The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show is the longest-running program in MTV history. Following Bunim’s death from breast cancer in 2004, Bunim/Murray Productions continues to produce the program. The twenty-second season, set in Cancun, Mexico, premiered on June 24, 2009, and ended its first run on September 9, 2009. The twenty-third season will be set in Washington, D.C., and will premiere December 30, 2009. MTV has also picked up the show for four more seasons, taking it through its 26th season.
History
The show focuses on the lives of a group of strangers who audition to live together in a house for several months, as cameras record their interpersonal relationships. The show moves to a different city each season. The footage shot during the housemates’ time together was edited into 22-minute episodes for the first 19 seasons, and into 44-minute episodes beginning with the The Real World: Hollywood , the series' 20th season. The narration given over the opening title sequence by the seven housemates states some variation of the following:
Before the finished version of the show debuted, the idea of a "scripted" version was toyed with. Rather than being themselves, a set of strangers (not the first-season New York cast) were given story and character arcs to attempt to recreate (a la soap opera). Bunim and Murray decided against this, and, at the last minute, pulled the concept (and the cast) before it became the first season of the show, believing seven diverse people would have enough of a basis upon which to interact without scripts. Tracy Grandstaff, one of the original seven picked for what has come to be known as "Season 0," went on to minor fame as the voice of the animated Beavis and Butt-head character Daria Morgendorffer, who eventually got her own spinoff, Daria .
One early sign of the show’s popularity occurred on the October 2, 1993 episode of the sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live , which parodied the second-season Los Angeles cast, whose members were depicted as contentious and bigoted, a parody of the numerous discussions of racism, bigotry, and political differences that served as a recurring theme that season.
The show also gained widespread attention with its third season, The Real World: San Francisco , which aired in 1994, and depicted the conflict between David "Puck" Rainey, a bicycle messenger criticized for his poor personal hygiene, and his roommates, most notably AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. As the show increased in popularity, Zamora’s life as someone living with AIDS gained considerable notice, garnering widespread media attention. Zamora was one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be portrayed in popular media, and after his death on November 11, 1994 (mere hours after the final episode of his season aired), he was lauded by then-President Bill Clinton. Zamora’s roommate and best friend during the show, Judd Winick, went on to become a successful comic book writer, and wrote the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel Pedro and Me , about his friendship with Zamora, as well as high-profile and controversial storylines in mainstream superhero comics that featured gay and AIDS-related themes. As the San Francisco season continued to gain popularity, it was clear that the infant "reality" television format was one that could bring considerable ratings to a network.
Cast member successes
Appearing on the program has often served as a springboard to further success, especially in the entertainment industry. Eric Nies of the New York cast went on to become a successful model, actor, and television host, and was inducted into the Television and Broadcasters' Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in reality television. His housemate, Kevin Powell, became a successful author, poet, journalist, and 2006 candidate for United States House of Representatives for New York's 10th district. Their housemate Heather B. enjoyed a career as a hip-hop music artist. Los Angeles cast member Beth Stolarczyk has produced men's and women's calendars and television programs featuring reality TV personalities, including herself, Las Vegas' Trishelle Cannatella, Chicago's Tonya Cooley, and Back to New York' s Coral Smith. Stolarczyk and Cannatella have also appeared in Playboy magazine, as have Las Vegas' Arissa Hill and Miami's Flora Alekseyeun. Cooley appeared on playboy.com. London cast member Jacinda Barrett has become a successful film actress, appearing in roles opposite John Travolta, Joaquin Phoenix, Anthony Hopkins and Renée Zellweger. San Diego castmate Jamie Chung has appeared in various television and film roles, including Dragonball Evolution , Sorority Row . Lindsay Brien of the Seattle cast became a radio and CNN personality. Chicago cast member Kyle Brandt’s acting career includes starring in the soap opera Days of our Lives . His castmate Tonya Cooley also appeared on an MTV special of True Life: I'm a Reality TV Star . Las Vegas castmembers Trishelle Cannatella and Steven Hill appeared in the horror film Scorned . Cannatella herself has also appeared on other reality shows, such as The Surreal Life , Battle of the Network Reality Stars , and Kill Reality , the latter of which also featured Hill and Cooley. Hill, along with housemate Alton Williams, hosts a radio show. Mike Mizanin has also found fame as a WWE wrestler wrestling under the name "The Miz", a character he first debuted during his season on The Real World. Dozens of former cast members from The Real World and its sister production Road Rules have appeared on the spin-off series Real World/Road Rules Challenge , which pays up to $100,000 to its winners. Various cast members have also earned livings as public speakers, as Bunim-Murray Productions has funded their training in motivational speaking by the Points of Light Foundation since 2002, allowing them to earn between $1,500 and $2,000 for an appearance on the college lecture circuit.
Related projects
Since the introduction of The Real World , Bunim/Murray has introduced a number of other reality shows, most notably Road Rules , in which five strangers (six in later seasons) are sent off in a Winnebago RV and asked to travel to various locales and complete certain tasks to eventually gain a "handsome reward." Other Bunim/Murray productions include the Real World/Road Rules Challenge , which pits teams of alumni from both shows against each other in physical competitions. Bunim-Murray also produced Pedro , a 2008 film by director Nick Oceano, which dramatized the life of Pedro Zamora, including his stay in the Real World house. The film, Bunim/Murray's first scripted project since the original unaired "Real World" concept, was an Official Selection at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.
Format and structure
Each season consists of seven to eight people, aged 18–25 (a reflection of the network's target demographic), usually selected from thousands of applicants from across the country, with the group chosen typically representing different races, genders, sexual orientations, levels of sexual experiences, and religious and political beliefs. Should a cast member decide to move out, or be asked to do so by his or her roommates, the roommates will usually cast a replacement, dependent on how much filming time is left. Cast members are paid a small stipend for their participation in the show.
Each season begins with the individual members of the house shown leaving home, often for the first time, and/or meeting their fellow housemates while in transit to their new home, or at the house itself. The exception was the Los Angeles season, which premiered with two housemates picking up a third at his Kentucky home and driving in a Winnebago RV to their new home in Los Angeles. Upon arriving at the house, the housemates choose their bedrooms, which is typically the first source of tension, as some roommates fail to acquire a room they might prefer, with many choosing their rooms on a first-come first-served basis before the rest of the cast arrives.
The residence is typically elaborate in its décor, and is usually furnished by IKEA. The residence usually includes a pool table, a Jacuzzi, and an aquarium, which serves as a metaphor for the show, in that the roommates, who are being taped at all times in their home, are seen metaphorically as fish in a fishbowl. This point is punctuated not only by the fact that the MTV logo title card seen after the closing credits of each episode is designed as an aquarium, but also by a poem that Judd Winick wrote during his stay in San Francisco called "Fishbowl". In some seasons, the group is provided with a shared car to use during their stay.
The housemates are taped around the clock. The house is outfitted with video cameras mounted on walls to capture more intimate moments, and numerous camera crews consisting of three to six people follow the cast around the house and out in public. Each member of the cast is instructed to ignore the cameras and the crew, but are required to wear a battery pack and microphone in order to record their dialogue, though some castmembers have been known to turn off or hide them at times. The only area of the house in which camera access is restricted is the bathroom.
Despite the initial awkwardness of being surrounded by cameramen, castmembers have insisted that they eventually adjust to it, and that their behavior is purely natural, and not influenced b
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