The City (2008 TV series)

The City is an American reality television series that originally aired on MTV from December 29, 2008, until July 13, 2010. Developed as the spin-off of The Hills, the series aired two seasons and focused on the personal and professional lives of several young women residing in New York City, New York. Its premise was conceived by Adam DiVello, while Liz Gateley and Sean Travis served as executive producers.

The City
Genre	Reality television
Created by	Adam DiVello
Starring	Whitney Port Jay Lyon Erin Lucas Adam Senn Olivia Palermo Roxy Olin Erin Kaplan
Narrated by	Whitney Port
Opening theme	"Top of the World" by Pussycat Dolls
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	35 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Liz Gateley Sean Travis
Production locations	New York City, New York
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Done and Done Productions
Original release
Network	MTV
Release	December 29, 2008 (2008-12-29) – July 13, 2010 (2010-07-13)
The Hills

The series originally focused on Whitney Port, who appeared in its predecessor, as she began employment with Diane von Fürstenberg. It additionally placed emphasis on her workplace rival Olivia Palermo, Port's boyfriend Jay Lyon, his roommate Adam Senn, and her friend Erin Lucas. The latter three were replaced by Port's roommate Roxy Olin and Palermo's co-worker Erin Kaplan for the second half of the first season.

Like its predecessor, the series was often criticized for tending towards a narrative format more commonly seen in scripted genres including soap operas, and appearing to fabricate much of its storyline. The show has distributed all seasons to DVD.

Background

In 2004, the reality television series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County premiered on MTV.^[1] The program was created by Liz Gateley and documented the lives of several students attending Laguna Beach High School as they completed secondary education.^[2] The series proved among the network's most successful programming,^[3] though the entire original cast left after the second season and were replaced by another group of teenagers for the following season.^[4] Television producer Adam DiVello developed the spin-off program The Hills to follow one of its predecessor's original cast members Lauren Conrad as she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry.^[5] After The Hills itself became similarly successful, DiVello developed The City upon the conclusion of the parent series' fourth season, which saw one of its primary cast members Whitney Port move to New York City to begin employment with Diane von Fürstenberg.^[6][7]

Series synopsis

Overview and casting

 

Whitney Port served as the series' focus for its two-season run.

The City chronicles the lives of several young women living in New York City, New York. Every installment commences with a voice-over narrative from series lead Whitney Port, foreshadowing the theme of the episode.^[8] Each season concludes with a finale, typically involving a major event such as a progressing relationship or the departure of a cast member.^[9] Most installments revolve around the women's everyday lives, with the intention of balancing coverage of their personal and professional endeavors.^[7] The City: Live After Show was occasionally aired following the broadcast of an episode; the program followed The After Show format used by other MTV programs, including The Hills, where Jessi Cruickshank and Dan Levy served as hosts while the audience commented on the episode.^[10]

Throughout its run, the series was led by five primary cast members during its first season and four during its second. Its original main cast members were Port, Jay Lyon, Erin Lucas, Adam Senn, and Olivia Palermo.^[11] Lucas, Lyon, and Senn were replaced by Roxy Olin and Erin Kaplan beginning in the second half of the first season.^[12] The aforementioned women's storylines were largely developed by a number of supporting cast members. Alexandra Crandell was credited as "Adam's girlfriend",^[13] while Samantha Swetra was labeled "Whitney's friend".^[14] Kelly Cutrone was featured the owner of the PR firm People's Revolution and the employer of Port and Olin,^[15] while Joe Zee was credited as Palermo's boss at Elle.^[16]

Storylines

In its series premiere, The City first introduces Whitney Port, who moved from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York to begin employment for fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg. She reunited with her friend Erin Lucas and love interest Jay Lyon, and befriended co-worker Olivia Palermo against her companions' advice.^[8] Port became irritated the feelings Lyon had for his ex-girlfriend Danielle and his unwillingness to commit to a relationship,^[17][18] and eventually severed ties with him.^[19] Lyon's distaste for his housemate Adam Senn's girlfriend Allie Crandell ultimately ruined their friendship,^[20] while Senn and Crandell's relationship was strained by rumors of his alleged infidelity.^[21] Lucas' long-distance boyfriend Duncan Davies, who lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broke up with Lucas after discovering that she had become friendly with her ex-boyfriend JR.^[22] Meanwhile, the companionship between Port and Palermo dissolved after growing tensions in the workplace.^[23]

Prior to production of the second half of the season, Lucas, Lyon, and Senn departed from the series.^[12] Port also left her position at Diane von Fürstenberg and resumed working at her previous employer Kelly Cutrone's PR firm People's Revolution.^[24] As the season resumed, Port's friend Roxy Olin was introduced as a new main cast member, and was hired at People's Revolution. Palermo had left Diane von Fürstenberg for a position with Elle, where she clashed with co-worker and new main cast member Erin Kaplan.^[12] With Cutrone's guidance, Port begins designing a fashion line,^[25] while Kaplan becomes increasingly displeased with Palermo's under-performance. Port also began dating friend Freddie Fackelmayer, but was dismayed to learn that he had a girlfriend.^[26] By the season finale, Port had presented the "Whitney Eve" lookbook to Bergdorf Goodman, and decided to further publicize her collection through a fashion show at Bryant Park.^[9]

In the beginning of the second season, Joe Zee attempted to salvage the relationship between Palermo and Kaplan by reassigning the former to work on Elle.com.^[27] However, the strategy proved unsuccessful as the women continue to clash with one another.^[28] Meanwhile, Olin begins a flirtatious friendship with photographer Zach Hyman.^[29] Cutrone cautions Port that Olin's lack of professionalism and inexperience in the industry may damage Port's reputation.^[30] However, Olin's under-performance ultimately strained their friendship,^[31] and culminated in Olin moving into an apartment with their friend Samantha Swetra.^[32] The season finale sees Palermo promoted as the new face of Elle.com after a successful business trip to Japan, while Port contemplates leaving People's Revolution after she and Cutrone clash over the development of her fashion line.^[33]

Reception

Critical response

The City received generally mixed reviews from critics. Melissa Camacho of Common Sense Media criticized the program for featuring a near-identical plotline to its predecessor The Hills, where Lauren Conrad was similarly shown to pursue a career in the fashion industry while addressing difficulties among her friends.^[34] Ginia Bellefante from The New York Times suggested that the series was purposely produced sub-par to its parent series, commenting that it "is not the advertisement for New York that The Hills, with its dreamily shot opening-credit sequence, is for Los Angeles".^[35] An editor from The Village Voice questioned if Port was interesting enough to lead her own spin-off series, describing her personality as featuring "unavoidable, inexorable ordinariness".^[36]

Scripting allegations

 

Olivia Palermo was displeased with her antagonistic portrayal.

The City was often criticized for appearing to fabricate much of its storyline. In one instance, Diane von Fürstenberg workers were reportedly angered that Port "doesn't really work" and was "hardly ever in the office", elaborating that series producers would inhibit normal work operations by not allowing employees to move items in their offices.^[37] Freddie Fackelmayer, Port's former love interest, commented that the network "never asked the cast to say or do anything", though the editing that followed portrayed him as a "womanizing jerk".^[38]

An additional source of suspicion arose in the second half of the first season, where Palermo allegedly purchased counterfeit accessories on Canal Street for a work assignment; the non-discreet nature of the transaction led to speculation that the scene was staged for the segment.^[39] In 2009, Palermo commented that she was "disappointed" by the "villainous" manner in which she was portrayed on the program. She added that she was "super friendly" with Port at work, whereas the series depicted a more strained relationship.^[40]

U.S. television ratings

The series opening of The City premiered to 1.6 million viewers, significantly less than the 2.6 million viewers attracted by the fourth-season finale of The Hills.^[41] The second half of the season premiered with 2 million viewers, a 43% increase from its debut.^[42] The remainder of the season maintained an average 1.9 million viewers, with the finale peaking at 2.3 million.^[43] Upon the conclusion of the second season in July 2010, rumors were widespread that The City would be cancelled.^[44] In October 2010, Port commented that "it doesn't really look like we're doing it anymore", with MTV later adding that the series would not be renewed for a third season.^[45]

Episodes

Main article: List of The City (2008 TV series) episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	23		December 29, 2008 (2008-12-29)	December 1, 2009 (2009-12-01)
2	12		April 27, 2010 (2010-04-27)	July 13, 2010 (2010-07-13)

Broadcast history and distribution

The City's first season commenced airing on December 29, 2008, one week after the fourth-season finale of The Hills.^[8] The series continued to air on Monday evenings until its midseason finale on March 16, 2009, at which point it had aired thirteen episodes.^[46] Rather than ordering an official second season, MTV included an additional ten episodes to the first season. The extension premiered on September 29, 2009,^[12] where it was moved to the Tuesday night timeslot, and concluded on December 1, 2009.^[9] The second season premiered on April 27, 2010, after the sixth-season premiere of The Hills. Both programs held the Tuesday evening timeslot; both concluded after twelve episodes on July 13, 2010.^[33]

The City episodes aired regularly on MTV in the United States. All episodes are approximately thirty minutes, and were broadcast in standard definition. The series' episodes are also available for download at the iTunes Store.^[47] Episodes were previously available for viewing through the official MTV website, though they have since become unavailable since the series' conclusion.^[48] Since its debut, Paramount Pictures has released both seasons of The City onto DVD, to regions 1, 2, and 4. Each product includes all episodes of the respective season, in addition to deleted scenes and interviews of series personnel.^[49][50][51]

References

1. "Laguna Beach (Season 1) Ep. 1: A Black and White Affair". MTV. Viacom. September 28, 2004. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
2. Margy Rochlin (August 30, 2005). "An MTV Coming of Age That Went Far on Charm". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
3. Bly, Laura (March 2, 2006). "The real Laguna Beach disdains its MTV image". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
4. "Kristin Cavallari: New Laguna Beach Cast is a Joke". The Hollywood Gossip. She Knows Entertainment. November 7, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
5. Jim Halterman (April 27, 2010). "Interview: "The Hills" & "The City" Creator Adam Divello". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
6. "The Hills Season 4 Ep. 19: Mr. And Mrs. Pratt". MTV. December 15, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
7. David Amsden (December 28, 2008). "Run for the Hills". New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
8. "The City Season 1 Ep. 1: If She Can Make It Here..." MTV. December 29, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
9. "The City Season 1 Ep. 23: Everything On The Line". MTV. December 1, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
10. "Television worth talking about". Toronto Star. Torstar Corporation. January 12, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
11. "If She Can Make It Here...". The City. Season 1. December 29, 2008. MTV.
12. "The City Season 1 Ep. 14: Sleeping With The Frenemy". MTV. September 29, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
13. "Allie: The City (Season 1)". MTV. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
14. "Samantha: The City (Season 1)". MTV. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
15. Jethro Nededog (November 24, 2009). "'The City's' Kelly Cutrone: Deprogramming girls one intern at a time". The Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
16. Alez Williams (March 16, 2011). "Fashion's Approachable Ambassador". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
17. "The City Season 1 Ep. 2: The Truth Will Reveal Itself". MTV. December 29, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
18. "The City Season 1 Ep. 3: The L Word". MTV. January 5, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
19. "The City Season 1 Ep. 12: I'm Sorry Whit". MTV. March 9, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
20. "The City Season 1 Ep. 9: Unexpected Roommates". MTV. February 16, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
21. "The City Season 1 Ep. 6: He Never Said He Had A Girlfriend". MTV. January 26, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
22. "The City Season 1 Ep. 4: Good Things Come In Threes". MTV. January 12, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
23. "The City Season 1 Ep. 11: Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me". MTV. March 2, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
24. Amy O'Dell (April 13, 2009). "Whitney Port Flees Diane Von Furstenberg for People's Revolution". New York. The Cut. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
25. "The City (Season 1) Ep. 116: It's All Who You Know". MTV. October 13, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
26. "The City Season 1 Ep. 19: Weekend At Freddie's". MTV. November 3, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
27. "The City Season 2 Ep. 1: Show 'Em What You Got". MTV. April 27, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
28. "The City Season 2 Ep. 2: Friends In High Places". MTV. May 4, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
29. "The City Season 2 Ep. 3: Professionally Dangerous". MTV. May 11, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
30. "The City Season 2 Ep. 5: The Bell Of Elle". MTV. May 25, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
31. "The City Season 2 Ep. 10: Stage Fight". MTV. June 29, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
32. "The City Season 2 Ep. 11: Roommate Wanted". MTV. July 6, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
33. "The City Season 2 Ep. 12: Lost In Translation". MTV. July 13, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
34. Melissa Camacho (2008-12-30). "The City". Common Sense Media. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
35. Ginia Bellefante (January 4, 2009). "West Coast Fashionista Takes On Manhattan, Manolos in Tow". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
36. "Beware the "Downtown Crowd": Watching MTV's The City". The Village Voice. Voice Media Group. January 6, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
37. "Whitney Port's "The City" Allegedly Fake, Angering Workers". The Huffington Post. AOL. January 29, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
38. Amanda Hess (November 10, 2009). "GW Grad Claims MTV Made Him A "Womanizing Jerk"". Washington City Paper. SouthComm. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
39. Tracie Egan Morrissey (October 7, 2009). "The City: Designer Knockoff Shopping Scene Is A Fake". Jeezbel. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
40. Denise Martin (March 10, 2009). "'The City': Olivia Palermo says she's 'disappointed' being the villain". The Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
41. Mike Bruno (December 31, 2008). "'The City,' 'Bromance' premieres score weak ratings". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
42. Alex Werpin (September 30, 2009). . Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media LLC. Archived from the original on July 18, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
43. Chantal Cook (October 25, 2010). . The Celebrity Cafe. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
44. Lauren Sherman (June 28, 2010). "Rumor: MTV Has Canceled The City". Fashionista. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
45. Mark Marino (October 26, 2010). "MTV's 'The City' canceled". CNN. Time Warner. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
46. "The City Season 1 Ep. 13: I Lost Myself In Us". MTV. March 16, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
47. "iTunes – TV Shows – The City, Season 2". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. April 27, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
48. "The City Full Episodes". MTV. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
49. . MTV Shop. MTVN Direct. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
50. "MTV's 'The Hills' & 'The City' Move To Tuesday Nights". Starpulse. September 27, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
51. David Lambert (June 25, 2010). . TV Shows on DVD. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.

External links