The Look: MTV's 90's House

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

Tonight, the game gets back on again on The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30, and tomorrow sees the first matchup on Are You The One? Season 6. But before we head into those all new episodes starting tonight and after Sunday's series finale of Teen Wolf, MTV heads into this fall slate off of a summer of increased viewership thanks to a number of hit shows including the sultry summer soap Siesta Key, and ahead of next week's return of a true MTV Icon: Total Request Live - TRL. And things are about to heat up with not just new seasons but also new shows, and this past weekend I revealed two of them which will join what I call the Trifecta in my viewing schedule.
   For one of those two shows, it'll come later... after their shortcomings against Bananas, Leroy, Aneesa & Laurel last week on Fear Factor, there's a consolation prize for Alessandra, Brewer, Carissa & Marc in one of those two spots. Shredders will document them and four other young friends who will travel up to a ski resort in New York's Catskill Mountains for the time of their life. During this long winter break, they'll be snowboarding and skiing during the day, and at night they'll party it up like they're Olympic gold medalists. Think, Jersey Shore and Real World being combined with one of the other shows I enjoyed in my MTV run of Slednecks, and you have the recipe for Shredders, and we'll be looking more into it when their time comes when winter rolls around.

   The other is a show that will celebrate the joys and the nostalgia of a decade none of us will ever forget and one that a New York Times columnist calls "The Best Decade Ever," and that is our focus of this installment of The Look: MTV's 90's House.

In reality, it feels almost like it's been forever - some two decades ago, in fact -- but in our hearts it feels as if it's still here with us. For this blogger, yours truly was going to school: elementary at the start of the decade, then junior high and finally high school by the time the world's millennium celebrations took place. For most of you who happen to be reading this post, you are probably in the same boat as me and share this same and similar sentiment. And many of our MTV friends who have been on fairly recent seasons of the Trifecta were born during those ten years, which brands them officially as babies of what was the dopest decade ever.
   When it premieres tonight after The Challenge, 90's House will serve as a total trip back in time to what you might say are much more simpler times, when things were hip and fly, and for most of you, this was the childhood you lived through when we were all young and we were kids. If you're someone who played with a Gameboy or a Nintendo, relied on trips to the local Blockbuster to rent VHS movies for your weekend home entertainment, or listening to 2Pac, Spice Girls or Nirvana, then you know the feeling of being a kid who grew up during the last decade of the 20th century. And whether you're a 90's baby or any age for that matter, the decade of the 1990's was unforgettable, and anything but the turbulent times we are living in at this very moment of fall 2017.

Here, and in the same manner that another MTV show produced by the same firm that spotlighted the groovy decade of the 70's, 90's House will bring twelve millennials back to the 1990's and to a house that's inspired by everything that took place during that grand decade of our youth and adolescence. This is a competition show that will bring them in a total time warp to this totally rad time of innocence, and where this will force this dozen to leave their modern-day devices in the future and simply party like it's the 90s all over again.
   The show's hosts have ties to the '90s: Lance Bass was the last one to join the 'NSYNC guys when Justin Timberlake recruited him to do what his last name suggests: bass vocals for the boy band. When they were given a chance to perform for summer 1998 Disney concert, things were never the same for the group as they went on to sell 60 million records worldwide, but that's just the start. He's become a jack of all trades in being a host, actor (the movie On The Line), producer (co-writing a movie with Real World alum Mike Manning), entrepreneur, philanthropist and cosmonaut.
   Christina Milian emerged on the scene just after Lance after building a resume that included TV commercials and the musical Annie. She moved to L.A. with hopes to become an actress, but music came calling when she moved to where music super producer Rodney Jerkins called home. Her cameo on a Ja Rule track began her ascent in the music world with "AM to PM," "Dip It Low" and songwriting for Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber, among others. She's extended her reach to The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, Bring It On and the current FOX series Superhuman.
   Christina and Lance talked to TV Guide's sister site TV Insider about 90's House and what we should expect. With all of those wild clothes, he calls it "the silliest show I've ever been a part of," and tells us to expect them to shoot music videos and the like, along with the bonding experience of the house just relying on each other instead of their smartphones. She echoes what we usually see in these competitive house environments when you'll likely see see the kind of roller coaster of one day being a competitive ally and the next being an enemy... that's the way it is in this atmosphere.

And what about the house? There's bright colors and geometric patterns around the place that makes you think that this is the coolest house on earth, featuring a rec room decked out with Furbies, Etch-a-Sketch, Bop-It and a Nintendo set like the one you had playing after school. And if you're used to LTE and Wi-Fi for getting things a blazing quick speed, imagine what using the web is like by just relying on slow dial-up? That's the challenge the roommates have to deal with, along with having to deal with no social media as well.
   No show with the kind of great nostalgia would be complete without guest stars and special cameos, and that's what will happen here. Lance's bandmate and someone who I met in Las Vegas seven years ago this past week, Joey Fatone, are among those who are stepping into the house this season. And those also include, among others, Mario Lopez, Tatyana Ali, Michelle Williams, Marques Houston, Tyson Beckford, Salt N' Pepa, Kid N' Play, MTV Jams host Bill Bellamy, Joey Lawrence and Kel Mitchell. It almost feels like our dreams coming true in our own eyes.
   Each week, the housemates will have to deal with just the technology, popular catch phrases, fashion and fads of the 90's, and they'll all compete in 90's themed challenges. Those who aren't caught up on the decade or those who are just living in the now will face the prospect of going home. But in the end, everyone is going for a chance to be the master of all things nineties: a $90,000 winner's check at season's end, a Mazda Miata and a trip for two to a I Love the 90's cruise on Ship -Hop... but only if they talk and act 90s.

The dozen contestants on 90s House all have their own memories of living in the decade of everything exciting...
● For the girls, Bronx native Jenielle describes herself as drama free, a mama's girl and a music lover who grew up with Janet Jackson and laughed watching Urkel on Family Matters. For Virginian Lexus, she loves Buffy and as a social media influencer also loves fashion... so does Akron, OH native Sierra, whose 90s memories are of listening to the Spice Girls and watching Saved by the Bell. Sha-Monique from Long Island calls herself fun, fearless and fierce and loved listening to Destiny's Child and TLC. Shannon from New England is a feminist, activist and a rapper who grew up listening to Notorious BIG, while Seattle native Travana is obsessed with that city's greatest musical export, Nirvana, as well as Dr. Dre.
● And for the guys, two come from Vegas: Chase is a model, a dancer and obsessed with boy bands and Full House, while "pretty boy" Patrick cites cartoons and Tupac as his memories. Devin from D.C. loves to talk smooth, play hoops and loved Power Rangers and LL Cool J. Atlanta native Prince describes himself as the King of Shade, but also remembers listening to 90s jams and watching Home Alone. For New Yorker Mark, this nerd, tech trainer and strategist will no doubt be in for the time of his life having Lance as host as he cites 'NSYNC as his ultimate obsession. And for fellow Tri-Stater Will, him owning a 90's-influenced clothing store and being a Fresh Prince fan should help give him an edge.

If you're someone who feels that there's something '90s still in your hearts, you'll want to check out 90's House starting tonight - even if it can take having to stay up after watching the fifth major pro sport to see this great decade of ours come back into your life.

▪   ▪   ▪   ▪   ▪

The premiere of 90s House airs tonight after The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30 on MTV, and DCNOW will have live twitter interaction of that coming up later at my live hub, @DC408DxNow. Tomorrow sees Episode 2 of Are You The One? Season 6, and of course DCBLOG will be along to cover the MTV Trifecta coming up over the weekend here, just after posting our 500th article last night. Enjoy the show, and talk to you in a few hours.

- I AM DC