The Hills

:"This article is about the MTV TV series, for other uses of "The Hills" see The Hills (disambiguation)."Infobox Television
show_name = The Hills


genre = Reality
creator = Liz Gateley
opentheme = "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield
numb_seasons = 3
numb_episodes = 40
runtime = 20–22 minutes
network = MTV
country = USA
language = English
first_aired = May 31, 2006
last_aired = present
website = http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/the_hills/series.jhtml
imdb_id = 0489598
tv_com_id = 48806
related = ""

"The Hills" is an MTV pseudo-reality television series [ [http://www.tv.com/the-hills/show/48806/summary.html The Hills - TV.com ] ] and a spin-off of the popular MTV show "". It documents the lives of Lauren Conrad and her friends in Los Angeles after Conrad's move from Laguna Beach, California.

Entertainment Weekly labeled the show a "New Classic" in its special 1000th issue and ranked it 82nd on a list of [http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20207076_20207079_20207791_18,00.html The 100 Best Shows of the Last 25 Years] . [ ]

The show is broadcast outside of the U.S. in a number of countries, including Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Israel and Malaysia.

Cast

The following is a list of cast members both past and present.

* Main Cast Member
* Secondary Cast Member

ynopsis

eason 1

* US Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2006
* DVD Release Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2007
* "Number of Episodes": 10

Lauren's road to independence was documented shortly after leaving "" and moving to Los Angeles where she met up with close friend, Heidi Montag. During her time in LA, Lauren spent her days balancing school at FIDM and working at "Teen Vogue". Audrina Patridge, a young and beautiful 'mactress' became the girls' first close friend in LA, and always seemed to offer much advice to Heidi. After a hard day of work, Lauren received a shocking phone call from Jason Wahler. After much consideration, Lauren decided to give Jason a second chance. Meanwhile, Heidi confessed that school was not for her; she unofficially withdrew and began working for an event-planning firm, Bolthouse Productions. Heidi was also seen dating Jordan Eubanks, a relationship that grew strong but eventually ended, and Audrina struggled to find love. In the season finale, Lauren was offered a summer internship in Paris that she ultimately turned down so that she could spend the summer with Jason. Fellow intern, Whitney Port, was offered an internship in New York, but when the one in Paris opened up, Whitney immediately took the offer. Heidi confided to Audrina that she was completely over Jordan, and the two began spending their summer nights as single socialites. ["The Hills Summaries" August 2008 http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/the_hills/episode.jhtml?episodeID=141697]

eason 2

* US Premiere Date: Monday, January 15, 2007
* DVD Release Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2007
* "Number of Episodes": 12

Lauren and Jason breakup. Lauren focuses on her internship where she must compete against visiting New York intern Emily Magic, whose vocabulary includes the word "chinoiserie." Whitney interviews in New York for a higher position within "Teen Vogue" - a position for which Emily has also interviewed. Meanwhile, Heidi is seen dating Spencer Pratt, which worries Lauren. Spencer tries to see Audrina and causes Heidi to believe that Audrina tried to hook up with him. At Heidi's birthday party, Audrina shows up and tries to set Heidi straight, only to be ignored in a manner most cruel. She leaves the party in a huff. However, the two ex-friends make up, but Heidi continues seeing Spencer until she catches him being unfaithful and declares an end to their relationship. Nevertheless, they evidently reconcile and their relationship continues. Lauren subsequently turns to Audrina for friendship. Heidi appears jealous of Lauren and Audrina's newfound closeness while feeling that she is growing apart from Lauren. In the season finale, Spencer and Heidi move in together, signaling a possible end to Lauren and Heidi's friendship. Audrina then accepts an invitation from Lauren to occupy Heidi's former room in the apartment. [ "The Hills Episode Summaries" August 2008 http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/the_hills/episode/episode.jhtml?episodeID=141697 ]

eason 3

* US Premiere Date: Monday, August 13, 2007
* DVD Release Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 [ [http://news.tvonmedia.com/tvom_news_by_show/Hills-Season-3-Artwork.shtml http://news.tvonmedia.com/tvom_news_by_show/Hills-Season-3-Artwork.shtml] ]
* "Number of Episodes": 28

Lauren's feud verses the newly engaged Heidi took a turn for the worse after Lauren alleged that she spread a rumor and cut all ties with her former best friend. At "Teen Vogue", Whitney struggled with her new position as the Direct Supervisor to the interns after a break-up with a longtime boyfriend, and Lauren got a second chance with Lisa Love by being sent to Paris to assist with the "Bal des Débutantes" with Whitney by her side. After realizing that staying behind the scenes at "Teen Vogue" wasn't for her, Whitney got a new job working for the fashion PR firm, People's Revolution, and brought Lauren along with her. Lauren continued to stay close with her childhood friend, Lo Bosworth, and the two decided to buy a house together in Hollywood and invited Audrina to live with them even though Lo felt uneasy about their decision. Additionally, Audrina spent more time with former flame, Justin, which made the situation in the house ever more uneasy. The two had a dramatic break-up but eventually reunited. Meanwhile, Heidi continued to climb the corporate ladder at Bolthouse Productions and struggled with her engagement to Spencer. The two went on a "relationship vacation", and Spencer consequently moved in with his sister, Stephanie, who managed to put herself in the midst of the 'Lauren vs. Heidi' feud after befriending Lauren while taking a class at FIDM together. In the season finale, Heidi put her job at Bolthouse in jeopardy after going home with Spencer, who surprised her during a business trip to Las Vegas, and Audrina argued to Lauren that it was Lo who was pulling their friendship apart.

eason 4

* US Premiere Date: Monday, August 18, 2008
* UK Premiere Date: Sunday, October 5th, 2008
* "Number of Episodes": 9

The addition of Lauren's best friend Lo as a roommate strains relations between Lauren and Audrina. Lauren and Audrina drift apart, and Audrina moves into the guest house. Audrina finally approaches Lauren and the two tearfully vow to spend more time together for the sake of their friendship. Lauren feels ready to date again and briefly rekindles her relationship with former flame Doug. Whitney's job with People's Revolution requires her to divide her time between Los Angeles and New York City. Heidi's sister, Holly, moves to L.A. Her temporary stay in the Montag/Pratt love nest upsets Spencer. Stephanie repairs her friendship with Lauren; Lo and Audrina disapprove. While Lauren vacations in Italy, Doug and Stephanie eat together in a restaurant. Brody's mother sees them and tells Brody. Then, Audrina and Lo run into Heidi and Spencer at a party. Heidi and Audrina express how much they miss each other, while Lo and Spencer stare in uncomfortable disbelief. Brody regales a newly returned Lauren with his mother's tale of Doug and Stephanie's dinner. He opines that Stephanie "straight-up" went behind Lauren's back by going out to dinner with Doug.

Ratings

The first episode of the extended portion of season three in March 2008 was the year's highest rated cable telecast up to that point, as well as the highest rated telecast of an episode of "The Hills", with a rating of 5.0 among viewers ages 12 to 34. It averaged about 4.7 million viewers and was the most watched television show of the night (March 24, 2008) among the ages 12 to 34 demographic. On the following day, March 25, the episode was streamed 1.8 million times on MTV.com, while "The Hills" content in general was streamed about 2.2 million times on that day. [ [http://sev.prnewswire.com/television/20080326/NYW12226032008-1.html "On Air, On The Go & Online, MTV Is On Fire!"] , MTV press release (PRNewswire), March 26, 2008.]

According to MTV, the season three finale on May 12, 2008 was the most watched show in its time period among the 12 to 34 year old demographic. There were about 3.77 million viewers, and about 2.94 million of them were part of the 12 to 34 year old demographic. [ [http://www.usmagazine.com/node/17590 "Hills Finale Tops Ratings Among Young Viewers"] , Usmagazine.com, May 15, 2008.]

Ratings for the premiere of season 4 were down 9% among the 12-to-34 demographic (2.1 million) and down 5% among total viewers (3.5 million) in comparison to the show’s third season premiere. [ [http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/08/fourth-season-h.html "Fourth season 'Hills' premiere takes a dip"] , The Live Feed, August 19, 2008.]

pin-off

A spin-off involving cast member Whitney Port moving to New York City has begun shooting. Titled "The City", few details have been released thus far, aside from a scene being shot at the home of socialite Olivia Palermo. [ [http://www.essentiallyemily.com/?p=996#more-996 "The Reality of 212 Reality, Essentially…"] , Essentially Emily, September 11, 2008.]

Criticism

Criticism has been leveled that the show is not reality and, although unscripted, contains scenes that may be set up specifically for filming. In an interview, Lauren Conrad defended "The Hills" by stating "the show is real, albeit edited to create a storyline." This comment seems to suggest that the show is not really a reality show, but more of a reality style drama.cite web
url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20165361,00.html
accessdate=2008-04-08
title='The Hills': How Much Is Set Up?
date=2008-04-01] Lauren Conrad stated in November 2007: "There have been some rumors in the press about "The Hills" being fake. Many of you have been asking me if the rumors are true. There are false rumors every week about me, and I can’t address every rumor out there, but I feel like this was important for me to respond to. The show is not fake and this is really my life." [cite web |url= http://www.usmagazine.com/lauren_on_the_hills_the_show_is_not_fake |title= The Hills' Lauren Conrad Declares: "The Show Is Not Fake" |work= Us Magazine |date= 2007-11-15 |accessdate= 2007-12-14]

Casting roles and improvisation

Audrina Patridge's official website biography states, "Living a stone's throw away from the MTV production of "The Hills", Audrina was spotted sunbathing by the pool and asked by a producer if they would like to join the cast. She happily accepted her role as the dear friend of Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag in what was sure to be the beginning of an enticing career.cite web
url=http://audrinaxo.celebuzz.com/about/about.php
accessdate=2008-08-18
title=Audrina Patridge - Personal Info ] During an appearance on "Chelsea Lately", when asked if "The Hills" was fake, Audrina replied, "You know, everyone says that, but we don't have a script that we read off of." Chelsea Handler suggested that they improvise and Audrina didn't object, adding, "If that's what you want to call it...We're put in situations where however we'd react and that's what comes up [on TV] ." When Chelsea acknowledged that the cast of "The Hills" are really good actors if it was indeed fake, Audrina accepted the compliment on their acting abilities saying, "Thank you. It is a big compliment." Later in the interview she explained how she was cast after a series of interviews, stating, "Adam, he's our producer, he asked me about why I was in L.A., what I was doing, and I told him and they were scouting the place for "The Hills" and I went and met with the other people, they loved me and I was one of the first L.A. friends for Lauren and Heidi." [ "Chelsea Lately" August 18, 2008 http://www.hula.com/watch/31205/chelsea-lately-audrina-patridge. ]

Lauren Conrad has recently expressed feelings that the show is "definitely reaching its end," citing privacy concerns. [cite news | last = | first = | title = Lauren Conrad: The Hills Is "Definitely Reaching Its End" | publisher =WIS TV | date =August 2008 | url =http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8871221] Adam DiVello, the creator of "The Hills," was asked if the reality television show had an expiration date. He responded that he hoped "interests stay high for a long time at least until Heidi and Lauren make up." [ "Hills Season 4 Sneak Preview: Drama to the Nth" MTV.com/August 2008/http://remotecontrol.mtv.com/2008/05/13/hills-season-4-sneak-peak-drama-to-the-nth-degree ] On the season 4 episode 6, which aired on September 16, 2008, Heidi and Lauren were not friends yet. Holly upset her sister Heidi by meeting with Lauren and rekindling their friendship. [ "All About The Hills" EW.com/August 2008/http://www.ew.com/ew/allabout/0,,20055814,00.html?pkw=PSEWGLTV041608CNND1674&partner=yes ] The rating for the premiere of season 4 episode 1 was 9.3, which was the highest rated episode of all of the episodes. The first episode of season 1 of the television show had received a rating of 8.5. [ "The Hills:You Know What You Did" TV.com/August 2008/http://www.tv.com/the_hills/you-know-what-you-did/episode/1126800/summary.html/? ] "The Hills" average rating score is 8.6. Lauren has a rating score of 9.2 which is in the superb category. [ "Lauren Conrad: Summary" TV.com/August 2008/http://www.tv.com/lauren-conrad/person/342154/summary.html] The show has been rated between 9 and 10 by 80% of the viewers. [ "TV.com/August/http://www.tv.com/the-hills/show/48806/reviews.html ] According to "Entertainment Weekly," Lauren has landed a deal for a 3 book young adult fiction series for Harper Collins. The book series will be titiled L.A. Candy and is to be based on her life as a reality television star and fashion designer. [ "Lauren Conrad Lands A Book Deal" EW/August 2008/ http:www.ew/article/0,,20225301,00.html ]

DVD releases

As of July 29, 2008, the first three seasons of "The Hills" are available on DVD, however only the first two seasons of "The Hills" are available on DVD in the UK and Sweden, the release date for season 3 in the UK is yet to be confirmed.

Fashion

The Hills fashion has become just as popular as the story line and MTV has started to [http://www.seenon.com/television/mtv/the-hills/ catalog] and make available all the clothes and accessories that Lauren, Whitney, Heidi and Audrina wear. Christian Siriano, from Project Runway, stated that they aren't innovative at all.

References

External links

* [http://remotecontrol.mtv.com/category/shows/the-hills/ Official Hills Blog]
* [http://www.bebo.com/thehills The Hills community on Bebo]