Gawker
Nobody watches The Hills. But even more nobody watches Gossip Girl. While not in the same time slot, both shows air on Monday nights, meaning they are inevitably pitted against each other by television writers, in some sort of useless garbage battle royal. Because fake truth is more interesting than strange fiction, The Hills' 3.75 million viewers easily outnumbered Gossip Girl's 2.5 this week.
The CW will be quick to shake its arm vaguely at the internet as an explanation for all this, while MTV will stay smug about The Hills' strong performance in the coveted 18-34 demo. TV blog Reality Blurred can't figure out why such low-rated shows get so much coverage, but suspects it has something to do with Los Angelenos' and New Yorkers' horrible, everywhere else-hating narcissism. You know, it's probably true. We do like to talk about ourselves. Though, if a show was filmed and took place in Ashtabula, Ohio, you can bet that the Star Beacon would write about it every damn day, too.
Comments
yes Gawker, why do such low rated shows get so much coverage?
Why?!
I see what you're saying, but it doesn't change the fact that I do not, nor have I ever, watched either of these shows.
I think 'The Hills' might actually be a kind of Orwellian government experiment. Raising an entire generation to believe a scripted reality, Mr. President -- just imagine the possibilities!
@TheHonJudgeSmails: Right, whatever. Do you believe what a bitch Jenny is now?
I think it's actually because these shows are AWESOME.
no, but legit... if "nobody" watches these shows then how come EVERYBODY is talking about them? What is with these mid-90's-esque articles today? THERE'S TV ON THE INTERNET NOW ratings don't mean shit.
@TheHonJudgeSmails: wait...MTV is still around?
I'm sorry, but I'm having trouble thinking about GG right now; I'm still recovering from the uber-creepy feeling I got when I found out that Taylor Momsen is only 14 years old...*shudders*...I figured she was at least, like, 17...
dammit!
Why's everybody gotta use my homestate as a joke example?!?!
Pick on Indiana or Iowa next time, man!
Leave the Buckeyes alone!!!!11!!
:-)
Not to be sexist, but whoops -- can someone please explain to me the inherent attraction that women (and, moreover, a large number of very bright women, in my experience) feel toward 'The Hills'? Is it the same nerve that's sated by, for instance, tabloid magazines?
So I totally missed this weeks episode of Gossip Girl. WHYTHEFUCKISTHENEWEPOSIDENOTONITUNES???!?!?!?!
@Conbon: Noelle loves me.
@digitalsmoothie: Her character is 15 now. "Old enough to play a 15-year-old on TV, old enough to be lusted after by me" is what I always say.
@TheHonJudgeSmails: I have emailed your comment to Jack Ketch, asking if blatant falsehoods are executable.
@Chaim Gnadelstein: hey, gay men and drooling mid-life crisis hetero men like it too.
@Conbon: case in point.
I kid.
maybe we don't want to remind ourselves that equally shitty shows like CSI, Two and a Half Men, NCIS, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol are at the top. I'd watch GG and The Hills over all of those anyday.
@roodles: I'm 23, dick.
@contradicto: try surfthechannel.com instead.
@Chaim Gnadelstein: everyone dines on garbage from time to time. the hills is one of my guilty pleasures.
@Conbon: once again - I kid.
Does my not watching either show make me "somebody?"
@bess marvin, girl detective: Awesome. I am totally gonna watch this and not do the job I'm paid for now.
@izz
Everyone is talking about them in the media. Once you move passed the media's fascination with their own navel, you'll find there are more belly buttons in the world.
When this show was originally debuting, the media "predicted" this would be a ratings slam for the CW, and all I read about was Wednesday being the new Thursday.
All lies. The media just doesn't want to STOP talking about it because there's some thing about how if you talk about something consistently, and present it as a fact, the rest of the world will believe you.
So, yeah, move on. Thanks much.
@roodles: Ha so was I. I'm actually a second trimester fetus.
@Chaim Gnadelstein: I can't speak for intelligent women, but I will say this for myself -- I don't read tabloids, but I LOVE THE HILLS. Tabloids are all about trashy exploitation of publicist bullshit and knocking pretty women down a peg (turns out that Cameron Diaz has crow's feet, just like a normal person!!1!), but The Hills is campy and hilarious. It's a soap opera that doesn't take itself seriously.
I mean, soap operas are ALL improbable, but there's improbable like Heidi getting a job she's totally unqualified for, and then there's improbable like you discover you have an evil twin you never knew about because s/he was kidnapped from the hospital by the Maltese crime kingpin your mother had an affair with in college and now you're being framed by an evil mastermind who wants to discredit you and ruin your life which should rightfully be theirs.
Sure, the second one sounds more entertaining, but the acting is worse and it requires a lot more energy on your part.
@Conbon: For the record, in another three months I will TOTALLY be against aborting you.
@Chaim Gnadelstein: I really think there is a large contingent of girls/women wanting to actually be (or be friends with) these people. The whole living vicariously through. Fame for the average person. It's the only explanation. The female version of penis envy, whatever that might be.
Can we discuss something a little more Socratic? Because all this TV talk is makin' me Aristotittelated.
@Colonel Mustard: I hope the keyboard still fits in here in another three months.
@Conbon: That's why fetuses need iPhones. Steve Jobs take note.
Ya know what pisses me off? That nobody watched "Voyagers" and it was canceled after one damn season. Jon Erik Hexum was the sexiest man during the family hour. Ever.
@contradicto: omg they aren't putting the last 5 episodes on itunes! noooeeessss!!
@overunderover: The female version of penis envy is, in fact, penis envy: Freud's theorized reaction of developing girls to the realization that they don't have male sex organs. I get your point, though -- if a teenage girl these days could have a penis, she would want it to look just like Lauren Conrad's.
@Phyllis Nefler: Why the fuck not?!?!?! I don't even know what channel the CW is on.
@Conbon: good point...I have no idea if I have jail-bait lust for the actual actress or not.
Richard's fixation with faux-reality is beginning to concern me. It's very much like the Sid and Marty Krofft obsession that rendered a legion of youngsters terribly disillusioned about life, sex, and recreational drugs in the late 70's. I think an intervention is imminent, but for now, cold turkey is best.
Have the strength to turn the channel.
@contradicto: Something about ratings and not understanding the internet! I don't know! LOUD NOISES
Also, love how the CW calls Gossip Girls the "highest ratings" ever in the 18-34 category. What is EVER for CW? Oh, yes, 2 years? There was a time when UPN and WB were out-performing the amalgamated CW. Here's another example of how merging is not always a success.
@Penscribe: wrong.
I'm talking about it. my friends are talking about it. random people at the table next to you no matter where you go are talking about it. that's not the media... it's actually a pretty good approximation of, and I quote myself, "everybody".
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