On Wednesday, Real World XXIII premiered, landing eight strangers at the nation's capital. According to reports, the first episode drew 1.9 million viewers. Perhaps the fact that the cast is in the same city as President Obama, created more appeal since the last season, Real World Cancun, only drew 1.4 million (the smallest amount ever in Real World history) viewers during its premiere. With the various number of reality shows these days, Real World hasn't enjoyed high numbers (such as 4 million viewers) that it did in the 90s and early 2000s. However there is hope for the twenty-third season as there may be something there to hold viewers' attention.
Of course, the four-story brownstone the roommates will live for a few months is a lush trendy spot as the Real World houses always are, but this one has political spirit and is peppered with political decor. There is a computer room that resembles the oval office complete with a carpet with the eagle emblem in the center and red, white, and blue splattered here and there through the house.
Each of the bedrooms features pop art looking pictures of presidents like Reagan, Lincoln, and JFK. Of course, the first episode was filled with traditional Real World formula; pairs of roommates meet up to get to know one another briefly before they reach their new abode, some of them feel connections with one another already, they jump for joy when they see their house and eagerly choose rooms before others reach the house, and of course they stereotype themselves by jokingly looking for any "token" people. Here's what was learned about the characters from the first show.
Ashley - A self-proclaimed Obama lover. She admits she is deep into politics and embraces liberal ideologies and at the same time shares with other cast member, Mike, her devotion to her religion. During the first show, Ashley finds herself in a bit of a religious quarrel with Ty when he offends both her and Mike. She decides she may not get along with Callie because Callie chooses to room in the "Reagan" room and reveals she is not sure which side of the political spectrum she is on. Ashley says she hopes Callie learns while being in Washington D.C to go left because "left is right".
Mike - Mike is the jock with the piercing green eyes who looks as if he stepped out of the pages of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. His religion is very important to him as well, which is why he is offended when Ty, who leans towards being anti-religion, questions him about his faith. The two later make amends realizing that it is too early in the Real World experience to butt heads, but not before Mike, wanting Ty to understand him better reveals that he is bisexual.
Andrew - Andrew is a certified goofball and he loves it. Andrew, who doesn't mind sleeping in bed with a stuffed panda and wears a panda hats, admits that his comic "humor" has gotten him in trouble at his college newspaper, but of course he doesn't care because all we wants to do is laugh and have fun. His playful attitude makes him out to be the roommate less likely to be involved in drama, but that is only if he keeps his "playful" hands to himself as he admits he loves the ladies.
Emily- Emily is the wild child who says because of growing up isolated in a cult-like religion until the age of 13, she has dedicated her life to exploring and cutting loose. She has to restrain herself from showing too early her attraction to Ty as she admits to the cameras he reminds her of her ex-boyfriend. She believes that life is to be lived and the Midwestern native seems like she will be doing a lot of "living" while in Washington D.C; she also reveals that she is bisexual as well.
Callie - Callie is the token small town girl coming to a big city. Her dream is to be a photographer and she describes her town as "having a prison and a college and that's it". We learn that the vegan Texas-raised blond is not liberal, and becomes uneasy when Ty decides to room with her because she has never roomed with a man before. She later upsets Ty when her and Erika decide they would be more comfortable rooming with one another and they decide to move Ty's belongings into Josh's room without Ty's permission.
Ty -If you look too fast, you may mistake Ty for Alton from the Real World Las Vegas season, but he quickly distinguishes himself when he discusses his background The Trinity College graduate who explains that his girlfriend broke up him when she realized he was going on the show, comes from an inner-city area of Baltimore, Maryland. He compares his upbringing to the raw former HBO drama, The Wire, also set in Baltimore. Ty raises a few peoples ruffles when both Mike and Ashley don't take his comments about religion lightly. Though he eventually patches things up with Mike, the same did not ring true for his conversation with Ashley which is disastrous.
Erika - Is the windy city rocker /singer type of girl who adores her boyfriend telling him there is nothing to worry about when she is away doing the show, but she appears to love music even more. The red-haired singer presents herself as open-minded, outgoing and free-spirited. Hopefully she doesn't become "too free", as it seems like there may be chemistry between her and Josh.
Josh - Is our South Philadelphia native who admits he has lived a hard knock life (experienced being locked up, dropped out of school twice), but now he has dedicated his life to change and focused on his music. The singer/songwriter/rapper (as he introduces himself to Erika) shows his confidence early and admits in the first show to having a crush on Erika who is "his type of girl". Unfortunately, Andrew doesn't seem to like Josh's confidence too much as he says he doesn't like how Josh walks in the house like he's "too cool" for everyone, and that although the Philly musician is cool he shouldn't act like he is.
Source:examiner.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment