I know it’s trashy reality television, but I love The Real World. The love connections, friendships and fights make every season worth watching. Although I expressed my annoyance with the Cancun season in a previous blog post, I’m holding out hope that the upcoming installment will be more to my liking. The Real World: Washington D.C. puts the “[...] strangers picked to live in a house” in America’s capital and hopefully the housemates will take full advantage of the opportunities available in Washington. From the information MTV has shared thus far, the show’s 23rd season includes Andrew Woods, a comic book creator; former delegate Ashley Lindley; Callie Walker, a woman that lived in junkyards and warehouses as a child; singers Josh Colon and Erika Wasilewski; bisexual Mike Manning; and religious skeptics Ty Ruff and Emily Schromm. Of course, the labels given to the cast members quickly dissolve once viewers start watching the reality show, but for now Lindley is the “former delegate” and Ty Ruff is the “religious skeptic.”
I have hope that Washington D.C. will offer more to viewers than Cancun. The castmates sound like opinionated people with a lot of ambition; something that Cancun lacked. But, in my opinion, Brooklyn and Hollywood weren’t that much better; both lacked “character development” and grew to be a little boring. I miss the Real World seasons when I genuinely cared about the people; the seasons that made me laugh, cry and hopeful for their future. Will Washington have that drama? Only time will tell, but for now let’s look back at some memorable Real World seasons.
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The Real World: Key West
Cast: Zach Mann, Jose Tapia, Paula Meronek, John Devenanzio, Janelle Casanave, Tyler Duckworth, Svetlana Shusterman.
What made this season awesome: The housemates were so close. Unlike Brooklyn, there was no childish “girls versus boys”; they all became friends. Well… Svetlana might not have been that close with the boys as they had a tendency to tease her. From Paula’s eating disorder to Tyler’s scheming, Key West had a lot of drama, but also a lot of friendship. Viewers could see the genuine connection that these housemates had, and the struggle they endured trying to help Paula overcome her eating disorder only strengthened relationships. Key West was a season to remember.
The Real World: Austin
Cast: Danny Jamieson, Johanna Botta, Lacey Buehler, Melinda Stolp, Nehemiah Clark, Rachel Moyal, Wes Bergmann.
What made this season awesome: The love connection. In the first episode-when MTV pairs up cast members to travel to the house together-Melinda and Danny were paired and it was love at first sight. Danny was clearly smitten with the blonde and their love only strengthened when a family tragedy arose. The Massachusetts-native found true love with Melinda and the pair have since married.
The Real World: Los Angeles
Cast: Aaron Behle, Beth Stolarczyk, David Edwards, Dominic Griffin, Irene Berrera-Kearns, John Brennan, Tami Roman, Glen Naessens, Beth Anthony.
What made this season awesome: The humour. This cast was just so zany they were funny. From the purposely funny Dominic and Aaron to the unintentional funny of Tami wiring her jaw shut to lose weight, talking to people through clenched teeth; Los Angeles brought the laughs. It was sad to see this season end, but I’m sure the boys were happy to leave Beth behind.
Will Washington D.C. have a close-knit group, feature a love connection, bring lots of laughs or offer something uniquely its own? Find out on December 30th when The Real World: Washington D.C. begins.
What season of The Real World was your favourite? Tweet me @LAMcEachran!