MTV’s no fool.
Churlish music fans might complain about the channel devoting less time to new videos, but what’s put the network on the map–and in the news–in recent years has been its twisted takes on reality. From “The Real World” to “Jackass” to “The Osbournes,” MTV has always been ahead of the reality curve.
So it’s no shock that the network is offering what it calls “television’s first reality drama,” “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” (9:30 p.m. Tuesdays). Not only does it offer two of today’s hottest trends–reality and Orange County–but it does so without any of the reality rigmarole viewers have come to expect, such as confessionals, narration or evictions.
The idea is that “Laguna Beach” combines the look of film and the feel of a scripted drama with the weight of a documentary.
Well, they got the first part right. “Laguna Beach” doesn’t look anything like any other reality show. If anything, it verges closer to the moody intensity of an indie film.
Unfortunately, no matter what the form, it all comes down to characters that viewers care about. That’s where “Laguna Beach” comes up short.
Set amid the pretty and pampered youth of insular Laguna Beach, Calif., the show focuses on high school student LC and her girlfriends, whose biggest concern seems to be which cosmetics to buy at the MAC counter. As with the far more penetrating “Born Rich” on HBO last year, this could have been an intriguing glimpse into a world of privilege and the kind of rich-kid excess of which most viewers can only dream.
Instead, in the first two episodes, the focus is on MTV’s stock-in-trade: hooking up.
Surely, even among the wantonly wealthy, there must be more important things to deal with. And there must be some outcast kids, perhaps graced with less money or looks, but equipped with the simple desire to drive farther than a Mercedes C-class can take them.
If “Laguna Beach” could strike a better balance between the trite and the true, it might be onto something.
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Edited by Cara Dipasquale ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])