Last Tuesday night was a painful night in television history. Not only was it the season finale of “The Real World New York” on MTV, but also the “Billboard Music Awards” on Fox. And no, watching “The Real World” finale was not painful because we were forced to part ways with Corel, Mike, Malik, Lori, Nicole, Rachel and Kevin. Instead it was simply a mercy killing to finally put this season out of its misery. We’ll get back to the travesty that was the “Billboard Music Awards” later, but for now it’s time to admit that the latest installment of “The Real World,” was the most unentertaining and predictable season in the show’s dubious history.
The shows uninspiring cast lacked the uniqueness of previous seasons. There was Corel (or was that Melissa from last years cast?) playing the role of the racially charged African American female, versus Mike the middle class white guy that has never met a black person before. The rest of the ensemble wasn’t much more interesting. There was Kevin, the “ladies man” type who doesn’t know how to do much of anything except act cool and party. Malik acted like he thought he was some high and mighty philosopher of life (seems like every cast has a few of these). There was Lori, an aspiring singer who spends a lot of time yapping about her goals and not much time doing anything to make them a reality. The cast was rounded out by Nicole, who didn’t seem to want anything in life, except for Malik, and the obligatory “good girl” Rachel (or was that Julie from last year’s cast?).
At the same time the cast plodded its way through an endless amount of arguments and partying, the series continued to rely on the same hackneyed formulas to propel its stories. There were the endless combinations of possible “hookups,” (side note: what exactly constitutes a ‘hook up?’ It seems as if it can be anything from saying hello to someone to having wild animal-like sex. What’s the deal people?) that never actually happen. Then there is the “job” that the cast members get. It’s always something cool, yet they always manage to screw it up by being lazy, stupid, or in the case of “The Real World Boston,” drinking with the school children they are supposed to be supervising. They argue over pettier issues than a typical SGA meeting. Then at the end, everybody gets sentimental when they realize they spent the least three months bickering about petty nonsense.
As my plea to the shows producers, break the formula already! Try changing up the cookie cutter roles that they attempt to fill with every “Real World” cast. The show has gone from a silly yet compelling depiction of twenty something life to one that is just plain silly. There is nothing “real” about a bunch of people sitting around a house with nothing to do all day but discuss who they want to kiss.
One possibility would be to change up the format by chronicling the lives of those with actual responsibilities, like students or young people trying to earn a living. Also it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cast somebody who doesn’t fit the role of the current MTV “beautiful person.” Give the viewers something more tangible to relate to and “The Real World” will be able to separate itself from the plethora of reality shows, live up to its name and become “real” in the process.
Oh yea, and then there was that “Billboard Music Awards” show. Over the years, the show has earned a reputation (by me at least) as undoubtedly the lamest awards show in a genre that is all lame. It isn’t live, and seems to award artists based on how many records they sell rather than on any sort of artistic merit. But that is forgivable…I guess. What isn’t forgivable is what happened in the category of “Best Rapper,” presented by the “together at last” combination of Blink 182 and Wayne Newton.
The nominees for the award: City High, OutKast, Lil’ Bow Wow and Lil’ Romeo. Huh?! How in the world were these two “Lil'” rappers nominated? Even if the nominees were just based on popularity, how could they have surpassed Jay-Z, DMX, or Ja Rule, all of whom dropped albums in the past year? Surely, OutKast or at least City High would win.
Nope, Lil’ Romeo took home the prize. If you don’t know anything about rap or Lil’ Romeo, here’s the quick breakdown. He’s the 11 year-old son of rapper/producer Master P, who’s had one “hit” in his career (which spans one whole album), and that “hit” was a Jackson 5 cover. On what basis Lil’ Romeo is the ‘Best Rapper” in the world, I will never know. I guess OutKast, and the rest of the rap world will just have to try harder next year to live up to the lofty standards set by Lil’ Romeo.
Tuesday night was one of the those nights that people refer to when they say “there is nothing good on television.” But the pain didn’t subside once “The Real World” ended and Lil’ Romeo accepted his award. Like a staph infection, it spread even more as “Dismissed” took to the airwaves on MTV. But hey, at least I have 200 channels of digital cable.
By the way, “Real World Chicago” begins airing on January 15th of next year. Lil’ Romeo’s next album has no release date as of yet, but when it does come out, it should be interesting to see if his sophomore effort can live up to his first album of in your face, angst ridden, anti-establishment, indispensable street and club anthems.
