Recently in The City Category

Well, the first season of The City came to a close this week, which means we'll have to wait quite a bit before we can see the likes of Whitney or Allie or Olivia on our screens again. I'm kind of bummed because after enjoying the perils of Manhattan, it might be hard to switch back to the less intriguing superficialities of The Hills. Nevertheless, I was quite contented with this final episode, if only because Whitney didn't take Jay back (as so many of the girls in this franchise tend to do). I was also happy because a (possibly drunk) Diane Von Furstenberg shared some lovely advice about love and absence and fire and wind. It was actually quite touching.

More importantly, however, Olivia was up to her old ways, stealing opportunities from Whitney such as a sweet gig in London (fake home of Alixe Boyer's fake accent). I must admit that I was a little sad that Nevan (a.k.a. Bevan) didn't make an appearance on the show. He's been MIA of late, and that's very not cool. There was also some middling drama with Allie and Adam, and long story short, they got back together (no surprise there). For her part, Allie looked more frail than usual as she seemed to prop herself up against any wall within a ten foot radius of her at any given moment. Nevertheless, the two models are back to boinking, which means we'll have plenty of "Honey..." "Baby..." interludes in the near future, I'm sure.

Anyway, onto the photocap...

Did it happen? Did it really happen? Did Jay and Whitney finally break up on The City? I sure hope so because their relationship has constituted one of the most tiresome storylines in the history of the City / Hills / Laguna franchise. Not since Jessica and J-Wahl — or really LC and J-Wahl — have I wanted to shake one of these girls so hard and tell them to snap out of it. He's no good! Jay is particularly annoying because unlike the unabashed (and reportedly reformed) douchebag that was Jason Wahler, Jay is more insidious and greasy. He's also incredibly manipulative. When he sprung the news on Whitney that he was going away for a few months on tour, she was understandably mad. He thought it was because she didn't trust him (not that he's given her any reason to), but the real reason was because he simply had refrained from telling her for so long. Jay tried to turn it around on her, Spencer style, by saying that he knew she'd react like this and blah blah blah, but he was firmly in the wrong, and Whitney knew that. Thank goodness she's not a Heidi pushover (at least for now. Looks like they'll get back together next episode).

Meanwhile, on the Olivia front, the uptown girl got her just desserts when she totally bombed in a major presentation in front of the whole company, including Diane Von Furstenberg herself. Yes, despite oozing with confidence about the task all episode, Olivia was chock full of stutters and stammers, with a few portmanteaus thrown in for good measure ("multipletude"). This was sweet justice after Olivia took credit for Whitney's ideas last week, and once again, their relationship proved to be the most interesting part of the show. Memo to producers: MORE OLIVIA.

Onto the photocap...

Scandal alert! Scandal alert! This week's episode of The City introduced Whitney to the bitch-eat-bitch world of fashion, and for the first time, Whit-Whit learned the hard way that you've always got to look out for numero uno. Yes, none other than Olivia Palermo took full credit for pulling Jessica Alba's cover look for Elle, even though it was W-w-w-whitney who was the brains behind the outfit. As you can imagine, this led to all sorts of googly eyes that seemed to pretty much convey one simple sentiment: "That BITCH!" You know, I've defended Olivia quite a bit, but these actions by her are fairly indefensible. That doesn't mean she's any less entertaining though. In fact, Olivia was really in her prime this week as she aggressively chirped over and over again, "That's my outfit!" (or something like that.) Sadly, the presence of Nevan (or BEVAN as Jay so cleverly calls him) was sorely missed as I could have only imagined the haughty discussion he and his cuz had in regards to this whole debacle.

Elsewhere in the wide world of The City, the terminally bored Allie moved into Erin's apartment, which seems to maintain a steady flow of boarders, despite its overabundance of picture frames and walls the color of fresh new tennis balls. Jay, meanwhile, reconnected with his supposed stalker ex, and the two went off into the night for what we can only imagine was some late night koala love. Of course, given that this group of friends is the biggest crew of tattlers on Manhattan, it didn't take long for the news to get back to Whit-Whit, who mournfully looked off into the distance, wiping an errant tear (or perhaps just a crumb) from her cheek. And the answer is no, I did not care.

Onto the photocap...

Pics courtesy of Yes More Drama

Anyone who saw last night's scandal-riffic episode of The City witnessed Olivia brazenly take full credit for pulling the outfit that ultimately landed on the cover of Elle Magazine's Spring fashion preview, despite the fact that it was our starlet, Whitney Port, who made the creative decision. Much drama and glaring ensued as Diane Von Furstenburg (fresh from the buffet) and Alixe Boyer (fresh from the fake British accent class) praised Olivia for what they thought were her fashion choices, and as the two women — as well as many others, including Elle bigwig Joe Zee (as seen on Stylista) — boasted about how simply divine Olivia's selections looked on the cover, we the audience naturally assumed the images we saw were what actually went to print. Not so much. Turns out the Elle cover we saw was nothing but lies. A lie cover — fresh from a printing press of LIES!

Thanks to the eagle eyed fashionistas over at Yes More Drama as well as my friend Jash, it turns out that the real Elle cover looked nothing like what we saw on The City. Wow. Big wow. We know there are many elements of these shows that are fabricated and staged, but this really has to be one of the more blatant stunts. I mean, did MTV really think no one would notice? Maybe there's an explanation for this — perhaps the cover was some sort of special edition for Elle Guam — but I can't help feeling like there are plenty of shenanigans flittering about. Someone needs to get Elle reality vet Anne Slowey on the phone and let her know what's going on. Then again, she's probably too busy cracking the whip on her interns and muttering "Shhhtylists... bring me my coffee and a bag for the Hamptonshh." Point is, this was one of those can't-really-deny-it moments, and I'm kind of surprised DVF and AlBoys (a.k.a Alixe Boyer) were willing to cluck away on camera about something totally fake. Color me perplexed.

UPDATE: Huzzah! My faith in MTV is restored. According to commenter Caitlin, one cover is for subscribers, one is for newsstands. There was no printing press of lies — only one of sweet, sweet truth! Carry on...

Ahhhh... At long last. MTV has put screen shots of The City on their site! I don't know when they started, but I think the last time I checked in about two weeks ago, there were none. Now, as some of you have read in the comments section, I absolutely love this show, but because of my other obligations, I really don't have time to write recap it. It kills me because every episode I have so many snarky comments running through my brain. Of course, I could just wing it, and do a general overview (like my 24 recaps), but for some reason, the way the show is shot and edited, it's hard to remember the sequence of events as all the scenes seem sort of to flow in and out of each other in a dreamlike quality. Anyway, the point is, I can finally do photocaps now, and I'm more than thrilled.

For those of you who haven't jumped on The City train, here's what you need to know: it's awesome. I don't know if I'll be able to go back to The Hills with the same love. Whereas the latter show seems to be running out of storylines, The City seems fresh with potential. Also, it's sort of exciting to see a cast that seems by and large a tad bit more sophisticated than what we get on The Hills. Lauren and Lo are fine, but Heidi? Spencer? Brody? Frankie? Audrina? Justin-Bobby? They're all a bit — how do I say it — nouveau riche? It's like comparing the Real Housewives of Orange County with New York City. I'm not saying that Adam, Erin and Jay are the second coming of the Algonquin Table, but there is a slightly less poseurish quality about them. Of course, they're still douchebags — let's get that straight. But at least they don't wear trucker caps.

2008 was a curious year for television, what with the writers strike and all. Seasons got messed up, late night shows went without comedy, and CBS aired a bonus edition of Big Brother — which sadly was universally loathed by pretty much everyone but me. That's okay though. I don't mind being a maverick when it comes to reality TV (hence my devotion to Greatest American Dog — one of the most underrated gems of the year).

Strike be damned, there was still plenty of great stuff to watch. My list of the best shows after the jump...