Before the days of “Jersey Shore,” the MTV reality series everyone watched to see the binge drinking, the one-night stands and weird telephones was “The Real World.” And even though we’ve only spent one season down in Dirty Jerz, the nights we fought on the boardwalk and fist-pumped with neon glow sticks obliterated even the greatest hot tub scenes of the “Shore’s” predecessor.
But MTV isn’t about to abandon “RR,” because it’s an idea that’s worked for eighteen years. It certainly isn’t going to discontinue the show just because a tanner, Valtrex-medicated, duck-phone-answering, “GTL”-heavy (and an arguably, much more entertaining) show has emerged. In fact, it means producers are going to try and bring some of the shore’s hot mess to New Orleans, which happens to be where the 24th season of “RR” will take place. (Though some could argue the Big Easy needs more “hot mess” as much as a worm needs his wisdom teeth pulled out.) In any case, this season of “The Real World,” which premieres on June 30th, will do one of two things: re-establish itself as the best dirty docu-reality of them all, or will be shoved into a hole where it can officially die and make room for it’s prettier, smarter, more well-loved cousin.
To see what we’re up against this season, let’s have a look at the trailer:
So. A few familiarities quickly jump out at us. First, there’s sexual promiscuity. We assume this when one of the roommates says “penis” within 5 seconds of the preview’s opening. We also have two (blurred) sightings of male genitalia, a girl taking her top off in the jacuzzi and another girl (maybe the same one?) flashing her chest during a Mardi Gras parade. Then, there’s the character generalizations: “Knight” is the village idiot who eats a bug off of the pool table the first night, “Preston” fulfills the homosexual status quo, “Kensy” plays the role of the skanky yet judgmental blonde, “Jemmye” is the dumb girl with the even dumber name, the outcast, “Ryan,” who asks one of his new roommates if she’s ever killed somebody, and two other people who I’m going to deem unimportant.
Now, onto the new things we might be able to expect this season. While this is certainly not the first season MTV has sent seven or eight strangers to live in a city known for partying (Cancun in 2009, Key West in 2006, Las Vegas in 2002/2003, and even New Orleans back in 2000), its choice to go back to New Orleans — especially during Mardi Gras — seems like the producers are encouraging the housemates to ignore their consciences and do absolutely anything and everything they want during their time there, which is new. In previous seasons, there have been times when producers stepped in and took a housemate to rehab (most recently in the Hollywood season), but I feel like they’re going to keep their distance this time. It’s more likely they’ll sit in their control room and watch the cast engage in dangerous behaviors and not intervene, under the reasoning that it’s just the “New Orleans scene.”
Also, there’s something about Ryan “the outcast” that stands out to me. Again, “RR” producers have never been afraid of throwing a shark into a coy pond…but Ryan seems to make every other weirdo in the history of the show look like a golden retriever puppy. He seems preoccupied with death, a complete loner, and so uninterested in everything going on around him that it’s kind of a shock he even got cast in the first place. His private and dark personality is bound to offend his vivacious roommates, who are hell-bent on exposing themselves and getting as many beaded necklaces as they can. It’s no secret Ryan’s going to clash with all of them. And since everyone knows it only takes one bad-tasting jellybean to ruin the entire JellyBelly package, it should be pretty obvious this season’s going to taste worse than most of the others. And by “worse” I mean enjoyable and entertaining, like the popcorn-flavored jellybean.
Source: HollywoodReporter
