To be clear, it’s not that Bunim and Murray set out to end gendered violence and white supremacy on a systemic scale with their program. Kevin remarks that these respective flashpoints are embedded in the current #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements. And the year before Real World premiered in 1992, Anita Hill testified before Congress about the sexual harassment she allegedly endured under future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Yesterday marked 30 years since Rodney King was brutally beaten by four white Los Angeles police officers, who would be acquitted on all but one charge (in never-before-seen footage from the original season, we see the castmates watching the LA riots on the news). Becky tells Kevin that, despite the time that’s passed since their initial meeting, America is still dealing with the “same shit.” It’s hardly an original statement, but nevertheless appropriate. This approach is hinted at early on in the premiere when Kevin and Becky are waiting for the rest of their castmates to arrive at their original SoHo loft where they’ll be residing for a six-day reunion. Instantly greenlit by the network, The Real World recruited an ensemble of creatives ranging from their late teens to mid-twenties: Rebecca “Becky” Blasband, a straight white female folk singer Andre Comeau, a straight white male indie rocker Heather Gardner, a straight Black female rapper Julie Gentry, a straight white female dancer Norman Korpi, a gay white male painter Eric Nies, a straight white male model and Kevin Powell, a straight Black male poet and writer.
Real world reunion series#
The series would introduce its subjects like television characters and create its own dramatic story arc through, as Murray put it, “growth and conflict” while avoiding the high costs of a Beverly Hills, 90210. Its logline was simple: a serialized documentary about (originally) six young people from diverse backgrounds put up in a New York City loft. Soon after, the pair pitched a low-cost solution known as The Real World.
Mark’s Place about a group of young adults living in the East Village that was ultimately rejected by the network’s executives due to its costly budget.
Burgeoning television producer Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim, who produced several daytime soaps, worked on a half-hour scripted series called St. Almost a decade after the launch of MTV in 1981, the network, which aired mostly music videos at the time, was looking to cash in on the success of soap operas.
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