Reality TV has gone through some changes over the last few decades. Whether it’s the 24/7 cameras of Big Brother or the relationship dramas on Love Island, reality shows adapt and change with their audiences. But in the annals of the reality genre, The Hills was one that perfected a certain kind of storytelling just as it was becoming obsolete.

With Conor Behan

But with a return as The Hills: New Beginnings, can it recapture soap-y cinematic magic?

The Hills is returning during an era of reality TV being bigger than ever - Love Island is a cultural juggernaut that ignites endless conversation, while Hayu runs a dedicated streaming service for big name reality shows.

A spin-off from the MTV hit Laguna Beach (inspired by teen drama The OC), nobody could have predicted just how huge The Hills would be. A reality show shot like a glossy Hollywood movie, it made Lauren Conrad and her perfectly coiffed pals megastars in a blank but oddly compelling soap many of us couldn’t resist.

For me, a college student who had MTV on heavy rotation all day, The Hills soon became the perfect pop culture obsession. Sure, it was an addictive slice of TV cheese but trying to figure out how it was made was half the battle. How much of it was fake? How much of the frequent drama was genuine hurt and not just made for TV? And how do you shoot a show about real people doing normal things but have everything look so glossy? It toyed with the idea of performing everyday life years before Instagram turned into a sport we all engage in at brunch.

The news the show was back (albeit without some key cast members) created buzz for a simpler time in reality land. Sure, we may not have Lauren or Kristin, but Audrina, Justin Bobby and Spencer and Heidi alone are worth a gawk. Throw in Mischa Barton adding a through-line to The OC and adding newcomer Brandon Lee - son of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee - and you’ve enough fodder for an interesting reality return. At least in theory.

At time of writing I’ve caught two episodes of the show and it’s hard to get a read of just how The Hills works in 2019. Interviews to camera form a key part of the format, as is de rigueur for reality shows now, but that wasn’t ever a factor in the original series. Things feel significantly less set up, perhaps a reaction to cast members revealing much of the original series was often fake. But there’s an energy missing. It’s meant to be a more grounded take on the lives of people we know, but there are no stakes. Potentially dramatic plot points fade to a whimper. There’s the potential to tell a really interesting story here. One about sudden fame and what you do when the flashbulbs fade. But as it stands The Hills: New Beginnings feels both too earnest to be gleefully trashy TV and also too stilted to offer any real insight. It’s the TV equivalent of scrolling through Instagram: nice to look at but ultimately not offering much depth.

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