MTV’s The Real World debuted on May 21, 1992, starting a television revolution that has lasted for a quarter century and shows no sign of stopping.
The Real World New York
Real World Seattle Irene’s must-read indictment of Real World, MTV, and reality TV’s evolution
Irene McGee is best known for her 1998 exit from The Real World Seattle: Citing her Lyme disease as the reason, she leaves the show, only to be hit in the face by a fellow cast member, Stephen, as cameras rolled. Now, 15 years later, Irene tells the story of her time on the series–not… continue reading
Real World’s Puck arrested for domestic violence yet again
The Real World San Francisco cast member David Rainey, better known as Puck, has again been arrested for domestic violence. This time he was arrested for “July 13th in L.A. and charged with inflicting bodily injury on a woman who cops say is a “spouse, former spouse, cohabitant or former cohabitant” of Puck (a.k.a. domestic… continue reading
MTV’s Real World marathon this weekend: let’s all feel old together
In advance of next week’s debut of The Real World Portland, the 28th season of the reality series, MTV announced that it will air marathons of three curiously chosen seasons of the show this weekend: season one, three (The Real World San Francisco), and season 12 (The Real World Las Vegas, also known as the… continue reading
Happy Endings + The Real World = awesome
ABC’s comedy Happy Endings parodied The Real World on last Tuesday’s episode, with the storyline revolving around Damon Wayans and Adam Pally’s characters appearing on The Real World Sacramento, a season that was never broadcast season because one of the cast members burned down the show’s firehouse home. Happy Endings has been really hit or… continue reading
Sean Duffy re-elected: The Real World still has representation in Congress
The Real World Boston cast member Sean Duffy was re-elected to the United States House of Representatives yesterday, assuring that reality TV cast members still have a representative in Congress. Drunk 20-somethings hooking up and/or fighting in hot tubs can relax. Sean defeated Pat Kreitlow by winning 56 percent of the vote. The AP reports… continue reading
Sean Duffy speaks at RNC: still weird to see a Real World cast member like this
Former The Real World Boston cast member Sean Duffy spoke at the Republican National Convention yesterday, and although he’s been a member of Congress for a while now, it’s still weird to see him in this context. It’s also weird that he’s introduced as “the former world champion lumberjack athlete” instead of “the former MTV… continue reading
The Real World (smartly) alienated its original fans by refusing to age with them
In the nostalgia surrounding The Real World‘s 20th anniversary on Monday–a day MTV ignored–one thing that’s pretty clear is that many of us who found the show in our teens now find ourselves not watching the show we once loved. That the cast members rarely have lives or ambitions outside of the show is now… continue reading
The Real World turns 20 today: seven strangers spawned 27+ seasons, 20 years of reality TV
On May 21, 1992, MTV debuted The Real World, with its creators, Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim, taking a cue from PBS’ American Family and turning real people’s lives into a soap opera. But as the introduction said, this wasn’t a pre-existing family, but something else: “This is the true story of seven strangers picked… continue reading
Real World season one cast: where are they now?
Impossible as it is to believe, The Real World‘s first season aired 19 years ago. And while several of its cast members stayed in the spotlight for some time–Eric Nies, ahem–others have virtually, and perhaps smartly, disappeared. Fox News’ Fox 411 has a slideshow that checks in with each cast member, although not all of… continue reading
The Real World cast contract published
The cast contract for MTV’s seminal reality show The Real World has been obtained and published by The Village Voice. It is remarkably similar to those I’ve published recently: the Survivor cast contract and the Big Brother houseguest contract, which are signed by those who reach the finals casting process. For example, cast members agree… continue reading
Puck arrested for domestic violence, again
The Real World San Francisco cast member David Rainey, aka Puck, was arrested June 19 for domestic violence and is in jail, waiting to appear in court July 6. The Los Angeles Times reports that he was arrested and booked “on suspicion of felony corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant” The paper notes that… continue reading
Real World’s first two seasons are on Hulu Plus
With this weekend’s rebroadcast of An American Family, it’s a good time to rediscover more of reality TV’s roots. While the PBS documentary series laid the groundwork, MTV and Bunim-Murray’s The Real World is the show that changed everything 20 years later, and gave us everything from confessional interviews to the creation of an artificial… continue reading
Sean Duffy says he “struggles” with $174K salary in video Republicans want removed
The Real World Boston cast member and now member of Congress Sean Duffy told a constituent, “I struggle to meet my bills right now,” and said “At this point, I’m not living high off the hog,” even though he now makes $174,000 a year as a Representative. More hilariously, Republicans are trying to get the… continue reading
3rd day of reality TV: Three people fighting on Real World, and “it wasn’t not funny”
The scene below is responsible for my addiction to reality TV as a teenager, and I suppose is responsible for my work over the past 11 years, so it’s definitely a gift worth celebrating on this, the third day of reality TV. It’s playfulness between three The Real World Los Angeles cast members–Tami Roman, David… continue reading