The Real World: Miami
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| The Real World: Miami | |
|---|---|
 Cast of the The Real World: Miami on a rooftop overlooking Miami Beach, Florida |
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| Genre | Reality show |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Jonathan Murray, Mary-Ellis Bunim |
| Starring | Flora Alekseyeun Joe Patane Melissa Padrón Cynthia Roberts Dan Renzi Mike Lambert Sarah Becker |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original channel | MTV |
| Original run | Summer 1996–Fall 1996 |
The Real World: Miami was the fifth season of MTV's popular reality television series The Real World; filmed in Miami Beach's exclusive Rivo Alto Island, sandwiched between Miami and Miami Beach; it focused on seven diverse strangers living together as cameras followed their lives and interpersonal relationships. The season debuted in the summer of 1996. The Real World: Miami was the first season filmed in the United States outside of New York and California, and the first of two seasons (The Real World: Key West followed in 2006) to be filmed in South Florida.
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[edit] Season changes
- This was the first season in which the housemmates were given a season-long assignment or task, an aspect of the series that would continue in all subsequent seasons. The cast's efforts were marked by much disorganization and conflict, and while ideas such as a dessert delivery service, a fashion line were floated about, they were ultimately not able to start the business.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Flora
Flora Alekseyevna (September 18, 1971 in Odessa, Ukraine) is originally from the former USSR but was living in Boston before moving into the Miami house. She dates two men simultaneously and teeters on the brink of being caught. She bills herself as the "bitch of all bitches" and is given to vindictiveness towards those from whom she perceives slights. She takes a job as a bartender in Miami, though Cynthia openly criticizes her for dressing provacatively in her job interview. When Mitchell, one of the guys she is dating, says he is coming to visit her, she tells him she hopes the plane crashes and he's the only one who dies. Cynthia calls both of the relationships "jokes". At one point Dan expresses worry that Mitchell has been beating Flora, attributing the accusation to Dan. Flora denies this, accused Dan of lying, and says that Mitchell is very good to her when they're alone. Years after the show ended, Flora and Mitchell got married, but Mitchell is gay.
[edit] Melissa
Melissa Padrón (June 2, 1973 in Miami) is a Cuban-American native of Miami. A recent graduate of the University of Miami she had held odd jobs to make extra money, including a brief stint as a phone sex operator. Dan excoriates her for her nosiness after she opens an envelope of his to see what is inside, which according to him, could've cost him his job. She becomes friends with Flora. Eventually Sarah and Melissa have an argument, and Melissa moves out of the house.
[edit] Joe
Joe Patane (May 22, 1970 in Brooklyn) is an Italian-American building manager from New York, an MBA student at Fordham University, and is dating Nicole, a model who is several inches taller than he. When Nicole visits the house, the cast is appalled at her ditzy behavior and how she is too affectionate with Joe at a restaurant. Nicole dislikes the cast, saying they're lazy and just sit around the house. He tries to stay faithful to her but is tempted by all the women in Miami. He is eager to start the business, but gets annoyed with his housemates when they don't have the motivation he does, even quitting the project entirely, despite an earlier statement by Flora that she and he were the only ones interested or competent to start the business. His relationship with Nicole is rocky, but in the end he proposes to her. At a subsequent reunion show Joe reveals that they have broken up, to which Mike expresses relief, because, as he tells Joe, Nicole was a "bitch". Joe wrote a book about his experiences on and off the show entitled, "Livin' in Joe's World", published by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. in New York. He is pursuing a Masters in Social Work degree and runs a nonprofit organization for kids.
[edit] Cynthia
Cynthia Roberts (October 26, 1973 in Oakland, California) is an African-American waitress from California with long, manicured fingernails who attends San Jose State University. She comes from a single parent home and is overall conservative. At the conclusion of the Miami season Cynthia accepts a job offer that keeps her in Miami.
[edit] Dan
Dan Renzi (July 2, 1974 in Overland Park, Kansas) is an openly gay student at Rutgers University and starts a modeling career while in Miami. He dates several men and his parents come to visit. His mother is accepting of his homosexuality but his dad and brothers choose to ignore it. When the show ends, Dan is offered a modeling job in Italy and has to say goodbye to his new boyfriend.
[edit] Sarah
Sarah Becker (November 3, 1970 in Chicago) is a former comic book editor at Wildstorm Comics, who decorated her personal areas with Wildstorm posters and action figures. She loved skateboarding and candy, and had a boyfriend, but this was kept hidden during the show. She is outspoken and the housemates get mad when she brings home some kids she met on the street, who run around the house playing. Her roommates feel that Sarah doesn't need to be telling people where they live and shouldn't bring people in off the street, and that the kids need to leave. Sarah defends her choice, saying she was just sharing the wealth. As the show progresses she spends less time in the house, doing outside jobs. She also brings in Leroy Brown, a dog given to her by a Jamaican woman in Miami's Little Haiti section.
[edit] Mike
Mike Lambert (September 30, 1971 in Atlantic Beach, Florida) wants to be a private investigator. In an infamous scene, he is heard having sex in the shower with a woman he brought home, with his housemates listening in outside the bathroom window and Melissa in the room with them.
[edit] Assignment
The cast was assigned the task of starting a business, and would be given $50,000 startup money.
[edit] Season highlights
- One heated moment in the show was a fight between Dan and Melissa. Melissa opens an envelope that had two slides from the movie The Birdcage that Dan needed for work. Dan is angry that Melissa opened an envelope that obviously wasn't hers. (It was later revealed that Dan's mother learned he was gay by reading a letter sent to him). Dan yells at Melissa and calls her a "stupid bitch". Melissa explodes at him and screams to not ever call her that, referring to him as a "flamer." The next day they talk, and Melissa tearfully admits that her anger comes from a verbally abusive father, and she hated seeing her father in herself. They both apologize for their actions and agree to talk to each other if they need help.
- Another tense moment occurs with Sarah is visited at the house by her friends from Kenosha, WI, who make a home movie about life in the house. While filming, Flora repeatedly flashes the camera. When the movie is produced, Flora says she does not want the movie distributed to anyone. She claims she was on heavy medication and tries to convince Sarah's friend to sign a contract that the movie won't be released. Melissa asks out loud if Sarah's friends could be able to afford dinner at a nice restaurant. This is upsetting to Sarah, given that her friends all have jobs, while Melissa does not. Sarah's friends, wanting to show off Melissa, pay for the entire dinner and an embarrassed Melissa thanks them for the gesture.
| 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 |
