Saturday, October 31, 2009

The L.C. Effect: Why 'The Hills' Fails Without Lauren


You can take 'The Hills' out of Orange County, but you can't take Lauren Conrad out of 'The Hills'. At least not without some pretty big consequences. Season 6 opened sans its blond starlet, who decided to move on after half a decade on the reality show circuit.
After Conrad announced her decision to bail on TV in the hopes of leading a more private life focused on her fashion career, producers brought in Conrad's old schoolmate, Kristin Cavallari, as a replacement. Alongside Speidi, Audrina and the rest of the well-tanned Cali kids, Cavallari reprises the role she stepped into as a teenager on Hills precursor 'Laguna Beach': a flirtatious, manipulative man-eater, all shiny locks and come-hither stares.

On 'Laguna' she battled Conrad for the affections of pretty boy Stephen Colletti, and it seems she's up to her old tricks in Hollywood, setting her sights on Audrina Patridge's on-again-off-again, Justin Bobby. But so far Cavallari's episodes have failed to elicit the spark we've come to expect from the drama-filled half hour.
And viewers seem to agree. Ratings were down 30% for Cavallari's premiere episode, pulling only 2.1 million sets of eyes as opposed to the 3 million who tuned in to last season's opener.

This seems to be a pattern for MTV: Ratings plummeted on 'Laguna' after Conrad left the sandy shores of her hometown for the glitz of Los Angeles. A poorly received LC-less third season sent the Laguna High kids packing.
Perhaps that's because Lauren Conrad offers something very essential to her shows. She's the grounded protagonist, ambitious and relatively normal. For the viewer, Conrad is the identifiable core, a filter through which to experience all the chaos that goes on around her. Whereas Cavallari was introduced as the anti-heroine off the bat, a role already occupied to perfection by Heidi Montag. Having wasted no time feuding with the girls and playing all the guys, Cavallari leaves us without a gal to root for.

Perhaps this will change as the show's new lineup settles into itself. But so far, without Lauren Conrad, 'The Hills' is barely even 'The Knolls.'
credit - popeater.com

I agree and I disagree. I totally miss Lauren but I think what's killing the ratings is all the scripted drama. I'm not interested in seeing Brody and Jayde fake fight. In fact I'd be happy if they got rid of Brody & Jayde altogether. I'd much rather the show focus on the girls. I think we are all still rooting the show to succeed but the producers made it hard when they don't give the girls enough screen time. Frustrating...

Whitney Port: Coming from the Gym in Brentwood, CA 10/30






Is Audrina Back In Heidi's Inner Circle?


It looks like it! take a look at their tweets:

Heidi:
10/29 I LOVE @OfficialAudrina!
10/30 @OfficialAudrina we need to do the brunch/spa day at least once a week!! I love my Audrina time!!!! Best day ever!!! LOVE U!! xoxo!

Audrina:
10/26 just got done filming w/ @heidimontag and it was nice to catch up on and off cam!! shes always full of life and happiness
10/29 @heidimontag had so much fun today!!:) we'll have to do another pampering girls brunch/massage next week xo

awwwww : )I'm so glad to see they've made up. I thought they had a cute friendship way back when. The main thing that's been missing for me on the 'Hills' lately is the friendships or lack thereof.

'The City' Star Roxy Olin Dishes On Her 'Brothers & Sisters' Character: 'You're Going To See Me More'

She's wreaked havoc on Kelly Cutrone and People's Revolution ever since she stepped foot in Manhattan as Whitney's new bestie, roommate and coworker on "The City," but Roxy Olin isn't keeping her day job limited to just one coast.
This past Sunday, much to this "City" watcher's surprise, she reprised her role on ABC's dramedy "Brothers & Sisters" as Michelle — the former ex of Jason Lewis' (now-openly gay) character, Chad Barry, and the girl responsible for reuniting Kevin (Matthew Rhys) with his now-husband Scotty (Luke Macfarlane).
And, you can plan on seeing the brunette continue to make the crossover from reality TV to primetime. "You are going to see me more [on 'B & S']," she told MTV News during a recent office visit. "I don't even know how much more ... but I'll be in the next episode, and then not for a little bit, and then I come back again."
Seeing as how Roxy's Michelle just offered to be the surrogate to Kevin and Scotty's unborn child, we're pretty sure that means the storyline (er, and her stomach) is going to progress.

"The part that I'm playing on 'Brothers & Sisters,' it's going to be a a challenge for me to be doing ['The City'] at the same time," she admitted. "I was joking with Whitney that I should walk around the city with a huge belly and see what people do." Suspicions confirmed!
The opportunity to come back to the series "happened actually while we were still filming ['The City']," Roxy revealed. Though we should note her father (Ken Olin) exec produces "Brothers & Sisters," while her mother (Patricia Wettig) stars in it. Still, that doesn't mean her shooting scheduled was made any easier on her. "One time I had a 6am call [for 'B & S'] in L.A. after filming till 11 in New York.," Roxy recalled. "The next day, I had to take the red-eye back to New York after filming three scenes in L.A. So it was definitely hectic. But I liked that ... I've never worked this hard in my whole life, so I'm like, alright bring it!"
credit - mtv.com

Halloween twit pics: Brody Jenner, Roxy Olin and Chloe


Roxy tweeted: "Sooo fun! Were doing it again tom"


Lo tweeted: "Witch!"


Jayde tweeted: "In the limo on the way to the party... I love halloween!!"


Jayde tweeted: BrodyJenner and his boys :) xx

Happy Halloween Everyone!! : )