Top Five: "Laguna Beach" Season One moments

I heard that MTV's been replaying its reality show franchise (if you wanna call it that) "Laguna Beach" recently, and it's being referred to as "Retro MTV" or the like. To me, it wasn't that long ago. Maybe because I'm about the same age as the "Laguna Beach/The Hills" cast members, and developmentally, I was already fully grown when the show began to air on MTV in the fall of 2004. Or maybe because "Laguna Beach" became "The Hills," became "The City" and "Audrina," and the whole "Laguna Beach" wheel only stopped turning about 2 years ago.

I remember being skeptical about the show, because MTV had dubbed it "The Real O.C.," and I thought MTV was just trying to ride on the real "O.C."'s coattails. I was also skeptical because I had also recently graduated high school and wasn't sure I wanted to watch oh-so-dramatic high schoolers duking it out. Especially rich, pretty blonde ones.

Well, as with every show that MTV likes to play marathon-style on weekends, I eventually became victim to "Laguna Beach: The Real O.C." ... but I never fell victim to Lauren! Most won't agree, but I don't think she and Stephen were ever that compatible -- they didn't really seem to be on the same level, intellectually. I can proudly state that I was always, always Team Kristin. Even when the going got bad on the last season of "The Hills."

Here is a list of my top five favorite "Laguna Beach: The Real O.C." moments from season one:

(Episode 11 - 8:45) Kristin and Stephen have a romantic talk on the beach, when they discuss the status of their relationship.

(Episode 11 - 18:31) Lauren heads off to San Francisco, and who's there to meet her but the love of her life. I didn't believe a second of this, but it was a nice season ending, and much more subtle than what was to come.

(Episode 2 - 10:45) Kristin and Jessica cook for Stephen and Dieter ... and it's not good.

(Episode 2 - 14:00) Kristin and Stephen have a civilized argument at their favorite eatery, Pomodoro.

(Episode 11 - 16:05) While Lauren is packing to head off to college in San Francisco, Lo can't bear to leave ... and asks if she can have Lauren's "Goachi" bag to remember her by.

So ... what were your favorite moments of season one? Do you prefer season one or season two? Looking back, season one was quite drama-free in comparison to season two and "The Hills."