DC ExtraTime: A Real World'er on Catfish?

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Last night before this week's episode of Are You The One?, it was the season finale of Catfish: The TV Show. It was also a bittersweet one, as it also marked the final curtain call for the man who's been Nev Schulman's sidekick during its six years - starting when it was the first MTV series to gain the ever-coveted spot of following the Teen Mom franchise in winter 2012, and opened everyone's eyes to the always fascinating world of online dating and intrigue... garnering plenty of interest ever since.
   Max Joseph has been Nev's colleague and conscience on most of the online mysteries that they've encountered across America, and in the few times he's not been by his side the man with the grey hair has been a film director. In 2015, he took some time off from Catfish to focus on his feature film directorial debut, We Are Your Friends, which documented an L.A. DJ played by Zac Efron as he tried to make it in the music industry and see what life would be like with his friends. And with things starting to pull in the right direction for the ladder, Max felt it was the right time to step aside to pursue his lifelong passion of being behind the camera than being in front of it.

Unlike what we've seen on The Challenge of late, those who watch Catfish know that there's a pattern that's followed in EVERY episode: Nev & Max get to meet those who sent an email to them to discuss more about those always puzzling stories they tell them, then they go to work to figure everything out on the stories that baffle them and everyone watching, from searching online profiles and photos to getting in contact with those who have a connection to these twisted stories.
   Of course, the big moment of every episode is always the reveal of the person at the heart of the matter: most of the time, it's someone who flat out played their subject and decided to use someone else's identity as their own... other times it is exact person that they got to see all along. It's most especially the case with the former that Nev & Max get to talk to those who made a phony profile that they've been able to get right down to business and together with the subject that they shred the one that their subjects wasted years and months of for nothing.
   On the finale of a summer season that was delayed by false sexual harassment charges brought to the lead figure of the film that inspired the TV series, the last investigation for MTV's ultimate bromance (outside Pauly & Vinny) saw them encounter uncover the online romance of Nick & Jasmine. There, they looked into figuring out if the man he kissed on a mysterious rendezvous while being blindfolded was the girl he's been seeing online, or if it was someone who was totally different. And while they were on the prowl to look for Jasmine, Nev & Max found someone who those who follow what this site calls the Trifecta is familiar with from two MTV seasons of a few years ago.

RW Ex-Plosion: Calling All Fans for Your Input...

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

So, a day or so after a great start to this season of Real World: Ex-Plosion, I have a mission for some of my twitter followers and/or those who are passionate about this show.

Having enjoyed a great deal of blogging for Rivals II last summer & fall, I am stepping things up for RW Ex-Plosion with extensive coverage all season long. But what makes this a little different is that I will be aiming to involve the fans more in the conversation here on the Blog, in addition to the regular dialogue on my twitter @DC408dxtr. I'll be highlighting tweets from some of my loyal fan followers in our weekly SocialPulse articles in addition to tweets from cast and fellow alumni, including our first one that we posted at lunchtime the day after the premiere. The big thing this season for me is that I'll be expanding my chats with fans from just covering the Reunion at the end of the season to adding to that schedule the After Shows that will take place at certain times during the season after selected episodes. In fact, they have just taped those After Shows yesterday in Los Angeles, just a day after this premiere and hopefully the cast members freshened up after celebrating the debut to eventually talk about everything surrounding some of the biggest moments & stories that will arise on this season.

Typically, reunions and after shows are some or more so feature the same type of drama that we see during the entire season. And with the exception of the last one, the Rivals II reunion which was broadcast live and unedited, the reunions and after shows are taped in advance, often times with footage getting left on the cutting room floor after a longer, taped session that takes place anywhere from a few months to two weeks prior to air.

   That's where DC BLOG will help fill in the gap, in giving fans the opportunity to talk about all the events of this season and provide us with all the gossip from there in the studio, including what we might eventually not see that might make it into the final on-air product. These are the only interviews that I conduct on here and the only time I interview people is here, and it's about the reunion & now, the after shows. I leave the cast interviews to podcast & SpreeCast hosts like Brian Cohen  @BusDriversRoute, Andrew Kirk @CSUKirk, Reality Radio and others, though I do ask some questions on the webcasts for which I make every effort to be in every cast chat whenever my schedule allows.

   The "Reunion Revealed" articles I wrote on the reunions for Real World Portland and Rivals II, for which three of my loyal followers, Kevin, Kaitlyn and Drew all went to, is among my favorite articles, received great feedback from all three, and both posts are among the top 10 in page views on my blog, now about to cross 4,000 overall views. As they are all based in New York and can only go to the end of season reunion, and these After Shows being taped near BMP's Los Angeles home, I'll be relying on some fresh, new people from Southern California to get their insight into the taping process, bring us some scoop on what went on in the studio, and most importantly, giving you a chance to tell us what you think on both the episodes and after shows, maybe vent a little bit too. Judging from all the footage we've seen so far and are yet to take shape in the next two months, along with all the drama and stories that will come along with it, everything will be covered.

In the coming days & weeks, I'll be doing my best to reach out on Twitter, Instagram and other social media avenues to as many of the audience members as I can to get their input. If you were in that studio being a bare witness to all the events, all you have to do is to either tweet, follow or send me a direct message to my twitter @DC408dxtr, or for those who don't have a twitter, just shoot me an email to dc408dxtr@icloud.com and we'll set up things (i.e. Asking for your email via DM). Of course, to respect the folks over there, I'll wait until the 1st edition of the After Show (and succeeding ones for the other editions) to air for me to ask for your insight. All I just need to do is to watch it at least one or two times after the original airing, along with the preceding episode, to put together the right questions to ask, and then I'll email you a questionnaire for you to fill out - and this is not a phone interview, just an email thing. You'll then have a week to answer as many questions in the form as you can, and you should preferably reply back to me within a week of when you receive it in your inbox. As always, the quicker you reply, the faster I'll be in posting it.

   And unlike the Reunion where it's all at the end of the season, the After Show is seen at a few times during the season. So, this will be a season-long commitment to me to give your insights on both the after shows and your thoughts on this season as it will unfold. So make sure to jot down some notes from what you got to saw from all of the After Shows that were taped yesterday and be ready to answer all the questions I'll be asking you when a particular one airs, so we can cover all angles.

Once again, if you're in Southern California and attended the Real World Ex-Plosion After Shows this past Thursday, either tweet, follow or shoot me a DM to Twitter @DC408dxtr, or email me to dc408dxtr@icloud.com to set things up.

   So, that is your mission. Hope you all got to enjoy both the first episode on Wednesday and taping the After Shows. Look forward to talking to you throughout the season, and enjoy RW Ex-Plosion.

- DC