Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County?

Ok, so unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you know what what Laguna Beach is. We basically talk like Kristen, Stephen, Jason and Jessica are all our best friends, "OMG can you believe Jason did that to LC" or "Jessica is sooo not over Jason". But just how real is the drama? I've heard a lot of websites claim that all of their cat fights are scripted and some even go so far as to say that the cast members aren't even real high school students. Let me tell you what I've heard:

1. Shooting of the series only takes place Thursday-Sunday so if producers want some juice, they have to make it happen on those specific days.
2. All of the relationships are real but most of the on screen drama is completey set up. For instance, that bar scene from their Cabo trip were Alex confronts Jessica and calls her very dirty words, COMPLETELY FAKE. The directors made sure that Alex and Jessica were at the same place at the same time and basically handed them their lines on a silver platter.
3. Directors often times ask the cast, "So, tell me what you think about Jessica" or "How do you feel about Kristin right now". All those shots of the girls on the beach in lawn chairs gossiping about each other, yeah, they wouldn't be doing that if the directors didn't ask them to.
4. Stephen and Jason are actually really good friends and he didn't mind when Jason started "dating" LC.
5. Not everyone on the show is mega-rich; word has it that one of the cast members actually lived in a trailer park. The only REALLY rich girls are Kristen and LC.

Anyways, I could talk about Laguna Beach gossip for days, theres just so much of it. What do ya'll think? Is Laguna Beach a complete waste of time? Do you absolutely loath the characters or envy them? What do you think about the actual camera angles and set up of the series? AND WHO THINKS THAT TALAN IS THE WORST SINGER ALIVE?!?!?!

-Alyce Thibodeaux