The Hills: Alive and Kicking

The O.C may have only been around for four years but it certainly made it's mark and when the teen drama shut down shop in 2007 it left behind a few things. For a start the birth of Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson as style icons and the introduction of the creator, Josh Schwartz to TV heaven. However in my eyes the main legacy of The O.C is the fact that it became the inspiration of The Hills. For it was the lavish lives of the teenagers of The Orange County that led to the reality show, Laguna Beach and it was here that we met the likes of Stephen Colletti, Lo Bosworth and a certain Lauren Conrad. The pert Lauren left Laguna for the heights of LA and moved onto her own reality show The Hills and the rest is history. Over the last five years we have been caught up with the drama and tribulations of Lauren's world. We have cried with her, laughed with her, laughed at her and watched her fall out with friend after friend.

Now Ms Conrad is about to say goodbye to her life on the small screen and will move onto new pastures new. Such as? I hear you ask. Well for a start she has penned a book called L.A. Candy and is about a young lady who moves to the city of angels and ends up on reality show. Wow, I wonder how long it took her to come up with that concept? But you know what? I can't wait to read it. Going by the spiel on the HarperCollins website, this book has all the qualities that I look for in my fiction. Fun, drama, glamour and with the odd bit of fashion thrown. L.A Candy hits the stores on 18th June but if you can't wait till then you can read an excerpt on TeenVogue. Quite fitting considering Lauren spent a great deal of her vital years there. HarperColins have signed Ms Conrad to write three books for them so look out for more literary works from Laguna's finest.

So with the commercial success of The Hills, other characters from the show have taken the opportunity to work on other projects. First we have Brody Jenner with his diabolical reality show, Bromance. She-devil boss, Kelly Cutrone has been granted her own reality show called Kell on Earth and is also writing a self help book to young women on how to rule the world. I am sure it will be riveting as Kelly is. Oh of course lets not forget Whitney who is riding high with the success of her own fly on the wall series, The City. Looks like the hills are alive and kicking.

Geek Chic

Who didn’t see this video of Pharrell Williams trying to sing his way into getting a big mac and fries at MacDonalds in Paris? He never got his big mac and fries but boy did I love him for trying. The performance was geekery in it’s finest form. There was a time when being called a geek or nerd was a huge insult; the term sums up visions of a social inept person with super large glasses who spends their time delved into computer books and comics. Not a good look. However over the last few years that image has been turned upside down as geeks have risen to the top of pop culture. With gadgets becoming de rigor in today’s society and Blackberrys, laptops, Twitter, Facebook now an integral part of our lives it is now chic to be a bit of a geek.

Take this quote from a character in an episode of the animated series, Freakazoid.
“Who writes all the best selling books? Nerds. Who directs the top grossing Hollywood movies? Nerds. Who creates the highly advanced technology that only they can understand? ...Nerds. And who are the people who run for the high office of the Presidency? No one but nerds.”

You can add President Barack Obama to that list, as well as a Blackberry addict, he admits to being a huge fan of Star Trek and collected comic books when he was younger. Not only that but Obama was the first President to embrace the web by introducing online voting which was instrumental in his historic victory. I am sure he is twittering his way through London at the G20 Summit as well as causing carnage in the capital. Other famous geeks are Kanye West, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook), Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple) and Tiger Woods. On the TV side who can forget lovely, Seth Cohen from The OC decked out in his scuffed sneakers and plaid shirts creasing us up with his quirky observations. His character was based on none other than Josh Schwartz, the creator of The OC and Gossip Girl who is big player in TV.

As individuals have learned to embrace their inner geek the corporate world have cotton onto the act as well. IT companies such as The Geek Squad (who are so cool that they have sponsored London Fashion Week), Geeks on Call and Dial a Geek use the term to display their highly sophisticated IT skills. What can I say - I am a geek and proud! Check out a scene from Sex and the City where Carrie has a one to one with a geek when her Macbook crashes. Very funny!!

My Motherboard, Myself Part 1



My Motherboard, Myself Part 2

Lily

So it seems that CW along with everyone else cannot get enough of Gossip Girl. They love it so much that they have ordered a prequel which is based on the romance of Lily van der Woodsen nee Rhodes and Rufus Humphreys. The channel that is home to popular teen shows, 90210 as well One Tree Hill will be airing a retro version of Gossip Girl. The spin off series of which is yet to be named is set in the colourful 80s and tells the story of the teenage Lily who is the mother of protagonist, Serena van der Woodsen. Young Lily is forced to move in with her sister after falling out wth her parents when she is kicked out of her posh boarding school. She turns to big sis Carol who is a free spirited actress based in San Fernando. Unfortunately Lily is not happy for long; it seems that sleepy San Fernando is a tad bit boring for our Lily and it is not long before she is up to her old tricks. She goes in search of fun and excitement in LA and finds it in the fast paced life of Sunset Strip. Gossip Girl Retro sees Lily hanging out in restaurants, bars, clubs and totally living the Jackie Collins' 80s Hollywood life where she eventually bumps into a certain Rufus Humphreys. The show will showcase the fashion, music and pop culture of that era so you can imagine what they have in store - over the knee boots, leggings, stilettos, shoulder pads, teased hair and lots of blue eye shadow. It all kicks off on 11th May when instead of the regular GG we will be treated to a back door pilot to the spin off. Brittany Snow plays the young Lily, Krysten Ritter (who we last saw in Confessions of a Shopaholic) plays her sister Carol, Andrew McCarthy plays their father, Cynthia Watros as their mother and Serena's father, Keith van der Woodsen will be seen for the first time played by Matt Barr.


Hmm. To be honest I am not really looking forward to it. I like Rufus a lot and I find him to be a very funny, quirky yet warm character but I find Lily to be a total bore. Unlike her daughter who is charismatic and engaging, Lily comes across as being a total stiff and a snobby one to boot. I find it hard to imagine her smoking a cigarette let alone anything stronger so I am finding it hard to buy this so-called wild childhood that she experienced. I personally would have preferred to see Jenny in a spin off which takes place when Serena, Blair and co have gone onto college. Rather like the book series The It Girl but instead of trying to fit in with a cool crowd lil Jen would be Queen Bee of Constance Billard. Now that would have been riveting with Eric as her morale conscience and big brother Dan making guests appearances. GG creator's, Stephanie Savage (who I wrote about here) and Josh Schwartz's explanations for not going down the Jenny route was because they did not want to lose any of their talented cast. Now I love Steph and Josh dearly but that is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. We all know that Serena and co are off to college in the next season so what they should have done was follow their escapes on campus and launch Jenny in her own spin off. But hey what do I know? I just watch the show religiously.

Stephanie Savage - Queen of Teen Genre

Mention the name Stephanie Savage and you will be greeted with blank looks but if you drop names such as The OC and Gossip Girl you will get a different reaction. Stephanie Savage is the lady behind these two fantastic programmes - forget Josh Schwartz – this Canadian native is it. Stephanie wrote and produced The OC and is currently working as writer and executive producer of Gossip Girl. Her first gig in Hollywood was working for Drew Barrymore’s production company, Flower Films, and she went on to work on the script for Never Been Kissed and Charlie’s Angels. It was here where she met Joseph McGinty Nichol aka McG who was directing the movie and the two of them became inseparable. Five years later Stephanie and McG decided it was time to move on and formed their own production company, Wonderland Vision and Sound.

They hooked up with Josh Schwartz and came up with the concept for a show that would showcase the lives of young people in Orange County. McG, an OC native wanted to convey the contrasts between the Republican values, wealth and gated communities that is very Reagan-esque and, the epicenter of California skate-and-surf culture. During an interview with The OC Insider, Stephanie stated, “You have these really cool bands like No Doubt, Social Distortion and Sublime coming from there and that was the kind of scene that McG grew up in, so we thought that was really interesting. I mean if you go down there, it's like a mixture of country clubs, rock clubs, and there's dads golfing with their sons and kids partying in the streets, and it just seemed like a really great world to explore." That show became known as The OC and went on to become one of the most popular teen shows on TV and set the look for reality shows such as Laguna Beach and The Hills.

The OC ended in 2007 and by then Stephanie had already left Wonderland to concentrate on writing but she was not idle for long because that very same year she was hard at work with Schwartz on Gossip Girl. Alloy Entertainment had approached Schwartz about turning the popular book series by Cecily von Ziegesar into a show. After reading the books his first response was that he would do it only if Stephanie came onboard, “She's really tapped into young women and what's exciting for them. I knew the material was a little female-weighted for someone as ignorant of the female species as myself, and Stephanie would have great insight into it," explained Schwartz.

Gossip Girl is a glossy show about the lives of teen socialites who descend on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The huge success of the books along with the huge fan base that Schwartz had built up over the years meant that expectations for the new show were very high. However, the show fulfilled its potential and has been dubbed by New Yorker magazine as the greatest teen drama of all time. Whilst Stephanie shared production creds with Schwartz, Gossip Girl is all hers and it is she who steers the show. Stephanie describes her role in Gossip Girl as making a magazine show every week and setting the trend.

The 38 year old is still based in LA and writes full time and having secured her name in teen TV, Stephanie has now turned her attentions to the big screen. She is working on a film called The Au Pairs, which is based on a book by Melissa de Cruz. If it is anything like Gossip Girl, I am sure it will be a corker.

Picture taken from LA Times and Seat 42F respectively.

You Know You Love Me

Oh my god, I have just seen the latest episode of Gossip Girl and it was sensational! After a rather shaky return to the small screen it seems that my favourite show about the shenanigans of the posse from Upper East side is back to it's wonderful best. The crafty weeded plots, amazing twists along with the razor sharp dialogue is well and truly alive. When Gossip Girl aired last year it featured a wide division between the haves and the have nots. The haves being Serena Van der Woodsen, her side kick Blair Waldorf, the brooding Nate Archibald and all American bad boy Chuck Bass who spent their trust funds partying it up in Manhattan. The have nots were Brooklyn natives Dan Humphreys and his sister Jenny who were forever on the fringes of social activities. This is until Serena returned from exile back to New York and started dating Dan. Soon Serena became a bad girl turned good and the circle became more open, lines were blurred and before we knew it all the characters became some what entwined.

In a fairytale Serena and Dan would have lived happily ever after with their mates and family looking on but hell this is drama and damm it - Josh Schwartz created this show and one thing we have learned from The OC is that nothing is at it seems. So Dan and Serena broke up, Jenny gave up trying to nab a spot with the inner circle at school, Dan went back to being Lonely Boy and Blair still reigned as the original Mean Girl. However the most dramatic turn round was Serena; we all know that she and Blair had a bit of a competitive thing going on which is stemmed from Blair insecurity. So in order to accommodate her Serena often toned down her vibrant personality. Blair repaid the gesture by being fiercely protective of Serena and woe betide anyone who crossed her. So imagine my shock when I see Serena throw down the gauntlet to Ms Blair and tell her that she is no longer going to hold back so she no longer steals the limelight from her. It seems that Serena wants to sparkle and this time no one is going to put out her bright light. Well that along with Dan enlisting Chuck to help him find his writing mojo, Lily turning out to have a deep secret (who doesn't in GG?) and the secret of Chuck's childhood is revealed, I am safe to say that this episode was a corker. Long may it continue.

90210

Despite the new offspring of Beverly Hills 90210 gaining record ratings of 4.9 million viewers on its debut night, the show does not seem to be liked by all and sundry. Numerous bloggers have declared their disappointment with the new rehash and popular culture website, Gawker dismissed it as completely bland. Well I will throw caution to the wind and say that I liked it - a lot. I thought 90210 was funny, very glam, heart warming and very relevant to today's pop culture. The show kicked off with a two hour special on Tuesday night where we saw the Wilson family moving from Kansas to start a new life in the swishy Beverly Hills. The Wilsons consist of Dad Harry played by Rob Estes (from Melrose Place), Mom Debbie played by Lori Loughlin, daughter, Annie played by Shenae Grimes and adopted son, Dixon played by Tristan Wilds. The family take up residence in a mansion with Harry's mother, Tabitha played by Jessica Walters. Harry who was born and raised in Beverly Hills is now the new principal of West Beverly Hills High and has to juggle his role as father and head of school to Annie and Dixon.

Any teenager will tell you that switching schools is never easy and more so when entering a school as cliquey and snobby as West Beverly Hills High. After a few minor setbacks, Annie and Dixon begin to settle in and make friends and take part in activities. Shenae is very endearing as Annie and the 'Brandon' of the show with her eternal optimism while Tristan turns in a great performance as Dixon. Other notable characters are Queen Bee, Naomi played by AnnaLynne McCord and her on and off boyfriend, Ethan played by Dustin Milligan. Yes ok the interracial adoption with Dixon does seem a bit off key and not at all well developed and the fashion is nowhere as good as Gossip Girl but hey what it loses in these categories it makes up in other areas. For a start the soundtrack is slamming and meshes really well into the scenes. You can tell that the producers have taken a leaf out of The OC creater, Josh Schwartz's book. Also the side kicks are top notch, unlike other shows that throw in unforgettable characters who do not detract from the main protagonist, 90210 gives us the super cool Navid played by Michael Steger and funky boho Silver played by Jessica Stroup; half sister of Kelly Taylor and David Silver for you Beverly Hills 90210 veterans out there. Even the adults get their own story lines with Harry having to deal with a secret from his past. Also with trendy school teacher, Ryan and fellow alumni Brenda and Kelly thrown in to the mix I think this will help to shape the show into a fantastic post modern teen soap.

BTW I am totally loving the knee length socks that are donned by the girls, if I was a decade younger I would be wearing them.

Gossip Girl premieres - "You Know you Love Me"

The US do things big. Over here we have premieres for block buster films but when a TV show launches it is greeted with some adverts and a few magazine covers. Well that is just not good enough for the Americans, when a new TV series is about to air the TV company puts on a massive launch which is not too different from the one that you see for films. Take the premiere for Gossip Girl, the much awaited teen drama based on the novel by Cecily von Ziegesar of which I blogged about in July. The stars turned out in frocks galore and tuxedos, trotted down the red carpet and smiled till their cheeks hurt to promote their new show in front of snapping lenses. I watched the first episode on youTube which is kindly posted by GossipGirlTV and it did not disappoint. I found the show totally addictive and I loved the glossy and gossipy elements. The characters are great and posses a vulnerability that makes you root for them. The creator of The OC, Josh Schwartz has done it again.

Check out lovelies, Leighton Meester who plays Blair Waldorf (left), Blake Lively (centre) who plays Serena van der Woodsen and Taylor Momsen (right) who plays Jenny Humphreys in the picture above.

Picture from cw.com

Gossip Girl

Did any of you like The OC? I loved it, the story about a boy from the wrong side of tracks who is thrown a lifeline and taken in by a kind lawyer and his family and begins a new life in the opulent suburbs of the Orange County in California. Sounds absurd right but that was what I liked about The OC, the over top storylines and eccentric characters. The programme starred Benjamin McKenzie as the troubled teen Ryan and his sidekick, Seth, played by the quirky Adam Brody, Summer played by the gorgeous Rachel Bilson and Marissa played by style queen Mischa Barton. The oldies ie the parents were played by Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan. The programme ended last year and only ran for four years but was one of the most popular teen dramas of its era. A lot of comparisons were made with the now defunct Dawson's Creek particularly with the witty dialogue that was used. I would say that the banter between Ryan and Seth is the best thing in the show. The OC is created by screen writing whiz, Josh Schwartz who at 26, was the youngest person in network history to create a network series and run its day-to-day production. Similar to Kevin Williamson who created Dawson's Creek and based the lead character on his life, the character Seth is actually based on Schwartz. While Dawson's Creek was earthy and a bit like apple pie and ice cream, The OC was slightly edgier and had a much-needed cooler factor. This is down to Schwartz who brought his retro geek influence into the show; skateboards, trendy t-shirts, guitars, iPods, cartoons and indie rock bands. Pretty soon, The OC became known for its music in particular the theme tune, California that is performed by alternative group, Phanton Planet. So tuned in was Schwartz to popular culture that the last season of the show is now available on iTunes.

With the huge success of The OC you could not blame Schwartz for putting his feet but would you know it, he has been working on another teen drama. It is called Gossip Girl and like The OC it is about the lives of the rich and wealthy but it is set in the big apple. The programme is based on the popular novel by Cecily von Ziegesar which has the same name. It follows the lives and mayhem of glamorous socialite teens on the upper east side of Manhattan. In particular Serena van de Woodsen, the ultimate goddess, beautiful and sophisticated she is idolised by everyone. On the other side of Manhattan is the sensitive Dan Humphreys, the son of a rock star living in a run down apartment in the Upper West Side and an outsider. A chance meeting with Serena brings the two as well as Dan's sister, Jenny into each other’s lives and where the wealthy jet setters find themselves embroiled with their lower peers. However there is a twist here; the series is narrated by an anonymous character known as Gossip Girl who happens to run a website where she blogs about the scandals and rivalries of the circle of friends. Who is Gossip Girl? No one knows. Think about what would happened if you meshed teen flick Cruel Intentions with Desperate Housewives and this is what you would get. If Gossip Girl is anywhere as successful as The OC then it will send Blake Lively who plays Serena catapulting into the same dizzy heights of fame as a certain Mischa Barton. The series airs in the states in the autumn and like all good things, I am sure it won’t be long before it comes over here as well.

Picture from TVaddict.com