The Real World: London
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The Real World: London was the fourth season of MTV's popular reality television series The Real World, which focuses on seven diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It first aired in 1995, and featured the cast living in a flat at 18 Powis Terrace, Notting Hill Gate, London (W11 1JH). This was the first of two seasons of The Real World to be filmed entirely outside of the United States; The Real World: Paris followed in 2003.
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[edit] Season changes
- This was the first season of The Real World to be set outside the United States. The cast is made up of three Americans, three Europeans, and one Australian. As a result of the lack of conflict between the cast members, the London season is reputed to be the most boring, with one TV critic opining of their appearance on the first multi-season Real World reunion show that they "barely registered on the radar".
[edit] Cast
Sharon (character based on Sharon Gitau) was an English 19 year old singer and songwriter from Essex. When the housemates went to Kenya for their group vacation in the closing weeks of the season, Sharon, a vegetarian, became distressed when the Masai tribe they stayed with slaughtered a goat for food. She chose to fast for the remainder of the day in memory of the animal's life. She tearfully admitted during this trip that she has problems when it comes to love and letting men into her life. Earlier in the series, when Sharon became very ill with tonsillitis, the cast rallied around and comforted her. Mike even visited her in the hospital, despite his very evident aversion to hospitals. Sharon's closest allies in the house were Mike and Lars. Although both Mike and Lars enjoyed ridiculing Sharon, they also defended her at times. This was perhaps most apparent during the housemates' weekend trip to the Lake District, when they both interceded in Sharon's defense during a heated argument between Jacinda and Sharon concerning Jacinda's borrowing of a magazine Sharon had purchased. Sharon cites Jacinda's poor treatment of the magazine as a metaphor for the wider lack of regard she felt she experienced from particular housemates. [citation needed]
Neil (character based on Neil Forrester) was a British, 24-year-old lead singer in an alternative, punk-influenced band called Unilever. He is also involved in a number of other underground music groups, of differing music styles (such as techno) which, as he remarked, is "...to keep my options open". In the first episode, Mike perceived a flirtatious aspect in the relationship between Neil and Kat, but nothing appeared to come of it. Mike expressed his irritation with the secretive nature of this relationship, but was implicitly accused of being jealous. Neil's girlfriend Chrys gave him a pig's heart with steel nails embedded in it as a Valentine's Day gift. At one point in the season, Neil kissed a drunken male heckler during a Unilever performance, and the heckler responded by biting Neil's tongue in half. A melee ensued, and the severed portion of his tongue was stitched back on. Neil then endured a section of the season communicating with producers during his "confessionals" using a computer with a voice synthesizer that could speak his typed words, and also through the reflections of his girlfriend Chrys.
Mike Johnson (character based on Michael Johnson) was a native of St Louis, was an aspiring race car driver. The series focused on Mike's frustration and sense of hurt in relation to his father's apparent indifference towards him and his need for sponsorships for his floundering racing career. At various times, Mike suggested that his father was annoyed by Mike's decision to do the show rather than join his race team, and deliberately avoiding helping him. The season also focused on Mike's numerous casual relationships with girls and his considerable boredom and frustration at not having much to do for most of his time in London. This boredom together with the fact that they are both American, resulted in a close friendship with Jay, whose inactivity became one of themes of the season.
Lars (character based on Lars Schlichting) was a 24-year-old party organiser from Germany, and worked as an underground DJ at night. He became upset in one episode when his bike was stolen from the flat's vestibule, which he believed was a result of carelessness on the part of his flatmates. He was further angered by their general indifference to the theft and expressed his frustration with their lack of a response to it. The series also followed Lars' largely unsuccessful attempts at organizing club nights in London, his very brief involvement in the London-based dance and soul radio station, Kiss FM and his relationship with a much older Englishwoman named Jeanette.
Jay (character based on Jay Frank) was an aspiring playwright and actor from Portland, Oregon. In one episode, he put on a performance of his one-man show Bedroom for a small audience in the house (primarily since his visa forbade any work related activity). Jay spent most of his time in the house, either sleeping or interacting with whomever happened to be passing through, mainly Mike, who found himself in a similar predicament during his time in London. Because of their habit of staying up late at night watching TV and playing pool, and then sleeping during the daytime, Mike, Jay and Sharon were labelled "The Night Crew" by the other cast members.
Jacinda (character based on Jacinda Barrett) was an Australian model. Some of Jacinda's escapades included getting her tongue pierced, smearing chocolate cake all over her face, buying a dog she then named Legend, and a simulated streak down the street outside their house at night with Kat. Lars opined that "Jacinda wants a dog like a little girl wants a Barbie doll" and suggested that her antics were largely a means of drawing attention to herself from both the cameras and other housemates. Lars and Jacinda also clashed when she adopted a very casual and indifferent manner towards repaying a loan for the phone bill.
Kat (character based on Kat Ogden) was an American drama student and an aspiring fencer from Washington. Although Mike perceived romantic feelings between her and Neil in the initial weeks, Kat denied any physical relationship with Neil, and was offended about Mike speaking about her and Neil outside of her presence. Nothing apparently came of the alleged attraction to Neil, who had a girlfriend at the time.
[edit] Season highlights
- As part of a bonding exercise, the cast was sent to Outward Bound.
- The cast went on vacation to Kenya, Africa.
[edit] External links
| Seasons of The Real World | |
|---|---|
| New York | Los Angeles | San Francisco | London | Miami | Boston | Seattle | Hawaii | New Orleans | Back to New York | Chicago | Las Vegas | Paris | San Diego | Philadelphia | Austin | Key West | Denver |
