OK, so, a bit of insider info on the new Hills spinoff The City: just as we'd heard about Lauren Conrad's time at TeenVogue, it's apparently an open secret at Diane Von Furstenberg that Whitney Port isn't actually doing much work in her brand new position there. In fact, our source has yet to meet anyone at the company who's actually worked with her on anything. Ha ha! "Reality" TV! How's your depression treating you?
Anyways... we don't care about any of that. New York's full of people who have great titles and resumes and do nothing all day. If we started getting angry about that, we'd never stop. It'd be like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters: "That would be bad."
Instead, what we have to say is this: is it a good or bad sign that they're so clearly pitching The City as a real-life Gossip Girl? We know, we know: we saw where it said "this ain't no gossip" or whatever. We like to have it both ways too. And yeah, we remember that Laguna Beach, aka the mothership to all this, was pitched as a real-life OC. We know. And yet: we don't remember promos for that being this baldly derivative. I mean, that font, the music... all they need is someone to show up in a plaid skirt.
More interestingly: even though Gothamist detects a little Sex and the City in the promo, we don't get any. None. There are no images of girls bonding over brunch or shoes, bonding over much of anything. No lame narration. No zippy, cutesy bits. This ain't the rosy aquarium of Carrie Bradshaw's NYC; this is a shark tank, all the way. Which we find interesting. Is SATC finally too middleaged for MTV's demo to care?
MOST importantly, however, this makes us ask the question that every teen show dreads: what the hell will Gossip Girl do when everyone -- as they must -- graduates? Is it -- gasp? -- gonna look like this?