Saying Goodbye to 24 and The Hills

News broke recently that both 24 and The Hills are now in the midst of their final seasons (24’s final season is currently airing, while MTV will debut the final season of The Hills on April 27^th). On the surface, these two shows do not have much in common, but they each hold a soft spot in my heart—at various points in the past, I would have described each of them as “my favorite show on TV”—but I cannot deny that I am now happy to see them go.

Monday Medley

What we read while practicing torch lighting for 2012….

• John S reviewed Lauren Conrad’s latest book, the new best-seller Sweet Little Lies. Conrad went on Good Morning America to promote it. Meanwhile, her old nemesis Heidi Montag announced that she’ll pose for Playboy… again.

• Malcolm Gladwell on inebriation and the sociology of drinking. Tyler Cowen on Gladwell on drinking.

• French pop-philosopher Bernard-Henry Levi rips Immanuel Kant in new book; too bad basis for said ripping is a critique of Kant written by a non-existent philosopher who was invented by a satirist. Even if BHL had claimed it was for philanthropic concerns, Kant would not have approved of the lie.

• Leon Wieseltier on why the Internet is hurting young writers. Hey, Leon, help us out with a link! Also at The New Republic, Ruth Franklin on the fading idea of “American” fiction.

• Joe Lieberman is a flip-flopper, kind of.

• If you haven’t yet read the John Mayer Playboy interview–in which he throws out the N-word, calls Jessica Simpson “sexual napalm,” and treats masturbation with a reverence we haven’t seen since one Alexander Portnoy–here’s your chance to catch up for the watercooler. The interviewer to Mayer’s interviewee, Rob Tannenbaum penned his own reaction-to-the-reaction piece for The Daily Beast, criticizing the efforts of those like the usually reliable Stephen Marche at Esquire.

• And because we’re not entirely sure if 1988 was better than 2000 in the dunk contest, a bonus video:

L.A. Candy: First It’s Sour, Then It’s… Sweet Little Lies

“Interesting,” said Madison, although really, it wasn’t interesting at all.—Sweet Little Lies

When we last left the loosely life-like literary creations of Lauren Conrad, they were deeply mired in controversy. Our heroine, Jane Roberts, had just slept with her boyfriend’s best friend and, once the tabloids had gotten hold of the photographic evidence of the affair, absconded to Mexico with her reality TV co-star, Madison Parker. Unbeknownst to Jane, however, it was Madison who had the photos taken and delivered to Gossip magazine in exchange for more publicity.

Does this sound interesting? Because really, it’s not interesting at all.

Any regular viewer of The Hills, the real-life inspiration for L.A, Candy and now Sweet Little Lies, knows that a surprising amount of the show consists of nothing happening.* People go to dinner, they go to clubs (usually Les Deux), and they go to work; and then they tell other people about what happened at dinner, at the clubs, and at work. The most interesting aspect of the show, really, is how the show itself affects the reality it captures. How does having your life put on TV affect that life?

Aught Lang Syne: What John S Is Looking Forward To….

In this final installment Aught Lang Syne’s conclusion, John S presents what he is looking forward to in the coming decade. In case you missed it, Josh posted what he is anticipating here, and Tim posted his here. We at NPI hope you’ve enjoyed our retrospective on the Aughts.

In the Teens, I’m looking forward to….

…A Suitable Name for a Decade: Were we happy with “the Aughts”? Of course not. But we stuck with it for the sake of consistency. And even if it won’t be accurate for 30% of the decade, at least all the 2019 decade retrospectives will refer it as “the Teens.”

…The Future of Television: I’ve already touched on this, but television is currently at a crossroads. If anything, things have become more dire for the old model. Network television is apparently on its way out, and free television may be a casualty. This, of course, may have disastrous consequences: With free TV gone, shows’ budgets may be severely restricted. As a result, shows will not be able to have big casts, shoot extensively on location, or attract the best talent. In other words, the Golden Age of TV will be over.

It’s probably inevitable that television will undergo some growing pains, but I think that ultimately the industry will get stronger. The evolution away from the old network model will actually be conducive to more innovative programming. Broad hits like CSI and American Idol may suffer, but shows like Mad Men—which is already on pay-cable and maintains a large cast, original sets, and great actors—ought to be able to survive. In fact, the cable model, which is what people say we are drifting towards now, already produces most of the best television. No matter what, though, it will be fascinating to watch a medium that is hitting its creative stride at the precise moment that it faces logistical upheaval.  

The Top Ten Things to be Excited About in the Fall TV Season

So Tim took, among other things, umbrage at my listing the start of the fall TV season as a reason to be excited about September back when we ranked the months. Well, I know it’s not a traditional thing to get excited about, but it’s mildly exciting to get a whole new crop of television shows, not to mention the return of old ones. So, in my defense, here are ten things to be excited about in the Fall 2009 TV Schedule:

L.A. Candy: First It’s Sour, Then It’s Sweet

L.A. Candy, Lauren Conrad’s first novel, is a book that raises all sorts of important questions. For example, what exactly is “just the right amount of sexy stubble”? What qualifies as “off-the-charts SAT scores”? What is the appropriate attire to wear with a microphone?

In the proud tradition of Jack Kerouac, James Joyce, and Philip Roth, Conrad’s first novel is semiautobiographical: The story follows Jane Roberts as she moves to L.A. to fulfill her dream of becoming an “events planner,” and on the way gets cast as the star of a reality series.

Those looking for a true roman à clef, however, may be somewhat disappointed. While there are clearly some analogs that a seasoned viewer of The Hills cannot miss (“Jesse Edwards”=Brody Jenner, “Hannah”=Whitney, “Fiona Chen”=Lisa Love/Kelly Cutrone) there are no real Heidi or Spencer counterparts and the book isn’t really a thinly veiled tell-all of the “juicy secrets” behind the show.

The most revealing section of the book in that respect may be the Acknowledgments page where, in addition to thanking her “collaborator” Nancy Ohlin, Conrad thanks her “best friends”: Maura, Lo, Jillian, Natania and Britton….Now, I know Lo, but who the hell are those other four?! Eighty percent of Lauren’s BEST FRIENDS are people who I’ve never seen on TV before?  

Replaced?

 

Kristin Cavallari

Lauren Conrad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How exactly is this going to work? For those of you who haven’t heard, Lauren Conrad is leaving The Hills, a show in which she is basically the main character. In her place, MTV has gotten Conrad’s former Laguna Beach rival Kristin Cavallari to replace her.