6. The Real World (1992 - Present) - I almost don't remember a time when "The Real World" was not on television. I was twelve years old when it premiered and I am now in my thirties and the show is still going strong; 26 seasons later. I have no idea why I liked the "Real World" when I was 12 years old. I could not have cared any less about political issues, racial issues, religious views, or even diversity for that matter. I was twelve years old and it was 1992. I am not sure what entertainment value I took out of the show, but for some reason it made me fall in love with the concept of reality TV. "The Real World" is considered the father of reality television, and paved the way for all other reality shows that are on today.
Not only did the "Real World" given us this new form of entertainment, I believe that it has done more for the continuing evolution of tolerance in our society than any other television program. Believe it or not, the "Real World" has been one of the biggest source of informal education in millions of teenagers lives over the past twenty years.
Of course, it is "The Real World" so I would be amiss if I did not say that there have been many times over the past twenty years in which "The Real World" has made us all much dumber and has killed many of our hard earned brain cells. As the seasons go on the learning is decreasing, while the killing of brain cells in increasing.
Let us all now take a few moments and reflect back on twenty years of the groundbreaking television show that has changed so many lives for better or for worse. ********** If you have never enjoyed "The Real World" or have never seen it, then you may want to stop here, because you will not understand anything and think that I am crazy.**********
Season 1 (New York, 1992)
Favorites then - Julie and Eric, Favorites as a grown man - Andre and Becky
Season 1 intro.
Best quotes - Day 1 of the Real World ever. Heather B's beeper makes a noise and Julie (19 years old from Alabama) says "Do you sell drugs, why do you have a beeper." Heather and Kevin thought she only said that because Heather was black, and that was the beginning of the race wars in season 1. The race wars continued the entire season and were elevated by the Rodney King beating in LA while they were living together.
Kevin to Becky (yelling) - "Race plus power equals racism."
Becky to Kevin - "What power do I havvvvvvvvvveeeeeeee Kevin?"
One of the best "Real World" moments of all time. Heather B., the overweight rapper, falls while taking Norman's (who was one of the first openly gay people on television) dog, Gouda, on a walk. "That dog made me fall." - Heather B.
Real World New York - A
Season 2 (Los Angeles, 1993)
Where do I begin? This season is responsible for so many classic quotes and unforgettable moments, it will be extremely difficult to narrow it down to a few, so please forgive me if I do not include your favorite Real World LA moment.
Key Moments - Irene, the cop gets married. What? Why would she volunteer to be on the Real World if she was getting married. I never understood that.
Tami gets her mouth wired shut to shed some unwanted pounds.
Tami gets an abortion. In 1993, Tami got an abortion, and Jon (very religious) could not handle or accept this decision. This made everyone hate Jon even more. Poor kid. This was the messages on screen before the show began. "This is the real world where sometimes we face life's serious and sobering struggles.This episode examines one of the most complex, controversial and painful of these struggles. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED."
Beth A is a lesbian. She was probably the first lesbian many of us saw on television.
And, the most classic moment of reality TV history, David pulls the blanket off of Tami, and gets kicked out of the house......
I often thank God that David pulled those blankets off of an underwear clad Tami back in 1993. If he never decided to do that, we would have never heard the greatest quote in the history of talking.
This quote is not from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, President John F. Kennedy, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or even James Dean. This quote is from none other than Real World LA's own Tami.
After she realizes that the camera crew filmed the "incident" any humor that she found in the situation quickly fled from her and she became an instant lunatic. She retaliated by putting David's shows in the toilet, dumping a bottle of scope mouthwash on his bed (after politely asking her roommates if the mouthwash was theirs)grabbing her AquaNet hairspray, and screaming the following words at him........
"I told you to stop. My Underwears was coming down. But you laughing, cause its funny, and it WASN'T NOT FUNNY." ***
*** There are ZERO typo's in that quote.
This is the most riveting 6 minutes ever on TV. People often forget to mention Beth S getting her head slammed into the bathroom door, and Jon blaming rap music for the entire incident. Classic.
Tami gets her jaw wired shut for three weeks. Why does nobody mention that she answers phones for a living?
Tami's abortion / and Aaron's love life
Real World Los Angeles - A+
Season 3 (San Fransicso, 1994)
This is the season that catapulted the show into the spotlight. Pedro (openly gay cast member living with HIV) and Puck (a very odd bike messenger) are two of the most famous Real Worlders of all time and this epic season was many people's favorite, despite the rest of the awful, boring, cast (with the exception of Rachel.) A little known fact about Pedro is that in September of 1994 (the "Real World San Francisco was still airing) he became increasingly ill and was flown to a hospital in Miami. During that time he received a phone call from then President Bill Clinton thanking him for all he has done to raise awareness for HIV and AIDS. On the night the final episode of "The Real World: San Fransicso" aired, Pedro died. Just hours after the season ended. Crazy.
quotes - ""As long as Puck lives in this house, Pedro does not live in the house." - Pedro Zamora
http://youtu.be/a_Pm4Z6a6_M Pedro/Puck final fight
* The only thing Pam contributed to the Real World is that after the show ended she married Judd and they are still married*
*Also, Rachel has married Sean from The Real World: Boston" and they now have SIX kids.
Real World San Francisco - A-
Season 4 (London, 1995)
You should have stayed in America, MTV. I didn't hate the season, but it was the only season in the first 12 seasons that most people did not enjoy. All together there have been 4 seasons of the show filmed outside of the US and they are all pretty terrible. (Paris, Sydney and Cancun were the others) The Real World: London has an excuse for why it was not filled with drama. The producers decided that there was no way they could have topped the Pedro/Puck drama from season three, and decided to make RW London into a more romantic, feel good season.
MTV got three of the most boring Americans they could find, Mike, Jay and Kat and stuck them in a house with four crazy foreigners, Jacinda, Sharon, Neil and Lars.
The season highlight was when Neil was on stage singing (screaming) and for some unknown reason decided to lean over and kiss a male audience member. The guy decided to bite off Neil's tongue. Uhhhhhhh, what? Very bizarre. Neil was then forced to talk through a scary voice synthesizer and occasionally his equally frightening girlfriend, Chrys.
Oh my God, Kat. A girl walked by real close to you IN A CLUB. What was wrong with her. I often forget how much I hate Kat. I really need to think about that more often.
Real World London - B
Season 5 (Miami, 1996)
Here comes the good stuff. Crazy, drunk Americans. This was the first "party season" on The Real World. This is the beginning of things getting a little out of control. The Real World Miami was the first season in which MTV decided they would have the cast members work together. In this season they gave the seven roommates a bunch of money to start any business they wanted to start; in Miami. They did absolutely nothing and it was a complete disaster. However, it did cause a bunch of arguments.
Best moments - When Sarah shoves Flora through the glass bathroom window in order to catch a peek at what Mike, Melissa, and Melanie the random waitress are doing in there. The window breaks, obviously, and Flora gets busted.
- When Melissa opens up some mail that belongs to Dan and he has a mental breakdown and calls her some really bad names. This leads to Melissa calling Dan even worse names. Then both of them crying.
- When Sarah gets her feelings hurt by Flora and in a confessional says the following quote "It kind of hurt my feelings, it did hurt my feelings, my feelings were hurt." We get it Sarah.
Real World Miami - A
Season 6 (Boston, 1997) - I'm pretty sure this is my favorite season of the show. Not only because it was filmed in Boston, but because I either loved or hated all of the cast.
This season the cast had to work at an after school program in downtown Boston. I can not believe that people actually let these 7 people watch their children. On a field trip, Montana actually let 2 of the boys have a sip of her wine. She got fired, but luckilly, not arrested.
Highlights of the season were Montana and her boyfriend, VAJ, fighting over the telephone more violently than I have ever heard people fight.
*Elka turning from a sweet naive girl into a raging slut.
*Occasional clips of Sean lumberjacking.
*Genesis putting up her Genisisms all over the wall and Sean and Syrus ripping them down.
*Somebody yelling TIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBEEEEEERRRRRRRRR as if a tree was falling down every time that Jason's girlfriend, Timber, walked into the house.
*When Kameelah threatens to "knock out" Elka at the day care center.
*Syrus starts dating a mother of one of the children at the daycare center.
*When Genesis breaks into tears in front of the children at the daycare center because a child says that she does not like gay people.
Seriously, whose bright idea was it for these people to work together, with children?
I would have paid a good amount of money to have had a camera rolling on Vaj during this epic breakup.
Real World: Boston - A+
Season 7 (Seattle, 1998)
"The Real World: Seattle" is credited for having maybe the most memorable moment in RW history (or at least tied with the blanket incident in LA) It is known, simply, as "The Bitch Slap Heard Around the World." Crazy Irene decided to leave the RW house before filming ended. As a parting gift she told Stephen that a marriage between them would never work. She asked if he would like to known why. He said "Yes." Her response was "because you're a homosexual Stephen." He flipped out threw her teddy beat that he stole from her into the river, ran after her car, opened her door, and slapped her in the face. You CANNOT write this stuff.
The world found out that Irene's psychic prediction came true. In 2010, during a Real World reunion, Stephen announced that he was, indeed, a homosexual.
Stephen still getting yelled at for the slap 13 years later. While he is by far my least favorite Real World of all time, but I have to agree with him that Nathen does look awful. The still frame shot of the video above is one of the saddest things I have seen in a long time.
Real World: Seattle - B+
Season 8 (Hawaii, 1999)
This is also a favorite season of mine. Many people that knew me back in 1998 may remember that I went quite far in the casting for this season. I was eliminated just one step from the end. Looking back, it was all for the best. I certainly would not be a teacher today because no school system would want to hire me after they saw 19 year old Ryan on The Real World: Hawaii. It is best that whatever happened in 1999 is only captured by a few random still frame pictures from some college roommates. Thank God that we did not have cell phones with cameras or video cameras back in the late 90's.
Real World Hawaii gave us the lovable Ruthie, the bisexual, adopted, Filipino, alcoholic, triplet. Who can forget her first night out in the RW house?
I would call that a successful second night in the house.
Is there one person in the entire world that liked Kaia?
Real World: Hawaii - A+
Season 9 (New Orleans)
Memorable moments - Julie was a Mormon. Danny was dating a guy in the military with a blurred face. David sang "Come on Be My Baby Tonight."
* The New Orleans cast was the only cast to ever appear on the cover of TV Guide Magazine.
After filming, Kelley Limp married Scott Wolf of "Party of Five" fame and is now named Kelley Limp Wolf.
THE greatest thing to ever come out of The Real World. David Broom's "Come on be my Baby Tonight."
Real World New Orleans - A-
Season 10 (Back to New York, 2000)
Thankfully Coral and Mike "The Miz" were cast on this season because without them it would have been painful. The producers decided to go back to New York for the 10 season anniversary. Even that could not help this cast. Nicole was one of the worst girls ever on the show. Rachel was extremely annoying. Malik, Kevin, and Lori were very cool, but as boring as you get.
This season could have been Coral and Miz living in a house and it would have been just as entertaining.
Real World Back to New York - C+
Season 11 (Chicago, 2002)
The reason this season was so epic is because the cast was in Chicago being filmed when 9/11 occurred.
MTV decided to bring in a television to the house so the cast could watch what was happening in NY, DC, and PA. It was actually great television and MTV produced the episode tastefully, which The Real World is not known for.
Besides the 9/11 episode the rest of the season was pretty good. The cast was diverse, and for the most part likable. This is where we were introduced to the unforgettable Tonya Cooley, MTV legend., and also Annesa, who pretty much refused to wear any clothes at all.
Memorable quote - "I'm going home. I'm going back to Walla Walla (Washington)" - Tonya
Season 12 (Las Vegas, 2002-2003)
This is the season that has changed "The Real World." If you have been watching RW from the beginning there is Pre Vegas Real World, and Post Vegas Real World. The first 12 seasons hit on every hot topic issue you could possibly think of.
*Life threatening illness
*Abortion
*Gay Rights
*Homophobia
*Racism
*Alcoholism
*Drug Addiction
*Anorexia / Bulimia
*Suicide
*Religion
*Politics
*Prejudice
After the Real World Vegas these issues still arose, however, they were not groundbreaking and they were all things we have pretty much seen before on the Real World. With the exception of Katelyn, the transexual in season 20, and the male adult film star from the Back to Vegas season.
Real World Vegas almost seemed to be graduating the people that watched the first 12 seasons of the show and saying farewell to them and welcoming in a new generation of Real World watchers. The Real World Vegas was many people's final season they watched, and also many people's first season watching the show. Hence, The Real World Vegas is probably the most popular Real World season of all time.
Season 13 - Paris
Pretty awful - D
Season 14 (San Diego)
Surprisingly, a really good season. One of the last. A-
Frankie Abernathy (right) is actually the only person from the Real World that has passed away besides Pedro Zamora.
Season 15 (Philadelphia)
I'm convinced MJ, Landon and Shavonda were the only people that were actually being filmed.
Philly - C
Season 16 (Austin)
Does ANYBODY like ANY of them besides Melinda?
Austin - B- just because all they did was fight and get arrested.
Season 17 (Key West)
Key West sucked, but produced Challenge superstars Tyler, Johnny Banannas, Paula and Svetlana
Key West - C
Season 18 (Denver)
Real World Denver should have been filmed in a mental hospital.
Denver - C+
Season 19 (Sydney)
I actually really like the cast from seeing them on the challenges (Issac, Cohutta, Dunbar, Kelly-Ann0, but didn't even finish the season. It was pretty painful.
Sydney - C-
Season 20 (Brooklyn)
With the exception of Baya, the worst girl cast members ever.
Ryan, Chet, and my buddy Scott made up for that though and saved the season.
Brooklyn - B
Season 21 (Hollywood)
Best season in a while. Although it seemed like the roommates changed every episode because people kept getting kicked out.
Hollywood - B+
Season 22 (Cancun)
I watched about 2 episodes and that was more than enough.
Cancun - D
Season 23 (DC)
I have no idea why, but I really like this ridiculous season too.
DC - B+
Season 24 (New Orleans)
I am going to pretend that this season never happened the way that MTV apparently forgot about the first season in New Orleans and refused to call this season The Real World: Back to New Orleans. This season is ALSO known as "The Real World: New Orleans" and that really made me mad.
Thankfully Jemmye got so drunk on St. Patty's Day and gave us this hysterical clip of her falling out of the taxi, then having an extremely difficult time walking up the stairs to the Real World house.
Back to New Orleans - C
Season 25 (Back to Las Vegas)
The Dustin porn past episode was one of the most epic episodes of The Real World. Other than that, it became a pathetic attempt at immitating the first Vegas season, and failed miserably.
Back to Vegas - C+
Season 26 (Back to San Diego)
I was so uninterested in the show that I basically did not watch all season and tuned in to the marathon at the end. It had its ups and downs, but overall, it was quite forgettable, like 75% of the cast.
San Diego - C-
As you can see, I do not like the Real World anywhere near the way I use to. In fact, some of the past few seasons have been terrible. If I could divide the show into 2, The Real World Seasons 1-12 may be my favorite show of all time, and the Real World 13 - 26 would barely make my top 50.
Finally, I will list the 10 most successful Real Worlders of all time.
#10 - Trishelle Cantanella (Season 12 - Vegas)
Actress, Model
#9 - Kevin Powell (Season 1 - New York)
Journalist, Poet, Author
#8 - Teck Holmes (Season 8 - Hawaii)
Actor - "National Lampoon's Van Wilder", "Friends"
#7 - Lindsey Brien (Season 7 - Seattle)
CNN Personality
#6 - Kyle Brandt (Season 11 - Chicago)
Actor - "Days of Our Lives"
#5 - Eric Nies
Model, Actor, Host
#4 - Jamie Chung (Season 14 - San Diego)
Actress - "Dragonball Evolution", "Sorority Row", "Grown Ups", "The Hangover II"
#3 - Jacinda Barrett (Season 4 - London)
Model, Actress - "Ladder 49" "Bridget Jones"
#2 - Mike "The Miz" (Season 10 - Back to New York)
WWE World Champion
#1 - Sean Duffy (Season 6 - Boston)
Congressman Duffy
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