THE cattiness started immediately on the third season of the MTV docu-soap "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County."
"And then there were the popular girls," says Tessa, the season's teenage narrator. "There's Cami, the Queen of Mean. She went out of her way to make my life miserable.... \o7That\f7 is Kyndra, the leader of the popular clique. We used to be friends, but she turned her back on me when I needed her most."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday October 29, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 34 words Type of Material: Correction
"Laguna Beach" air day: An article in today's Calendar section about the MTV series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" says the series airs at 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays. It airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday November 05, 2006 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part E Page 2 Calendar Desk 0 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction
"Laguna Beach" air day: An article last Sunday about the MTV series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" said the series airs at 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays. It airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays.
Those are fighting words in the hermetically sealed bubble of beachside affluence that is home to the calculating teenagers of "Laguna Beach." To employ one of their favorite phrases: So much drama.
But now that the show has slipped a bit in the ratings, and it has become clear that the new cast may not have the zing of its predecessors, several of whom have broken out on their own, will so much drama be enough? And, in the way of reality shows gone stale, is "Laguna Beach" in danger of losing its freshness because its cast learned how to portray teenagers by watching ... "Laguna Beach"?
When the show made its debut in 2004, it broke new ground in the reality genre and was an instant hit with MTV's coveted 12- to 24-year-old demographic. It was not a contest like "Survivor," nor a contrived situation like "The Real World." Instead, it was an attempt to document -- using narrative techniques, lush cinematography and suggestions from producers -- the supercharged social lives of a clique of overprivileged schoolmates.
For two seasons -- in hot tubs, bistros, bedrooms, boutiques and Baja resorts -- cameras followed the core cast of "characters," making a coherent narrative of the extracurricular ups and downs of their junior and senior years.
The show was a stunning success for MTV, with ratings that put it at the top of its time period against both cable and network shows. It spawned copycats, such as Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" and the flash-in-the-pan CBS show "Tuesday Night Book Club."
'Reality' spawns celebrity
IT also made minor celebrities of its protagonists, Lauren, Kristin and Stephen, who, luckily for the show's producers, happened to be caught up in a love triangle as shooting began. Lauren Conrad went on to star in "The Hills," an MTV spinoff show that portrays her life as an intern at Teen Vogue. Kristin Cavallari has become a spokesperson for Bongo, the clothing company, and has had an assortment of oddball acting jobs and magazine layouts. Cutie pie Stephen Colletti dropped out of San Francisco State, appears on MTV's "Total Request Live" and is trying to act.
