Fans of OG reality TV will remember this opening line: “This is the true story… of seven strangers… picked to live in a house… (work together) and have their lives taped… to find out what happens… when people stop being polite… and start getting real …The Real World.”
Fans of the the original MTV series, The Real World: New York, are excited to see the entire original cast appear in a new series next month called The Real World Homecoming: New York.
Pioneers of reality TV, the seven original cast members were Becky Blasband, Andre Comeau, Heather B. Gardner, Julie Gentry, Norman Korpi, Eric Nies and Kevin Powell. Their cutting-edge season premiered in May 1992.
Nearly 30 years later, cameras will showcase how the cast members’ lives have changed, and they’ll re-examine the most scandalous moments from the 90s series and discuss how they relate to current times.
The Real World franchise was unprecedented
Created by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray, The Real World was innovative for its time. No other TV show had done what The Real World set out to do, and it has lasted nearly three decades, with a myriad of casts and locations.
Set in Manhattan’s Soho district, The Real World cast lived in a sprawling duplex (originally two separate apartments) while cameras followed them everywhere, day and night, for four months.
You can watch the trailer here:
Each of the seven cast members came from unique upbringings and were forced to share their space, their time, and their views.
Interestingly, the original series was filmed before the age of cell phones and the internet. The cast is often seen bickering over using the apartment’s only corded landline phone.
Their ages ranged from 19 to 26 years old and their interests were just as varied.
The show first aired in 1992
At the time of its airing in 1992, Becky was a 24-year-old folk singer looking to find her way in the world and who ended up dating one of the show’s directors. Andre was a 23-year-old musician who liked to stay up late.
Heather B. was a 20-year-old hip-hop artist who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Julie was the youngest roommate, at 19-years-old, and a green-behind-the-ears southern girl and aspiring dancer.
Norman was 25 years old and MTV’s first openly LGBT cast member. Eric Nies was a 20-year-old dancer/model at the time with a troubled past who later went on to work for MTV.
Kevin Powell, the oldest of the roommates, was a 26-year-old writer with strong opinions on social issues who often engaged in deep conversations with his fellow roommates.
As if securing the entire original cast isn’t exciting enough, the crew was also able to snag the original loft in SoHo where the show was filmed.
The series is set to air on March 4 on Paramount +, a streaming service which will replace CBS All Access in March.