The Beautiful Life Returns

Remember when models ruled the world in the 90s with Naomi, Linda, Christy and Cindy? Yep who can forget when that gorgeous quartet rocked the runway at the Versace show to George Michael's Freedom. That was a moment etched in pop culture history with fashion meshing with music. During that decade everyone became obessed with models and not a magazine went by without a model appearing on the cover. The term supermodel was born and granted to a select few and they became very famous and rich. Following the media and public's appetite for tall and skinny creatures a show was created that showed the fabulous life of a model. Enter Models Inc which was launched in 1994 and starred Linda Gray from Dallas and Carrie-Ann Moss who go on and kick ass in The Matrix. The show was not a huge  success and ran for one season.

The Beautiful Life  is the baby of Ashton Kutcher (he is the executive producer)  and it made it's debut this season on CWTV with Mischa Barton as top billing. However the show was axed after only two episodes and I was devastated as I was really getting into it. It seemed that although we love shows about models in reality shows such as America's Next Top Model, fiction shows about them are not as well received. Today I  logged onto Perez Hilton and found out that The Beautiful Life is being relaunched by Ashton Kutcher on YouTube. That's right, all five episodes will be available to watch online. The objective is to prove that an online show can get more viewers than one that is aired on TV. If the shows turn out to be a hit then this will give Ashton the green light to make more episodes specifically for the web. How exciting! I love to seeing people taking life by the hands and really going for things they believe in.

Let me give you a bit of background on The Beautiful Life aka TBL. Forget Mischa, TBL is actually about Chris Mathews played by Benjamin Hollingsworth, a small town boy from Iowa who falls into modelling as a way to make some extra cash for his struggling family. He moves into a model house in Manhattan where he meets Raina Mayer played by Sara Paxton, an up and coming model who I guess is like a new Christy Turlington. How can I describe Raina? Well she is gorgeous, kind, gutsy and humble; kind of like Mother Theresa in stilettos. The two teenagers are instantly attracted to each other but as you would have it work keeps getting in the way. There is also a small matter of a huge family secret that Raina is carrying. Other characters are Sonja Stone played by Mischa Barton who is making a comeback to modelling after an unexplained six month hiatus. Marissa Delfina played by Ashley Madekwe, a Brit chick who will stop at nothing to get to the top and that includes knocking Sonja off her perche. Cole Shephard played by Nico Tortorella is a seasoned model who holds a torch for Raina. Issac Taylor played by Corbin Bleu plans to replace modelling with a career in music but finds himself in a dangerous relationship with cougar, Vivienne played by Jaime Murray who is interested in more than his modelling abililites. Then there is former supermodel, Claudia Foster played by Elle McPherson who owns the modelling agency they work for and determined to make it a success no matter what. The Beautiful Life is a rather voyeristic look into the crazy and ultra competitive life of the modeling world.


Read my preview of The Beautiful Life here.


You can watch the full pilot of the show above and you can catch all the rest of episodes right here.

The Beautiful Life

I was delighted to get home and see one of my favourite magazines, asos on the doormat. On the cover is Mischa Barton looking kind of kooky wearing a boho suit with a top hat. The look which is a far cry from her sophisticated one, works very well. In the interview she talks about her style influences, British fashion and her new bag collection which is sold on asos. Mischa also fills us in on her new show, The Beautiful Life in which she plays a character far removed from Marissa Cooper. She makes her return to the small screen in the shape of Sonia, a catty and neurotic model who will stop at nothing to keep her place at the top. Produced by twitter fan, Ashton Kutcher this glossy drama is about a group of male and female models sharing a home in New York and shows the cut throat world of modelling. According to Mischa, The Beautiful Life is based on Ashton's experience as a model before he went on to become a successful actor as well as Mr Demi Moore. With a stellar 'model' cast which includes Elle Macpherson, Corbin Bie, (a former model and actor from High School Musical) as well as Mischa who has done a spot of modelling; the show may lack originality but few will doubt it's credibility. The trailer looks amazing; I was hooked from the word go and my first impression was how sharp it looked. I am totally ecstatic to see Mischa playing a character with a lot more bite and backbone than the emaciated Marissa who face it was the eternal victim. The show strikes me as a fiction version of America's Next Top Model or Make Me a Supermodel. Check out the trailer above and tell me what you think.

The Beautiful Life airs on The CW Television this autumn. Also check out Mischa's cool website where she spills the beans on the entertainment industry and her new handbag line.

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.

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