Creator:
Adam Divello
Cast:
Lauren “LC” Conrad ………. Herself
Heidi Montag ………. Herself
Audrina Patridge ………. Herself
Whitney Port ………. Herself
Jason Wahler ………. Himself
Jordan Eubanks ………. Himself
Brian Drolet ………. Himself
The Show
MTV reality shows are usually hit or miss these days. Most become hit shows for the 12-34 demographic they try to target, while others don’t quite live up to expectations. To really be considered a hit show on MTV, though, you have to go through at least 3 seasons. However, you know your show is a hit on MTV when a “spinoff” show is created from it. Laguna Beach falls right into that category as it has lasted 3 drama-filled seasons and now has its own “spinoff” show in The Hills.
The Hills follows one of the breakout stars of Laguna Beach, Lauren Conrad, aka “LC”. She has graduated from Laguna Beach High School and now it’s time to go to college. Lauren does just that by moving to Los Angeles and living in the Hollywood Hills while attending fashion school and having an internship at Teen Vogue magazine. It’s a new city with new friends and new drama, of course.
What really makes this show work and a “hit” in its own right is Lauren Conrad. She was the most likable person from the first two seasons of Laguna Beach. She almost seems like the “girl next door,” despite the fact that she comes from a rich lifestyle. This likability factor transfers over to The Hills. As far as everyone else on the show, well, no one really stands out. Heidi is just okay as Lauren’s best friend and roommate. She can get annoying at times; her problems with her boyfriend Jordan are only mildly interesting. In addition, Audrina and Whitney are nice distractions when Lauren is not on the screen. Also, the unique format of the show made famous on Laguna Beach continues here. This is one of the few reality shows where the cast members NEVER talk to the camera directly. It’s almost voyeuristic in nature.
It may surprise you to find out that this series is not all about party lifestyle like Laguna Beach. Of course, partying and teen drama is one of the main focuses of the show. But we also get a look into the fashion world as Lauren goes to fashion school and works for a fashion magazine. So, really, The Hills is like a cross between Laguna Beach or The Real World with the movie The Devil Wears Prada or the show Ugly Betty as far as the fashion elements of the show goes.
The negatives this show are the cast members not named Lauren. Heidi doesn’t seem like the best friend that Lauren should have. She is too much like the girls from Laguna Beach Lauren wasn’t friends with. That doesn’t make much sense to me, but it’s Lauren’s life. Don’t forget about Jason either. One of the guys from season two of Laguna Beach that Lauren dated is back to bring down The Hills. He is nothing but a total jerk to Lauren, but she still goes running back to him during the first season of this show. Girls never make any sense.
The Hills takes the successful formula of Laguna Beach and continues it in Los Angeles. You center the show on the likable Lauren Conrad and throw in some new and old faces with new drama, and you have a recipe for another hit reality show for MTV. The Hills is back for a second season airing now, and I see no reason why there couldn’t be more seasons in the future.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – New City, New Drama
Lauren (“LC”) moves from Laguna Beach to Los Angeles where she plans to apply for an internship at Teen Vogue and attend fashion school. Alongside her is best friend Heidi, who is just into the party scene. The real test of Lauren’s new life is if she can juggle work, school, and partying. However, no matter where she goes, drama always seems to follow.
Episode 2 – A Change of Plans
Lauren has to face her boss after the party. Meanwhile, Heidi doesn’t take school seriously and makes different plans for her future.
Episode 3 – An Unexpected Call
Lauren gets the assignment to fly to New York to deliver a dress for a fashion show. Meanwhile, Heidi is faced with the reality of her job. Audrina agrees on a date. Lauren gets a call from her past.
Episode 4 – Lauren and Jason, Take Two
Lauren receives flowers from Jason and another phone call. This is what appears to be the new beginning of their relationship. Meanwhile, Heidi almost calls it quits from her job after being told that she cannot travel to Las Vegas with her co-workers because she is not yet 21.
Episode 5 – Jason’s Birthday
After a Teen Vogue event, Lauren hurries to get home to Jason since it is his birthday. However, things don’t work out that great since Jason only wants to hang out with his friends. Meanwhile, Audrina asks Heidi for love advice.
Disc Two:
Episode 6 – Boyfriends and Work Don’t Mix
Heidi gets her big chance to work in the nightclub scene, but it happens to fall on her anniversary. While at a Teen Vogue fashion show, Whitney is asked to walk the runway since a model is a no show. Meanwhile, Jason does his best to get Lauren to pay more attention to him, and less to work and school.
Episode 7 – Somebody Always Has to Cry
As the holiday season comes around, Lauren, Heidi, Jason, and Jordan are ready to celebrate. However, not everything goes so well when at a New Year’s Eve party; Lauren and Jason have a huge fight, causing Lauren to leave with with Heidi.
Episode 8 – You Can’t Just Be with Me?
Whitney and Lauren are given the task of photographing male models for Teen Vogue, causing Jason to feel jealous. Meanwhile, Heidi and Jordan get into yet another argument.
Episode 9 – Love is Not a Maybe Thing
Heidi and Jordan’s relationship starts to go downhill as Heidi starts to realize that she may not feel true love for Jordan.
Episode 10 – Timing is Everything
Lauren and Jason make plans to spend the summer together, but it all takes a turn when Lauren is offered a summer job in Paris, France.
The Video:
The video is given in anamorphic widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Transfer is good with minimal distortion. The widescreen format is impressive with the natural beauty of Los Angeles. Pretty top-notch quality for a TV show.
The Audio:
The audio included is in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. Pretty good for a TV show, but not the greatest thing you will hear coming out of your speakers.
The Extras:
Cast Interviews –
This is a fairly long series of interviews with the entire cast of the show including Lauren, Heidi, Jason, Audrina, Whitney, Jordan, and Brian. They are asked a variety of questions and this lasts as long as a single episode of The Hills, if not longer than that. Very interesting to watch and pretty informative. Get to know the cast more here.
Deleted Scenes –
These scenes were cut from the final episodes of the show. They include Lauren and Heidi shopping; Jordan and Brian talking about the girls; Heidi and Lauren talking about school; Heidi and Jordan acting crazy and talking Lauren into becoming the “third wheel”; Lauren being cute and talking to Heidi about work; Whitney and Lauren getting coffee for their job and talking about boys; Heidi, Lauren, Jason, and Jordan going to see Santa Clause; Jordan and Jason chatting about tattoos and getting some; Audrina and Heidi working out for exactly 10 seconds; Heidi walking her puppy and talking to Audrina about her dog; Lauren steaming some clothes at her job and doing various other tasks; Brian performing some comedy; Heidi and Lauren having dinner with Lauren’s parents, more work stuff with Lauren and Whitney and crazy models; Jordan and Heidi riding horses and celebrating Valentine’s Day on the top of a hill; Jordan doing singing exercises; and Lauren making a presentation during one of her fashion classes.
This extra is fairly long, but the scene worth seeking out is Brian’s comedy routine and everyone else acting stupid. In addition, there is not any music being blared in the background, so that’s interesting to hear as well.
Best of The Hills: MTV Aftershow –
These are various highlights from the “Aftershow” that aired after each episode of the first season of this show on MTV.com. If you never went to the Web site and saw these “Aftershow” segments when they first aired, then this is a good collection to watch. However, all of the girls pretty much say the same thing over and over again. I’m sure they say the same things elsewhere on the DVD set, as well. There are some segments like taking a look at everyone’s apartments and going behind-the-scenes at their photo shoots that are entertaining to watch, though.
The Hills Premiere Party Featurette –
More of everyone talking about the show. This is just what the title suggests. It’s a short featurette that shows highlights from the premiere party of the show. Again, I’m sure we have heard most of this stuff elsewhere, but still interesting to see since I haven’t seen it before.
MTV Movie Awards Featurette –
This featurette is all about the girls preparing to go to the MTV Movie Awards. They pick out their dresses, get their hair and makeup done, and then head to the big awards show. Good except they throw Jason into the limo at the very end.
This is one of the best reality shows on MTV. I dare say even better than Laguna Beach. That is only because Lauren Conrad is so likable. She is the “star” of the show and as long as she is the focus, the show succeeds. If you don’t like teen drama, you probably won’t like this show. If you do, you can’t get much better than this. Plus, it’s presented in a unique format as far as reality shows go.
