There used to be a lot to like about The Hills.

If nothing else, you could count on rich prima donna twentysomethings stirring up petty arguments and maybe even physical altercation over really mundane conflicts.

That's good stuff right there. It's the same concept that makes The Real Housewives of New Jersey and their ilk so entertaining, too. They're guilty pleasures, basically.

No Hills recap can really do justice to how stale this feels, how fake and contrived, without even bringing any of the fun that used to make those points less of an issue.

Nowadays, though, The Hills is just plain dull. Lauren Conrad has moved on, villains Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag are apparently MIA and there is no entertainment.

Brody Jenner does his best to sleep through The Hills, but can't save it.

You don't have to do a lot to make a reality TV compelling, but you should put some people on the screen that people either love or love to hate. LC or Speidi, respectively.

Now we have story lines centering on Stephanie Pratt, his sister. Really? With Lo Bosworth and Audrina Patridge offering dating advice? This is really what we've sunk to?

We're not sure who we feel more sorry for, the guy dating Stephanie last night, Stephanie herself for getting advice from Audrina (the world's worst dater), or our interns.

We make them sit through this show. It's like hazing in a sense.

We like watching Brody Jenner hit on girls, and he and Kristin Cavallari have a nice thing going. But they can't carry the show on their own. They can't. We've seen it before.

Ooh, they're together but not? One of the two has different expectations than the other? What original writing! Almost as realistic as the newly-introduced "friends" they have.

After six seasons, you need something fresh. For MTV, that's going to come in the form of new shows, rather than new blood introduced into this one, which is fading fast.

There's not a lot else to say about "A New Bird." Other than that the network needs one, because this one flew the coop long ago ... right around when Lauren Conrad did.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.