Sunday, May 3, 2020

DC ExtraTime Flashback: The Real World Takes Over Beantown

BY DC CUEVA                     
■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB
    Estimated Reading Time: 25 MINS.

In the nearly 30 years that MTV has been gracing us with the most talked-about reality television programming there is, there has been one constant throughout this long and proud journey. And that would be the presence of cast members who come to The Challenge, The Real World and beyond from the six northernmost states on the East Coast, and its biggest city, that has had an incredible impact on the channel.

See any of his twenty overall appearances on The Challenge or the first time he landed onto your screens as that fiesty 22-year-old on The Real World Paris, and the intimidating presence of 3-time champ Chris "C.T." Tamburello has always commanded your attention. The fact that you, the fans, chose him as the biggest reality star ever by Bill Simmons' site The Ringer -- and who smashed his opponent from their famed Cutthroat elimination, Johnny Bananas, in the final no less -- is testament to that legacy. And he is the most visible member of a long & proud tradition of those who come to us from New England and Boston, starting in Real World's early days, and stretching its wings to not only The Challenge, but also Are You The One and other shows along the way.

All Photos Courtesy MTV
Whether they'd be from Boston, from elsewhere in Massachusetts or from Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut or elsewhere, there's no denying that those from this region have made an enormous impact on MTV. It all began when Soviet-born Boston resident Flora Alekseyeun became the first castmate from this part of the country to be cast on Real World twenty-four years ago on Season 5 in Miami, while the first native New Englander came two years later in 1998 when David Burns went onto the Seattle season and found himself in a forbidden love affair with the lady who cast him on the show but who left him heartbroken in the streets of the Emerald City.

In between those two seasons, the big show brought its talents to New England itself, where they exchanged the first season to take place with swimsuits and bikinis for a whole different locale: a hard-working town rich in tradition and a season that began with snow on the ground. True to the nature of this blue-collar city, a converted firehouse familiar to '80s TV fans was where Season 6 of The Real World took place that year of 1997, and where we had just about everything take place that kept true to the show's uniquely old-school values that defined the show's 30+ season run.

A few weeks ago in this time where being together means going onto videoconferencing and endless hours of FaceTime, there was a special reunion among that group of seven strangers who called that Boston firehouse their home, and where they have had an impact that's been felt from The Challenge and the college called "The Harvard of the West," down to The Hills and even to the most well-known hill in this country: Capitol Hill.

1997 saw Timothy McVeigh handed capital punishment for purporting the Oklahoma City bombing, the Labour Party swept into power as Tony Blair became British Prime Minister, and their greatest daughter Princess Diana was the victim of a fatal car crash as the world paused in mourning. The Chicago Bulls romped their way to their fifth NBA title, the Spice Girls became the hottest thing in music, the movie Titanic debuted en route to becoming a epic box office blockbuster, and Ellen Degeneres & her on-screen character came out on her self-titled sitcom, a network television first.
   In New York City, the One Astor Plaza building at 1515 Broadway in Times Square took on greater status than just the old headquarters of the defunct W.T. Grant retail chain, or where two theaters host Broadway plays and music events among its current occupants. In where its parent company Viacom already had corporate offices located there, it was in that fall that MTV blew open the doors to their new studios facing America's most famous public square. This was where Total Request Live took place for over a decade, and where the channel still tapes shows & content to this day.... but it wasn't the only meaningful development in their world in 1997.
   That that year saw the launch of a spinoff of Beavis & Butthead starring a girl going about her life in high school and whose original voice was a roommate of the original, unseen pilot of The Real World, Tracy Grandstaff. And a three hours' drive just up I-90, the city of Boston was knocking on the door of a major breakthrough on the national stage which would ultimately see it become "City of Champions" in the 21st Century. But before its four major sports teams would relish in championship champagne eleven times in an 18-year span, the town became hosts to season 6 of The Real World, and a big task to follow up sultry drama by South Beach with old-school drama in New England.

In a follow-up section on the Boston season in the book that covered the following season of Real World Seattle in 1998, co-creator Jonathan Murray remembered, "The Boston cast had really big hearts. They weren't afraid to show their emotions. They were just fun to watch. Yes, they made mistakes. But they didn't take themselves too seriously, and I think many viewers appreciated that." And the late Mary Ellis-Bunim added, "I do think the Boston cast was a fascinating group, and really relatable for the viewers. I know a lot of people adored watching them. And I did, too."
   The cast came from all across the country: the Rocky Mountains, the Midwest, the South, the West Coast and the Big Apple. And the bios MTV.com wrote of them back them read something like this...
● ELKA WALKER, 19 - Brownsville, TX: "A 19-year-old Mexican American beauty from Brownsville, Texas, Elka grew up speaking Spanish before English, and the town she grew up in is 90 percent Hispanic. She was raised with strong, strict Catholic values. Having grown up in what she calls a "privileged" home, Elka admits she has been sheltered for most of her life. However, she has struggled with many real issues during her 19 years. Only weeks before learning she was cast as one of the final seven for The Real World, Elka lost her mother to a long bout with cancer. " 
● GENESIS MOSS, 20 - Gulfport, MS: "From Gulfport, Mississippi, 20-year-old Genesis initially appears to be a genuine Southern Belle: beautiful and polite, with a charming Southern drawl. In reality, Genesis has no problem telling people exactly how it is. "When I open my mouth, most people are shocked to know that I speak my mind clearly, don't take any sh--, and I am very much a liberal," she says. Genesis is very open about her sexuality; she knew from a very young age that she was gay. Up until she moved in with her new housemates in Boston, she lived with her girlfriend Tammy." 
● JASON CORNWELL, 24 - Boulder, CO: ""The way I express myself is through my writing. It is my outlet," says Jason, a 24-year-old poet and spoken word artist from Boulder, Colorado. Jason says emotion plays a large role in his art and he tries to incorporate philosophy into his work. He graduated from Hendrix College as a psychology major and wants to teach film and cinema on the college level. Asked to describe his most difficult trait, he says, "It would be my moodiness. Although I think that most people are moody, I choose not to cover any of mine up with fake happiness or drama."" 
● KAMEELAH PHILLIPS, 19 - San Diego, CA: "As a 19-year-old African-American sophomore at Stanford University, Kameelah shouldn't have anything to prove to the world. A strong-willed and opinionated young woman, Kameelah grew up in San Diego and is currently studying human biology with a focus on women's health issues. Kameelah has a firm sense of self and is not afraid to tell you what she thinks. She admits she likes guys who "know when to kiss her ass."" 
● MONTANA McGLYNN, 21 - New York, NY: "Named after a character in a Kurt Vonnegut novel, 21-year-old Montana is a unique individual. Moving to Boston from Manhattan, Montana claims she will have trouble leaving the city. This budding paleontologist-archaeologist most recently worked in the dinosaur wing of the Natural History Museum and holds very strong views on feminism, sexuality and religion. "Christianity is the single worst thing that has happened to women. I believe in Darwin not God. Science is my religion," she claims." 
● SEAN DUFFY, 25 - Hayward, WI: "Who would have thought that a true lumberjack would move to Boston to live with six strangers? Sean is a typical Midwestern boy from Hayward, Wisconsin who just happens to be a lumberjack Sports World Champion. At age 25, he has toured all over the U.S. and Canada as well as parts of Europe in various lumberjack exhibitions. Sean was brought up in a strict Irish-Catholic family, the second youngest of 11 children." 
● SYRUS YARBROUGH, 25 - Santa Monica, CA: "At the age of 25, Syrus, who hails from Santa Monica, California, is a man in pursuit of happiness. He attended the University of Hawaii on a basketball scholarship, majored in communications and coached youth basketball. When asked about his personal goals, Syrus says that he wants to be known as a good person and--more importantly--to be loved by many."

Elka came from the border town of Brownsville, TX and who applied for Season 3 of Road Rules which eventually brought its globe-trotting ways to Europe, but had to settle with being on RW instead. A year prior, her mom was diagnosed with lymphoma, and while she was auditioning to be on the show Mrs. Walker was hospitalized, eventually succumbing to the disease before her final casting interview... but after a talk with her father the daughter stayed and eventually got cast.
   Cameras eventually followed Elka back to Texas as she made an emotional visit to her mom's final resting place, as she then made her way to Boston as both the season's joint-youngest roommate and the one who felt like Julie on Season 1 in coming from a small town at 19. When she got there, she had to confront her views of Christianity and of being against homosexuality, and even goes against her dad's wishes of wanting to be clean in Boston by smoking and getting a piercing. But the one thing that had everyone talking was her relationship with musician Walter, where they forged a strong relationship where, while they abstained from having sex, she moved in with him to becoming engaged, but they eventually broke up.
   In the RW book Elka wrote of her experience, "The Real World was everything I expected. I thought we'd have a beautiful house, which it was, and my roommates would be completely different from me, which they were. I expected we'd get to do wonderful things and to on a marvelous vacation, which we did. I have such found memories of The Real World and the people I met. And I think I made my mother very proud."

Genesis grew up by the Atlantic in Gulfport, MS, and where being a lesbian in a conservative part of the country was often frowned upon by those in her state. But having to tell her new second family that she was gay was a tough thing for her to do when they moved in knowing all too well the potential backlash it may create, especially with Elka's religious beliefs. But when Genesis did tell the girls of her sexual orientation, they were as welcoming to her as she was to them & the house.
   Genesis had a relationship going into the house with her girlfriend back home, a retail manager named Tammy, and where they moved in together prior to coming to Boston. When she went to a gay bar, she befriended drag queen Adam/Eve and cheated on another woman, leading to her & Tammy splitting up and questions of whether she was lesbian or bi. And later after she had an emotional talk back home with her mom, Genesis admitted to having suicidal thoughts and a tough childhood growing up, just as her mom was being hospitalized for a possible overdose.
   Genesis was the series' second-ever roommate of lesbian orientation, after Beth A. in Los Angeles four years earlier. And as this now graphic designer remembered, "This experience taught me so much. I was exposed to six new people with different opinions and lifestyles. They challenged me to be totally honest with them and, in turn, myself. If I lied either way, I was defeating the whole purpose of being there."

Before Boston, Arkansas native Jason was living life in the Rocky Mountains and enjoying the art of writing as a poet and spoken word artist. But his road to Boston came by accident: he saw that the Boulder, CO coffee shop he went to a lot was full of reality wannabes and he had no idea what was going on. Once he found that it was The Real World that was casting there, Jason decided to give in and see what the fuss was about... and after he told them about his struggles the next thing he knew that he was on his way to the RW house, a big upgrade from working at the local movie house - and right up there with going inside the White House for a party in his life's bucket list.
   There, Jason's chopper pilot girlfriend Timber flew in for a visit, and at first they enjoyed each other's company to the point where his housemates went wild when they heard noises from them in the shower, but it then turned sour after a bar night gone bad, and when he kissed another girl before he forgave her for wrongdoing. And when the group made their way to Martha's Vineyard, a man nominated for "Hottest Male" at the 2008 RW Awards Bash decided to show off the goodies to the girls - and it the first time Genesis actually saw a guy's private parts.
   Post RW, Jason has forged a solid reputation in reality casting, being responsible for some notable discoveries: casting Audrina Patridge, Heidi Montag & Whitney Port to join Lauren Conrad on The Hills; bringing together Taylor Selfridge, Cory Wharton, Paulie Califiore, Angela Babicz and an all-star cast for Season 1 of Ex On The Beach, and landing Aubrey O'Day, Chad Johnson & the Jersey Shore guys for E!'s Famously Single. He also casted twelve Real World & Road Rules seasons, discovering Queer Eye's Karamo Brown, RR badass Abram Boise, Grimm star David Guintoli, Challenge queen Veronica Portillo, and four Total Madness vets: Johnny Bananas, Wes Bergmann, Aneesa Ferreira and the aforementioned C.T.

Like Elka, Kameelah came to New England also at age 19, but this San Diegoan took a semester's break from Stanford (and attending with Chelsea Clinton) for the opportunity to show herself to America. However, the first month or so for her proved to be a difficult one in the roommates having problems with her bossy nature, and where she feared that the five months of being in that firehouse would almost feel like a long year. But as time grew on, Kameelah would start to break out of her shell a bit - a must for any person cast into a Real World house.
   Outside the firehouse - and with a list in tow of 200+ things she came up while at Stanford of what she would want from a boyfriend, Kameelah got to know a local software engineer named Doug, and there was the sexual tension she had with Jason during that Vineyard weekend. And there was the time where she checked a random man for hissing at her while waiting for a subway train to arrive, which ignited chatter of how to treat and respect women.
   Those who saw last year's Atlanta season on Facebook Watch know how big talk of race dominated much of the buzz. And for one of the two African-American castmates of this Boston season, below Kameelah (now a NYC doctor specializing in obstetrics & gynecology) talked to a friend back home and to her boss about what she went through there. She would say, "Being on The Real World was like being part of history--at least, a part of our generation's history. It was the best experience I've ever had. A chance to leave normal environment. To put myself in a pressure cooker...and see how I would respond."



Of the whole house, only Montana had the luxury of not flying to Boston and just taking a short journey from the Big Apple via train for this experience despite going from one big city to another just slightly to the northeast. A lady who had an interest in archaeology and dinosaurs working at the National History Museum (and now working as an acupuncturist) developed into being perhaps the one roomie who was the most open in the firehouse, and she likened the experience to "...being in the middle of a gladiator ring."
   Despite all that, it seemed almost clear that Montana wasn't always the most well-received roomie in the house, knowing that the cameras were there to captured all that she and the cast would do. And this was best on display when it came to her boyfriend, New York filmmaker Vaj, who visited her in town and then decided to turn their relationship into one that almost always a no-no in Real World etiquette: an open one, and where she kissed a local named Matt on Valentine's Day at just about the same time that Vaj returned.
   And what happened on that night led to one of the most famous (and infamous) phone calls in Real World history where Vaj decided to lay the same five-letter word on Montana not once, but 27 times among other bad words. And when she worked for a time for MTV itself as a receptionist while her season was airing, when that came along she switched off the TV's in her office so she wouldn't have to worry about reliving what happens below.



So much would await him later on, but before all that Sean was a lumberjack in upper Wisconsin who ruled the competitive world of logger sports, and where its annual world championships take place every year in his hometown. But exchanging lumberjacks and living with an Irish-Catholic family for living with six strangers on the East Coast would become almost like a culture shock for Sean, and where he thought it was gonna be a blast from the start he would find this to be different.
    In what's always a major component of any Real World in people living with different beliefs, Sean was forced to share a room with someone who was a total opposite in political psychologies: this conservative Republican shared quarters with a liberal Kameelah, and not surprisingly they had a big blowup. But he would later say, "The greatest thing about The Real World is that you're forced to interact with six people you'd ordinarily not be associated with. The biggest thing I've learned is to no longer look a the color of someone's skin, their sexual preference or their religion and dismiss them. I realize now that everybody has something to offer."
   Genesis had inklings that politics would await Sean, and she was right: after eight years serving as Ashland County's District Attorney, he entered his name into the race to succeed a retiring Democrat in the area's House of Representatives seat, and he swept into office in the 2010 Republican wave, spending eight years championing legislation on consumer financial protection among other things. And as the only MTV'er to be elected to Congress, in fall 2015, he welcomed Derrick Kosinski, David "Puck" Rainey, Norman Korpi & Laurel Stucky to Capitol Hill in support of ovarian cancer research along with Diem Brown's sister Megan.
   And of course, Sean met his wife, RW San Francisco alumnus Rachel Campos, on Road Rules All Stars in 1999, and they would see their family grow to nine children. But when they marked their 20th anniversary, they did so on a bittersweet note: before welcoming Valentina StellaMaris last October, Rachel discovered that the newborn had a heart defect and has an extra chromosome - a sign that she has Down Syndrome. It was this in mind that Rep. Duffy resigned from Congress a month beforehand to give more of his time (save for a CNN commentary gig) to family as they now their attention to raising Valentina and making up for lost time due to his time in political office.

And then, there's the ladies' man named after an Egyptian god: as a lifelong Lakers fan and basketball enthusiast, Syrus found himself in Celtics territory but quickly got used to his new surroundings more easily. But aside from wanting to get away from his Santa Monica surroundings, the prime reason Syrus came to Real World was to explore, as he noted, "interracial dealings and relationships I'd like the world to know. My purpose in life is to educate people about racial unity."
   It was there that Sy found himself in some drama with Kameelah over his preference for white girls and him bringing one home just about every night, plus many talks about race among his roommates and the time where he dated a local mom that put himself in hot water. It was an interesting stay in New England for him, one where he had a hard time with the female roomies and a good time with the guys. He'd say later, "I'm so happy I'm me... and not other people in the house. I think there were a lot of pretty closed-minded people in the Boston Firehouse."
   In the years since in being a party host and club promoter, Sy has become sort of an MTV ambassador just about everywhere he goes, meeting anyone from Shaq, Mike Tyson & Post Malone to cameoing in Eminem's "Without Me" video -- not to mention all the memories he's made with the whole /Challenge community. And when Kobe Bryant died, he was quick to share his memories of when he shared a court with him & Reggie Miller on that first Challenge in 1999, just like all of us on that painful Sunday back in January.

In 1996, the RW Miami cast had their own drama with having to put together a startup business that didn't even get off the ground. The Boston cast had something much different waiting for them: working for an after-school program with local kids in East Boston, and where they helped those who would eventually become Generations Y & Z and the group who have grown up with YouTube and TikTok. When they got into that job, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing in the beginning: besides Sy & that parent, Kameelah & Elka had it out with the kids listening, and an opening orientation included mentions of rape & Genesis' upbringing.
   The group was given a testy challenge when they traveled to Philadelphia for a Presidential Summit shortly after Bill Clinton started his second term in the White House and before the scandal that made Monica Lewinsky a household name. They were given the task of being parental guardians to one kid and to do what they can to avoid alcohol, but Sean & Syrus then went partying with the college kids on night #2, leading to temporary suspensions. But that was minor compared to Montana: when a wine tasting event took place that same weekend, she not only consumed alcohol, but also let the kids try it out... and she had her volunteer's badge swiped out of her hands.
   And in the center itself, Genesis had fears of just about everything - not only the kids & the parents, but also of not being accepted for who she is. This was most vividly put on display when she met a young girl named Jessica, where after she expressed her view of gay people, it left Genesis in tears.



And one of the roots of what would become The Challenge took place at midseason: in 1996, the Road Rules Season 2 cast came into The Real World Miami house dressed up as house cleaners, when in actuality they were on one of those missions to walk inside and make the famous theft of the 8-ball from their pool table. The next year saw the two shows again share the same time & place when, as part of that annual vacation, the Bostonians went down to Puerto Rico to set up a computer and pen pal initiative at a local Boys & Girls Club.
   When they were done with connecting the kids of the island to the World Wide Web, waiting to meet them were the cast of Road Rules: Islands. The quintet of Erika Roen, Jake Bronstein, Oscar Hernandez, Vince Forcier & a member of that first winning Challenge team, Kalle Dedolph, met up with the Boston cast for fun in the sun (including Sean and Erika having a short relationship) and a mini Challenge that the Real World'ers sweep decisively. And that experience would see Boston be the first entire RW cast to compete on a Challenge: Syrus & Kameelah snapped RW's losing skid on the Extreme Challenge in 2001, while Elka & Sean won Battle of the Seasons I a year later.
   And by the time they returned, the group's after-school work had improved, Syrus was teaching basketball to the youngsters, and soon it was time to say good-bye and farewell with all the emotions that come with the final day. Future RW showrunner Jim Johnston remembered was it was like behind the cameras: "Everyone was sobbing, and I mean everyone! The cameramen were having trouble seeing through their viewfinders because they were crying so much."

Fast forward some twenty-three years and the world has changed, just as The Challenge has become a behemoth with it now in its 35th season. The internet was starting to become an essential part of our lives back in 1997, and in 2020 it has helped to connect everyone during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 quarantine - not just with the web but the various social media outlets and various technologies that have kept us in touch with each other. And it has brought to the forefront the once primitive art of form of videoconferencing, which began with videophones in the '90s and has now seen Zoom become must-haves for workers, families and those who have become family.
   Something that has delighted TV fans of all ages during this cloudy time have been the reunions taking place on Zoom and social media, with anyone from the casts of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Melrose Place to Jackass and Nickelodeon's Naked Brothers Band getting together virtually. Last month, another renowned MTV alumni class of the Road Rules: Campus Crawl crew got together 18 years after the start of a legacy that, like this cast, would also produce four future Challenge champs. And just some time afterwards over the 4/20 weekend, it would be The Real World Boston cast's turn to turn back the clock.
   Syrus wrote on Instagram, "Put this together w/ Jason fr my MTV Real World Cast. It was cool catching up w/ everyone in their adult lives." And for the one who made it all happen, Jason captioned, "This happened...love my people....all so different, all still connected..... xoxoxo"




When asked in their follow-up interviews of the Seattle RW book of what the legacy of their season would be, Kameelah answered, "Unlike some previous seasons, everyone on our cast had some type of inspiration. I think the community service element made our interactions more focused and interesting than prior shows." And Jason added, "I think we all lived together pretty well, There was definitely conflict, but there wasn't as much bickering about stupid things... maybe it's because we had an older cast."
   We didn't know it at the time that one of them would become a prominent politician in an age of turmoil, another into creating the essential formula of casting some memorable reality shows, and that they would have an impact outside a firehouse that is now the non-profit Hill House community center, which helps out the next generation of young Bostonians, just as the former residents of this property did two decades earlier down the street.
   The Real World Boston brought together these people from six different regions of this vast nation of ours, and who were exactly what the show needed to stay true to what their founding fathers in SoHo preached five years earlier: conflict and drama among those with differing views that radiate even now, along with a side order of fun with a cast that truly clicked with viewers, and where their legacy is still felt even now.
   As Genesis wrote in her entry of the Seattle book, "I really miss The Real World. I even miss the cast members I didn't get along with so well. We may have argued, but we always had an underlying unity that made us kind of a family. I know what we did is now a TV show, but to me it's a home video of our time together."   ■


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Stories like the one you've just read is offered from the unique vantage point of ExtraTime - DCBLOG's way of focusing on the MTV Reality shows you love and those who are part of its legacy though original storytelling offering a different look at the people, the moments and the world of the most fascinating reality programming on TV. It's only a part of our look Inside MTV Reality, with weekly episode coverage, social reaction and more, including the current Challenge season of Total Madness. We've taken a break from our episode coverage this week due to a cliffhanger to this week's episode, and allowing us to present this post as part of this Weekend Special.
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Bibliography - both from MTV Books and Simon & Schuster:
▪ The Real World: The Ultimate Insider's Guide (1997)
▪ Inside The House: MTV's The Real World Seattle (1998)
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