From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hills
Genre	Reality
Created by	Adam Divello
Opening theme	"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	40
Production
Executive producer(s)	Liz Gateley
Location(s)	Los Angeles, California
Running time	Approx. 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	MTV
Original run	May 31, 2006 –
Chronology
Related shows	Laguna Beach
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Hills is an MTV reality television series ^[1] and a spin-off of the popular MTV show Laguna Beach. It documents the life of Lauren Conrad and several of her friends, after leaving her home in Laguna Beach, California.

Contents 1 Cast 1.1 Main cast 1.2 Supporting cast 1.3 Featured cast 2 Synopsis 2.1 Season 1 2.2 Season 2 2.3 Season 3 3 Spoofs 4 Criticism and controversy 5 References 6 External links

• Lauren Conrad

Lives in Los Angeles, CA and works as an intern at Teen Vogue magazine while attending Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). She once lived with former best friend Heidi Montag, but after butting heads with Heidi and her boyfriend Spencer Pratt, Heidi moved out of the apartment she shared with Lauren and into a new one with Spencer. Lauren then invited Audrina Patridge, her neighbor and friend to move in and fill in Heidi's spot as best friend. Ex-boyfriend, Jason Wahler, comes back into her life, but the two later break it off. Lauren currently has an on again, off again fling with Brody Jenner which they are often seen on casual dates or friendly sleep overs. Lauren's love life, drama, and job are the center of the show, showcasing Lauren's odd one time dates, feud with ex-best friend Heidi Montag and her fiancee Spencer Pratt, and her relationship with her friend and new boss Whitney Port at Teen Vogue as they work side by side in their office, what is known at Teen Vogue as the closet.

• Audrina Patridge

First appeared as good friend and neighbor to Lauren and Heidi with an aspirations of becoming actress while working as a receptionist at Epic Records but was later promoted in season 3 of The Hills. In season 3 she is seen dating Justin Bobby Brescia but he shows a lack of interest in having a committed relationship with Audrina, causing rising problems between the two, and Lauren shows much dismay in Audrina's choice to date Justin Bobby.

• Whitney Port

Began as Lauren's fellow intern at Teen Vogue, but was later promoted to a Fashion Contributor position, lead of all the interns. In season 3 Whitney is shown as more than just a co-worker and is often seen out with Audrina and Lauren. Whitney's love life has also been introduced in season 3.

• Heidi Montag

Heidi first appeared as good friend and roommate to Lauren with a dream to attend school at FIDM. After confessing that school wasn't for her, she found a job working with event planning firm Bolthouse Productions. She struggled to maintain a steady relationship with Jordan Eubanks and became engaged to her live-in boyfriend Spencer Pratt.

(season 1-3)	Jason Wahler	Lauren's ex-boyfriend, current friend
(season 2-3)	Spencer Pratt	Heidi's fiancé
(season 2-3)	Brody Jenner	Spencer's former friend, Lauren's "Friend"
(season 3)	Frankie Delgado	Brody's best friend/manager

(season 1-3)	Lisa Love	Lauren's boss and Teen Vogue editor of the LA offices
(season 1-3)	Brent Bolthouse	Heidi's boss and owner of Bolthouse Productions
(season 1-3)	Elodie Otto	Heidi's former co-worker at Bolthouse
(season 2)	Emily Weiss	Teen Vogue intern of the New York offices
(season 2-3)	Lauren "Lo" Bosworth	Lauren's best friend from Laguna Beach
(season 3)	Kimberly	Heidi's friend and co-worker at Bolthouse
(season 3)	Stephanie Pratt	Spencer's sister
(seasons 1-3)	Jen Bunney	Lauren's on-and-off friend, Heidi's friend
(season 2-3)	Chiara	Audrina's friend and co-worker at Epic Records

• 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 Laguna Beach 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. 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. In the season finale, Lauren was offered a summer internship in Paris that she ultimately turned down so that she could play house 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 confessed to new friend, Audrina Patridge, that Heidi is completely over Jordan. Heidi and Audrina then spend their summer nights as socialites.

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

In the opening of the 2 season Lauren ends her regretful relationship with Jason in a tearful breakup. Lauren was heartbroken until she was introduced to Brody Jenner, by Heidi and Spencer. Lauren and Brody then started dating, but their short lived relationship came to an end as did Lauren's friendship with best friend Jen "Bunney" when Jen "Bunney" and Brody spent the night together. After Heidi's break up with Jordan (from Season 1), she started a relationship with Spencer Pratt, who is known for being a "player" and a "party" boy. Heidi then caught Spencer at the club Area with playmates, flirting and planning "nude picnics" with them. Heidi was hurt, but quick to forgive and forget unlike Lauren who warned Heidi of Spencer's ways. However, Spencer didn't appreciate Lauren's concern for her best friend and spent much of the season pulling Heidi away from Lauren. His efforts were successful when Heidi moved in with him, and away from Lauren, at the end of the season. During the season Lauren focused more of her energy at work where she found herself competing with Whitney against the New York intern, Emily Weiss, who occasionally visits the LA offices. In turn, Whitney visited with the New York executives to interview for a higher position within Teen Vogue, one that Emily was also interviewed for.

• US Premiere Date: Monday, August 13, 2007
• Number of Episodes: 18

In season 3, the ending of Lauren and Heidi's friendship turns into to a very public feud, with conflict outside of the show spilling into the media. With rumors of a sex tape, much of the season was a game of Clue as Lauren had suspicions that the false rumors were spread by Heidi and Spencer. Brody put these suspicions to an end when he came clean with Lauren and confessed that it in fact was Spencer who spread the rumors. Brody and Lauren became closer, going on casual dates and having friendly sleep overs. Spencer did not approve and ended his friendship with Brody. At Teen Vogue, Lauren and the newly promoted Whitney were assigned to plan and execute the year's Young Hollywood event. As far as relationships go, Jason came back in an attempt to revive his friendship with Lauren but it was later found out that he was engaged to his live-in girlfriend, Katja. For Audrina, work at Epic Records turned into a promotion from receptionist to associate, but her relationship with Justin Berscia went from dating to not after seeing him kiss another girl, however, is now seeing a guy named Corey. Meanwhile, Heidi was promoted at Bolthouse, and with new responsibilities came new challenges, especially with her engagement to Spencer who had a different view about their upcoming wedding. In the season finale, Heidi thought it would be best to actually leave Spencer, which she did to spend time in Colorado. Meanwhile, both Whitney and Lauren were offered a trip to Paris from Teen Vogue, and the status of Lauren and Brody's relationship was left up in the air.

On the aftershow for the 18th episode of season three, which had been considered the season finale, Conrad announced that the season would continue with more episodes about her trip to Paris with Whitney for Teen Vogue. MTV said that this would mean eight "bonus episodes" airing in Spring 2008, dealing with Lauren and Whitney in Paris and Heidi and Spencer's relationship.^[2]

• MADtv filmed a parody of the show, featuring Nicole Parker as Lauren, Arden Myrin as Heidi, Crista Flanagan as Whitney, and Ike Barinholtz as Jason.
• Current TV's SuperNews! created a cartoon version of the show, set after the Earth is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust.^[3]
• Animator Scott Bateman created an animated video of a strange conversation of the show for Salon.com.^[4]

There have been a lot of rumors and speculations stating that the show is not reality and, although not scripted, scenes may be set up specifically for filming. Examples include:

• In episode #3.11 where Conrad goes on a date with male model Gavin Beasley, she is seen wearing red nail polish. When she goes home and calls Jenner directly afterward, she is seen with flesh-colored nails. Beasley is quoted by VH1's Best Week Ever as saying that producers set up the date.^[5]
• In episode #3.15 when Port, Conrad and Patridge are at the gym, they ask their trainer who has a buzz cut to go along with them to a restaurant. Later at the restaurant the trainer is seen with a full head of hair. The trainer then asks Port on a private date, where he is seen again with a buzz cut. This is significant because the dates were all portrayed as being within just a few days of each other.^{[citation needed]}
• Often during season 3, Spencer's facial hair growth does not coincide with the time line of the story.^{[citation needed]}
• As posted by TMZ.com, Heidi and Spencer were seen filming a scene at Los Angeles International Airport where Heidi was departing to visit her family in Colorado. They were then photographed an hour later in different clothing, filming a reuniting scene at the same airport on the same day. A representative for MTV later said, "This was a pickup shot for continuity that in no way affected the storyline."^[6]
• There have also been reports that Spencer and Heidi wanted to be married in front of the cameras, but Lauren Conrad threatened to leave the show if that happens.^[7]
• Some recent speculation and inside information states that Heidi does not actually work at Bolthouse productions. Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton reports that a source from The Hills states, "she doesn't really work there when the cameras are off."^[8]

The show's creator Adam DeVillo has even said the show is "a little fake" and was quoted as saying "I hate to say we schedule their lives, but we definitely schedule out what we want to cover," and "We don’t have a set schedule. It depends on what’s going on." He also speaks of an episode in season 3 where Lauren and Jason went to dinner at "Ketchup," and Heidi and Spencer coincidently ended up there at the same time on the same night. DeVillo says, "Lauren and Jason [Wahler] were going there, and Heidi and Spencer [Pratt] wanted to celebrate their anniversary. Ketchup was one of the spots Spencer wanted to go to, so it just sort of worked out. It wasn’t planned on our behalf, but it is a little fake."^[9] Conrad went a step further, stating 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."^[10]

• Official MTV Profile
• Official Hills Blog
• The Hills at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hills at TV.com