Fun
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Nostalgic
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Curious
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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: April 6, 2009
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Hills, “Don’t Cry on Your Birthday” (Season 5, Episode 1) [Watch it on Hulu Plus]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: By the time the 5th season of The Hills premiered, everything had gone too far and gotten too big. Lauren Conrad had been though boyfriends, jobs, roommates, and levels of real-life fame. Her estrangement from early-seasons best friend Heidi Montag might have seemed like fodder for a great reality TV arc in season 3, but after two full seasons of not budging, viewers were finally getting the message that Lauren really wasn’t interested in ever being friends with Heidi again.
In the meantime, Heidi and Spencer’s relationship was well on its way to becoming a full-blown circus sideshow (after the season ended, the two would appear on NBC’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!). Finding new and interesting ways to make these two awful people interesting was becoming a challenge.
Thankfully, The Hills came back with an actually compelling season premiere. When Heidi showed up to Lauren’s birthday party, it turned the focus of the increasingly fake TV show to the one real thing it had left: Lauren’s animosity towards Heidi.
Can we discuss how amazing that Season 5 trailer is? The sense of history! The sense of drama! The way they can place the fakest of storylines (oh no, will Spencer cheat on Heidi with this bartendress we just cast?) with the realest. “My favorite memories are my memories with you” may well have been the last honest sentence Heidi Montag ever spoke.
[You can watch “Don’t Cry on Your Birthday” and all of The Hills season 5 on Hulu Plus.]
Joe Reid (@joereid) is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn. You can find him leaving flowers for Mrs. Landingham at the corner of 18th and Potomac.
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