Tonight's premiere got me thinking of the last Real World season I watched. I think it was Las Vegas in 2002. Though it was already in decline, it seems like Las Vegas really did it in for me. That's when it became less about interesting twenty-somethings and more about hot, drunk, sex-crazed, irresponsible people (previous seasons had hot, drunk, sex-crazed and/or irresponsible people...but not everyone fit that mold and that wasn't the whole focus of the show). It became more about the sex appeal and the drama. I don't even think they had to get jobs anymore. Previous seasons had a project or job they had to do, but I don't even remember the Las Vegas cast having any responsibility. Their job was just to get drunk, get in fights, have pregnancy scares, and get involved in as many love-triangles as possible.
And could it be a coincidence that Las Vegas was the first season that I was in college? I was no longer a middle-schooler or high-schooler watching Real World. Could it be that I just simply outgrew the show? While that definitely could be the case, I think it's fair to say there was a genuine shift in the show during the Las Vegas season (hell, they were living in a casino, not a house). And I think other people would probably agree. Or is it just other people my age...which feeds back into maybe we just out-grew the show at the same time.
Regardless, it's crazy to think this upcoming DC season will be the 23rd season. That just seems insane. It's hard to keep track of all the cities and all the cast members (and that's just for the seasons I've watched). I can't believe it's still on. It's so different now. But I guess as one age group outgrows the show, there's a younger age group that is embracing it. And these younguns have no memories of the earlier seasons to say "oh my god, what happened to this show?"
In the Style section of the Washington Post today there was an article written by a Gen-Xer on tonight's Real World premiere and The Real World in general. It was wonderfully snarky:
"But there was always one nagging question left unanswered as the show repeated its formula into oblivion: Why not Washington, D.C.? The moaning about this deliberate oversight went on for years. What was so uncool about Washington for MTV to have ignored us all this while... Washington is not too boring for The Real World, but times have changed. Now it turns out to be the other way around: The Real World is too boring for Washington. Or anyplace else. The show is moribund, calcified, and predictably dull -- so much so that it's hard to believe there are still young people who will volunteer for this duty."
"And, perhaps, inspired by a sense of Obamaesque optimism, The Real World's producers seem to have chosen kids with at least some remaining brain cells, some sense of ambition and plans. It barely recalls the series's earlier days -- when the San Francisco cast featured a doctor during her residency, a cartoonist getting editorial work, and a patron saint of HIV activism."
Posts
My thoughts exactly, Heather. I couldn't agree with you more about the decline of that show. In fact, I pretty much stopped watching MTV altogether after about a year or two in college. I just think it was a combination of me outgrowing the shows and a mixture of MTV becoming less and less about music in general and more about becoming a dumping ground for desperate fame-seekers. What's even more amusing is that I used to watch a lot of MTV2 because they played more music videos, but now they don't even do that anymore. Is there an MTV3 or MTV4 where they still focus on music and try to showcase new talent?
ReplyDeleteYeah, MTV has really evolved throughout the years into something so different. I also remember when they created MTV2 to try to bring it back to the music; but yeah, now that has been overrun by TV shows. I think MTV probably has already reserved the rights to MTV3, 4, 5, and on and on -- for future use.
ReplyDeletei too am in complete agreement with you. can you imagine how excited we would have been 8 years ago if real world were being filmed in the city we lived?! i thought that my lack of interest in the show the last few years was just me getting too old, but after catching a few minutes of the DC show... i refuse to believe it was that bad when we watched it. at least vegas was so bad it was good, but now i'm just embarrassed for all of the cast members. i fear for the high school kids of today. hopefully the hype dies down soon so you can continue your life in peace.
ReplyDeletexo