This show is pretty much the definition of a guilty pleasure, and I'm guilty all right: half of the people I know mock me for watching this show and the other half have no idea I watch because I would die of shame if they found out. My sister constantly questions why I watch LB and I have fine-honed my reasons:
-- I went to an overly academically geared high school, so never had the chance to gossip about the in-crowd hijinks of "hooking up" and drunken antics. I missed out on my prime gossip years!
-- It's a chance to see how the other (wealthier) half live... and mock them.
-- Anthropologists have determined that 60% of human communication involves talking about other people; watching "Laguna Beach" proves how human I am.
-- It's a chance to sit back and watch attractive, overly wealthy and pampered teenagers make each other miserable by gossiping, back-stabbing and stealing each other's boyfriends and objects of affection. It's like the real-life version of "Mean Girls" only without Tina Fey writing their lines for them. Less wit, better clothes!
The show is lots of fun if you've got the twisted sensibility to enjoy it. And the second season is much, much better than the first season, with more cat fights, break-ups, tears and "hook-ups" than ever.
My only caveat: watching this on DVD is really the best way to watch, just downing episode after episode right after each other, but I don't know about the necessity of owning them -- who would want to re-watch these episode over and over again? I'm pretty much of the opinion that no reality show is a must-have on DVD, so definitely Netflix/rent over buying.