The Hills

Back her weekend away with the bumbling Justin-Bobby (Justin Brescia), Audrina Patridge announces that the volatile couple is sooo back on.

Lauren and Whitney, meanwhile, discuss the development at work the next day, where Whitney teases an obviously concerned Lauren Conrad.

"They probably worked it out on their own," Whitney Port chides at her friend, adding, "no need for everyone else to get involved!"

Then none other than Jason Wahler calls, and Whitney shoots Lauren a look of disapproval over LC's decision to answer that Blackberry.

Jason takes Lauren to dinner at the new L.A. hotspot Ketchup, a place owned by none other than Paula Abdul boy toy J.T. Torregiani.

Wouldn't you know it, Spencer Pratt just happens to be taking Heidi Montag to that very place to celebrate her promotion at Bolthouse.

After Jason and Lauren share some awkward moments of nostalgic flirtation, the drama starts to go down when a sarcastic Spencer spots them, and says "It's great to see you guys back together, really, it's heartwarming."

LC restrains Jason, who wants to go over to their table and start $h!t. But the needling Spencer sends over a water and a Shirley Temple over to their table, prompting Conrad and Wahler to leave - and get heckled as they do.

Spencer's take: "I wonder if she picked him up in rehab or jail?"

Heidi's take: "After everything she's been through with Jason, and me... who was there for her, through all that hell, is the one she won't talk to... it's baffling."

Jason's take: "Who cares about them?"

Lauren's take: Not a lot, but she gave Jason Wahler SERIOUS kiss-me-now eyes when he drops her off afterwards. Damn, girl! Fortunately, J doesn't make a move. Lauren is really desperate for some loving, guys. Make a move!

Elodie's take: "What exactly did you do to her that makes her not even want to accept a drink from you? And also, you know, you were also friends with Audrina, and she doesn't talk to you anymore. You were friends with Whitney too. You don't even know what's wrong and what's right anymore. It's so sad!"

Oh. Snap. Clearly Heidi Montag's "all business" defense doesn't fly with Elodie, who's still bitter over losing out on that Bolthouse job and pretty damn sick of listening to Heidi whining and bossing around her new assistant.

Fans of The Hills may disagree on whether they support Team Lauren or Team Heidi (heaven only knows why), but everyone wants to see more Whitney Port.

Why is this beautiful, expressive, funny and surprisingly sage gal so sparingly seen on The Hills? In large part, because that's how Whitney wants it.

Despite being featured - and listed as a star - on all three seasons of The Hills, Whitney appears primarily in the familiar context of her Teen Vogue office.

Whitney has said specifically in several episodes of the MTV The Hills Aftershow that she prefers to keep her personal life - which includes a year-long relationship with one seriously lucky guy - away from the cameras.

Contrast that with Heidi Montag, who can't get in front of them enough.

As far as Whitney's career goes, we all know she was an intern at Teen Vogue for two years, along with her friend and The Hills biggest star, Lauren Conrad.

As documented at the end of Season Two of The Hills, Whitney Port applied for a full-time position at Teen Vogue, which she got, now making her LC's boss.

Before working at Teen Vogue, Whitney Port interned for Women's Wear Daily. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2007.

She currently lives in L.A. with Christina Schuller, who was also a cast member on Laguna Beach. Rumor has it that she was considering moving in with LC.

Whitney Catherine Port was born March 4, 1985, and raised in Los Angeles, Calif. Whitney's parents, along with her brother, Ryan, and her sisters, Paige, Jade and Ashley, still live in Los Angeles.

All in all, The Hills weren't as alive last night as weeks past, but there were some cute moments, unintentional comedy, and groundwork laid for future meltdowns and cat fights. In short, it was a terrific half hour of reality television.

The much-hyped Lauren-Jason reunion was a little anticlimactic, and was put off until the closing moments, but it turned out to be remarkably sweet.

As much as a scene featuring Jason Wahler can be, anyway.

Genuine and a tad awkward, Lauren Conrad was honest with her man when he asked why she cut him out of her life: "I had to make a clean break from you."

If LC were Audrina, she wouldn't have said "I want to be friends with you someday, not now," rather, she would've ridden into the sunset with J-Wahl.

Yes, roomie Patridge had done so earlier - literally - with Justin-Bobby (Justin Brescia) after taking him back for the 80th time. So touching.

Props to the producers at MTV for accenting both scenes with an emotional pop ballad about the perils of love and the challenge of finding one's soul mate. This may be reality TV, but it feels like a movie with an eight-figure budget.

Meanwhile, Friday Night Lights is pure fiction, yet feels like a documentary. But we're getting way off topic from The Hills here.

Anyway, Lauren and Jason met up for coffee and a heart-to-heart. Much as we look for ways to bash Jason Wahler, he seemed sincere and regretful, admitting to "being so out of control" and apologizing for his bad habits and behavior.

A calm, coherent, and clean cut (though still a little scruffy) Wahler was a nice change for fans of The Hills. Heck, we sure prefer him to Spencer Pratt. We wonder if this was all shot before his engagement to Katja Decker-Sadowski.

In any case, Whitney Port was shocked - in her typical, expressive fashion - when she heard about Jason's return. We always love Ms. Port and her role. Lauren would be advised to take her boss Whit's sage advice to heart. Girl knows her stuff!

LC and friends made a number of mature conclusions about guys this week, albeit ones they will probably ignore despite better judgment ...

• Lauren Conrad stated that, as soon as you stop thinking about bad guys, they can sense it, like radar, and call. So true, girl!
• There is no such thing as the perfect guy, noted Audrina Patriduge.
• Not everyone's going to be your Prince Charming, added Whitney Port.
• Oh, and never date your trainer. Audrina and Lauren ended up going out with their personal trainer, Jarett, and his lame friend, Derek, who Lauren was so turned off by, she could barely hide it. He talked about himself the entire time. Needless to say, LC's one-date streak curse remained intact.

They may have gotten dissed semi-hard by reality TV hater Justin Timberlake, but the lovely ladies from The Hills certainly made a positive impression Sunday, at least as far as this celebrity gossip blog is concerned.

Each dressed in their own gorgeous dresses, Lauren Conrad (wearing a Lauren Conrad fashion line custom design), Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port looked nothing short of fabulous at last night's MTV Music Video Awards.

Then again, when Britney Spears opens up an awards show, everyone else comes off looking good by comparison. With the possible exception of Kid Rock.

Anyway, check out this awesome pic of Lauren, Audrina and Whitney ...

Tell us, fans of The Hills. Whose VMAs dress do you like best? And how glad are you that Heidi and Spencer had other plans and didn't show up!

Justin Timberlake? Not a fan of celebrity gossip. Or reality TV, for that matter!

His feelings on the subject became very apparent during Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, when he accepted the award for Best Male Artist by lambasting MTV for its choice of programming.

Specifically, he implored MTV to ditch reality TV and play more videos.

The girls from The Hills â€" Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port â€" were to present Timberlake with Male Artist of the Year honors.

But after Lauren Conrad announced him as the winner, things got weird.

A fourth female mysteriously showed up on stage to join The Hills girls to hand the hardware to Timbaland, who in turn gave it to Justin. Timberlake did not make any eye contact or thank any of The Hills girls. Deliberately.

"Play more damn music videos. We don't want to see the Simpsons on reality television," said Timberlake upon accepting the award, referring to lame sisters Jessica and Ashlee Simpson. "Play more videos."

And then when accepting the award for the Quadruple Threat Award, Justin Timberlake reiterated, "I want to challenge MTV to play more videos!"

He makes a point. And this wasn't the only award show that had Justin at center stage of late. He recently won an Emmy with Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg in the Creative Arts category for their hilarious short film, "D!ck in a Box."

In Andy's acceptance speech (Timberlake was not present), he joked, "I think it's safe to say that when we first set out to make this, we were all thinking 'Emmy!'"

Andy Samberg dedicated the award to a real "up and comer" - his "D!ck in a Box" creative partner, saying Justin Timberlake's "clearly very talented and could use a break. So, Justin, if you're out there, congrats to you, kid."

With over three million viewers, The Hills has become a sensation - which is hardly a surprise, given all the drama that goes down each week.

Everyone has an opinion about Spencer Pratt, Lauren Conrad and the rest of the crew. Now is the time to voice your opinions in The Hills forum - the latest innovation from The Hollywood Gossip, the web's #1 source for Hills cast news, rumors and recaps.

Just CLICK HERE to enter The Hills forum and join an existing discussion, or start your own. You can access all of The Hollywood Gossip's forum topics - or start your own - at any time via the link on our main menu, as well.

We look forward to reading what you  say about Heidi, LC and Audrina, as well as everything going on with celebrity gossip. Don't you love Suri Cruise? How hot is Zac Efron! And what the hell is Britney Spears thinking!? Talk to us.

If you're Brody Jenner's physical therapist, you don't have to try hard to keep tabs on your patient and whether he's doing as you instruct.

All you have to do is read celebrity gossip sites!

Brody's ex-girlfriend and current pal, Lauren Conrad, revealed on The Hills after-show on MTV Overdrive this week that Jenner's doc has been checking out TMZ to make sure the party boy has been wearing the cast on his hand.

That's dedication! Jenner, as shown on The Hills, broke his finger back in July while playing beach football with LC, Frankie Delgado and other buds.

Meanwhile, it's common knowledge that Heidi Montag got some plastic surgery in the form of an unnecessary boob job and nose job, but The Hills rumor mill is currently abuzz with people saying her pal, Jen Bunney, followed suit.

One of the best exchanges of this season was when Heidi met up with Jen Bunney, and the first thing out of Heidi's mouth was, "Wow, you look so different." Clearly, this Bunney and her plastic surgeon did a little working together in the off-season.

Way to go Jen. Or is it Jenn? We have no idea.

"This is like... I feel like we're back in high school with this! How long have I been friends with you.... What a bitch!" - Brody Jenner

Ah yes, the sage wisdom of the great Brody Jenner. Try as he did to talk sense into childhood friend Spencer Pratt, he couldn't it get it through the oily one's head to cool it in regards to Brody's rekindled friendship with Lauren Conrad.

As a result, as Brody himself said, "Spencer broke up with me!"

That was the focal point of last night's new episode of The Hills, in which Lauren Conrad helped her ex-boyfriend (and possible friend with benefits) realize that life can actually be (gasp) a lot more fun without Spencer Pratt.

A stunning revelation, we know.

At the episode's onset, however, the focus was on Audrina Patridge and former flame Justin-Bobby (real name Justin Brescia) who had drifted apart in the last episode, only to get back together again in a true reality TV stunner.

Justin-Bobby tells Audrina that he's "hesitant to put labels on things" and wants them to become "best friends" before lovers, then accuses Audrina of being too sensitive.

Riiiight. Lauren Conrad's take? "[Audrina] wasn't being over-sensitive. He was being over-a$$hole!" Said as only Lauren can. You tell her, girl!

Shortly thereafter, at work (yes, she has a job) Heidi Montag learns that Brody and Lauren have been hanging out again from her boss, club promoter Brent Bolthouse... at a staff meeting. Yeah, MTV doesn't stage this show at all.

Heidi was taken aback, and in typical fashion, Spencer reacted to the news with a sneer. Betrayal. It hurts. Almost as much as having to stare at Spencer Pratt's scraggly-ass blonde beard for much of the show. Take a shave, bro.

Meanwhile, at Les Deux, Brody and Lauren party - with her girl Lo and his boy Frankie Delgado. LC then invites herself over for an "after-party" at his condo. Both deny hooking up the next day, calling it just a "friendly sleepover."

Regardless, they're on good terms, and that's plenty enough for Spencer to shun his childhood pal. When Brody dials Spencer up to shoot the $h!t, Pratt rips him a new one for fraternizing with the enemy - and says that makes him the enemy.

Brody tries to explain, and calm him down, but it's a moot point. As we all know, there's no rationalizing with this conniving, insecure, acne-riddled Devil.

The celebrity gossip fiends over at The Gawker caught the lovely Lauren Conrad of The Hills semi-fame rocking the personalized name necklace, a la Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City.

This is proof positive of that site's theory that The Hills is the new Sex and The City. We wouldn't argue that. A B-grade, quasi-reality TV version for a younger set, maybe, but still, you can't deny the similarities. Here's LC a la Carrie B ...

With her "Lauren" necklace, Conrad channels her inner Sarah Jessica Parker.

Whether it's the new Sex and the City or not, one thing's for sure - MTV insiders say that The Hills is "the only thing holding up the channel at the moment."

It gets over a million viewers per episode (strong for any cable show), and online ratings and streams are through the roof. But everything else over at MTV? Not so hot.

All of the programming meetings are about doing 'triage' on the schedule, though America's Next Top Model marathons are helping to stop the bleeding a little.

Monday's episode of The Hills started with LC and pals at beach BBQ thrown by Brody Jenner in Malibu. Once again, it's a tad annoying that we went in knowing he broke his finger during a football game on the beach. But it was, for the most part, entertaining.

The bash, of course, happened on the same weekend that Brody's quote-unquote publicist, Spencer Pratt, was asked by Heidi Montag to go meet her parents in Colorado.

Brody was upset to hear this, and ripped Spencer for going, calling him "married guy" and saying that a true pal "wouldn't flake out on his homies." True dat, yo.

By and large, Spencer did a nice job with Heidi's folks, although we take serious issue with Heidi saying she always wanted a guy like her dad - and that she got that in Pratt. We found Heidi's dad to be a nice, normal guy, thus making this statement really confusing.

Later, Heidi tried at length to justify her love for Pratt, and Spencer himself was awkwardly thrust into the "heart-to-heart" talk with Mr. Montag. Somehow, the evil one utilized his Revenge of the Sith mind-control techniques to seem like a normal human.

Back at the party, Audrina Patridge was having a great time with boyfriend Justin-Bobby. For some reason, she was all about this guy. That is, until he started flirting with other girls, then ditched the event without telling anyone.

He even left Audrina's bike helmet at Brody's. Classy move.

Lauren Conrad then consoled Audrina Patridge after she miraculously realized what the rest of America already knew - that Justin-Bobby is an absolute waste of space.

In the immortal words of LC: "Homeboy wore combat boots ... to the beach!"

Amen. By far the cutest part of the season so far came when a teary-eyed LC and Audrina Patridge began talking about love and boys in front of the fire - having had a few too many drinks at the party - while trading the requisite hugs and supportive comments.

Awwwww. For one scene, The Hills felt like actual reality again. Cute girls drinking too much, talking about feelings and saying how much they love each other after one of them is spurned by a guy! Who hasn't seen this 50 times at parties!?