The City debuted last night with back-to-back episodes, “If She Can Make it Here…” and “The Truth Will Reveal Itself.” The Hills spinoff did not disappoint.
In typical fashion, The Hollywood Gossip will be recapping every episode, awarding and deducting points as it sees fit. Last night’s introduction to the series found Whitney Port overwhelmed by co-workers, friends and boyfriend drama in N.Y.C.
On to the rankings!

Not enough fashion exposure – during Fashion Week, no less. Minus 3.
Who the heck is Erin Lucas, and how is Whitney friends with her? We don’t really understand this relationship, but she seems pretty nice! Plus 4.
Charming as he seems one moment, Jay Lyon sure can act like a jerk the next. Mumbling repeatedly and proclaiming that he’s gonna do whatever the eff he wants doesn’t endear you to most people. Minus 5. But Plus 3 for the accent and hair!
What to you make of Whitney Port and smooth-talking Jay Lyon?
Our first impressions of Olivia Palermo were not exactly strong. Anybody calling herself a “social” – short for socialite, like you need a nickname for that – automatically sucks. And who the hell calls a debutante ball a “Deb.” Lame. Minus 7.
This isn’t a specific point, but a general observation – by virtue of her intelligence and the fact that she’s relatable on some level, a show about Whitney Port sure beats one that – at least in Season Four – focused so much on Audrina Patridge. Plus 10.
Speaking of Audzo, Whitney stands up to Jay Lyon, unlike a certain someone. Calling him out on the issue with his ex showed she’s not going to be a pushover. Plus 2.
Minus 6 for The City trying to play up the whole New York City class-by-neighborhood angle – there are dozens of distinct areas, not just uptown vs. downtown. Gossip Girl does the same thing, but The City is even worse about it – and at least Gossip Girl is supposed to be fictional, not a quote-unquote reality show.
What’s not to love about Whitney and Kelly Cutrone’s little heart-to-heart at the end? Everybody needs an experienced voice of reason as a sounding board at times. Quite the contrast from Lisa Love passive-aggressively criticizing LC, no? Plus 5.
Man, when Olivia was grilling Whitney about Jay’s whereabouts at the party, we wanted to backhand that rich-girl pout off her face so hard. Minus 4.
Just pointing out that the gruesome twosome, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, do not appear on The City. How great is this show? Obligatory Plus 20.
On the verbal sparring between Alex and Jay: Minus 6 for the use of “dude” every other word and because it was so obviously staged by MTV to stir up drama, but Plus 5 for Jay seemingly legitimately annoyed. Maybe he wasn’t in on the act. Plus 3 more, too for Alex’s threat to “take care of you myself,” which, while totally lame, is exactly the kind of thing dudes say when they are trying to front like they’re hard.
TOTAL: +25! A solid debut for The City. Leave a comment with your own scores!