| The Real World: Boston | |
|---|---|
The cast of The Real World: Boston |
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| Created by | Jonathan Murray Mary-Ellis Bunim |
| Starring | Elka Walker Jason Cornwell Montana McGlynn Genesis Moss Sean Duffy Kameelah Phillips Syrus Yarbrough |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 25[1] |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV Syndication |
| Original run | 1997 – 1997 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Real World: Miami |
| Followed by | The Real World: Seattle |
The Real World: Boston is the sixth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. The Boston cast lived in a converted historic firehouse at 127 Mt. Vernon Street, Boston, Massachusetts, which is located right off of Charles Street and was also used in the television series Spenser: For Hire The show made its debut in 1997. This was the only season to be filmed in New England, and the second season to be filmed in the Northeastern United States. The season ran for 25 episodes, which was the most for any season until it was surpassed by the Las Vegas season.[1][2]
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Almost every season of The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates. The Boston cast worked with children at an after-school program in East Boston. Some of the cast worry they will not get along with kids or like the job, but in the end they all enjoy it. Montana, however, was fired from the job as a result of allegations involving alcohol and has to find another way to volunteer, since she is required to volunteer for 20 hours a week by contract while she is in Boston. Kameelah and Elka also get into trouble for an argument they have, within earshot of the children, stemming from Kameelah's anger towards Elka for discussing what she believes was a sexual interlude that Kameelah had at the house. At the end of the season, Syrus becomes emotional when he talks about how he will miss the children.
The cast lived in a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) converted firehouse at 127 Mt. Vernon Street in Beacon Hill, a 19th-century downtown Boston residential neighborhood. During filming, the Firehouse, which originally housed the Safety Inspectors for the Boston Fire Department, featured two double bedrooms and one triple bedroom. The Control Room was located in the basement. The Firehouse had previously been seen as the home of Spenser on the 1980s TV series Spencer: For Hire. It is currently occupied by Hill House, a non-profit community center.[3]
| Cast Member | Age1 | Hometown | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elka Walker | 19[4] | Brownsville, Texas[4] | Elka is a Mexican-American who comes from a well-to-do background with conservative values. She says in the casting special that she doesn't know many gay or lesbian people and wasn't sure how she would feel if one of the roommates was gay. She is still struggling with her mother's death from cancer.[4] Before she leaves for Boston Elka's father requires her to sign a contract saying she will not smoke, do drugs, or have premarital sex while in Boston. She is later filmed having a cigarette. She gets her eyebrow pierced against her father's wishes, and she finally stands up for herself against his controlling ways in a tear-filled phone conversation later in the season. Her boyfriend Walter visits from Ireland. The housemates expect she will have sex with him, but Elka insists she is a virgin and will stay that way until marriage. |
| Jason Cornwell[5] | 24[6] | Boulder, Colorado | Jason is a poet with a girlfriend named Timber. The relationship is tumultuous, and Genesis expresses displeasure at how Jason talks to Timber. Jason is not faithful to her in Boston. |
| Montana McGlynn | 21[6] | Manhattan, New York | Named for a character in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five, Montana is an atheist, fond of science, and an ardent feminist. She is committed to her boyfriend Vaj, but he later discovers she is seeing other men while in Boston. He later breaks up with her by sending her a page. While she is surprised by this, her housemates are not. Later, she is fired from her volunteer job for allowing children to take sips of alcohol while on a field trip, which the children corroborate, despite Montana's denials. She subsequently seeks out other volunteer work. |
| Genesis Moss | 20[6] | Gulfport, Mississippi | Genesis is a lesbian with a troubled past and says during her childhood she sometimes lacked basics like food. She has a long-distance lover. She becomes friends with a gay drag queen named Adam and spends a lot of time dancing/partying at a gay club. She is in tears when a child at the daycare center says she hates gay people. Kameelah explains to the child that it's wrong to hate gay people. |
| Sean Duffy | 25[6] | Hayward, Wisconsin | Sean is a conservative Republican and an aspiring lawyer who competes in lumberjack competitions. He often clashes with the liberal-minded Kameelah. He later says he feels for Genesis because she is so hard on herself. |
| Kameelah Phillips | 19[6] | San Diego, California | Kameelah is a student at Stanford University. Like Montana, she never knew her father. She tells her mother she is not having sex, but the housemates hear what sounds to them like her and a man having sex in the house. She threatens to "knock out" Elka in an argument at the daycare, for which she and Elka are both reprimanded. |
| Syrus Yarbrough | 25[6] | Santa Monica, California | Syrus is named after the Egyptian god Osiris and is an African-American. Syrus gets in trouble for dating a mother of one of the kids. The director tells Syrus to cease this immediately. Syrus acknowledges this, but keeps dating the mother a little while longer. |
^Note 1 : Age at the time of filming.
After filming, Sean Duffy met and married Rachel Campos of The Real World: San Francisco, with whom he has six children.[7] He became district attorney for Ashland County, Wisconsin, and was elected to Congress in 2010.[8][9][10]
Syrus Yarbrough was featured in Eminem's video for "Without Me" in 2002 along with other Real World alumni Julie Stoffer and David "Puck" Rainey. He also appeared in the international film, Reservation.[11]
This is the first season of Real World whose entire cast has at one time or another competed in MTV's spin-off reality series The Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
| Cast Member | RW/RR Challenges | Challenges Won |
|---|---|---|
| Elka Walker | Battle of the Seasons, The Gauntlet | Battle of the Seasons |
| Jason Cornwell | RW/RR Challenge | None |
| Montana McGlynn | RW/RR Challenge, The Gauntlet, The Gauntlet 2 | None |
| Genesis Moss | Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2 | None |
| Sean Duffy | All Stars, Battle of the Seasons | All Stars, Battle of the Seasons |
| Kameelah Phillips | Extreme Challenge | Extreme Challenge |
| Syrus Yarbrough | Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, The Inferno*, The Gauntlet 2, The Ruins | Extreme Challenge |
^* The contestant was a finalist on the Challenge, but lost in the Final Race.