The Real World: New Orleans

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The Real World: New Orleans
Format Reality show
Created by Jonathan Murray, Mary-Ellis Bunim
Starring Melissa Howard
Danny Roberts
Jamie Murray
Julie Stoffer
David Broom
Kelley Limp
Matt Smith
Country of origin United States
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel MTV
Original run Summer 2000 – Fall 2000
Chronology
Preceded by The Real World: Hawaii
Followed by The Real World: Back to New York

The Real World: New Orleans is the ninth 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. The New Orleans season first aired on MTV in 2000, with the cast living in a remodeled Civil War-era mansion, called The Belfort, in Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the second of four seasons to be filmed in the American South, the first being The Real World: Miami in 1996.

Contents

[edit] Assignment

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 New Orleans cast was assigned to work at a New Orleans public access television station, with a different cast member acting as the producer of the segment every week.

[edit] Cast

Cast Member Age Hometown Stats RW/RR Challenges
Jamie Murray 22 Wilmette, Illinois (b. October 27, 1977) Jamie is a brother in the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Melissa developed a crush on him, and flirted with him during the series, though he does not return the feelings beyond friendship. After the show, he appeared on more than one season of the spinoff Real World/Road Rules Challenge. He attended New Trier High School with Lindsay Brien from the Seattle season, though they barely interacted.[1] Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, The Gauntlet II
Matt Smith (b. November 30, 1978) Matt is a devout Catholic, and an avid fan of hip-hop music. During the show, Matt occasionally criticizes Julie for her actions, and says he has a male instinct to protect her. She developed feelings for him, but he did not reciprocate, even when she playfully kissed him on the day they moved out of the house. Matt pursued girls in New Orleans, but never began a relationship on the show. Smith married his wife Candyce on April 13, 2007, and the couple lives in Phoenix, Arizona and announced in December 2007 that they are expecting their first child. [2] He is a sports writer for the NBA's Phoenix Suns and webmaster of www.lifeteen.com. [3] The Gauntlet
Melissa Howard 23 Tampa, Florida (b. February 12, 1977) Born in Okinawa, Japan, Melissa is a half African-American and half Filipino. At one point, she believed that the cause of her unhappiness was depression, and sought medical help. Melissa sometimes channeled her emotions into painting after she befriended Lionel Milton, a popular New Orleans artist. She can currently be seen on the Oxygen Network's prank show Girls Behaving Badly. She married on September 29, 2007, and is now named Melissa Beck.[4] Battle of the Sexes
Danny Roberts 23 Rockmart, Georgia (b. July 19, 1977) Danny is a gay man who, during his stay in the house, was in a relationship with Paul Dill, a serviceman in the military.[5] To protect Paul's identity during his visits, his face was blurred each time he appeared on camera. After his time in the military ended, Paul and Danny appeared together in an MTV special, with Paul's face no longer blurred. Battle of the Seasons
Kelley Limp 24 Fayetteville, Arkansas (b. October 14, 1976) Kelley is a sorority girl who was dating a medical student named Peter, and spent her time with him rather than in the house. In May 2004, she married actor Scott Wolf, best known for his role as Bailey Salinger on the 1990s Fox TV show Party of Five.[6] Battle of the Seasons
Julie Stoffer 21 Delafield, Wisconsin (b. July 11, 1979) Julie is a Mormon college student who was attending Brigham Young University, and was worried about repercussions from the school administration, as she was living with men as well as women, in violation of the school's honor code. Her coming to terms with the world outside of her home and upbringing provided was a recurring theme throughout the season. Julie's strained relationship with her father was also a focal point of the show: they have a heated argument when her parents come to visit and her father dismisses her as "just being emotional". She was later suspended from BYU for her stay in the house. She had the option to appeal the school's decision; however, she did not choose to do so. Instead she said she wanted to tour the college campus' to choose a new college. She now works as a host on the video game-themed G4 TV channel. Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, The Inferno, The Inferno II, The Gauntlet II
David Broom 22 Chicago, Illinois (b. October 19, 1977) David is an African-American singer. He has several sexual partners during the course of the season. He avoids conflict with his housemates, dismissing them when they attempt to resolve issues with him. Later during the season, he performed a rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at a sporting event attended by his housemates, and which brought Melissa to tears. He was also known for his extensive use of the phrase "woo woo" on the show. He later performed his original song "Come On, Be My Baby Tonight" on the Comedy Central sketch comedy TV series, Chappelle's Show. Battle of the Sexes, The Gauntlet

[edit] Season highlights

The cast on the cover of the June 24, 2000 TV Guide.
The cast on the cover of the June 24, 2000 TV Guide.
  • The New Orleans cast was the first (and to date the only) cast to be featured on the cover of TV Guide, appearing on the June 24, 2000 edition.
  • Discussions on race are a staple on The Real World. On a boat trip in Louisiana, the boat guide referred to a type of stork the group spotted as a "nigger stork". Melissa took offense to the comment and to the fact that Jamie was not as offended. After the show, it was revealed that the tour guide apologized to Melissa. In another discussion on race, Julie expressed that she was raised to cross the street if she saw a black person. After this, Melissa stated she was tired of talking about racism.
  • During the cast's group trip to South Africa, Melissa and Julie learned about themselves and racial issues, but were upset that David again sequestered himself from the group, preferring to spend time with their African tour guides.
  • In a crossover event with that season's Road Rules, (the sister series to The Real World), the Road Rules cast’s mission was to steal the mansion's toy robot dog. The housemates, recalling that the Road Rules team from years back had stolen the eight ball from the Miami cast’s pool table, hid their eight ball, not realizing that it was not the target.

[edit] Aftermath

  • Melissa and Julie left the house as friends, but at some point later the friendship dissolved after disagreements regarding speaking engagements and monetary disputes. Melissa developed a deep animosity toward Julie, and made it clear by the time they appeared on the 2003 Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Battle of the Sexes that they were no longer friends. This argument continued onto MTV's website for the show and both girls' personal websites (Princess Melissa and Planet Julie), where both girls aired their side of the story.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jamie Murray's biography page at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ^ Matt Smith's website
  3. ^ Matt Smith's blog for the Phoenix Suns
  4. ^ "Like Daaamn That's Hot..."; Blog entry in which Howard announces her nuptials
  5. ^ “MTV reality stars explore depth of military's controversial 'don't ask, don't tell' policy to SU audience”, The Daily Orange, 2 December 2005, <http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/storage/paper522/news/2005/12/02/Pulp/Mtv-Reality.Stars.Explore.Depth.Of.Militarys.Controversial.dont.Ask.Dont.Tell.Po-1119220.shtml>. Retrieved on 20 January 2008 
  6. ^ Scott Wolf's biography page at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] External links

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The Real World, Road Rules, and Real World/Road Rules Challenge
The Real World seasons
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Road Rules seasons
RW/RR Challenge seasons
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