“THE IDEA WAS TO CAPTURE THESE KIDS’ LIVES IN A WAY THAT MADE IT LOOK LIKE YOU’RE WATCHING A DRAMA.”

THE early success of MTV’s “Laguna Beach: The Real O.C.” could spur a new kind of reality TV – big news for a genre nearing “enough already” levels.

“Laguna Beach,” a reality show taped like an hour-long drama, follows eight high-school students and lifelong friends, who live in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Unlike the elements of standard reality shows, there are no confessionals, no kids living together in a house, no competitions – only real kids living their real, everyday lives in their natural environment.

And it’s all filmed like a scripted drama show. Think “Dawson’s Creek” of “Smallville” with actual 17-year-olds – no 20-something actors pretending to be younger. The show’s Sept. 28 debut grabbed nearly 2.4 million viewers – and MTV hopes tomorrow’s second episode cements the show’s hit status.

“The idea was to capture these kids’ lives in a way that made it look like you’re watching a drama,” says Tony DiSanto, MTV’s senior VP of production. “I don’t know if I would take this sort of visual format and apply it to something else – I hate to repeat myself.

“But if ‘Laguna Beach’ continues [beyond its 11-episode commitment], it would be good to continue with the team we have in place.”

That team includes executive producer Gary Auerbach of Go Go Luckey Productions, who was brought into the project after it was developed by MTV exec Liz Gately.

“The concept to do a reality version of ‘The O.C.’ came from Liz Gately, who wanted to take it a step further and tell the story using the visual language of narrative dramas rather than documentaries,” DiSanto says.

MTV hired a casting director to scout high schools in Southern California – that’s “The O.C.” territory – and found the eight lifetime pals attending Laguna Beach High School.

“We approached this more like we were approaching making a film,” says Auerbach. “High school dramas work on a scripted level for a reason – there are natural things happening in the teens’ lives that relate to drama.

“And it’s the same thing for real kids,” he says. “They’re graduating from high school, leaving their parents and boyfriends and girlfriends – there are decisions to make.

“A lot of our audience ishe same kids who like dramas on The WB . . . and this is like the next natural step of reality TV.

“It’s a fresh idea of blending reality and the traditions of scripted TV.”