Season 11 of the Real World

January 15, 2002 8:11 PM

Season 11 of the Real World started tonight! Among guitly pleasures, this one's gonna be good: 2 person showers! lifeguarding! conflicting interests! I'm hooked.
posted by adrober (38 comments total)

I hear they eat pancakes for breakfast on that show.
posted by Optamystic at 8:13 PM on January 15, 2002

ugh.
posted by jpoulos at 8:20 PM on January 15, 2002

Are you sure it's just not the same episode as previous ones?

Let's see.....

token black guy/girl
7 "attractive" individuals
at least 2 characters with a unique name

nope, same thing as before.
posted by Mach3avelli at 8:29 PM on January 15, 2002

Come on Mach3avelli, two-person showers? That ought to count for something.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:32 PM on January 15, 2002

I love the fact that they keep on downgrading their "jobs," because they're all so damn useless. Radio hosts? Nah. Party promoters? Uh-uh. Public Access TV personalities? Well, no. Music industry A&R people? Mmmmm... Nah. Lifeguards? Sounds about right. Next season: assistant janitor?

On a related note, anyone want to bet on how long it is until someone does a "which Real Worlder are you" web thing?

if you find this post inspires you to do just such a thing, you'll credit me of course, right?
posted by Sinner at 8:32 PM on January 15, 2002

Sinner, I'm the whiny one.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:41 PM on January 15, 2002

ugh.

I concur good chap.
posted by Aikido at 8:42 PM on January 15, 2002

token black guy/girl
7 "attractive" individuals
at least 2 characters with a unique name

you forgot "token homosexual" and "token ingenue"

oh. and not to mention the "token person who will piss everyone off and get kicked out of the house". can't forget that guy.
posted by jerseygirl at 8:50 PM on January 15, 2002

People, you're all so confused. To see those elements as recycled from previous seasons is WAY naive. Like a great novel, with 11 chapters, these are various THEMES. Like the tropical fish are a MOTIF.

Ok, who am I kidding: but this particular cast seems much more compelling than any one in recent memory. Oh, except New Orleans that was pretty good. Last years sucked though.
posted by adrober at 9:11 PM on January 15, 2002

I've also noticed that the cast has gotten increasingly attractive overall over the years.
posted by sean17 at 9:25 PM on January 15, 2002

this show is great. there's never any near-absurd racial tension or people who can't keep their pants on... oh wait, yeah there is. oh wait, the show isn't too great at all (well, in my humble opinion.). truth be told, if i wanted to see/hear that much whining, i'd go to my web page.

::once again, misses the state, sifl and olly, and downtown::
posted by lotsofno at 9:26 PM on January 15, 2002

Keep on strategically placed products yet again. I wouldn't be suprised if this time they hold up a can of Pepsi and run an ad mid-sentence.

Really though, thank God I can change the channel on this TV they give me in here.
posted by JakeEXTREME at 9:27 PM on January 15, 2002

I was glued to the set tonight because my friend's sister is one of the cast members. I was going to watch the show with him and a bunch of his friends, but opted to stay home.

I'm glad I didn't go, because at the end (when they show you what's in store that season), they showed his sister saying, "I'm not promiscuous" while guys jump in and out of her bed.
posted by jennak at 9:28 PM on January 15, 2002

Sinner - they've already done the quiz!
posted by stormy at 9:40 PM on January 15, 2002

The best part about the show is making yourself giggle by choosing funny places for them to set it. The Real World: Cape Town! The Real World: Neo Tokyo!
posted by Hildago at 9:41 PM on January 15, 2002

I LOVE the show. and i'm not kidding. maybe its because i dont have any friends or a life. i'm all about living vicariously.
posted by sadie01221975 at 10:00 PM on January 15, 2002

I love the fact that they keep on downgrading their "jobs," because they're all so damn useless.

Season 12: Airport security guards.
posted by verdezza at 10:13 PM on January 15, 2002

let's see...

aneesa = not so dumb, interesting
cara = not so dumb, potentially interesting
chris = pretty not-dumb, interesting
keri = dumb, uninteresting
kyle = not so dumb, not very interesting but a nice guy perhaps
theo = really really really really dumb, not interesting at all
tonya = really really really really dumb, not interesting at all

next season please!
posted by mcsweetie at 10:23 PM on January 15, 2002

People still watch this mindless crap?
posted by Wizzle at 10:36 PM on January 15, 2002

I love the fact that they keep on downgrading their "jobs," because they're all so damn useless. Radio hosts? Nah. Party promoters? Uh-uh. Public Access TV personalities? Well, no. Music industry A&R people? Mmmmm... Nah. Lifeguards? Sounds about right.

Come now Sinner, lifeguards lower on the totem pole than radio hosts? Though I do see your point about party promoters being higher on the food chain than A&R wonks. . .
posted by donovan at 10:43 PM on January 15, 2002

Bring back Puck. It'd be bad ass to have a bit of a throwback in one of their episodes... but of course, the one-liners would start flooding in...

"Yo Puck, the seventies called and they want their hair back..."
posted by msposner at 10:49 PM on January 15, 2002

Word, msposner.

Make the show 'Live with Puck' and I'd be happy.

I want to meet the interviewers for the potential Real World-ers. My theory is that they try to find the candidates that are the least ready for real life. They always seem to be over-dramatic stooges.

Real Worlder #1- "Someone drank my Pepsi!!!!"
Real Worlder #2- "It wasn't me!" (*runs into bedroom and weeps loudly)
Real Worlder #3- "You think i stole your Pepsi? You Racist!! I know that you accuse me because I'm black/eskimo/from Iowa/gypsy/double-jointed/Catholic/Hispanic/hypoglycemic/etc..............

I personally prefer reality shows over sitcoms, but this show needs to be put out of its misery.
posted by ttrendel at 11:14 PM on January 15, 2002

For all their efforts to "diversity" the cast, I cant understand why they haven't cast one Asian male yet. In fact, I can't remember another hispanic male besides Pedro. Is there subtle racism going on at MTV?
posted by gyc at 11:31 PM on January 15, 2002

I liked Real World when it first came out over a decade ago. I wouldn't watch it now if someone paid me. I think one of us grew up, and it wasn't the show.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:39 PM on January 15, 2002

For all their efforts to "diversity" the cast, I cant understand why they haven't cast one Asian male yet. In fact, I can't remember another hispanic male besides Pedro. Is there subtle racism going on at MTV?

The way politically correct is defined is a, no pun intended, black-and-white issue. The show either includes minorities, or it doesn't. Since the show fills its quota by using the antitheis of "white" every season, they are free of blame. Throw in another minority every other season and they're set for life.

I'm just waiting for Najib (no, too stereotypical, maybe Rgafne) to join the cast anytime soon.

7 is a very calculated number in terms of compromise. I'll give them props on knowing the right formulas to create controversy.
posted by Mach3avelli at 2:54 AM on January 16, 2002

I liked Real World when it first came out over a decade ago. I wouldn't watch it now if someone paid me. I think one of us grew up, and it wasn't the show.


Amen, ZachsMind. This is about as far from the Real World as you can get. The Real World is a bunch of unemployed computer geeks like us sitting in their closets late at night reading MeFi. Hey, there's an idea! "The Real Unemployed World!" Or how about "The Real I'm Not Quite Ugly But I'm Certainly Not Cute Enough To Be On The Real World World"?
posted by willrich at 3:26 AM on January 16, 2002

I love these quotes from the web site bios:

Chris has mixed emotions about his good looks, finding that people often have difficulty getting past his exterior to get to know the real him.

...Kyle is blessed with 1940s matinee idol looks.

At least mtv is no longer faking that they don't appeal to the lowest common denominator and reinforce stereotypes and unreal expectations of the modern world.

You want real world? Take 7 regular looking people, leave out the two person showers, and just let em run.
posted by benjh at 5:01 AM on January 16, 2002

My favorite episodes of The Real World aren't on MTV. I'd much rather see them really being real than pretending to be real.
posted by m@ at 5:27 AM on January 16, 2002

An 8,000 square-foot apartment? That's real.
posted by elvissinatra at 5:36 AM on January 16, 2002

the link provided by m@ up there is great. it contains links to videos (both quicktime and windows media) containing interviews with the residents of the bucktown and wicker park areas, where the (un)real world house is located.

best part? one of these folks talks about how the house was once a crackhouse, where lots of people got wacked and whatnot.

brilliant.
posted by tatochip at 7:36 AM on January 16, 2002

What the Real World has taught me: All African American males are ignorant jackholes who only want sex, unless they are intelligent and then they only want the White Man to pay for all the sins that have been committed to them.

Show me one likeable Black male in any of the "Real World"s and I'll show you someone who they paid very little attention to.
posted by tsarfan at 10:17 AM on January 16, 2002

Show me one likeable Black male in any of the "Real World"s and I'll show you someone who they paid very little attention to.

I'll take you up on that...Mohammed (I think that's his name) from San Fran.
posted by PeteyStock at 10:51 AM on January 16, 2002

Mohammed was someone who they paid very very very little attention to, in light of Puck being Puck and Pedro dying of AIDS, who can blame them, but in ten years they get a good Black man and they chose to let him slide into the back of the background.
posted by tsarfan at 12:05 PM on January 16, 2002

Tsarfan--Malik in NY. All that cast got along by the end so a lot of people thought it was boring.
posted by witchstone at 1:30 PM on January 16, 2002

Like a great novel, with 11 chapters, these are various THEMES.

Great novel? You must have missed the latest season. Even mtv seems to want to move on and forget about it.
posted by justgary at 1:40 PM on January 16, 2002

Hrm. Well that protest thing was great, although it was probably edited to be more dramatic.

That said, the show always had an apeal to me, I especialy like the seattle season with the really hot asian chick. I always thought it would be cool to be on the show.

The cast has definetly been getting better looking over time though. Btw, did you see how many bags that Theo guy was hauling? I just find it strange to see a guy hauling so much. It was like he was a rich white girl or something.
posted by delmoi at 2:29 PM on January 16, 2002

I like reality shows when people get along, and those are the ones which get no ratings and get cancelled. Real World started manufacturing things wrong when things got slow. Perhaps that's what turned me off more than anything. If I wanted to watch a show where there was a life-changing event every episode but a heart-warming resolution by episode's end, hell I'd watch Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

Reality television is always trying too hard to look like what has come before it. It's like a tiger trying to convince humans that it's just a harmless tomcat. It doesn't work.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:10 PM on January 16, 2002

Wake me when MTV plays some music videos.

On second thought, I'd better set the alarm for tommorow....
posted by ilsa at 9:35 PM on January 16, 2002