Back in July, when MTV announced The Real World would be coming to Brooklyn, the general consensus was "there goes the neighborhood". Gawker sharpened their fingers, Williamsburg residents armed themselves with cans, but in the end, the party-seeking fueled by hair gel bunch have, for the most part, kept to themselves. But how can this be? Are they even here? Are the suits at MTV prepping up to make this the lamest season of their hit reality show yet?
The New York Times spoke with a few Red Hook residents recently who claim that the cast are basically ghosts on the water. In speaking with Jim Johnston, the show's Executive Producer, they learn "they’ve since spent much of their time traveling around Brooklyn, pursuing volunteer work and part-time jobs in Manhattan, taking classes in dance, acting and film, and staying fit." In fact, he's surprised no one's seen the cast out and about at the city's Crunch gyms, after " all the times we’ve been here".
So while the Real World digs still feature a beach cabana and a sand pit, the ruckus outside the house might be at a lesser volume than previous seasons. Or maybe, we've got a bigger conspiracy to crack through. While a trailer for the season recently premiered online, what if these so-called "cast members" aren't even real?! What if this is all just a part of the CNN hologram bonanza, and MTV's getting a piece of the pie. Maybe Wolf Blitzer's been beaming 22-year olds from California quietly into slick bars and Crunch gyms since day one, coached on by election night robot Will.I.Am?! I like that theory, so I'll stick with it until we see an episode on TV, and the characters aren't glowing with a holographic blue fuzz.
Or just go with the EP's thoughts on the quietness, via the Times: "'It’s this isolated part of New York, almost,” he said of the neighborhood. “The people who live there like to keep it that way, and I think we’ve kept it peaceful.”'
