The Hills Are Alive But Are They Live?

In 1992, MTV’s bold experiment to capture the lives of seven strangers living in a house together sparked a reality TV craze.

Now, fast forward 16 years later, when MTV’s highest rated show, The Hills’ drew in the most viewers to date during the March 24^th premiere of bonus Season 3 episodes.

Adding more fuel to the fire, the show is widely speculated to be scripted.

What does this show have that makes it a must-see for so many viewers and has further incited buzz that it is staged? Look no further and weigh in as to whether The Hills is reality TV’s one hit wonder or if its success will spawn a new wave of semi-real shows.

1) The Villain You Love To Hate

Pretty interesting that save for a marriage proposal and occasional dinner date (generally at his favorite divey Mexican restaurant), Spencer is never portrayed in a benevolent light.

From letting his friendship with best friend Brody fade into the ether to painting a hideous mural on the wall he shared with Heidi, there is never a dull moment when Spencer is on the screen.

2) Great Publicists

Even if you claim that The Hills is so “last week”, an innocuous trip to the drugstore is likely to result in a sighting of at least one of the stars occupying center stage in a tabloid magazine.

As much as we are embarrassed to admit it, we have become well acquainted with Heidi’s plastic surgery transformation (which judging from the most recent episodes may or may not have included lip injections), had heated debates over whether Heidi threw Lauren under the bus by leaking sex tape rumors and even learned about the dissolution of Audrina’s relationship with Justin Bobby (hey haven’t his 10 minutes of fame expired?).

3) A Look Into The Other Side Of The Velvet Rope

Let’s face it, there is something to be said about living vicariously through others. Need I mention the much awaited big screen return of four cosmopolitan women with A-list wardrobes and robust sex lives?

The social butterflies on The Hills have provided its viewers with a fly-on-the-wall view of some of the most exclusive hot spots in LA, Las Vegas, NYC and even Paris, one boozy altercation after another.

While Heidi’s alleged event planning job partially explains the girls’ ease of getting into the “sceney spots”, an MTV camera crew entourage probably doesn’t hurt either.

4) More Continuity Errors Than I Can Count

To put it mildly, the editing on The Hills is spotty at times. Whether or not it is an intentional ploy (to drum up more press for the show), the show is riddled with continuity mistakes.

Specifically, there have been a number of inexplicable changes in physical appearance in consecutive scenes (i.e. Lauren’s “is she or isn’t she” wearing nail polish moment, inconsistent facial hair on Spencer, etc).

There are also reports circulating that MTV held a casting call for a Parisian love interest for Lauren. Furthering the theory that the romances are staged, the male model Lauren went out with even went on the record to state that producers orchestrated the date!

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