The Real World
The Real World is an American reality television series produced through MTV and Bunim/Murray Productions that most recently aired on Facebook Watch after airing on MTV from 1992 to 2019. It was originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family. The Real World is one of the longest-running programs in MTV history, one of the longest-running reality series in history, and is credited with launching the modern reality TV genre. Seven to eight young adults are picked to temporarily live in a new city together in one residence while being filmed non-stop.
The series was hailed in its early years for depicting issues of contemporary young-adulthood relevant to its core audience, such as sex, prejudice, religion, abortion, illness, sexuality, AIDS, death, politics, and substance abuse, but later garnered a reputation as a showcase for immaturity and irresponsible behavior.
The series has generated two notable related series, both broadcast by MTV: Road Rules, a sister show, which lasted for 14 seasons, and the ongoing spin-off reality game show The Challenge, which has run for 41 seasons since 1998, thus surpassing The Real World.
On June 8, 2018, it was announced that MTV and Bunim/Murray were working on a revival of The Real World, with the hopes of selling the new version to a streaming platform. In 2018, it was announced that the revival had been sold to Facebook Watch for a new American season, plus a Mexican and a Thai version of the show. The thirty-third season was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia and premiered on June 13, 2019, along with the first new international localized versions since 1996: El Mundo Real in Mexico City and The Real World: Bangkok. A reboot of the original show for Paramount+ was mentioned in the press in 2021 but never materialized.
On March 4, 2021, the spin-off The Real World Homecoming: New York premiered on Paramount+. The series reunited the cast of The Real World: New York to live in the same loft they lived in for the original series. Two more reunion seasons followed. All three seasons were removed from the streaming service in 2023.
History
The Real World was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family. It focuses on the lives of a group of strangers who audition to live together in a house for several months, as cameras record their interpersonal relationships. The show moves to a different city each season. The footage shot during the housemates' time together was edited into 22-minute episodes for the first 19 seasons, and into 44-minute episodes beginning with The Real World: Hollywood, the series' twentieth season, before shortening to a 30-minute length for its thirty-third season. The narration given over the opening title sequence used during the first 28 seasons by the seven housemates states some variation of the following:The Real World was originally inspired by the popularity of youth-oriented shows of the 1990s like Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. Bunim and Murray initially considered developing a scripted series in a similar vein, but quickly decided that the cost of paying writers, actors, costume designers, and make-up artists was too high. Bunim and Murray decided against this idea, and at the last minute, pulled the concept before it became the first season of the show. Tracy Grandstaff, one of the original seven picked for what has come to be known as "Season 0", went on to minor fame as the voice of the animated Beavis and Butt-Head character Daria Morgendorffer, who eventually got her own spinoff, Daria. Dutch TV producer Erik Latour claims that the ideas for The Real World were directly derived from his television show Nummer 28, which aired in 1991 on Dutch television. Bunim/Murray decided upon the cheaper idea of casting a bunch of "regular people" to live in an apartment and taping their day-to-day lives, believing seven diverse people would have enough of a basis upon which to interact without scripts. The production converted a massive, 4000-square-foot duplex in Soho, cast seven cast members from 500 applicants, and paid them $2,600 for their time on the show. The cast lived in the loft from February 16 to May 18, 1992. The series premiered three days later, on May 21, 1992.
At the time of its initial airing, reviews of the show were mostly negative. Matt Roush, writing in USA Today, characterized the show as "painfully bogus", and a cynical and exploitative new low in television, commenting, "Watching The Real World, which fails as documentary and as entertainment, it's hard to tell who's using who more." The Washington Posts Tom Shales commented, "Ah to be young, cute, and stupid, and to have too much free time...Such is the lot facing the wayward wastrels of The Real World, something new in excruciating torture from the busy minds at MTV." Shales also remarked upon the cast members' creative career choices, saying, "You might want to think about getting a real job."
Nonetheless, the series was a hit with viewers. One early sign of the show's popularity occurred on the October 2, 1993 episode of the sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, which parodied the second-season Los Angeles cast's recurring arguments over cliquism, prejudice and political differences.
The show also gained widespread attention with its third season, The Real World: San Francisco, which aired in 1994, and depicted the conflict between David "Puck" Rainey, a bicycle messenger criticized for his poor personal hygiene, and his roommates, most notably AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. As the show increased in popularity, Zamora's life as someone living with AIDS gained considerable notice, garnering widespread media attention. Zamora was one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be portrayed in popular media, and after his death on November 11, 1994, he was lauded by then-President Bill Clinton. Zamora's friend and roommate during the show, Judd Winick, went on to become a successful comic book writer, and wrote the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel Pedro and Me, about his friendship with Zamora, as well as high-profile and controversial storylines in mainstream superhero comics that featured gay and AIDS-related themes. Zamora's conflicts with Rainey were not only considered emotional high points for that season, but are credited with making The Real World a hit show, and with proving that the infant "reality" television format was one that could bring considerable ratings to a network. By July 1995, the series surpassed Beavis and Butt-head as the network's top-rated show during the fourth season, The Real World: London.
Cast member successes
Appearing on the program has often served as a springboard to further success, especially in the entertainment industry.Eric Nies of the New York cast went on to become a model, actor, and television host. His housemate, Kevin Powell, became a successful author, poet, journalist, and politician. Their housemate Heather B. Gardner went on to become a hip-hop music artist under the professional name Heather B.
Los Angeles cast member Beth Stolarczyk has produced men's and women's calendars and television programs featuring reality TV personalities, including herself and other Real World alumni, including Tami Roman, 2002–2003 Las Vegas' Trishelle Cannatella, 2002 Chicago's Tonya Cooley and Back to New York's Coral Smith. Stolarczyk, Cannatella, and Miami's Flora Alekseyeun appeared in the May 2002 Playboy magazine, with later issues spotlighting Cannatella's 2002–2003 Las Vegas housemate, Arissa Hill. Cooley appeared on playboy.com. In addition to Playboy magazine, Cannatella has also posed for the online Playboy Cyber Club, as well as for Stuff magazine.
San Francisco alum Judd Winick is a noted comic book writer and artist, with the majority of his work appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, including writing such well known characters as Batman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern. Winick also published Pedro and Me, a graphic novel about his friendship with fellow castmate Pedro Zamora, who died of AIDS related complications not long after his experience on the show.
London cast member Jacinda Barrett's acting career includes films such as Ladder 49, The Namesake, The Human Stain, and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
Boston cast member Sean Duffy was elected to the United States House of Representatives for in 2010 as a member of the Republican Party and became the 20th United States Secretary of Transportation in January 2025. He is married to San Francisco alum Rachel Campos-Duffy, a conservative TV news personality.
Lindsay Brien of the Seattle cast became a radio and CNN personality.
Hawaii cast member Tecumseh "Teck" Holmes III appeared in films such as National Lampoon's Van Wilder and in TV series such as Friends.
Mike Mizanin has also found fame as a WWE wrestler wrestling under the name "The Miz", a character he debuted during the Back to New York season. His successes have included the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
2002 Chicago cast member Kyle Brandt's acting career includes starring in the soap opera Days of Our Lives. His castmate Tonya Cooley also appeared on an MTV special of True Life: I'm a Reality TV Star. He also works for the NFL Network.
2002–2003 Las Vegas cast members Trishelle Cannatella and Steven Hill appeared in the horror film Scorned. Cannatella has also appeared on other reality shows, such as The Surreal Life, Battle of the Network Reality Stars, and Kill Reality, the latter of which also featured Hill and Cooley.
Paris castmate Mallory Snyder went on to become a model, most notably appearing in Sports Illustrated magazine's annual swimsuit issue in 2005 and 2006.
2004 San Diego castmate Jamie Chung has appeared in various television and film roles, including Dragonball Evolution, Sorority Row, The Hangover Part II, Once Upon a Time, and Lovecraft Country. Cameran Eubanks, also from the 2004 San Diego cast, starred on Bravo's reality series Southern Charm for its first six seasons.
Philadelphia cast member Karamo Brown appeared as a cast member on the TV One original reality series The Next: 15 and is the host on Are You the One? Second Chances. He is also the Culture guide on Netflix's Queer Eye reboot. He currently hosts his own talk show, Karamo.
Washington, D.C., cast member Emily Schromm was voted as the winner of Women's Healths America's Next Fitness Star in August 2014, and will be featured in a series of fitness DVDs.
Portland cast member Jordan Wiseley appeared on the OWN Network original series, Tyler Perry's If Loving You Is Wrong.
Ex-Plosion cast member Cory Wharton went on to become a supporting cast member on Teen Mom OG with his girlfriend Cheyanne Floyd in 2018.
Dozens of former cast members from The Real World and its sister production Road Rules have appeared on the spin-off series The Challenge, which pays $100,000 or more to its winners. Various cast members have also earned livings as public speakers, since Bunim-Murray Productions funded their training in motivational speaking by the Points of Light Foundation in 2002, allowing them to earn between $1,500 and $2,000 for an appearance on the college lecture circuit.