'The Hills': Would you keep watching without Lauren Conrad?

March 31, 2009 | 11:34 pm

Tissues ready, people. We're less than a week away from the fifth season premiere of "The Hills," and from the looks of it, it's going to be a weepy farewell for star Lauren Conrad.

We've had our issues with LC over the years, between her inability to choose both boys and buds, but she's also suffered for our entertainment too, hasn't she? Her breakup with "Laguna Beach" beau-turned-jailbird Jason. Brody's betrayal with Jen Bunney. The rise of Spencer, Heidi and the sex tape rumor. Audrina's bizarro accusation that she'd had a fling with Justin Bobby. (Justin Bobby!)

Without LC there, at the center, emoting, "The Hills" very well may have gone the way of other "Laguna Beach" copycats MTV once trotted out, such as "Newport Harbor," "Twentyfourseven," "Maui Fever"....

But even with her exit locked, the network isn't calling curtains just yet. No one at MTV is saying this is the final season of "The Hills" -- and there's long been discussion about a series project centered on tabloid darlings Heidi and Spencer -- and that begs the question: Would you keep tuning in if the show went on without Lauren? If instead we followed the remaining seven cast members (pictured above)? Curious minds want to know:

Lauren's final call on "The Hills" begins Monday, April 6, at 10 p.m. on MTV.

-- Denise Martin

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Photos: Miranda Penn Turin / MTV.com