The Laguna Beach on MTV

Recently Jason Wahler, aka Jason from Laguna Beach, took a break from his busy day job of being a useless schlub to talk to People magazine about how being famous contributed to his four arrests, underage binge drinking, rehab stints, and blackouts.

Memo to Jason from Laguna Beach: mugshots don’t count as photo shoots.

“Anyone who’s big in Hollywood who’s underage gets in [to clubs],” explained the ultra-important Jason from Laguna Beach, who must have made a habit of hiding in some shrubbery outside of Pure and sneaking in while they held the door open for Lindsay Lohan.

Unfortunately for both Jason and his future grandchildren, he tells People magazine that he doesn’t remember his arrests. I don’t think I’m alone in believing that every family Thanksgiving should include a heart-hugging story about getting thrown in the clink for wrestling in the lobby of a Marriott Hotel and punching a security guard in the mouth.

“Yayyyy Uncle Jason!! Do the part where they find you passed out in a third floor hallway!”

It’s too bad that all those paparazzi who must be tracking Jason from Laguna Beach’s every move didn’t get video of any of the four arrests or even any nice still shots that could be turned into a slideshow set to Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley’s ‘Time of my Life’.

You’re probably wondering how useless my life must be if I’m actually taking time out of my day to write about Jason from Laguna Beach. Answer? Shockingly useless. There was no new Kristin Cavallari or Lauren Conrad news so it was either this or sort through my fuzz collection, and if I blew that on a Friday what would I have left for the weekend. Thank you Jason from Laguna Beach, you keep doing what you do.

If you can’t find Laguna Beach on MTV, then you’re probably not watching the 18 hours a day MTV recommends, but I forgive you. And don’t worry, because (and you probably should sit down for this) finally you can experience Laguna Beach on MTV and every other moment of the day! “I already knew that,” you say, “I just have to move there! Live the spoiled, Californian party life and become famous once and for all!”

Well…there’s another way that’s even easier than that! It’s called “Virtual Laguna Beach”. A 3D digital version of the hit show, offered by the virtual world There.com.

“Viewers can hang out at the beach or shop at the local surf store and interact with one another in ways that mirror the on-air program,” a press release from MTV Networks touted, “Just as the cast gears up for the winter formal, so too can viewers within ‘Virtual Laguna Beach’ prepare for the big night, find a date online and select the tux or prom dress for their onscreen identity.”

This whole thing, of course, really has nothing to do with Laguna Beach. On MTV, ratings for the show are strong, but as more kids delve into the world of the web, sites like MySpace are stealing susceptible young minds far more frequently than Laguna Beach. On MTV, no medium gets upstaged.

In a recent promo, virtual representations of the live-action representations of the real-life girls Kyndra and Cami, appeared …uh…live, in a virtual chat room to talk to fans of the show. While I missed the action (for now I keep my experiences with Laguna Beach on MTV and MTV alone), some 2 millions fans came to watch the shows two bitchiest characters virtual swim and virtual make-out. And anyone with a PC and a broadband connection can join them!

In some ways, “There” is an appropriate choice for “Virtual Laguna Beach,” since both the TV show and the virtual world are very attractive to teenagers. That and of course the fact that it’s just about as simulated as the show itself. But who cares? Finally, Laguna Beach on MTV and VMTV – I can practically feel the virtual sand in my underwear!

Companies are flocking to market themselves in game-like and usually three-dimensional online virtual universes, but the long-term shape of this fledgling industry is far from clear.

“We’re pretty much where the internet was in the mid-1990s,” says Steve Prentice, a vice-president at technology research group Gartner, echoing a view held by participants at the Virtual Worlds conference in Manhattan earlier this year.

Joe Laszlo, analyst at JupiterKagan, says the virtual worlds are “like the early days of the Victoria’s Secret webcast”.

“It was crappy, but hot, so everybody went.”

MTV executives cite their television-show spinoffs, Virtual Laguna Beach and Virtual Hills, which have attracted 600,000 registered users since they were launched six months ago.

SAN FRANCISCO –(Business Wire)– In the ultimate form of personal self-expression, fans of MTV’s “The Hills,” “Laguna Beach” and Logo’s “Noah’s Arc” can now capture the ‘look’ of their favorite characters by going online and purchasing clothing and accessories worn by their favorite cast members or featured on the shows. Today marks the immediate launch of two new online stores for MTV and Logo fans, both of which are powered by Delivery Agent, Inc., the leader in shopping-enabled programming for television shows, motion pictures, sports, publishing and music videos.

MTV’s The Hills will run for a third season. Ten new episodes are scheduled for this summer.

The Laguna Beach spinoff is the network’s top-rated show. Season two, which rapped Monday night, was up 9% over season one in total viewers (to 2.7 million) and 15% in viewers 12-24 (to 1.7 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

The show was created by Adam DiVello and is executive produced by DiVello, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley and Sean Travis.

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (AP) - March 28, 2007 - Jessica Smith, a former cast member of MTV’s “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County,” was arrested for investigation of felony driving under the influence of alcohol after a freeway crash, the California Highway Patrol said.

Smith, 19, crashed a 1999 Volkswagen Beetle into another car late Monday night on northbound Interstate 5 near Oso Parkway, a CHP report said.

The driver of the other car had minor injuries as did a passenger in the car driven by Smith, the report said.

Smith’s level of intoxication, unsafe speeds and a wet roadway all contributed to the collision, the CHP said.

She remained in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail. Her arraignment was scheduled Wednesday at the Harbor Justice Center.

The CHP doesn’t release blood alcohol levels, according to spokesman Chris Goodwin.

If so, we are looking for some guest contributors for the site - email me if you are interested and tell us why you should be a guest author for the site! Cheers! Matthew

20 February 2007 - US television conglomerate Viacom has signed a content deal to put its programming on Joost, the internet on-demand TV service from the men behind Skype.

The agreement means that TV shows from MTV, BET Networks, and film studio Paramount Pictures will be made available to watch for free on the internet.

MTV’s offering will include Laguna Beach, Beavis and Butthead, Real World and Punk’d,while Comedy Central will offer Freak Show and others.

At the moment Joost is only available in beta for both PC and Mac.

Fan Favorite Audrina to host Virtual CD & ‘The Hills: Season One’ DVD
Release Party in Recently Launched Virtual Hills on Monday, February 12th
at 8PM ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ — URGE, MTV Networks’ digital music
service, today announced a two-week digital exclusive of Epic Records’ new
soundtrack “The Hills: Season Two” beginning Feb. 13th, in advance of its
general digital availability on Feb. 27th. The URGE community will be able
to buy individual tracks for 99 cents, purchase the entire album for $9.99,
or download select songs as part of their URGE subscription. In addition to
the soundtrack, “The Hills: Season One” DVD will be available in stores
beginning Tuesday Feb. 13th.
Fans also can rock out and party all night with “The Hills” cast member
Audrina as she hosts a virtual soundtrack and DVD release party with a
special guest appearance by “emo-rockers” Augustana. The fun takes place at
virtual hotspot Club Vinyl in MTV’s newest virtual world, Virtual Hills, on
Feb. 12th at 8 PM ET. During the party, fans will get a sneak peek at
special bonus footage from “The Hills: Season One” DVD, reinforcing MTV
Networks’ unique ability to integrate television content with a virtual
experience. MTV Networks was the first media/entertainment company to ever
premiere an entire television show in-world when it held viewing parties
for episodes of “Laguna Beach” in Virtual Laguna Beach a day prior to their
on-air debut.
Virtual Hills replicates popular venues in Hollywood, Calif. that
mirror where the cast of MTV’s “The Hills” hang out in real life. Fans will
have unprecedented access to “The Hills” cast throughout the entire season,
as the girls program and participate in in-world events every week. Virtual
Hills and Virtual Laguna Beach are available for free download at
http://www.vhills.mtv.com and http://www.vlb.mtv.com. Users can easily
teleport between both worlds to experience life on the beach and life in
the big city.
“The Hills: Season Two” soundtrack includes the following tracks:
1 — Natasha Beddingfield — “Unwritten”
2 — Augustana — “Boston”
3 — Superchick — “One Girl Revolution”
4 — Pink — “Long Way To Be Happy”
5 — Everybody Else — “Rich Girls, Poor Girls”
6 — Missing Persons — “Walking In L.A.”
7 — Lindsay Lohan — “A Beautiful Life”
8 — Good Charlotte — “I Just Wanna Live”
9 — Imogen Heap — “Loose Ends”
10 — The Pink Spiders — “Little Razorblade”
11 — Samantha Moore — “Replace You”
12 — Danielle McKee — “Ordinary Superstar”
13 — Jag Star — “Leavin’”
14 — Garrison Star — “Beautiful In Los Angeles”
URGE, available at http://www.urge.com, features an array of exclusive
tracks and editorial across all musical genres. With more than 2 million
songs, 18 genres, countless styles, extensive editorials, and exclusives
from MTV, VH1, and CMT, URGE makes it easy to enjoy, explore, and get music
for your PC or portable music players through a la carte purchases or
unlimited subscription downloads.
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the
world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media
platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 100 channels worldwide, owns and
operates the following television programming services — MTV: MUSIC
TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV
LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE
DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of
these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its
audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than
95 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless
and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements,
joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming
services can be seen worldwide.

Jessica Simpson was devastated when she saw ex-husband Nick Lachey out on the town with another woman so soon after the couple split.

The pair separated in November 2005, and Lachey was photographed soon after with “Laguna Beach” star Kristin Cavallari.

Simpson tells Elle magazine, “Oh, it hurt me. Two or three weeks later? Yeah, I’d say it kind of hurt me.”

The 26-year-old claims she’s still in touch with Lachey explaining, “He’s so much a part of my life, how could I not be? Any guy who’s going to be with me from this day forward has to understand that.”