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Maui is the new Laguna Beach

maui.jpgThey're not wanted in Laguna Beach, so MTV is now unleashing a new "reality" drama series set in a beachside paradise full of sexy young pretties. And this one is set far enough away that the complaints from the locals won't sound so loud.

Maui Fever, which was announced a few months back as Island Fever, follows the lives of seven 20-something "friends and lovers" dealing with the ups and downs of youth and beauty while living and working in the tourist mecca of Lahaina. Producers got started in June shot eight half-hour episodes over three months. They also shot another MTV series called Living Lahaina, which follows surf instructors at the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy.

And though we haven't seen Maui saddled with the tag "The real Hawaii," the grumblings about how accurately the show depicts the youth and culture of Maui has already begun.

But here's the real controversy (and it's not the imminent arrival of the Island Kristin Cavallari):

The series premieres January 17th at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday nights at 10:30. That's Twentyfourseven's spot.

(By the way, Maui Fever, featuring locals pitted against the money-flashing vacationers, sounds similar in theme to the classic Blue Crush, which starred Kate Bosworth and the lovely Lost rapscallion Michelle Rodriguez, and is on the list of Tabloid Baby's Top 50 movies of all time. Crush, though, was set on Oahu, where ABC's Lost is filmed.)

--Tabloid Baby

Comments (9)

JerseyGirl [TypeKey Profile Page]:

Twentyfourseven got cancelled a while ago. Well, technically it's airing "exclusively" on MTV.com but yeah...it got canned.

susanarosa [TypeKey Profile Page]:

Would the folks in Hawaii rather continue to be depicted by Dog the Bounty Hunter?

shiaobundan [TypeKey Profile Page]:

24/7 was seriously the dumbest non-dating reality show in MTV history... even worse than Sorority Girls. Good Riddance.

This show doesn't sound all that great though... is there gonna be another season of 8th and Ocean?? Hopefully MTV didn't 8th , because I'm sure it'd be much better than this crap.

WhatHappensInCabo... [TypeKey Profile Page]:

this makes me SO mad!
maui is like, my favorite placeon the planet. more specifically, lahaina. now they are going to ruin it. :[ ugh. stick to laguna.

moanikealaokalauae [TypeKey Profile Page]:

I watched the commercial for this show and was totally let down. I'm from Maui and I think this show is gonna be a bad representation of locals here. They are making Hawaii out to be something like Laguna Beach. Just taking a look at the "white society". I could be wrong, but we'll just have to see when the show airs.

namtt [TypeKey Profile Page]:

I am 5 minutes into the show and it is absolutely terrible........and where are all the asians and hawaiins?!!!!!! very sad to see MTV protray maui as a shallow and drama filled land.

Levi [TypeKey Profile Page]:

Although Laguna Beach and Maui Fever may be poor portrayals of the real life there, I still like them because I live in Kansas and have no pop-culture to get except for the stuff I see on tv. So I guess MTV is banking on people like me to watch.

john doe [TypeKey Profile Page]:

This show is trash, not one real hawaiian on the show, just a bunch of screwy cali kids trashing the ideal of Maui. Producers should be dealt with like Captian Cook.

cat:

last time i checked, hawaii is in the usa, not asia, the cast is perfect!

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