September 2- 8, 2004

mixpicks

Time to Get Real

by Debra Auspitz

We were whipped into a frenzy by their will-they-come/won't-they-come opening act. We slobbered over every leaked tidbit of information, no matter how vague or obvious ("Hey, I hear there's a gay guy!"). We watched them party in Old City for about 20 minutes. Then we lost all interest. But, ladies and gentlemen, time to jump back on the Real World Philly bandwagon, 'cause starting Tuesday, they're going to be fighting, crying, hugging and doin' it on TV. Yes, that's right, the filming and the gratuitous editing are completed, and we've been allowed to meet our seven strangers (not only is there a gay guy, he's the kid from that PBS show Ghostwriter!) and prepare to get all up in their drama (big rumor so far: Will someone else come out?). To be totally honest, the cast seems pretty nondescript, based on MTV's ridiculous "Moving In" special, in which former Real World housemates dish on the new kids' audition tapes and warn the newbies not to try to milk their 15 minutes of fame ('cause clearly these guys are doing schticky commentary out of the goodness of their hearts). There's the aforementioned Ghost kid, Willie; bitchy homecoming queen Shavonda; angry African-American man Karamo, who's never had a friend outside of his race (well, Karamo, guess who's coming to dinner!); big-boobied megaslut Sarah; crybaby Melanie; and the two sporty white guys we can't really tell apart, MJ and Landon. As if you needed more reasons to watch, the show should also feature copious shots of our fair city, especially the drunks and skanks who reside therein, and some fun times with Bon Jovi (the kiddies worked for his arena football team, the Philly Soul). Plus, you can do a shot every time you see one of your neighbors/co-workers/ex-boyfriends (or just a familiar crazy homeless person) in the background of a scene.

The Real World: Philadelphia, premieres Tue., Sept. 7, 10 p.m., MTV.