Get your entourage, head for 'The Hills'

IN THE weeks leading up to her spring break earlier this year, Rachel Haas, then a high school senior, wasn't concerned with trying on new bikinis or misting herself with a spray tan. Instead, she was obsessively watching MTV's reality show "The Hills" and making a long list of every restaurant and nightclub that appeared on-screen that she wanted to visit on her trip to Los Angeles.

Her ideal itinerary began with her and her friends venturing down the Sunset Strip to eat burgers at Ketchup, where they figured they had a shot of catching the cameras from "The Hills." On the weekend, they'd hit Les Deux, Hollywood's uber-trendy club, with its Euro-themed wallpaper and bottle service.

"My perception of L.A. was that it was a place that felt completely unreal, like a movie set. I had the highest expectations for it -- I thought I'd literally be running into famous people everywhere," said Haas, now an 18-year-old freshman at Washington University in St. Louis.

Haas would eventually visit all of the hip hot spots, but to no avail -- she had no run-ins with anyone from "The Hills," including the show's star, 22-year-old Lauren Conrad. A Maryland native who has been watching the show since it debuted two years ago, Haas readily admits that her entire notion of Los Angeles was formulated via MTV.

Indeed, "The Hills," along with HBO's "Entourage," now in its fifth season, has helped to create a fervor surrounding a glitzy Los Angeles lifestyle that many viewers and tourists like Haas become entranced by and are now seeking to engage in.

Certainly, television shows have long held the power to turn everyday destinations into meccas for rabid tourists. Eager fans have traveled far to snap pictures by some of the spots made famous by their favorite TV characters -- trying on stilettos at the New York City Manolo Blahnik store featured on "Sex and the City" or slugging down a pint at the iconic "Cheers" bar in Boston.

But both "The Hills" and "Entourage" have -- unintentionally -- teamed up to sell the latest desirable lifestyle, using B-roll of sparkling city lights, sun-reflecting surf and palm-tree-lined streets to present a clean, almost ethereal Los Angeles.

"From the very beginning, we wanted to set L.A. up as another character. Many people do come here to pursue their dreams, and it lends itself to that fantasy because it's so beautiful -- a city by the ocean," said Adam Divello, creator and executive producer of "The Hills," which trails Conrad and her friends around the city. By day, they work (or, at least, appear to work) at prestigious public relations companies and fashion magazines; at night, they go on dates and party at the city's poshest establishments.