<![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> The first "reality show" was actually An American Family, which aired on PBS in the early 1970s. It's much closer to Real World than Cops.

k8lin

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl: Can we talk about what drip Cory was from that season. She was like the friend that stalks you by showing up at the party and not talking to anyone.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> You just gave me a Media Crit. boner.

fasthugger

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Another turning point was when they started using the night vision cameras pointed at the bed so you could see lots of night nookie. Of course, by that time the roomies were regularly walking around naked in broad daylight.

Carol Gardens

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Real World was so good in its earlier seasons. The later ones seemed to hire people whose personalities were shaped by watching the Real World as kids. That's why there's such a glut of characters who are practically interchangeable and tough to remember.

jasonelias

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl:
The fact that MTV experimented with a London season that had actual furriners on it, then vowed never to do it again speaks volumes. The season in "Paris" was a complete joke. I don't think any of the Wonder Bread-eating kiddies could even say "bonjour."

Botswana Meat Commission FC

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @CaptainFantastic: Ha! Good point about teevee years.
And certainly all these shows are cast for "type" now. That's another difference between all these shows & Cops. Also another thing supporting Klosterman's point (as "universalized" by me, natch). Heh.

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> I blame the children.

Buzz Killington

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @BettyCrocker: Love GLWD! Volunteering there is the greatest upper ever.

OhBilly

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @DorothyMantooth: Well, now they "cast" people for reality shows, instead of forcing them on via arrest. And aren't TV years like dog years?

CaptainFantastic

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @contradicto: Lucky for you, I just left the post about Martha's dog, and so have no rage in me to go off on you like I did with Code Pink! Forgiven/forgotten, 'k?

WideStanceRomancer

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Real World real value has become completely lost to the fact that a generation has grown up watching the initially experimental show, and enter the competition already knowing which character (as opposed to actual person) they want to be seen as. There's no real left.

WideStanceRomancer

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @Nard38: I dunno about that. Cops began in 1989. And the first Real World was only 3 years later. And I think we can all agree that the Real World is far closer to what we all think of when we hear "reality tv" than Cops, no?

@fiveinchtaint: I think that Klosterman blurb is interesting, but true in the same way that that statement can be made about anything. Like: "When Friends first came on the air, I could recognize some of the traits of my friends in the titular characters. But, eventually, as I came to meet new people, I began to easily characterize these new folks as 'a Monica' or 'such a Chandler.'"
Ya know?

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> I'm a geezer. This means I can't stand all of these newfangled Real Worlders with their Barbie, beefy boy, outcasty, token, insert stereotype here, (but who will later be shown to evolve) fuckers. I preferred the same group, 15 years ago, when they said things like "Eric and Julie are gonna make out...he, he" Now sex is a foregone conclusion, arrests are commonplace, and for the love of God when did they start putting people on the challenges who never dared enter a MTV house or a damn Winnebago? And another thing...keep those darn kids off my lawn, I don't want their sex parts flailing all around!

Spirit Fingers

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl: They still give the roommates a fake "job" they're supposed to do. But these days, they're all too drunken, lazy and riddled with guilt over sleeping with everyone in sight while their less famewhorey boy/girlfriends wait at home to actually complete any tasks.

TedSez

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @crooked_teeth:
In some interview a while ago, he said he was stoned the whole time and kept himself off-camera.
@collegecallgirl: No doubt!

fileunder

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @Conbon: So it's like "Fresh Meat" but you pay to get in? Ha. Not a bad idea really.

@Nard38: Yeah but he's like Biff - Richard could outmaneuver him with his McFly smarts.

fiveinchtaint

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @fileunder: I would have done it to Judd.

collegecallgirl

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl: Pam had great hair, remember?

CodePink

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @fileunder: hahaha...imagine today a roommate who barely showed up for his reality TV show.

crooked_teeth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl: I don't know. Personal shopping is rigorous.

fingerfingerfinger

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl: WTF do you call "Real World Castmember?" A hobby?

Conbon

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @collegecallgirl:
Ha! She and Judd came to my college one year and gave a lecture about AIDS and Pedro.

fileunder

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> I got hooked in '92 and may still never forgive them for introducing me to Reigndance.

fileunder

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Remember in the San Francisco season when the roommates were like, 30, and had actual jobs? Pam was a fucking doctor! When was the last time anyone had an occupation on The Real World?

collegecallgirl

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @contradicto:

Okay, understood. Here's a quick fix for your shitty day: [www.godslovewedeliver.org]

You'd be amazed at how quickly things will improve.

BettyCrocker

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @DorothyMantooth: Ha. You should be proud. That means you stopped watching at just about the right time.

Chuck Klosterman had a funny insight to this in one of his books:

"In 1992, the Real World was supposed to be that kind of calculated accident; it was theoretically created as a seamless extension of reality. But somewhere that relationship became reversed; theory was replaced by practice. During the first Real World summer I saw kids on MTV who reminded me of people I knew in real life. By 1997, the opposite was starting to happen; I kept meeting new people who were like old Real World characters. I've met at least six Pucks in the past five years."

fiveinchtaint

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @fiveinchtaint: Shouldn't you warn young Richard that Danny seems to have gained about 75 pounds of muscle in a short time and might have some anger issues?

And can they stop with the "first reality show" stuff? As Catfish_Jones says, "Cops" was first by a long-shot.

"Sir, do you have any outstanding warrants?"

"Yes. Three. One for assault. One for robbery. And one more. Umm, oh [bleep]! What was it for? Oh yeah! Kidnapping!"

Nard

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @fiveinchtaint: Steroids are a hell of a drug.

Am I the only one who thinks MTV should set up a Club Med-like vacation where normal people could participate in a real world/road rules challenge? Yes? OK.

Conbon

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Remember when Dave Eggers was supposed to be on the first season of the Real World (as per A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)? What would've happened if he'd gone the shirtless, hot tub route instead? The horror! the twee-tastrophe!

fingerfingerfinger

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> As a former faithful viewer of TRW, I can testify that the early seasons did address some weighty topics, like race and sexuality. But then they saw a big spike in the ratings when two cast members had sex in Hawaii. From that point on, the casting shifted. And that resulted in a predictable mix of tools, fools and bimbos. I kept subjecting myself until I could no longer deal with the debacle that was Las Vegas.

SeaBassTian

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @contradicto: Discussion of Pedro needs to be snark free.

As far as I'm concerned Pedro Zamora was the only redeeming quality to the series. Maybe that entire channel.

crooked_teeth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @contradicto: oh no, not again!

hamburgerhotdog

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> hamburgerhotdog: Yes, Mary-Ellis Bunim died in 2004. She came out of conventional soap operas. In fact, she and her partner were originally going to do a scripted show for MTV, but MTV didn't want to spend that much money. Voiila! Reality TV is born! (Although you could probably trace it back to the Loud Family on PBS.)

Carol Gardens

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @BettyCrocker: @DorothyMantooth: I'm sorry. It is. I am having a really shitty day.

contradicto

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @contradicto: Awww! Mean!

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @contradicto: Unfunny, and beneath you. Who stole your ID and password?

BettyCrocker

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @hamburgerhotdog: Mary Ellis-Bunim! (Or is it Mary-Ellis Bunim?)
And I only know that because whenever I would see the beginning of the recaps on the front page of TWoP, whoever wrote them would always start with a (usually very angry) Message From Beyond The Grave from her to whoever was still making the show.
It was hilarious!

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> No. There is no deep meaning, It's all crap and brain pablum for slackers who have lost the ability to read, think critically, or get over themselves. It's why the Indians and Asians are filling our engineering and medical schools while Jiffy Lube has to hang out "Sorry, we're not hiring" signs because of an oversupply of fuckwits just waiting to be discovered for "The Real World -- Guys Who Pick Up Trash in the Park For a Living."

Truculent

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @Botswana Meat Commission FC: The producers do indeed seem to have bucketfulls of booze handy throughout the house in every season, and that doesn't lead to interesting conversations. It does, however, lead to lots of sex and brawls, which of course, sells.

BettyCrocker

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> So how come Pedro never comes to any of the reunion specials?

contradicto

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @fiveinchtaint: Oh noes! You've actually lost respect for me for not watching the (newer) Real Worlds??!!
Ack! That seems not right, somehow.

Okay. So for you, darlin', I just looked her up. Huh. So she's been in a lot of crap. A lot of really, really crappy crap...

I gotta say, I remain pretty proud. Sorry, m'dear!

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @Botswana Meat Commission FC: Didn't one of the creators die as well? That might have made an impact on it?

hamburgerhotdog

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @BettyCrocker:
The show's producers came to a fork in the road after about five years: Make the show smart/cosmopolitan and more like the Boston/London seasons. Or pulverize it into a drunken frat party .

They chose the latter and made a gazillion bucks. Too bad it couldn't stay interesting past the Las Vegas Season (aka "Real World" Holocaust.)

Botswana Meat Commission FC

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Speak of the devil.

I just mentioned "Daria" and Tracy Grandstaff, who voiced the character, was in the Real World pilot.

Way, way back.

Back when Communist Party head Gus Hall faithfully watched the first season of "America's Funniest Home Videos."

Just after the last Medina was served and just before the first Air Bart T came off the line.

Back when reality meant "Cops."

Except nobody had heard of reality.

All there was back then was dramedy. And Arsenio.

That's why you won't be seeing "That 90s Show" for a while.

Catfish_Jones

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Carol Gardens: I must say that I may have redeemed myself by never watching The Hills, not even once.

Carol Gardens

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> The Real World is the strongest argument for forced sterilization.

The More You Know

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Carol Gardens

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> There is no question in my mind that The Real World helped many gay teenagers feel a bit less alone and a bit more visible. It also broke down more than a few racial stereotypes. All in all, a good thing.

Mindless? That depends. If I had to explain human nature to a space alien, it would be a very useful tool.

BettyCrocker

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @DorothyMantooth: Oh, Dotty. That's surprising. I'm not sure what to think of that.

fiveinchtaint

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Danny from Boston is a miracle. He has absolutely no sense of how ridiculously stupid he is. Richard, if you ever see him around town when you're there, I hope you kick him in the balls.

fiveinchtaint

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> @TheHonJudgeSmails: I'm incredibly proud not to have any idea who that person is.

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[Show Mommy on the Doll Where <i>The Real World</i> Touched Us]]> Awww, Trishelle. I'll let you call me daddy.

TheHonJudgeSmails

]]>