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Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (often referred to as Laguna Beach) is an Americanreality TV show on MTV documenting the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, a wealthy community located in Orange County, California. During the initial development stage, one of the ideas was to set this reality show in Beverly Hills mimicking the successful fictional '90sFOX television show Beverly Hills 90210. Producers scouted numerous wealthy Southern California towns such as San Marino, CA before finally deciding to base the show in city of Laguna Beach. During the process of filming the first season, the then popular teen-drama The O.C. had just began airing on television. To ride off The O.C.'s booming popularity, the tagline "The Real Orange County" was added to the show's moniker before airing to cable-television viewers on September 28, 2004.
It differs from the usual reality show genre in that the show is structured as a traditional narrative (seen more commonly in fictionalized television dramas or soap operas) than a straight forward observant documentary.
Major Story Arc: Stephen, a high school senior who loves to surf, has fallen for long-term girlfriend, Kristin, a junior who holds a high rank amongst her peers. The two made a beautiful couple, much to the dislike of LC, fellow classmate and very close childhood friend. During the times when Stephen and Kristin were at low points in their relationship, Stephen would turn to LC for comfort while Kristin went on to hookup with other boys, including fellow castmate Talan, another junior who's charm is irresistible.
Minor Story Arcs:
Stephen's best friend and political activist, Trey has devoted much of his time promoting his non-profit organization, Active Young Americans, and organizing charity events, including open mic nights at local youth hot spots and fashion shows to show off his designing talent.
A moralistic pair of a minister's daughter and a bubbly extrovert, Christina and Morgan both have their taste of the "in" crowd, despite having their own endeavors, including Christina's yearn to make music a professional career and Morgan only applying to her number one choice college.
Lo, LC's childhood friend and mini-fashionista, has her fair share of dating and often delivers a smart comment when any piece of gossip comes her way, and despite getting to call the shots amongst her group of friends, Lo's parents have the first say as it comes to when and where she parties.
Dieter, Stephen's close friend and uncertified "wingman", was seen dating Jessica, Kristin's best friend and partner in crime, during the latter half of the season.
Season Finale: With all the Seniors graduating and leaving for college, the one thing left to do is to figure out if Stephen and Kristin are meant to stay together. Are they? With Stephen and LC both heading off to college in San Fransisco and playing next door neighbors, how are Stephen and Kristin going to stay together if LC will always be by his side? Will Kristin find a new boyfriend, or will she play it single during Senior year? Find out in Season 2.
Filming: Season 1 was filmed by MTV in the style similar to its other reality shows, such as "The Real World" and "Road Rules." According to MTV, cast members were not instructed to be in certain locations and were not filmed by multiple cameras. Season 1 was an extremely successful show for MTV, with outstanding viewer ratings.
Stephen August Colletti is the lead cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. Before and during filming, he and then-girlfriend, Kristin, had a romantic relationship, despite him being close to childhood friend, LC, and she hooking up with other boys. After filming, Stephen went on to study at San Francisco State University to pursue a degree in television production. Currently, Stephen is an MTV VJ in TRL and is dating Heroes star, a 17 yr old actress.
Kristin Elizabeth Cavallari is a main cast member, and was a Junior at the time of filming. Before living in Orange County with her brother and father, Kristin lived in Chicago with her mother. Before and during filming, he and then-boyfriend, Stephen, had a romantic relationship, despite him being close to childhood friend, LC, and she hooking up with other boys. After filming, Kristin went on to finish her Senior year at LBHS.
Lauren "LC" Katherine Conrad is a main cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, LC was shown having romantic invlovement with childhood friend, Stephen. To much of her dismay, Stephen went on to date her "rival", Kristin, and LC spent Senior year partying with all of her close friends. After filming, LC went on to the Academy of Art University to pursue a degree in Fashion Design.
Talan Christopher Torriero is a main supporting member of seasons 1 & 2, and was a Junior at the time of filming. During filming, Talan was shown as a hunky surfer who's irresistible charm deemed favorable amongst the ladies. After filming, Talan went on to finish his Senior year at LBHS.
Charles Trey Phillips is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, production labled Trey as "the thinking girl’s hunk." Much of his air time was spent promoting his non-profit organization Active Young Americans and hosting several caharity events. After filming, Trey went on to study at Bard College in New York.
Christina Michelle Schuller is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. She is the daughter of televangelist Dr. Robert A. Schuller who is the senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral located in Garden Grove, California. During filming, Christina was shown promoting herself as a well-trained singer and pursuing music as her career, as shown in the Spring Break episode in which she attended a broadway audition while she and best friend Morgan traveled to New York City. After filming, Christina went on to study at the University of Southern California
Morgan Maddona Olsen is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Morgan shared much of her camera time with best friend Christina and production imaged her as the "good/innocent" girl, and often stood out from the rest of the cast because of her decision to abstain from pre-marital sex. After filming, Morgan went on to study at Brigham Young University despite being rejected by the school, as shown on camera.
Lauren "Lo" Olivia Ogilvie- Bosworth is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Lo shared much of her camera time as a mini-fashionista with best friend LC, but was really close friends with much of the cast. After filming, Lo went on to study at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lo guest starred in a few episode with best friend Conrad, at The Hills: Season 2.
Major Story Arc 1: With her ex-boyfriend away at college, Kristin, the newly elected leader of the pack, has decided to leave the drama of Junior year behind her and stir up new adventures with Alex H, her best friend and partner in crime, and Jessica, the girly girl who's a bit naive about the boys she dates. With this trio and their "power clique" of gorgeous girls, a proposed rivalry against Alex M and Taylor, a popular pair with dramatic flair.
Major Story Arc 2: Jason, a hunky bad boy and Laguna's number one heart breaker, is now the boy in the middle of the romantic drama. He spent much of his time with a girl on his arm, including Jessica, Alex M, and (surprisingly) LC, some of which was overlapping. Jason has a hard time getting over his last relationship by using her to cheat on his current girl, but which girl does he actually fall for?
Minor Story Arcs:
LC's back in Laguna after a semester away, but her story's different: she's studying at a community college and has various jobs assisting with random fashion companies, but how does her future really look like?
Although he's away at college, Stephen's back attemping to woo his ex-girlfriend, Kristin, to be back in her life, especially on Valentine's Day, but he also doesn't forget about his best girl, LC, who he also surprises that same weekend.
Talan's back and so is his charming ways, and nonetheless, the girls soak it in, but this time, they throw it back at him and reject his affectionate ways.
Season Finale: Now that the girls are Seniors, it marks their turn to leave Laguna for their own endeavors. Tears flow as best friends bid farewell and parents let go of their babies one more time. The episode culminates as both LC and Kristin drive away from the Laguna Beach shore line for the city of Los Angeles. What will this mean for the kids of Laguna Beach High? With the royalty gone, nothing's left in Laguna but new drama and LC's little sister, Breanna.
Filming: Season 2 marked the advent in the change of filming style that MTV used for this show. The show took on a narrative tone and was filmed with multiple cameras. Critics remarked that with the aforementioned changes and other notable departures from the traditional documentary genre, they were skeptical of the veracity of this MTV reality show. However, MTV still maintains that this show is about real people and real situations.
Kristin Elizabeth Cavallari is back as the lead cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Stephen continued to woo Kristin back into his life, but production depicted Kristin as the leader of a "power clique" that rivaled fellow cast members Alex M and Taylor. After filming, Kristin went on to study at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles while living with best friend, Alex H.
Jessica Renee Smith is a main cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. Jessica first appeared in season 1 as Dieter's long-term girlfriend. During filming of season 2, Jessica was a part of Kristin's "power clique" and played girlfriend to resident bad boy, Jason. After filming, Jessica went on to study at a local college in Orange County with plans on graduating with a degree in teaching. Let’s Go Travel Guides also hired Jessica as a spokesperson and to travel to London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin in 2006, and to post daily entries and photos on an internet blog.
Jason Daniel Wahler is a main cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, production depicted Jason as the resident Don Juan. Jason has a love affair with ruining his romantic invlovement with the ladies of Laguna, especially those with Jessica, Alex M, and LC as seen on camera. After filming, Jason moved out of his Laguna home and in Los Angeles.
Alexandra "Alex" Leah Murrel is a main cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, production depicted Alex M as the leader of a "power clique" that rivaled fellow cast members Kristin, Jessica, and Alex H. Alex M was also one of the numerous female attractions toward the resident bad boy, Jason. After filming, Alex M moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career in music and into an appartment with close friend Britt.
Alex M recorded her debut album that was said to be released on September 26, 2006. However, the album was put on hold and later cancelled by her label, Eyecon Enterprises.
Taylor Lauren Cole is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Taylor was the sweet and quiet best friend of Alex M, who was the leader of a "power clique" rivaling Kristin and her friends. Taylor was also shown dating fellow cast member and charming heartthrob, Talan, several times, but later rejected him. Taylor went on to study at the University of Arizona to pursue a degree in psychology, and is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
Talan Christopher Torriero is back as a main cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Talan was seen pursuing a romantic affair with fellow castmate, Taylor, but later moved on to Kristin after being reject by Taylor. After filming, Talan notably dropped out of high school near the end of the second season and got his GED.
Lauren "LC" Conrad is back as a supporting cast member, and was a 2nd semester freshman in college at the time of filming. During filming, LC came home to Laguna after a tough semester, taking up classes at a local college in Orange County, and working with various fashion companies. The next fall, she moved to Los Angeles with close friend, Heidi, and transferred to FIDM and earned an internship with Teen Vogue Magazine.
Stephen August Colletti is back as a supporting cast member, and was a 2nd semester freshman in college at the time of filming. During filming, Stephen comes back to Laguna several times in an attempt to woo back ex-girlfriend, Kristin, who takes in his romantic vibes but continuously says no. After filming, Stephen withdrew from San Francisco State University and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
Major Story Arc: Tessa, who's friendships took nose dives after a dramatic illness back in Sophomore year, is best friends with Raquel "Rocky", a cutsie baker with eyes on a boy from another school, Alex, and currently rivaling Kyndra, homeschooled and resident bad girl, and her cohorts, including Cami, Kyndra's side kick and "queen of mean".
Minor Story Arcs:
Chase, Tessa's childhood friend and resident rocker, is the lead vocal for his basement band Open Air Stereo. Along with pals Kelan, lead guitar, and Nick G, drums, the band plays live in San Diego, but does this give them the heads up to sign a record deal?
Does Laguna ever have a year without love trouble? This time, it's Cameron, a close pal of much of the Seniors and stereotypical "player", and he's dating Jessica (ya know, the naive girl who dated Jason in season 2?) while seeing Kyndra on the side. Kyndra also got back together with then-off again boyfriend, Tyler, Nikki's scruffy and older brother.
With big sister LC over in Los Angeles, little sister Breanna is having a hard time dealing with ex-best friend Rocky playing it cool with Tessa and attempts to win back her friendship despit crying over the whole ordeal.
Lexie, the resident "ice princess" because of her standoff-ish demeanor, is a dancer and wants to hit it big, so she steers clear of boys and sticks with her close friends.
Season Finale: It's the boys that are leaving Laguna, and everybody's gonna miss 'em. Open Air Stereo signed a record deal with Epic Records, and lead singer Chase didn't notify childhood friend, Tessa, first, nor did he tell her he was leaving for college that same day. Breanna and Rocky rekindled their friendship leaving Tessa, again, in the dark. Friendships are growing slim, and royalty is growing strong in those not even in school! What will Senior year look like for the kids of Laguna Beach? Find out in Season 4.
Filming: MTV acknowledged that Season 3 ratings declined over Seasons 1 & 2, but qualified that the ratings dip was expected because of the casting overhaul. MTV stated that they are committed to continuing this series with a full 15 episodes for Season 3 and will keep the core cast through Season 4. In that sense, Laguna Beach is being treated as a "franchise" show similar to MTV's Real World and Road Rules programming. Season 3 has been dubbed as being the "worst" season out of all three seasons, though rumors of season 4 have surfaced, where Cami, known as Kyndras sidekick will be narrator.
Tessa Nicole Keller is a main cast member, who has said in Teen People magazine that she is of Chinese, Caucasian and Mongolian descent. She was also a Junior at the time of filming. Before filming, Tessa underwent a serious illness that landed her at the hospital in a medically-induced coma after suffering from Stevens-Johnson syndrome catalyzed by an allergic reaction to an antibiotic prescribed by her dermatologist for acne. During filming, production depicted Tessa as rivaling Kyndra for ditching her during a "time that she needed her the most" when it was later revealed that it was Tara that ditched her. After filming, Tessa left Laguna Beach and now studies through an independent study program called Fresh Start, while working on her modeling career. It is not known why she left Laguna high school and her hometown's high school, since now she is at an unknown program called Fresh Start. Kyndra has been quoted as saying Tessa is not the "nice girl" as she is portrayed on the show.
Cameron Warren Brinkman is a main cast member, and was a Junior at the time of filming. During filming, Cameron was depicted as the stereotypical "player" when it came to dating. He was first seen dating Jessica (of season 2) while hooking up with Kyndra on the side and with Tessa, as seen in the episode in which he travels with Tessa to San Diego for a photo shoot. Although much of his friends were graduating Seniors, it did not deter his abilty to reign as a heartthrob and player during his Senior year. Cameron is now a professional video game tester on a part time basis for EA Sports in Vancouver.
Kyndra Alyse Mayo is a main cast member, and was a Junior at the time of filming. Before and during filming, Kyndra was homeschooled, but remained close friends with Cami. Kyndra became close with much of the Laguna cast but still maintained the leader of the pack and calling the shots when it came to parties and friendships. After filming, Kyndra stated in an interview, that "if everyone played the little nice girl, then no one's gonna watch the show. So I'd rather draw people into watching the show."
Raquel "Rocky" Nicole Donatelli is a main cast member, and was a Junior at the time of filming. Before filming, Rocky was close friends with Breanna but an unexplained rift between the two caused Rocky to become closer with Tessa. During filming, Rocky stayed close to Tessa during her supposed rivalry versus Kyndra and her cohorts. Rocky was also shown in a long-term relationship with boyfriend Alex who is Polster's oldest friend, who was a Senior at another school. After filming, Rocky rekindled her friendship with Breanna but drew further away from Tessa, who withdrew from LBHS.
Breanna Christine Conrad is a supporting cast member, and was a Junior at the time of filming. As LC's kid sister, Breanna was to hold her own as teen royalty, but has less lime light as her older sister. During filming, Breanna was close with neighbor, Lexie, and attempted to rekindle her friendship with ex-best friend Rocky who was close with Tessa at the time. After filming, Breanna went on to finish her Senior year at LBHS.
Alexandra "Lexie" Brianne Contursi is a minor cast member, and was a Junior at the time of filming. During filming, production labelled Lexie as the resident "Ice Princess" because of her icy, stand-offish demeanor. Lexie also enjoys dancing and has a career goal of becoming a professional dancer. She also spent much of her camera time without a boy on her arm but was seen on a single double date with friend, Tara. Lexie is on her way to auditioning for Dancelife.
Kelan Obrian Hurley is a minor cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Kelan was shown as a guitarist who shared much of his camera time with fellow Open Air Stereo bandmates Chase and Nick G. It was also noted that Kelan had a long time crush on fellow cast member, Lexie, for much of the season. After filming, Kelan went on to study at San Diego State University alongside Morgan S.
Cameron "Cami" Michelle Edwards is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, production depicted Cami as "queen of mean" and sidekick to best friend Kyndra, who (surprisingly) did not attend LBHS. After filming, Cami went on as teen royalty during her Senior year at LBHS. Cami says that she does not care what people think about her on the show because she has a close friendship with her real friends outside of the show, as well as a long term boyfriend whose name is still unknown.
Chase Kenneth Johnson is a supporting cast member, and was a Senior at the time of filming. During filming, Chase shared much of his camera time with childhood friend, Tessa, and his up-and-coming rock band, Open Air Stereo, who's signing with Sony/Epic Records was shown on camera in a minor story arc that made him a main cast member for two episodes.
The show has given the city of Laguna Beach a deceiving reputation as a city with spoiled, very shallow and superficial teenagers and neglects the city's famed bohemian enclave of art galleries and culture. Still, the official websites of cast members Casey Reinhardt and Raquel Donatelli both claim the show depicts their real lives and emotions.
Starting with Season 2, there has been a lot of debate over how "real" and "true" the show actually is due to the quality and quantity of the camera angles and the alleged public discovery that many of the show's scenes are manipulated by the show's producers. Critics who allege that the show's events are manipulated cite Season 2's "Peace Bonfire". It is reported that the MTV production crew staged and lit the bonfire before allowing the cast to interact with one another and also instructed Jason on his entrance and dialog. Another cited event from Season 2, in which Alex M confronts Jessica about her activities with Jason, was filmed in Cabo San Lucas. It has been reported that MTV producers stopped Alex M. before the confrontation in order to advantageously set up the cameras to fully capture the scene. Additionally, a behind the scenes clip on popular video sharing website youtube.com, shows various cameras set at various angles filming Chase, Raquel, and Tessa at a cafe, with a complete film crew, further reinforcing the theory that the shows events are manipulated, planned and shot in a scripted manner. Aside from the physical manipulations of the show, it has been reported by an ex-editor that the producers edit the footage to produce friendships and relationships that do not actually occur in real life. Such criticisms have been satirically explored in Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in a two-part segment titled "The Daily Show's Laguna Beach: The Real, Real Orange County" that aired on February 1 and February 6, 2007. File:Daily show's laguna beach.JPGTitle card of Daily Show segment from February 2007 parodying the MTV series
The Parents Television Council has noted that the sexually explicit and profane content in the series make this show not appropriate for its intended teenage target audience. The series was included in a November 2004 study on profanity, violence, and sexual content on cable television, among other MTV-produced reality shows including The Real World and Wildboyz. Although a majority of profanity in the series is bleeped out to meet guidelines for a "TV-14" rating, which indicates the show is appropriate for audiences over 14, the PTC pointed out that the context in which the bleeped word was used makes the word discernible, thus rendering the bleep useless. The organization also criticized MTV for not including content indicators such as "L" (language) or "S" (sexual content") in addition to its regular television ratings such as "TV-14" (unsuitable for children 14 and under), in its airings of Laguna Beach and other such programming, as a V-chip device cannot block the programming if no content indicators are included. As MTV airs such allegedly offensive programming several times during the daytime in addition to their regular timeslots around 10:00 PM (ET), the PTC has claimed that the adolescents whom MTV is targeting are being exposed to excessive sexual and profane content through inaccurately rated programs targeted toward them.
In August 2006, MTV started the Alpha test of Virtual Laguna Beach VLB Site In September 2006, the program went into Beta.
The platform, created by Makena Technologies, also the creator of There.com Ex1. Many guests have appeared in Virtual Laguna Beach, including, Vanessa Anne Hudgens of Disney's High School Musical, MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo, the bands Cartel, Open Air Stereo and Augustana, Jessica Smith and Alex Hooser (a.k.a Alex H.) of Laguna beach season 2, and "Rocky" Donatelli, Breanna Conrad, "Lexie" Contursi, Kyndra Mayo, "Cami" Edwards and Cameron Brinkman of Laguna Beach Season 3.
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