'The Hills': It's not over yet ...

Breaking news: This season of "The Hills" is not over yet. The series will unveil a batch of eight bonus episodes scheduled to roll out in March.

That's a good thing because while this past 18-episode season may have felt at times like overkill, Monday's anticlimactic finale begged for more. And by more, we mean it's time for "The Hills" to acknowledge just how famous these kids now are. Producers need to step up their game -- "Hills" fans won't be satisfied with old news. Just give us the juicy bits!

Indeed, there was nary a cliffhanger in sight during the season finale, which MTV heavily hyped Sunday with a "feature-length movie" made up of footage from all three seasons. To review: Teen Vogue granted Lauren a second chance at Paris, forcing her to bail on a seemingly budding romance with Brody, while a fed-up Heidi put the brakes on her wedding plans with Spencer.

But wait, "Hills" fans are ahead of the game. We already know that Lauren and Brody do not wind up together. TMZ and US Weekly would have been all over it. And during the live taping of "The Hills" after-show at Hollywood nightclub Area last night, Brody told Show Tracker that he and Lauren are not dating. (He wouldn't have had to wait that long for her return from Paris anyway. Producers told us that Lauren's trip to Paris was a two-week working trip and not the full summer she would have spent there had she not chosen to move in with Jason at the end of the first season last year.) Some of the eight bonus episodes will focus on her time overseas -- complete with her encounters with the menfolk of France.

"Hills" fans also know that Heidi and Spencer are still together. Reports last month leaked that MTV's camp is casting for her bridesmaid. Roxy Olin of "Brothers & Sisters" fame was apparently up for the job. Monday, TMZ posted a story that said the wedding was off, but an MTV series insider told us that the two are still together and it's merely been postponed. To wit, the couple was Christmas
tree shopping less than 10 days ago and they were spotted together at the Spike TV Video Game Awards on Friday night.

So it's no surprise that the crowd at Area, purposely filled with "Hills" fans, was noticeably tame despite its close proximity with Lauren, Brody, Audrina and Whitney. This season's real stars -- troublemakers Heidi, Spencer and Justin Bobby -- were not there. And it this trio that provided all of the season's drama (and belching) in an otherwise so-so run divided between the separate lives of Lauren and Heidi.(Heidi did walk the red carpet last night to greet press but left right after.)

Even MTV knows it. The after-show was filled with slow-motion montages and much talk of Justin Bobby, the single best thing about the season. "Hills" fans don't mind the old news, or even being teased with the faux suspense: Will Lauren and Jason get back together? Can Heidi patch things up with Lauren? But we demand more of the good stuff. The stuff that makes "The Hills" a real rival to scripted soaps like "Gossip Girl."

As we head into these bonus episodes, our wish list includes plenty of drama. We wish for Paris to be full of Justin Bobbys, for Heidi and Spencer to patch things up and fall apart again on screen, for Spencer and Brody to make another go at friendship (Brody told us he still "loves Spencer to death" but that the two don't hang out anymore -- we encouraged him to fix that), and for Lauren to find more hapless Angeleno guys to exploit on her show. (Poor Gavin.) We're also wishing for more devilish side characters like Elodie, who ruined Heidi and Spencer's 98,756th night out at Don Antonio's.

But, more than anything, we're wishing that MTV finally begins to cover the making of Heidi's album. Her music career has never even been mentioned on the show -- and Spencer's her manager! -- which means we miss seeing moments like the making of her music video on our TV screens.

Everyone now: fingers crossed.

-- Denise Martin

Comments

[anya t.]

heidi was so naturally beautiful when she first showed up on the hills. why did she have to do the big fake boobs, a nose job and platinum blonde hair? albeit still an attractive woman, just nothing special like before. and her personality has taken a turn for the worst, as well. no longer fun-loving, she's bland and cold. she could have taken a much more original route, but instead, chose one that is quite typical.