'The Hills' has eyes

When Audrina Patridge, one of the young women starring on " The Hills," heard that her friend Lauren Conrad and Patridge's on-again-off-again boyfriend Justin Brescia had hooked up behind her back, she tried calling them both to get her facts straight. The clock, after all, was ticking. ¶ The betrayal alone would be crushing. But more important, when you're a regular on MTV's reality series "The Hills," it's only a matter of time before your business becomes pop culture fodder; according to Patridge, celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton broke the news one week after she first heard it. ¶ "That made it so much harder," she said. "I didn't even get to the two people I needed to talk to before everyone knew about it." ¶ Such is life on "The Hills," which in its fourth season now faces the strange challenge of having to compete with its own noise, its cast covered so ravenously by bloggers, entertainment newsmagazines and the tabloids that the show itself can seem like an afterthought. Even those who don't watch "The Hills" know what's going on with its stars thanks to the real-time news cycle. For viewers, on the other hand, the coverage avalanche potentially spoils upcoming episodes.

By Denise Martin

November 24, 2008