broken up for, like, three months. And she had cheated on him several times—with one of my friends—and Stephen asked me about it. I didn't owe her anything. So I was like, "Yes, she did." She chased my car after school. I was like, "Gas!"

Was Talan [Torriero] and Kim Stewart's engagement real?
Talan doesn't always think things through. So he was kinda like, "All right, I'll get engaged," and then he realized he had to marry her.

How often did you guys booze it up while filming?
A lot! If you see a red cup, we're usually drinking. There's a lot of red cups.

Didn't anyone ever have homework?
You know, I didn't do very much, but I had it.

Your boyfriend Jason [Wahler] didn't come across so well on the show—in fact, he seemed like a rat.
He hated being on camera—he freezes up and he gets really weird. He looks like he has no personality, and he says dumb things.

How'd you feel after you saw the episode in which Jason kissed Jessica [Smith], then lied about it—you let him have it.
When they turned off the camera, I really yelled at him. When he watched it he was really upset. I made him watch it 10 times, too!

He said he wanted to be with you forever.
He asks me to marry him every day. I love Jason. I could see myself marrying him.

So who's the richest person on the show?
Casey Reinhardt. Her stepfather invented the frozen burrito.

Where's Trey?
He's in New York.

We love Trey.
I love Trey! Trey is one of my favorite people in the world.

Trey didn't get enough airtime.
He was off saving the world and, like, curing cancer or something.

Are you going to hang out with him while you're in New York?
I didn't even think about that. I'm working the whole time I'm here. He's still working on his hats. He has new ones that are like Velcro and have [removable] political messages, so you can stick a new one on every day. It's cool.

How do you like working in the fashion industry--is it what you expected?

Well, I'm an intern so I help out with busywork--errands, invitations--basic stuff, but it's a fun job. I got to go to New York for Fashion Week, to deliver a dress.

I saw you at that show.
Did you?

Yeah, because everyone was freaking about the celebrities and I was like, "I saw LC from Laguna Beach!" It was the Marc by Marc show.
Marc by Marc, yup. They didn't tell me I would get to stay! I thought I was just gonna run in, and they were like, "You can stay."

Were there cameras with you?
There are always cameras with me.

Does it ever feel too invasive? Do you forget about them? What about when you made out with someone?
I wasn't gonna make out on camera, my grandma watches this show! Actually, the only time they ever got me making out I wasn't even on camera; they had cameras set up in a car and normally when you shut off the car, the battery turns off the cameras. But they had a separate battery set up, for some reason, so it was still on. And we were waiting for, like, five minutes in the car, so they have me leaning in and making out with Jason, but you can only see the back of our heads and hear the sound.

Oooooooh!
It was horrible.

Have you always lived in the house they showed on TV?
No, it's a new house. Most of my life I lived in the old house, about 10 minutes away from this house. I lived there, and then my father sold that house too soon, before the new one was gonna be done, so then we had to live in this really creepy haunted house. I saw ghosts--it was the creepiest house. Have you heard the song "Bette Davis Eyes"? It was Bette Davis's old house.

Really?
And a woman had just died in it, it was really creepy.

So what did the ghosts look like?
Lo and I would come home very late at night, like after a party, and there'd be this pair of guys who would be holding hands down the stairs. It was a scary house. I hate that house.

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What's Happening With Season Four?

I know Season 3 didn't compare to the first or second, but even so, I'm still looking forward to the fourth season of Laguna Beach. Although I do hope there's some new cast because, mind my language, some of them are fucking boring (i.e. Breanna, Lexie, Kelan).

There have been plenty of rumours about whether or not there will be a Season Four, when it'll air if there is one, and who'll be featured.

As far as I'm currently aware:

• It will prémiere during the summer, at around the same time as The Hills Season 3.
• Breanna Conrad won't feature on the show (she confirmed this in a MySpace blog), and neither will a few of the other Season 3 cast members.
• There will be some new cast, but it'll mostly feature the Season 3 group i.e. Kyndra, Cami.
• MTV crews started filming the new season in December of 2006 and are still there.

There have been rumours circling that MTV was done filming in Laguna Beach and would be moving to nearby Orange County town of Newport Beach, around which hit series The O.C. was set (but was mostly not actually filmed there). However, after getting in contact with one of my Laguna sources, it seems this won't be happening.

"Laguna Beach started in Laguna, and it'll finish there, whenever that time comes," he confirmed. "Moving the show to Newport was always an option, but it's very unlikely it'll happen - not for the upcoming Season, anyway. It would be a whole new show if they moved it."

These details are all that I know thus far, and they may not be totally accurate, so I'll keep you guys updated on what's going on as I know more.

Kristin Admits Underage Drinking On Laguna Beach

Whilst Jason Wahler continues to make the headlines for his alleged alcohol problem, former Laguna co-star Kristin has confirmed that the group started drinking as teens and were often seen drinking on the show. The alcohol was disguised in traditional red cups.

When asked what was in those red cups during the infamous party scenes, Kristin responded, "What do you think we were drinking? They're in a red cup for a reason."

Jason Wahler is currently being charged for three counts of assault, criminal trespass and a 'minor exhibiting effects of alcohol'. He was most recently arrested after a hotel brawl in Seattle.





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