There’s a new promo out for one of the longest-running shows on television and, man, times, they are a-changin’. Remember the simpler days, when the world was still young, and reality television was a new concept never-before-seen on TV? The original seasons of MTV’s The Real World spring to mind — that carefree, glorious time, where the US’ many cultural and societal differences were exposed in a more thoughtful manner. There were beepers and bloopers, and the series — like the rest of America — was naïve to what it would become. Or at least, naïve enough to believe that this sort of blissful ignorance would last.
But the world has changed, and so, too, has The Real World. In a newly released promo for the series’ mind-boggling 29th season, one thing is clear: hoo boy, are these a far cry from the antics of our past. Namely: it is no longer seven strangers picked to live in a house, but rather seven strangers… and surprise! Your ex-significant others are also here to play, shacking up and causing a ruckus. It’s The Real World: Clusterfuck. (Or Cuckhold, whichever you prefer.)
Just kidding, it’s actually called The Real World: Ex-Plosion, because of course it is. Because things are exploding — tempers, eardrums, dignity, and probably ratings because everyone loves a trainwreck — thanks to the ex-boyfriends and girlfriends reporting to the scene. It’s official, the real world (and The Real World) as we know it has been forever changed.
“In what is sure to be the most intense season yet, the series returns to the iconic city of San Francisco where the show starts off with seven strangers living, partying and hooking up in a beautifully designed loft space in the Polk Gulch neighborhood,” states a synopsis for the MTV series. “Things take a dramatic turn when the exes of the original seven roommates surprisingly take the house by storm and move right in. In the midst of new relationships that started to brew before their exes arrived, the roommates find out very quickly that things can get complicated as loyalty is tested, tempers flare and romances sizzle and fizzle.”
Complicated seems to be putting it lightly. It’s the old bait-and-switch! Get everyone comfy and cozied-up for a month and then hit 'em with a surprise! It’s a terror tornado of emotions and hormones. Television gold, thy name is Ex-Plosion. And as a surprise to no one (and to the glee of its producers), things do get complicated, fast: tempers flare, jealousies rage, and there’s a whole lotta bonin’ going on, y’all. Is this what “getting real” looks like in 2013? Well OK then.
The Real World: Ex-Plosion premieres January 15 at 10PM on MTV.
