The Real World Aims For Reality

If you're like us, you can hardly believe that MTV's The Real World has been on the air for 15 years.  But The Real World, which often touted as the first ever reality show, is about to begin casting for its 20th and potentially final season.

From the crazier show veterans, like Puck, Beth, and Stephen, to sweet souls like Pedro, The Real World has brought season after season of strangers into homes across America.  For it's 20th season, however, MTV is hoping to get a little more real than in recent memory. Specifically, the network wants to cast ambitious people who are looking to pursue their life and career goals in an urban location.

To that, we say thank goodness.

While recent Real World fluff characters like Trishelle, Tyler, and Colie may be good for an indulgent dose of people making fools of themselves on national television, it's been a long time since anything on the show actually resembled reality.

The "true story of seven strangers" has turned into an extended Mardi Gras of drunkenness and debauchery for the last few seasons.  And the idea that the cast is actually supposed to hold down jobs has become such a mockery that whole seasons have gone by with less than ten minutes of screen time devoted to work.

What do you think of this once cutting-edge television "experiment?" Do you have a favorite season of The Real World?  And, most importantly, do you think the 20th season should be its last?
Published 3/17/07 by

Emily 10k+ Emily