Bonus video! The behind-the-scenes story of how MTV created The Real World

Hi Matt, I always love your videos. Regarding MTV’s The Real World season 0, like 25ish years ago, or around whenever Netflix began as a mailing DVDs to people company, I rented season 1 of The Real World. One the DVDs, maybe the 1st or last one, included DVD extras, including what I think was the precursor test to season 1. I recall that they had 6 people, not 7 people, in a huge apartment, none of them knew what exactly what they were there for, and it was kind of interesting. I also feel, unless I’m misremembering, they were all much more alike in race and background, like maybe all white? At least I recall thinking that season 1 was much more interesting having people of different races and backgrounds and sexual orientation, etc. I also recall it being just 1 episode, not more than that. Anyway, see if you can find The Real World season 1 on DVD and see if it’s there.

I saw Mae West on that list!!! Please?

As a twenty-something in the 80s I remember Michael Jackson’s Thriller being the downfall of MTV. It was so popular that MTV had to schedule it in the tv listings in the newspaper. That made no sense since for the first few years the only listing for the channel was “music videos” from midnight to midnight. After they scheduled the making of thriller they decided to add more shows making it apportionment tv. So instead of mindlessly watching video after video you got remote control or road rules or the real world. I just wanted to see the new music and fashion not some kids (who were suddenly starting to be younger than me) bickering about some made up bull****. Videos were relegated to early morning or the middle of the night. That’s why I stopped watching as much.

Hey Matt, as a veteran of ongoing back issues myself, i empathise with the sit down, stand up, lie down shuffle. I do hope that it heals up well, as I know it absolutely sucks to feel like an invalid. The story that I most love connected to The Ben Stiller Show and MTV in the early 90s, is how they led directly to the movie Reality Bites. Bootleg VHS copies of the Ben Stiller show were being passed from person to person after it was summarily cancel after only 13 episodes. They happened to fall into the hands of the right producer, who offered Stiller to direct the movie (although not to star in it). Stiller took the job, but wrote himself into the movie as a character who is not only parodying his exact situation (the young Gen X whose sold out to Hollywood), but also lands several blows on MTV itself (as the character works on a ridiculously explotative network called "in Your Face" which is described as MTV with bite). He also brought a lot of his crew and several actors from the show to the movie (including Janeane Garofalo, who he fired during production, by then re-hired at the insistence of Winona Ryder, who was the "big star" they had landed for the film) The movie itself doesn't exactly hold up after 30 years (Ethan Hawke's character now comes off a lot more as a toxic douchbag than a rebel without a cause), but, it still remains an interesting Gen X time capsule. Happy New Year Everyone :)

You probably have read this already, but I am remembering a New Yorker article from earlier this year about the Real World, and names the names of the Season 0 cast members and some of the manufactured drama that they put the cast through. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/how-the-real-world-created-modern-reality-tv

I think there is footage of the pilot season of The Real World in the Back To New York reunion special. Maybe I am misremembering, but I think of remember seeing the footage of the pilot and then they mentioned that Tracy ended up being the voice of Daria. Also, within the same episode, they did a tribute Mary-Ellis Bunim. I no longer have Paramount+, so I can't verify this. If I am indeed misremembering this, you could try to reach out to Dave Holmes. He's a former employee, and he did a 8 part podcast about the hist or MTV this past spring called "Who Killed the Video Star: The Story of MTV"

Some of the shows in MTV I remember watching in 80s/90s: Remote Control (hosted by Colin Quinn for season 1); You Wrote It, You Watch It ( hosted by Jon Stewart); Lip Service ; Just Say Julie; Idiot Box; The State. MTV started making great original shows that it made sense that they focused less on music.

This , Matt Baume, alone, is worth my monthly Patreon contribution: You are so smart and vivacious.

You have got to do something on gay English tv shows, like queer as folk, Eastenders, vicious and beautiful people among other shows, or just those. For some reason I think that English gay shows are just better than American gay shows

I love Vicious. I need to rewatch it.