What I learned from The Hills

On the 10-year anniversary of the show's premiere, a look at how it changed reality TV

The Hills shaped many viewers' outlook on high school and college.
(Image credit: Facebook/The Hills)

It was the tear seen 'round the web. A single streak of mascara down a perfectly pretty and pained face.

If you've been on the internet in the last decade, you've seen that GIF before. It shows SoCal princess Lauren Conrad, in the midst of a friendship-defining conversation on her MTV reality show The Hills, shedding a single, picture-perfect tear. When it first happened, it was as relatable as it was heart-wrenching. After all, who among us hasn't lost the fight against their stubborn tear ducts during a hard talk with a best friend?

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Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.