MTV's The Hills: Real or Fake?

For those of you living under a rock, or for those who are without cable, The Hills is a popular MTV show that follows former Laguna Beach star, Lauren Conrad, as she moves to Los Angeles. "LC" as she has come to be known, attends the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, all while interning at "Teen Vogue" Magazine. Millions of viewers get to watch as Conrad, 21, tries to juggle her schoolwork, her internship, and her relationships. Much of LC's devoted audience will argue that the show is 100 percent real, and that none of it is scripted. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

While watching several episodes of this notable television drama, I began to wonder, "Is this show real? Or, is most of the show scripted because more drama equals more ratings?" After doing some digging and searching several online "blogs", where even the most devoted of fans lurk, there were some things that I found out that even I hadn't come to suspect.

During the first season of The Hills, we saw Spencer Pratt, 23, and Heidi Montag, 20; argue about Heidi's big move in, the fabulous LC herself, and bicker over more than enough other tedious predicaments. In an interview, Pratt admitted to making up many of the arguments to get more air time on the show, but won't be doing that anymore because that's "not who he is".

Then there are the major rumors (brace yourselves), about the "fake engagement" between Montag and Pratt. Reports that they are "engaged" for the show leave readers believing that there are two ways that the fabricated relationship could go. One, they will break up at the end of this season, or two, that they will get their own reality show (big surprise) where they will plan their wedding, having a big, and dramatic break up when the season ends. A few blogs even report that they also received footage of a photographer who said that the couple offered to pay him to take their photos. It also seems fishy that Montag has said that she's, "Not planning her wedding right now", but was caught by a photographer (yes, the one she paid to take their pictures) trying on wedding dresses.