Laguna Beach Times

Psst, LATimes.com, your readership has voted. Forget your Supreme Court blog or your new The Envelope awards season site.

Nope, apparently LATimes.com are hungry for news about MTV's "Laguna Beach." The paper's Saturday front-page story about the hit reality show has been the Times' most e-mailed story for at least the past 24 hours.

And why not. It's exactly what the paper's critics have been demanding for years: More localized coverage of things people (sadly or not) care about. (And I'm not talking about imaginary "gang rumbles" -- apparently "West Side Story" was re-enacted in Brentwood on Halloween! -- alleged by easily frightened West Siders.)

From the story:

With season two ending on Nov. 14 and new faces for season three currently being cast, "Laguna Beach" has not only brought the city of 25,000 to the world, it has also brought the world to its shores, shops and schools. Shopkeepers are swamped with tourists and callers wanting to track down the stars. "I've spent the last two years saying 'Stephen doesn't work here,' " said Thalia Street Surf Shop owner Pam Cocores.

The tourist bureau has issued a self-guided tour of the show's locales. EBay is offering paraphernalia, including a real prom photo of cast members: asking price $400.

And while school officials say an increased enrollment had been expected, rumors are circulating that starry-eyed out-of-towners hoping to be cast in the show have caused a surge in the freshman class. This fall it numbers 300, the highest in a decade.

Some original cast members — including Kristin Cavallari, Stephen Colletti, Lauren Conrad and Dieter Schmitz — whose every searching look has been lovingly photographed in close-up and heightened with background music — have moved to Los Angeles, where they are bona fide celebrities, some working on acting careers. "We've been hanging at clubs with Paris [Hilton]," Schmitz said. Many have their own publicists; they appear in national magazines and gossip columns.

Even Crystal Cathedral minister Robert A. Schuller got caught up in the glamour. Schuller, his wife Donna and daughter Christina appeared in season one, and they're grooming their son Anthony for TV stardom as well.

Being on the show "is going to be great" for Christina, now a student at USC, who wants a career in film, Schuller said. She thinks her son Anthony has a good chance to be cast in season three, "if they don't think he's too boring or not controversial enough."

All right, LATimes.com, time to strike while it's hot. Want a surefire way to boost young readership? It's obvious: The "Laguna Beach" blog. Then, you could even sneak in a few links to online Alito confirmation coverage. (Kristin on the Dems' filibuster option: "Like, whatever.")