| The City | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Created by | Adam DiVello |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Whitney Port |
| Opening theme | "Top of the World" byPussycat Dolls |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 35(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| 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 (2010-7-13) |
| Related | |
| The Hills | |
The City is an Americanreality television series that originally aired onMTV from December 29, 2008, until July 13, 2010. Developed as thespin-off ofThe Hills, the series aired two seasons and focused on the personal and professional lives of several young women residing inNew York City,New York. Its premise was conceived byAdam DiVello, whileLiz Gateley and Sean Travis served asexecutive producers.
The series originally focused onWhitney Port, who appeared in its predecessor, as she began employment withDiane von Fürstenberg. It additionally placed emphasis on her workplace rivalOlivia Palermo, Port's boyfriendJay Lyon, his roommateAdam Senn, and her friendErin Lucas. The latter three were replaced by Port's roommate Roxy Olin and Palermo's co-workerErin 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 includingsoap operas, and appearing to fabricate much of its storyline. The show has distributed all seasons to DVD.
In 2004, thereality television seriesLaguna Beach: The Real Orange County premiered onMTV.[1] The program was created byLiz Gateley and documented the lives of several students attendingLaguna 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 producerAdam DiVello developed thespin-off programThe Hills to follow one of its predecessor's original cast membersLauren Conrad as she moved toLos Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry.[5] AfterThe Hills itself became similarly successful, DiVello developedThe City upon the conclusion of the parent series' fourth season, which saw one of its primary cast membersWhitney Port move toNew York City to begin employment withDiane von Fürstenberg.[6][7]
The City chronicles the lives of several young women living inNew York City,New York. Every installment commences with a voice-over narrative from series leadWhitney Port, foreshadowing thetheme 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 followedThe After Show format used by other MTV programs, includingThe Hills, where Jessi Cruickshank andDan 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, andOlivia Palermo.[11] Lucas, Lyon, and Senn were replaced by Roxy Olin andErin 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] whileJoe Zee was credited as Palermo's boss atElle.[16]
In its series premiere,The City first introducesWhitney Port, who moved fromLos Angeles,California toNew York City,New York to begin employment for fashion designerDiane von Fürstenberg. She reunited with her friendErin Lucas and love interestJay Lyon, and befriended co-workerOlivia 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 housemateAdam 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 inToronto, 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 employerKelly 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 withElle, where she clashed with co-worker and new main cast memberErin 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 toBergdorf Goodman, and decided to further publicize her collection through a fashion show atBryant 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 onElle.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 ofElle.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]
The City received generally mixed reviews from critics. Melissa Camacho ofCommon Sense Media criticized the program for featuring a near-identical plotline to its predecessorThe Hills, whereLauren Conrad was similarly shown to pursue a career in the fashion industry while addressing difficulties among her friends.[34] Ginia Bellefante fromThe 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 thatThe Hills, with its dreamily shot opening-credit sequence, is forLos Angeles".[35] An editor fromThe Village Voice questioned if Port was interesting enough to lead her own spin-off series, describing her personality as featuring "unavoidable, inexorable ordinariness".[36]
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 onCanal 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]
The series opening ofThe City premiered to 1.6 million viewers, significantly less than the 2.6 million viewers attracted by the fourth-season finale ofThe 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 thatThe 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]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 23 | 13 | December 29, 2008 (2008-12-29) | March 16, 2009 (2009-3-16) |
| 10 | September 29, 2009 (2009-9-29) | December 1, 2009 (2009-12-1) | ||
| 2 | 12 | April 27, 2010 (2010-4-27) | July 13, 2010 (2010-7-13) | |
The City's first season commenced airing on December 29, 2008, one week after the fourth-season finale ofThe 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] following the fifth-season extension premiere ofThe Hills, where both were moved to the Tuesday night timeslot, and both concluded on December 1, 2009.[9] The second season premiered on April 27, 2010, after the sixth-season premiere ofThe 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 instandard definition. The series' episodes are also available for download at theiTunes Store.[47] Episodes were previously available for viewing through the officialMTV website, though they have since become unavailable since the series' conclusion.[48] Since its debut,Paramount Pictures has released both seasons ofThe 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]