| The Hills | |
| |
| Genre | Reality television |
|---|---|
| Created by | Adam DiVello |
| Starring | Lauren Conrad Audrina Patridge Whitney Port Heidi Montag Lo Bosworth Stephanie Pratt Kristin Cavallari |
| Narrated by | Lauren Conrad
Kristin Cavallari |
| Opening theme | "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 102 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Liz Gateley |
| Location(s) | Los Angeles, California |
| Running time | 25–60 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Done and Done Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV |
| Picture format | 16:9 480i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Status | May 31, 2006 – July 13, 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County |
| Followed by | The City |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
The Hills is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from May 31, 2006 until July 13, 2010. The show uses a reality television format, following the personal lives of several young adults living in Los Angeles, California, but tends towards a narrative format more commonly found in scripted genres such as soap operas. The series originally followed the personal life of former Laguna Beach star Lauren Conrad and her friends' new lives in Los Angeles. After five seasons, Conrad left the series and was replaced by another former Laguna Beach star, Kristin Cavallari, beginning in the second half of the fifth season. The series concluded at the end of the sixth season. Entertainment Weekly ranked The Hills 82nd on their list of "The 100 Best Shows of the Last 25 Years," stating that the series was a "New Classic."AOL TV called it TV's Biggest Guilty Pleasure. The series premiered in syndication in the fall of 2009 alongside Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.
Synopsis[]
The Hills follows the lives of several women in Los Angeles. The series' four original starring members are Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port, and Heidi Montag. Kristin Cavallari, Stephanie Pratt, and Lo Bosworth subsequently become focal points following the departures of Port, Conrad, and Montag. Despite being billed and formatted as a reality series, scripting was used for production purposes. After Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County became one of MTV's highest-rated programs, producers continued the story of one of its more popular characters, Lauren Conrad, as she moved to Los Angeles. For the first five seasons, The Hills followed the daily lives of Lauren and friends, documenting the drama that eventually ensues. In the first season, Lauren moves in with her friend Heidi Montag, whom she met while attending art school in San Francisco, and befriend their new neighbor, Audrina Patridge. Lauren attends the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and lands an internship with Teen Vogue alongside new friend Whitney Port. She reunites with ex-boyfriend Jason Wahler, and turns down an internship in Paris to spend time with him, though the two ended their relationship up that summer. The second season sees the deterioration of Lauren and Heidi's friendship, as Heidi increasingly spends time with her new boyfriend, Spencer Pratt, whose turbulent relationship is followed through the remainder of the series. The couple eventually move into an apartment together, and Audrina becomes Lauren's new roommate. In the third season, Lauren and Heidi's friendship ends after rumors of a sex tape with Lauren and Jason surface, a feud that continues through each subsequent season, with Audrina providing a stabilizing influence in Lauren's life. Lauren suspects that Spencer spread the rumor, whom Heidi stands by when Lauren confronts her. Lauren befriends Brody Jenner after their brief relationship, while Audrina was in a rocky relationship with Justin Brescia, who Lauren's best friend Lo Bosworth jokingly titles "Justin-Bobby." Spencer's sister Stephanie Pratt becomes friends with Lauren, causing a rift in her relationship with Heidi and her brother. After Lauren and Whitney go on a trip to Paris to assist Teen Vogue for the Crillon Ball, the two leave the magazine and accept positions at Kelly Cutrone's People's Revolution PR firm. Lo eventually joins Lauren and Audrina as they move into a new house together, which becomes a factor in the distance between Lauren and Audrina. The fourth season sees Audrina move out of their home and into a new house. Whitney accepts a position with Diane von Fürstenberg in New York City, where she goes on to star in a spin-off series, The City. Lauren and Heidi appear to come to terms by the end of the season, though Lauren's suspicions still hang over them. Upon the conclusion of the fourth season, rumors were widespread that Lauren wanted to leave the series. The producers persuaded her to film ten more episodes at the beginning of the fifth season to settle her relationships prior to her departure. As Heidi and Spencer decide to marry, Heidi wants Lauren to attend their wedding, and invitation she initially declines. The fifth season's mid-season finale sees Lauren, after much debate, attend the wedding and make peace with Heidi before making her final appearance on the series. This episodes also marks the arrival of Lauren's fellow Laguna Beach castmate and former high school rival, Kristin Cavallari, who catches the bouquet at the wedding. The second half of the season continutes with Kristin as Lauren's replacement. She flirts with Justin at Heidi and Spencer's honeymoon party, leading to a fight between her and Audrina. The animosity between the girls makes up much of the plot line. Meanwhile, newlyweds Heidi and Spencer move into a new house. She expresses much desire to have children, while he is opposed to the idea. The sixth and final season sees Heidi reveal her much-publicized plastic surgery procedures to her family for the first time. Kristin, Audrina, Lo, and Stephanie spend the Super Bowl weekend in Miami, though Kristin's wild partying leads to rumors about possible drug use. Heidi and Spencer alienate their family and friends to the point where no one wants to be involved with them. Meanwhile, Brody and Kristin begin flirting again, though he starts dating McKaela Line, who is friends with Kristin's old rival, Allie Lutz. McKaela befriends Lo, but clashes with Kristin. Audrina briefly dates singer Ryan Cabrera, and Justin tries to come back into Audrina's life and the pair become friends. Stephanie finds it difficult to start dating after her DUI, but soon meets Josh, one of Brody's friends, while Lo moves in with her boyfriend, Scott. In the final scene, it looks as if Brody is seeing Kristin off to Europe and looking on as she leaves. With the camera on Brody, the Hollywood Hills backdrop is pulled away and the camera pans back to reveal that the entire scene was filmed on a backlot. Kristin hadn't actually left for Europe and gets out of the car that hadn't really driven off to hug Brody, warranting the questioning of whether or not the show was real. Brody stated, "I think the show has always battled with what's real and what's fake, and this ending was perfect because you still don't know what was real, what was fake and it's kind of like L.A. in a sense." An alternative ending was filmed that included Lauren.