“This is the true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a loft, and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real…The Real World.”
Ever since its debut in 1992 with Eric, Norm, Andre, Becky, Heather, Julie and Kevin living in a loft in New York City The Real World had me glued to the boob tube before the airwaves became saturated with reality television shows. It’s my guilty pleasure, not my out-of-control obsession, so while I’ll watch all of the episodes, I won’t ever turn stealth stalkerazzi and seek an encounter with a cast member.
Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray of Bunim-Murray Productions are responsible for sustaining my guilty pleasure all of these years by moving the “loft” all over the world, including Hawai’i and creating the spin offs Road Rules and The Challenges. MTV will debut the 20th season of The Real World Hollywood later this year and I anticipate the same over-the-top dramatic antics of seven strangers whom I’ll root to get casted into the next Challenge to repeat the same over-the-top dramatic antics. Currently airing is the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Gauntlet III, and it’s full of all the crap that keeps me coming back.
Everyone has their own guilty pleasures, and their own definition of what guilty pleasure means. For me, it’s the longest running show on MTV whose success was probably the beginning of the end of music on the cable network even if it isn’t a true depiction of The Real World.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
I think I’m down to Diet Pepsi as it. I don’t smoke, I rarely drink alcohol, I don’t watch TV…