We have been waiting for this day since the moment LC told Stephen she was moving to Los Angeles. The Hills premiers tonight on MTV, and seriously, we could not be more excited. The end of Laguna Beach left a whole in our hearts, and while Entourage may have done it's part to fill our all things California quota, there has been a major lack of underage surfer boys and pedicures on our television screens.

And if you think that's poetic, listen to the New York Times cream their pants over the "new" LC — now an almost grown-up Teen Vogue intern who comes of age as she leaves her spoiled teen years and enters her spoiled young adult era.

This works well for Lauren, who is actually not so trifling as the others; she was always much more wary and anxious than a pretty teenager should have any cause to be. Her heavily lined eyes appeared more watchful than bright or twinkly, even in the old golden light; now she has the thriller lighting to match her mood.

Lauren's workday, granted, is a charmed one: the series chronicles her experience as an intern at Teen Vogue (which receives heavy promotion here). But sand and surf have given way to steel and glass in her world, and she is earnestly trying to forge a Mary Tyler Moore existence in Los Angeles. (Who knows what Lauren Conrad actually wants? I watch this show as fiction.) She really does have to work, as we see her stamping envelopes and typing on a computer. And put it this way: now she wears a headset when she goes to parties.

The Times is so freakin' right. Pretty girls should never worry about things. And stamping envelopes is about as much effort as they should ever attempt to exert. Before we know it, little LC will be 26, and standing in line to take Alex Kuczynski's job.

'The Hills,' a Follow-Up to 'Laguna Beach,' Makes Its Premiere on MTV [Virginia Heffernan]