Recently, MTV has announced that The Real World (and the Challenges) will be going on for at least four more seasons. With the 21st season coming to a close, it brought up the big question: Should The Real World be renewed? After watching The Real World: Brooklyn, I have to say yes.I started watching during The Real World: Miami. There was grit, passion, and I learned life lessons from the cast. After Philadelphia's season, the show felt like there was nothing left to cover. Everyone was too attractive, and they all wanted to become famous.
Eventually MTV announced that it would be celebrating it's 21st season in Brooklyn. It was a renaissance. Not only did they up the number of contestants from seven to eight, but there was no unifying job, and the format was an hour long (changed in the Hollywood season).
The cast was actually normal. Even Scott, who had abs of steel, had an endearing personality. Something about watching hotties running around in bikinis is a turn off. I was afraid that there would be repetition in storylines after 21 seasons, but MTV provided two very interesting life stories: Ryan's and Katelynn's.
Although previous seasons have had military housemates, Ryan exemplified the humanity of the Military Man. He was a small town guy who stood up for America after 9/11. His biggest fear became reality when he was called back to active duty. Without hesitation, Ryan stood up to the plate. Everyone rallied in support.
Katelynn showed America another dimension of sexuality: she was transgendered. She came to the house a few months after her gender-reassignment surgery. Katelynn answered questions about her operation and post-surgery maintenance to her roommates. They accepted her as part of the family as she explored her new sexuality in front of the cameras.
The real strength of any Real World season is casting. As long as the show finds more undiscovered stories it can become gold. One positive of Brooklyn was that didn't show too much alcohol. A real life doesn't revolve around constant amounts of liquor and parties. I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that The Real World: Cancun won't become another drunken debauchery.
I wish the next four seasons of The Real World will continue the renascence. If you asked me during the airing of The Real World: Hollywood if the show should be renewed I would have said no, but The Real World: Brooklyn was a return to the classic.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-02-2009 @ 7:26PM
kt said...
i agree this season was much more like the original 10 seasons, when it wasn't about drinking and partying, it was about the individual people and their stories. i liked it a lot and i hope it stays that way. previous to this season the real world had contestants much like vh1 reality shows, although the hollywood season wasn't too bad either.
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4-02-2009 @ 8:09PM
David said...
NO! NO! NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
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4-02-2009 @ 8:29PM
Nornny said...
I agree as well, having watched the entire season, the focus on the relationships and individuals' stories were really compelling. Seeing Ryan get called back into service, having Katelynn talk about her struggles, having Sarah receive a phone call from her abusive dad, those were all spectacular moments.
And the season balanced that well. It didn't seem like there were as many drunken nights, it was a much more intellectual show than it has been in the past. People said their views sober, which was a refreshing change.
There were still a lot of those trivial pranks and fights (battle of the sexes), but it wasn't even that mean-spirited. I wish producers and viewers would get out of the paradigm that low-grade arguing and fighting is entertaining. A cast like Brooklyn that can have conflict but still have enough brains to respect each other can still be good television. I mean, how great was it to see no real hook-ups amongst the cast?
I would even say even the Hollywood season was a great start to the new style Real World, although it wasn't as deep as it was this season. I'm glad they are returning to the roots.
Unfortunately, I think the demographic who watches the show lives for the drunken hook-ups and meltdowns. The new location of Cancun puts my faith in the new "renaissance" in doubt.
I think this is one of those seasons that will stick out in later years as something special. I don't think it's relevance is immediately seen yet.
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4-02-2009 @ 10:15PM
Jimmy said...
As I said when Bob Sassone originally reported this a few days ago, I got sucked into a Real World marathon a couple weekends back.
Since this post seems to glorify Katelynn somewhat, I will add: I couldn't care less if she's a woman or a man; she's not a good person, period. Sexuality aside, she showed very little respect for her roommates.
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4-02-2009 @ 10:24PM
Jimmy said...
P.S. And what was up with the black girl who spent the entire time on the phone?
4-02-2009 @ 10:41PM
screaminghello said...
This was the worst season ever. I thought I was watching Tool Academy. It seemed like a house full of overgrown 14 year olds. It was a season of idiots playing stupid pranks on each other. No one seemed to be attracted to each other or anyone else for that matter. Nothing happened this season? No job, no vacation, not even a black guy! Am I the only one who thought that even if the gay guy didnt actually touch any of the girls, the way he freaked out and got in their faces should've have potentially got him kicked out? It wasn't even addressed. Also, Chet was the most annoying cast member of all time. He'll prolly have his own dating show soon.
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4-02-2009 @ 10:44PM
screaminghello said...
Totally agree about Katelynn. I was just telling someone today that its great that they got a transgender representative on the show but it sucks for them that it had to be her.
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4-02-2009 @ 11:27PM
greg said...
THis was a very good season, I stoped watching the show a few years ago because all they had was a bunch of sluts and drunks. Its nice to see a show with good people. THe only one I didnt like was JD. He did 'out' Kaitlin ( and doesnt seem to care). He told on everyone and sat back while everyone got into it. Plus he went psycho all the time, breaking tables, throwing things. He actually said on the reunion show, "Who doesnt break things and throw things when they get mad"....... Well, JD a whole alot of people dont!
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4-03-2009 @ 1:11AM
Adam said...
I don't have a problem with "The Real World" as much as I do with the challenges. First off, they haven't had a "Road Rules" season in at least 5 years, so why is is still called RW/RR challenge? And while RR is arguably still a social experiment, there is no justification for the Challenges. I can appreciate "I Love Money" b/c of the irony and the fact that no one on the show is in on the joke, but the seriousness of the challenges always rubbed me the wrong way. But, on a related note why did the Murray decided to ruin Pedro's memory with that dreadful. He humanized AIDS and really showed that good people aren't above catching the disease. To reward him they made a movie that they wouldn't even run on Lifetime. I can't wait for the sequels "Kevin: I'll slap a ho" and "Puck: There will be spit".
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4-03-2009 @ 10:27AM
Michael Pascua said...
They did have one horrible Road Rules season in 2007, which brought us Tori to the challenges.
Yeah, I thought the movie was in bad taste. It was a little tacky.
And like every cast everyone had their problems on the show. It would have actually been more interesting if the show lasted a month longer so we could see what would happen to JD's anger issues.
4-03-2009 @ 12:36PM
Justin said...
The Real World: Miami was the beginning of the changes in the casting and direction. I just finished watching that season and it was horrendous. No one was likeable and began the downward spiral. I think the last decent season was Seattle and it even had despicable behavior. I think London was the pinnacle of the show.
I haven't watched since Vegas and I'm glad because when I do see clips or when I would tune in to a new season just to see what it was like, it was terrible. It was a bunch of kids with little moral basis looking to dry up their 15 minutes of fame as quickly as possible.
I've heard this season slightly went back to the pre-Miami formula. Now if they cast a more diverse and less camera-friendly people, I'd be tempted to watch again.
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4-03-2009 @ 3:08PM
her every cent counts said...
I agree it should be renewed. While other reality shows are about beautiful people or things like weight loss, The Real World is an important snapspot of our times. The issues the young adults are dealing with are real today. Though I'd like to see someone struggling with the recession -- I guess you can't see that when MTV is footing their bills. The next real world should be MTV pays them only after they finish, and they have to survive on their own and pay rent.
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4-03-2009 @ 4:29PM
Kate said...
This past season was TERRIBLE and BORING! Nothing happened and it was like one big support group for each other. No fighting, hooking up or drama...so what's the point of watching? And when one of them pulled out a guitar and started singing I wanted to puke. I'd rather see a drink thrown in someone's face.
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4-03-2009 @ 10:18PM
jayr2345 said...
as i said in the comments in the article a few days ago, i think real world should stick around only if they can keep giving us diverse casts like the one this season. I felt this season was very different, because we didn't have just 7 kids who wanted to get away from their lives for 3 months to get drunk for free and live in a big house. I think its good when we get a season that isnt about getting drunk and hooking up but letting u look at some of the struggles of these different people and watching them go through these different experiences. some examples are ryan getting called back to active service, sarah dealing with her dad, katelynn, joey dealing with his addictions last year, in austin when danny had to deal with his mother dying and getting hurt like he did, frankie dealing with her disease in san diego (R.I.P. Frankie), and probably many others im forgetting. Those experiences are why the show should keep going and why we should be watching.
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4-19-2009 @ 10:33PM
Mike said...
My exroom mate was actually a former real world san fransisco. take my word for it never ever be roommates with someone from that show.
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4-04-2009 @ 6:10AM
Ned said...
The last season that I enjoyed from start to finish was Key West. Maybe it was the fact that they all went through all those crazy hurricanes, or maybe it was Paula's story, but I just really ended up enjoying that season, and no other season has really come close to being entertaining and combine drunken sexy hookups with real people/life problems so well.
This season's personalities just didn't click very well for me. The mark of a good season now-a-days usually means "who's going on the next Challenge?" and I can't really see any of these people fitting in with the current slab of RW/RR fame whores.
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