Lessons from the ‘Real World’ after 30 seasons

The Season 1 New York cast: (From left to right) Julie, Heather, Rebecca, Andre, Kevin, Norman, Eric

Real lives are as entertaining as fiction

“Real World” began its life as a scripted soap opera focusing on young people, but the expense of that led its creators, Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim, to instead use real people and allow their real lives, not scripts, to guide the episodes. Murray and Bunim were partially inspired by the early 1970s documentary series “An American Family,” but their 1992 series “The Real World,” set in New York, definitively established a brand new genre: narrative, unscripted entertainment that drew its drama from reality. They proved that real people can be equally as entertaining as fictional ones, and the world has never been the same.

The Season 2 Los Angeles cast: The cast: (Clockwise from top left) David, Jon, Tami, Aaron, Dominic, Irene and Beth S.

There is a lot of diversity in the world

Early seasons of “The Real World” did something no other shows were doing: putting a diverse array of real people on TV. A generation grew up meeting, via their televisions, people who who were very different from those in their hometowns or schools. Many viewers first saw a gay person on the show, which was remarkable in the mid-1990s. The cast was diverse, not just in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation, but also in terms of their backgrounds, politics, religion and experiences. Just look at “The Real World Los Angeles”: a politically conservative student studying business; a stand-up comedian who’d appeared on “In Living Color”; a country singer and Christian from Kentucky; a casting PA working in Hollywood; a music reviewer/bartender originally from Ireland; a deputy marshall/bailiff who got married during the season; an R&B singer who worked with people suffering from AIDS; a lesbian who was a recovering alcoholic; and the lead singer for an alternative rock band. The show has been guilty of casting to certain types/stereotypes over the years, but it’s hard to overstate its impact and its ability to diminish prejudices.

The Season 3 San Francisco cast: (From left to right) Puck, Rachel, Cory, Pam, Mohammed, Pedro and Judd

Television can teach

“The Real World San Francisco,” the show’s third season, cast an activist who was HIV-positive. By doing that, the show acknowledged its ability to educate its audience, even with all the other ridiculousness going on (one word: Puck). During that season, Pedro Zamora fully used the platform he was given. He died just hours after the final episode of “Real World San Francisco” aired, and afterward an MTV executive told the Tribune: “With incredible courage and honesty, Pedro shared his life with millions. We know through letters and calls that his life story has educated and inspired countless numbers of people.” That’s probably an understatement. No one else has had quite the same effect since, though, to varying degrees, future cast members have openly shared their stories. This has included struggles with eating disorders, life in abusive relationships, debates about race and religion, and a cast member who had an abortion during production. All of them helped put faces on abstract ideas for viewers young and old.

The Season 30 Chicago cast: (From left to right) Sylvia, Jason, Madison, Tony, Violetta, Nicole and Bruno

Breaking the fourth wall can work

In its most recent two seasons, including “Real World: Skeletons,”” the show has not tried to hide how it is produced. Camera operators are shown regularly, as are the producers who periodically interview the cast members. But the series has done this since the very beginning, when it broke the invisible fourth wall between viewers and subjects – as in the case of a cast member on the show’s seventh season, in Seattle, who had a relationship with one of the series; directors, who was fired as a result. The series isn’t completely transparent, of course: Everything from casting decisions to editing footage remains mostly invisible. Still, so many reality shows bend over backward to conceal aspects of their production, and they could borrow (again) from “Real World” and just embrace the reality of their productions.

The Season 29 San Francisco cast: (From left to right from back) Ashley C., Arielle, Jenna, Thomas, Jamie, (front) Ashley M., Jay, Halley, Brian, Jenny, Cory and Lauren

A show doesn’t have to grow up with its audience

Talk to someone in their 30s or 40s who grew up with “The Real World; when they were in their teens, and they’ll very likely criticize the show because it is a shadow of its former self. Compared with the early-season casts — people who had jobs and lives and dreams — newer cast members seem like shallower sorts who use their time on the show to do little more than get drunk, fight and hook up. But the show has, remarkably, stayed popular enough among MTV’s target audience of 12- to 24-year-olds to make it to its 30th season. Its last two seasons have relied on gimmicks by ambushing the cast members with people from their pasts. But ratings also rebounded for “The Real World: Ex-Plosion” as a result of producers moving the cast’s exes into the house. The show might not survive another 30 seasons, but its life has been a remarkable one.