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'REAL WORLD' GETS SURREAL;
'SURREAL LIFE' GOES INSANE
July 15, 2005
Two reality show heavyweights are back on the air, but while they share the same basic concept - sticking a group of strangers in a camera-rigged house to see what happens - it's easy to slam one show while affording the second a generous pass.
Yes, "The Real World" is essentially the granddaddy of reality TV as it is today. Sure, there were earlier shows that created drama using real people, but MTV's signature series was the first to add that icky voyeuristic edge that now tints the entire genre. In the early seasons, it was a hoot watching seven strangers thrown into each other's lives. Back then, like now, there were fights, hurt feelings, sexual conquests, and lots of empty beer mugs. But back then there was also the focus on a diverse group of young 20-somethings tackling serious issues as they entered adulthood. The zenith of those early years must be season three, which focused on Pedro's courageous battle against AIDS and the HIV virus.
Those days are long gone. In this, the 16th season of the franchise, any pretense of slicing into a bit of the real real world have long been discarded, and all that's left is sex, sex, beer, fights, and more sex. The once diverse cast is now also gone, having been replaced by a group of lookers from Wannabe Models 'R' Us. As a result, it's hard to even muster up the energy to make it through an episode.
The first episodes of the new installment, set in Austin, have been just more of the same. Watch as statuesque blonde Melinda weeps when her at-home boyfriend dumps her. Watch as Melinda quickly gets over him by sucking face with two-thirds of "The Real World"'s male cast. Ho-hum.
To keep things moving, the producers once again have the housemates taking on a job while they're in Austin. This season, the seven are shooting a documentary on the South by Southwest Film and Music Festival, which doesn't make me want to keep watching, but it does make me yell out, "Why do these shmucks get such a cool gig?!"
While, "The Real World" drifts further away from its original mission, sister network VH1's "The Surreal Life" giddily waves its freak flag high and proud. "Surreal," which also strands strangers together in a big house - only this time they're marginally famous strangers you may or may not recognize! - is possibly even more worthless than the current "Real World." But at least it stays true to its roots, and there's certainly no pretension in the air.
The new season, year five, features such has-beens as baseball's juiced-up tattletale Jose Canseco, former "Perfect Strangers" thespian Bronson Pinchot, and "The Apprentice" villainess Omarosa. The so-called stars do little more than play off their own public images. Yes, Omarosa is a total b…
Well, you know.
Like "The Real World," "Surreal" also has it's share of drinking, fighting, and sexual shenanigans (so far, the show's biggest "drama" had to do with Pinchot's supposed sexual harassing of "America's Next Top Model" judge Janice Dickinson), but unlike "Real World," it doesn't try to place them in any kind of realistic social context. It's a stupid show. It's a really stupid show. But, at least, it doesn't try to be anything more. For that, we'll cut it a break.
Meanwhile, "The Real World" producers need to take a step back and re-examine what made their show noteworthy in the first place. Here's a hint - the show's title actually spells it out for them. 'Cause what they're showing now doesn't look like any real world I ever knew.
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