MTV Films' Pedro
(Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2009)
Who's Pedro? "The first-ever openly gay, HIV-positive main character on TV," according to MTV. And that TV program was, of course, 1994's San Francisco's cast of The Real World — also known as the year of Puck, who, in time, was kicked out of the house for his abusive terrorizing of AIDS educator Pedro Zamora. In spite of Puck, then-22-year-old Pedro was beloved by his other roommates and also the viewers, whom voted and awarded the episode in which Pedro and boyfriend Sean Sasser exchanged vows and rings "Favorite Love Story." This special movie tribute, scribed by Dustin Lance Black (yep, he won the Oscar for writing Milk), chronicles Pedro's (played by Alex Loynaz) short but influential life from the time he was a junior in high school looking to donate blood only to find out it was infected with HIV to his family circuit which included his sister Mily (an exceptional performance by Justina Machado of Six Feet Under) and, ultimately, his death, which occurred the day after The Real World: San Francisco aired its finale episode (you can watch every one of these episodes now on MTV.com). It's touching, motivating and, yes, still relevant. (MTV/LOGO 8PM ET/PT)YESTERDAY'S DO-IT: Cupid wants you back in love!