The Hills is an American reality television series that aired for six seasons on MTV from May 31, 2006, until July 13, 2010. Developed as a spin-off of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, the series focused on the personal and professional lives of several young women and men residing in Los Angeles, California. Its premise was conceived by Adam DiVello, while Liz Gateley and Sean Travis served as executive producers.
The series originally focused on Lauren Conrad, who had already appeared in Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, as she pursued a career in the fashion industry. It additionally placed emphasis on her housemate, Heidi Montag, and their friends Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port. Conrad's friend Lo Bosworth and Montag's boyfriend Spencer Pratt developed major positions as part of the supporting cast in the second season, while his sister Stephanie Pratt was added in the third. Port left the series at the conclusion of the fourth season, moving to New York City and starring in her own spin-off, The City, which aired for two seasons.
Looking to pursue other career opportunities, Conrad left the series halfway through the fifth season, and was subsequently replaced by fellow Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County cast member Kristin Cavallari. Bosworth and Stephanie Pratt joined Cavallari and Patridge as primary cast members in the sixth and final season, while Montag and her husband Pratt were removed from the series after displaying erratic behavior. Conrad briefly returned to the series during an alternate ending for its finale.
The Hills received moderately favorable reviews from critics and has been recognized as a "guilty pleasure" by several media outlets. However, the series was often criticized for tending towards a narrative format more commonly seen in scripted genres including soap operas, and appearing to fabricate much of its storyline. The show has produced several spin-offs, as well as distributed all seasons to DVD. Since its conclusion, the special The Hills: That Was Then, This Is Now, starring Conrad, was aired on August 2, 2016, and the sequel series The Hills: New Beginnings premiered on June 24, 2019.
Conception In 2004, the reality television series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County premiered on MTV. The program was created by Liz Gateley and documented the lives of several students attending Laguna Beach High School as they completed secondary education. The series proved among the network's most successful programming, though the entire original cast left after the second season and were replaced by another group of teenagers for the following season.
Television producer Adam DiVello developed the spin-off program The Hills to follow one of its predecessor's original cast members, Lauren Conrad, as she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry.
Series synopsis
Overview and casting
The Hills chronicles the lives of several young women and men living in Los Angeles, California. Every installment commences with a voice-over narrative from series leads Lauren Conrad (seasons 1–5) or Kristin Cavallari (seasons 5–6), foreshadowing the theme of the episode. Each season concludes with a finale, typically involving a major event such as a progressing relationship or a personnel departure. Most installments revolve around the women's everyday lives, with the intention of balancing coverage of their personal and professional endeavors.
Throughout its run, the series was led by three (season 5) and four (seasons 1–4, 6) primary cast members, who were credited by their first names. Its original main cast members were Conrad, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Port. Upon the conclusion of the fourth season, Port moved to New York City after receiving employment with Diane von Fürstenberg and was commissioned to star in the spin-off The City.
During this time, Conrad wished to leave the series to pursue other career opportunities, though she filmed ten episodes in the following season to close her storylines. After departing halfway through the fifth season, she was replaced by Cavallari, a fellow former Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County cast member. The sixth and final season saw Conrad's friends Lo Bosworth and Stephanie Pratt, who were respectively featured as supporting roles since the second and third seasons, become primary cast members. Halfway through the season, Montag left the series after the cast looked to disassociate themselves from her uncharacteristic antics.
The aforementioned women's storylines were largely developed by a number of supporting cast members. Spencer Pratt, originally credited as "Heidi's boyfriend" and later "Heidi's husband", was added in the second season. Also that season, Brody Jenner was introduced as "Spencer's friend". After establishing a friendship with Conrad, he became known as "Lauren's friend". Jenner was later credited as "Kristin's ex-boyfriend" when Cavallari assumed Conrad's position in the fifth season.
In the third season, Frankie Delgado was established as "Brody's friend". His title was adjusted as "Lauren's friend" the following season, and was eventually reverted to "Brody's friend" during the fifth season. Since the third season, Justin-Bobby was recognized as "Audrina's ex", "Audrina's boyfriend", or "Audrina's ex-boyfriend" Holly Montag, credited as "Heidi's sister", was added to the series in the fourth season.
In the fifth season, Stacie Hall was introduced to the series as "bartender" when working at The Dime, and later became "the bartender" after the conflict between herself, Montag, and Pratt came to fruition. After the conflict settled, Hall remained on the series as "Kristin's friend".
Timeline of cast members
Name Seasons 1 2 3 4 5a 5b 6 Main cast members Lauren Conrad colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="1" Appeared in an alternate version of the series finale, which was not aired by MTV until three years after the show ended. Audrina Patridge colspan="7" Whitney Port colspan="4" colspan="3" Heidi Montag colspan="7" Kristin Cavallari colspan="4" colspan="1" colspan="2" Lo Bosworth colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="4" colspan="1" Stephanie Pratt colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="1" Notable supporting cast members Jordan Eubanks colspan="1" colspan="6" Brian Drolet colspan="1" colspan="6" Jason Wahler colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="4" Jen Bunney colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" Spencer Pratt colspan="1" colspan="6" Brody Jenner colspan="1" colspan="6" Frankie Delgado colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="5" Justin "Bobby" Brescia colspan="2" colspan="5" Holly Montag colspan="3" colspan="4" Stacie Hall colspan="4" colspan="3"
Notes
Storylines
In its series premiere, The Hills first introduced Lauren Conrad, who moved from Laguna Beach, California to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry. She and her housemate Heidi Montag originally planned to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, though the latter left the college after receiving employment with Bolthouse Productions. Montag befriended their neighbor Audrina Patridge, while Conrad bonded with her fellow Teen Vogue intern Whitney Port. The remainder of the first season highlighted romantic relationships, including Montag's and Patridge's brief relationships with Jordan Eubanks and Brian Drolet respectively. The season concluded with Conrad's rejection of a summertime internship in Paris to reunite with her former boyfriend Jason Wahler. Consequentially, Port was offered and accepted the position in Conrad's place.
By the beginning of the second season, Conrad and Wahler had ended their relationship, while Montag began dating Spencer Pratt. Montag increasingly spent more time with Pratt and neglected her friendship with Conrad, which placed a strain on the pair's friendship. Consequentially, Conrad strengthened her relationship with her friend Lo Bosworth and took a romantic interest in Pratt's friend Brody Jenner. Montag and Pratt moved into an apartment together in the season finale, at which point Patridge became Conrad's new housemate.
In the third season, Conrad ended her friendship with Montag after suspecting that she and Pratt fabricated rumors of a sex tape involving herself and Wahler. The ensuing feud between the women became a central focus of the series and was carried through each subsequent season in which Conrad appeared. Montag and Pratt became engaged, while Patridge resumed a turbulent romantic relationship with her friend Justin "Justin Bobby" Brescia. After Conrad established companionships with Jenner and his friend Frankie Delgado, Pratt severed ties with both men.
In light of the building feud, Spencer's sister Stephanie Pratt initially took a disliking to Conrad. However, she later apologized to Conrad for an earlier confrontation, and the pair became friends. Their relationship put a burden on Pratt's relationship with her brother and Montag, who reacted by beginning to alienate her. Conrad and Port eventually left their positions at Teen Vogue after receiving employment from Kelly Cutrone's PR firm People's Revolution. By the end of the season, Conrad and Patridge had left their apartment and purchased a home, with new housemate Bosworth becoming a distancing factor between the former two.
The fourth season saw Patridge reconcile with Bosworth and repair her relationship with Conrad before moving into a separate residence. Holly Montag moved from her hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado into her sister and Pratt's apartment, which created tension between the sisters and Pratt. Montag was later fired from her job with Bolthouse after becoming drunk during a company event. While vacationing in Mexico, an intoxicated Montag and Pratt elope. In the season finale, Conrad and Montag appear to have reconciled, though Conrad's suspicions regarding the rumors continued to inhibit a reconciliation. Port eventually relocated to New York City to accept a position with Diane von Fürstenberg.
As the fifth season began, Spencer Pratt developed a flirtatious bond with a local bartender Stacie Hall, to the dismay of Montag. Per Montag's request to salvage their relationship, Pratt agreed to attend couples' therapy. As they became re-engaged and decided to officially marry, Conrad initially declined an invitation to the wedding. In an attempt to change her mind, Pratt called Conrad and apologized for spreading the rumors. After much additional deliberation, Conrad made her final appearance on the series during the mid-season finale, where she attended the nuptials and reconciled with Montag.
Kristin Cavallari caught the bouquet at the wedding and assumed the series' lead beginning in the second half of the season. She began a causal relationship with Brescia, at which point Patridge severed ties with him. Afterwards, the women developed a feud that continued through the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, Montag and Pratt purchased a new house and clashed over the decision to begin a family; Montag wished to have children, while Pratt opposed the thought.
Before filming for the sixth season commenced, Montag garnered significant criticism after undergoing ten cosmetic surgery procedures in one day. In the premiere, she traveled to her hometown Crested Butte to unveil the results to her family. After unexpectedly receiving much disapproval, she and her husband Pratt alienated themselves from their relatives. Having later displayed additional instances of erratic and unusual behavior, their respective sisters decided to exclude them from their lives. Having dated several years prior, Cavallari and Jenner become flirtatious once more, though the former was taken aback after the latter started seeing another woman.