“The Hills!” “The Hills!”

My not-so-guilty pleasure returns August 18. Though a part of me knows not to hold any stock to the season trailer (as it has led to disappointments in the past), I can’t help but get excited and look forward to the drama that is to come (can Lauren trust Stephanie Pratt? Will Lo push Audrina and Lauren apart?).

I realize that most of my readers cannot understand the appeal of such shallow, faux reality. But Time magazine’s James Poniewozik recently laid out, in irresistible prose, exactly why The Hills appeals to an audience beyond teenage girls.

“…if you can get past the idea that fakeness is a bad thing–use a fancier term, like artifice, if that helps you–then The Hills is one of the most magnificent pieces of fakery on television, a jewel-like celebration of superficiality.

“The surfaces are precisely what make The Hills entrancing: it is possibly the best-looking series on television. It doesn’t just look better than life. It looks better than TV. Where most reality shows use garish close-ups to show hot emotions, The Hills uses middle- and long-range shots in wide-screen, giving it a cooler feel and framing the subjects like art photography. It’s full of liquid L.A. sun, in love with the way light plays on surfaces–car bodies, plate glass, glossed lips.”

I’ve written about how Laguna Beach initially sucked me in with its cinematography and sound track, and The Hills, now in its fourth season, is better than ever in terms of production values. And if people can learn how to be chosen for reality television, Lauren, Audrina, Whitney and Heidi could teach such a class with their eyes closed.

I will be watching.