"The number one question is — was 'Laguna Beach' real?" Cavallari said.

And the answer is (drum roll, please): " 'Laguna Beach" was real, although I don't think I was portrayed accurately."

Ah, the refrain of all "reality" show participants who come off looking bad. But what, exactly, does she mean by that?

"You can take that however you want to," she said.

Still, that's a fairly serious charge to call a "reality" show inaccurate. (Although, oddly enough, she called it "real" in the same breath.) Again, what do you mean by that?

"I mean, the ideas are real, and the concepts are real," Cavallari said. "Me, personally, I wasn't portrayed accurately. I think they made me more of the mean girl, the bad one. And I don't really think that's how I am. But that's what editing can do."

Again, the refrain of 'reality" show participants who come off looking bad. For the record, if she hadn't cheated on her boyfriend, slept around and bad-mouthed people behind their backs, the producers of "Laguna Beach" couldn't have edited those parts in.

Ah, well.

Sometimes there's karma on TV, though. Not only is "Party" a big snooze, but Cavallari displays all the personality of a piece of stale bread.

What with the impending merger of UPN and the WB, the chances of "Party"-ing on are slim, at best.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com