Real World Memories: The Creator and The Letter

By DC CUEVA

> @DC408dxtr / @DC408dxnow

As Season 30 of The Real World rolls on in Chicago, it's 23 years since the show first debuted on the MTV airwaves in the summer of 1992. It is the longest-running show in MTV history, the longest-running primetime entertainment series in the history of basic cable, and the show that pioneered the ubiquitous genre of reality television.
   If you're old enough to remember and have watched the show since the early days, then you'll easily notice how the both this current season, Skeletons in Chicago, and the most recent one Ex-Plosion last year in San Francisco, are totally different from the earlier, old-school seasons. If you're young and were introduced to this show only recently or by the mere luck of finding out about the new twist of people from the dark pasts of the roomies coming to Chi-Town, you'll be hard-pressed to find that the Real World you watch today was much different back then. And if you're one who's watched at least part of every season like me, you'll notice the evolution of the show and find while find many things were different back then, others have remained the same since.

The Real World has had an indelible impact on television, with its groundbreaking, fly-in-the-wall documentary approach to telling the stories of amazing people growing up at the turn of the 21st century, and putting into focus the issues and struggles of them that viewers can relate to. And of course, it captures these young people enjoying those first rites of being an adult and enjoying what it's like to live with random strangers in a city they have never lived in before.
   The first season in 1992 in New York set the perimeter for what the show would become over the next two decades. Its cast of Eric, Heather B, Kevin, Julie, Norm, Becky and Andre provided MTV viewers with something they had never experienced before: a TV show they can actually relate to. From Eric becoming a heartthrob, to Heather B rapping & walking a dog, Kevin & Julie's street argument about race to Becky breaking the fourth wall, it set the mold for reality TV.

If you happen to own the DVD set of the very first Real World season from that pre-HD, pre-I Everything and more music-based MTV age of 1992, one of the special features included in that 2002 release is a commentary track from show co-creator Jonathan Murray. That was recorded just before I started watching the show religiously in Hawaii in 1999, and included in the RW New York DVD.

   It was the idea of both him and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim to create this series, a hybrid concept born out of her soap opera experience and his news & docs experience to literally change the game for both MTV and the entire television industry. More than two decades after The Real World's debut, and ten years after Bunim's passing, he continues to serve as an executive producer for the RW/Challenge franchise as well as serving as Chairman of Bunim-Murray Productions. In addition, BMP also produces The Kardashians franchise and Total Divas for E!, Bad Girls Club for Oxygen and Project Runway for Lifetime, among others.

   Taking the opportunity to reflect on the show's impact and history prior to when it began filming Real World Hawaii, DCBLOG transcribed the entire 23 minute interview with Murray taken from the DVD. After the jump, read his thoughts and perspective on the origins of the series, that first season in SoHo and two of its key moments, and the show's growing popularity & impact just before the reality TV boom that would soon follow. And also check out the letter that changed the game.

DC's View: Real World Skeletons

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

As we head into the latter part of October with a week until the madness of Halloween takes over, this MTV fan is already deep into both enjoying and covering season 2 of Are You The One? from Puerto Rico. And next Thursday, I will be getting down and dirty in the snow with the fun-loving friends of Slednecks. But very soon, there will be a brief time during the merriest of seasons we have all year that I will have three shows for me to live tweet at my DCNOW live twitter hub.

Before Monday's episode of AYTO, we found out the coming twist for season 30 of The Real World, which premieres on December 16th. It's not just the longest-running show in MTV history, but also the longest-running primetime entertainment series on basic cable. Earlier this year for its 29th season, the show made the unprecedented move of, for the first time in its long 22-year history, changing its format to adding new permanent roommates in the exes that joined Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Thomas in San Francisco, and helped bring new viewers to the show with its best viewership since Mike Mike's Back to Vegas season.

   This time for its 30th season, the series will continue in that direction of straying away from the original "seven strangers" formula that had been in use since 1992, which until earlier this year was becoming a bit stale and bland while other shows have come on the scene and stolen RW's thunder. I know there's been a lot of people who aren't happy, and while I won't mention names, like last season with Ex-Plosion there was an outcry of mixed reaction to the twist, which was revealed on my birthday of all things. And it was also the same thing on when the twist for this season, RW Skeletons, was revealed.

As was the case back in January, our new group of seven strangers will leave behind their hometowns and move into an old nightclub turned urban loft in in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, with the hopes that they will have the time of their lives in the Windy City, just as in past Real World seasons. But this time, the twist will again see the roommates being joined in the house by people from their pasts, aka "skeletons."

   Each roommate has experienced things like this before - broken relationships, estranged family members, shattered lives and dark secrets - and they'll discover eventually they can't escape the mistakes, unresolved issues of yesteryear and repugnant behavior as they will all resurface the instant they walk in the door, which will see the Chicago Seven deal with past demons. As the presser notes, "It's an emotional, funny, and challenging rollercoaster with a variety of skeletons."

For me, although I do maintain a sense of being a traditionalist but also being open to try out new things, I fully support the change. As I wrote back last year when Ex-Plosion was revealed and then when rumors of the AYTO/Challenge crossover was discovered over the summer, I've always been a great Real World fan for a long time, and even after the reboot, I will still remain a loyal viewer who continues to watch every episode on every season regardless of the people, city or format. And I am looking forward to watching season 30 the same way I've done for the other seasons before it and now with other MTV shows: with great anticipation and supporting all the cast members.

   Reading the descriptions of the kinds of storylines we'll be watching this season, RW Skeletons will be a season that will be tailor-made for a fan who's always been engaged by the storytelling aspects of the show and its castmates ever since the first generation. This is a job Bunim-Murray Productions continues to take seriously and take great pride in, and is partly the reason why I gravitate more to programming like this than most other things on TV. And though I'm now into The Challenge and Are You The One?, I feel more at home in the down-to-earth environment of The Real World.

   Seeing a cyber bully, family members, old bosses, a baby mama & old flames coming to visit Chicago will create compelling storylines in the Windy City. This will allow me to get to know the new group of seven strangers even more, while also letting that relate to those in the audience who can relate to what they're going through. And already, I can thank the roommates who I'll be getting to know in a matter of days for being brave enough to put the adversities they've gone through privately in front of millions of people, and it will sure make for great, engaging TV coming up.

So, now I have something to look forward to when the days get shorter, when I turn 31 in just under a month, and when all of us are getting in that holiday mood and ready to celebrate Christmas and the new year. And just as it was last December when I had three MTV shows to live tweet to end the year, this time it will be even better, and I will get the best of three worlds: the show I'm most comfortable in - Real World; the show that's become my new favorite - Are You The One; and the show I'm looking forward to in having a laugh - Slednecks. Should be lots of fun.

   And while many of us complain about the change in this formula even before we've gotten our first visual glimpse of what awaits us coming in December, I feel it's best for us to wait for the footage and photography to be released in the coming weeks before we can make a judgement on it; as they always say, you can never judge a book by just glancing at its cover, it's what's inside that matters most.

So, that's my view. And to the cast who might be reading this (as well as the extra roommates we'll be seeing eventually), welcome to Team MTV. Let the countdown to December 16th begin.

DCBLOG will be covering Real World Skeletons like never before, using the same winning playbook that's been used successfully to cover the last two Challenges, RW Ex-Plosion and now with Are You The One?, all to tremendous web traffic and acclaim. Our signature, one-of-a-kind DC SocialPulse diaries will feature exclusive tweet-by-tweet diaries of every moment from the season as seen by cast, alumni, fans and me. I'll also be offering Fan's View posts throughout the season as well as the possibility of interviewing cast members on here too.

   And serving as a complement to the numerous website wraps and podcasts done by other websites, DCB will offer more of a unique perspective as this season unfolds. This will include retrospective posts covering the show's history including thoughts from the show's co-creator Jon Murray, the first episodes from seasons past, and much more. Real World aside, we're already covering AYTO Season 2 in Puerto Rico, and coming this week we'll preview Slednecks and look at the Halloween holiday.

   And for the live tweeting of Real World Skeletons, as well as the current season of Are You The One? Puerto Rico, Slednecks and the big events in sports & entertainment (including the ongoing World Series), follow my dedicated live twitter handle, DCNOW at @DC408DxNow, as well as my usual Twitter and Instagram handle @DC408Dxtr for tweets, chats, alerts and photos.

   So, the journey is now underway. For now, thanks for reading and see you then.

- I AM DC

DC's View: Real World Ex-Plosion

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Okay, so amidst all of this excitement surrounding my 30th birthday today and getting a lot of love from the social media world (and again, thanks to everyone who've sent me birthday wishes throughout this day), there's also been a lot of talking on twitter today surrounding the show I've been watching & following the most for almost half of that time, and that would be The Real World.

  The mere luck of the draw has seen three big developments in the past day or so in RW/Challenge world. First, last night I got my copy of The Challenge: Rivals II DVD in the mail, and I'll be looking forward to watching it a lot coming up (that long promised season wrap should be posted very soon, promise). Second, there's been a lot of hot stove talk over the last month about the cast & format for the upcoming Challenge, currently taking place in South America. And third & perhaps the biggest one of all is season 29 of The Real World. Yesterday, cast members teased on twitter to expect big news coming from them on this Wednesday, and today we got that big news.

For 28 seasons starting in SoHo and then most recently in Portland, The Real World has followed in that same tried & true formula of, as its mantra likes to say at the beginning, telling the true story of seven (& sometimes more) strangers picked to live in a house & work together, to find out what happens when people stop being polite & stop getting real. Now, the show has taken a bold step by, for the first time in the show's long history, of tweaking that formula, and adding some spice to this upcoming season, taking place up the way from where I'm situated here in Silicon Valley, in the good old City by the Bay.

   Just like any other season, the season 29 class of the chosen seven strangers of Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Tom will all move into their loft in San Francisco, doing what every other cast of recent times do: living it up, partying it up and hooking up in their loft in the Polk Gulch neighborhood, which for locals like me is right near City Hall & the Civic Center. But the dramatic twist that will radiate all throughout this season is that at one point during their stay when these people go on one of their usual trips around the Bay Area, the ex-girlfriends & ex-boyfriends of the original seven strangers will actually fly into SFO, move right into the house and no doubt surprise the SFO Seven when they come back from their excursion. Yes, the occupancy rate in the house will reach more than the usual seven and we could almost have a mere house party every day there.

   As usual when those new relationships blossom inside the house at the start of all this, it will definitely become a very awkward situation for the roommates to live with their exes when they move on, with loyalty and romance being tested to its limit and, of course, more tempers flaring than in your usual Real World. Obviously, the SFO seven are gonna learn that it can be a curse and/or a blessing for them to live w/ their former significant other, and we may even see more love triangles than in the past with this new twist. Some are gonna find newfound romance while others will find realization to all this. And had this been used in St. Thomas involving my favorite roommate from Baltimore, imagine what it would be like if you're Trey and you're living with Laura and with Chelsea. That would've been gold.

Almost immediately, the reaction to this was broad, and much of it has been negative. Those tradition-minded people, including even a member of a season that won Favorite Season at the Awards Bash, complain that it deviates more from the old school from the pioneering ways of the old school seasons where social issues were much prevalent, and that this season could lead to its downfall into cultural obscurity behind the much more popular Challenge and other reality shows. And I also took the necessary steps of sending that kiss of death of blocking a couple people who've shown some discontent over this issue. These people are those who aren't open to change, but they must learn that saying that if you get the same things in life, you'll always get the same results in the end. And for me, I'm not going to start any drama by venting things publicly in the social media world, that's something I don't value myself in. No drama kind of guy, always someone who prefers to be in the background and let everyone else grab the mic.

For me, I've always been a huge Real World fan for as long as I can remember, going all the way back to high school in 1999, and watching most every episode (or at least one episode) of every season since Hawaii. And even with both the new twist to this upcoming season & being engaged more in The Challenge, it will still be the case. I'll still give the legacy show priority over the spinoff as far as stature & preference when it comes to remembering cast members in this franchise.

   While I do have some traditions & occasional tweaks to the things I do everyday, I'm always someone who is open to any changes in the format, provided that it would be beneficial in the end. I am able to handle anything & everything that the show focuses on each season whatever the case may be. I've been able to handle the old-school oriented seasons where social issues & life experiences are focused more, and the new generation of the casts are having fun in exotic locales. And of course, I can handle whatever twist TJ gives the Challengers more than others.

   And The Real World one of those shows where I feel I'm most comfortable in watching, where I can just simply sit back, relax, watch and be engaged. Unlike The Challenge where I'm on the edge of my seat watching the drama that occurs on the competition field and in the house, The Real World is much more my comfort zone: more laid back, more storytelling oriented, and more of a steady pace of following young people & their everyday lives, the same people who I've been talking to a lot in social media since I joined the night of the St. Thomas premiere.

As for my thoughts on this twist of the cast's exes moving in, I think it's a good idea to tweak the system a bit if the formula gets stale & predictable. And though I've enjoyed watching this recent generation of the show, the folks realized that their playbook was becoming somewhat outdated and felt it was time to a page out of The Challenge, take a bold gamble and tweak it a bit. If what we see all the time of twists being made to everything that goes on in Challenge land, such as the ones we saw a lot of on Rivals II and the one that inspired this RW season in the first place - Battle of the Exes, then it should be beneficial in the end. There's nothing like getting making a big twist to a good formula to try & get people talking and get themselves interested in something once again. If viewership is very good (even though I would still have to miss watching two episodes live in February due to the Winter Olympics), then it should get a whole new generation of viewers right into the door of the show that Generation X & Y have watched since the '90s and breathe some new life into this franchise instead of being one that's just there to cast potential new challengers.

   But we all have to remember that saying, you shouldn't really judge a book by just glancing at that cover. Just as I've been seeing with my good friends of Scrubbing In where lots of people have been pouring haterade on the cast for the nurse life that they live in and outside the hospital, I feel that instead of continuing to go off on this new twist, we should show a touch of class in just waiting for the trailer to come in a few weeks (and by then the entire RW/Challenge community will be at capacity after those doing Challenge 25 will be able to tweet again) and then for the season to finally premiere before we can give our judgements. I'm going to do exactly that and wait it all out with everyone else.

So, that's my view. And to Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Tom (and the extra roommates we'll be seeing eventually), welcome to Team MTV. Let the countdown to the fireworks begin.

- DC