Last fall, MTV announced that it was reuniting with Lauren Conrad, star of the network’s Laguna Beach and The Hills, for another reality series focused on the young star’s burgeoning fashion line. But EW has EXCLUSIVELY learned why the Conrad series has been passed on by the network. “We decided not to go ahead with the show,” says David Janollari, EVP, Head of Programming for MTV. “She did do a pilot. There were talks about whether we could somehow manage to put together a special based on that footage but that’s also a big question mark based on her interest in that and the finances. We love her! We would love her on our network!” The proposed series was not a glossy reality soap like The Hills but much more documentary style. It was also noticeably absent from MTV’s Upfront this week. Says Janollari, “It was a great attempt but it just didn’t feel like a perfect fit for us now.” (The news of Conrad’s show not moving forward was first reported by blogger Rob Owen.)
UPDATE Lauren Conrad has sent EW a statement regarding MTV’s decision:
“We sold a show to MTV, filmed it and are really proud of the final result. MTV felt the subject matter was too high brow for their audience and offered me the opportunity to change the show by incorporating more of my personal life. We agreed going into the project that this show would be an aspirational one, focusing on my career and my goals and not my personal relationships. We delivered the show that we sold and are sorry MTV didn’t feel their viewers were savvy enough to appreciate it.”
Good.
Now maybe she will go the way of the dinosaurs.
And the other MTV shows will follow?
Seriously, a network showing teens using drugs and having sex has no interest in a young woman with a career.
Maybe MTV realized no one gives a crap.
I care. i love lauren
what a bummer I wanted to see her new show…
Me too! Maybe if she had a baby or acted more like an alcohol-obsessed cartoon sex gorilla with a fake Jersey accent, MTV would’ve been on board. Obnoxious.
Pretty sad statement: MTV only cares about tawdry semi-scripted reality shows, and passes when one of their “stars” tries to make a show that’s actually about her career.
Sounds to me like someone was asking for too much money… Shame. Was so looking forward to it! X x
“High Brow”? God you’re a b*tch, Lauren.
And not in a good way, right???
Does anyone honestly believe anything about Lauren Conrad is “high brow” she’s not her character on Family Guy. She’s a young girl milking her 15 minutes for all its worth.
Sounds like they wanted her to film a lot of her personal life for ratings and she didnt want to do that so they pulled the show.
You really should look into solving crime. Your grasp of the obvious is stunning.
LOL the only thing more obvious you could have said would have been “Looks like MTV passed on the Lauren Conrad show”
Really? I didn’t get that from this article…
And not in a good way, right
Thank God. Now we will see if she actually has talent.
Kohl’s carries her line and I kinda like it…
I am actually wearing Lauren Conrad jeans right now. As ashamed as I was to buy them because of the name attached, in the end they’re just a piece of clothing, and I like them.
I’m really disappointed MTV passed on the opportunity to show someone actually working in a career to deliver us more pregnant teens and drunken Jersey shore kids.
Kudos to Lauren for refusing to provide the cheap drama they were looking for and attempting to show true aspirational programming.
Agree.
Word.
true that.
She should head to another network, MTV sucks!
This show actually could have been interesting, and I’m not really a fan of this girl or anything (never watched The Hills). But I’m not surprised MTV passed on it. Like TQB points out, MTV only seems to care about shameless “reality” shows about people acting like morons. God forbid they actually follow people doing something productive with their lives.
Lauren Conrad is doing something productive with her life? Seems to me that someone who is truly fulfilled doesn’t need to produce a show that tells people how fulfilled she is.
I agree and disagree. On the one hand, MTV just showing someone who has a job would be revolutionary at this point. But on the other hand, her “job” is to be the moderately famous figurehead/salesperson for a fashion line where the work is done by actual professionals, and the only reason she has it in the first place is because she was featured on one of the tawdry and pointless reality shows that she’s turning up her nose at now.
So there wasn’t enough sex and drugs on the show, basically.
Bummer…was looking forward to it.
I love how all the posters are acting like “The Hills” was the second coming of Shakespear. MTV programming is pretty low brow to begin with, including the Hills “I can’t stand Brody, lets get a salad.” “Ok, yum, I love salad.”
Groundbreaking.
ouch. nice mtv slap in the face conrad. i appreciate her for trying to do something not so reality star tacky…but it seems like mtjerseyshorev wants all the personal crap shrill drama…
two words: get lohan.