I’ll say this: Oh How I’ve Missed The Good Old Days.
I write this recap with the intention of reminiscing on a time long since gone. A time when Les Deux was an actual thing before the owners decided it was cooler to change venues every six months.
A time when Alice in Wonderland head bands weren’t just cool, they were a god damn wardrobe staple.
It was 2006, and the reality TV was pretty much anything you wanted it to be.
I was in New York during Lauren Conrad’s heyday on The Hills, working a job that didn’t pay me nearly enough to match the lifestyle I had so coveted.
I will say this – LC, Audrina and Heidi Montag’s Chanel 2.5 bags are to those gals what Cartier LOVE bracelets are to the modern women.
More is more. Stack them, they say!
I admit, I wasn’t looking forward to tonight’s Hills Recap: That Was Then, This Is Now.
And yet, there I was hoping that Lauren Conrad would somehow allow the producers to unleash unwatched footage.
Conrad knew how to manipulate producers.
She knew when to tell the cameras to stop following her, to stop filming and to delete whatever incriminating footage could be used again her and/of those she loved.
One example was the scene in which she and Jason Wahler broke up. What The Hills fans saw was a sad break-up and the dropping off of golf clubs.
What fans didn’t see (and what Conrad most definitely blocked from airing at the time) was Wahler’s substance abuse.
Not long after, Wahler took part in Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab. Since then, he’s been sober and has married.
Conrad at least deserves a pat on the back for keeping footage of Wahler’s erratic behavior from airing.
She recognized an addict, and she was going to make damn sure his demons weren’t going to air.
That was his decision to make, Conrad decided.
Let us not forget Kim Kardashian’s vain attempts to become a “thing” on The Hills. I can see her pre-production conversations with former step-brother Brody Jenner now:
“Babe, the VMAs air super soon. Can Heidi mention that?”
Magically, Conrad told one of her producers that she “chose to ignore” Kardashian’s bid at instafame.
If you’re a fangirl Iike I was back in the day, you’re either going to bed satisfied or hugely disappointed.
I walked into this special knowing full well that Conrad wouldn’t give the cameras a break, but there were some cases in which I was proven wrong.
To sum up my view of The Hills, I thought that LC was a bit of a wet blanket in that she could have cut her friends a break with their beloved men.
At the same time, good on her for sticking to her gun and refusing to bend to the will of a man.
After the special wrapped, I concluded that I didn’t take away much from both The Hills and Laguna Beach other than both franchises were incredibly pivotal in terms of shaping reality TV.
Back in the day, you could air whatever footage the talent allowed. Now, it’s a free-for-all.
The moral of the story is this:
Don’t let a camera record your life, and don’t sign a damn thing without the counsel of a lawyer.