The OG cast of MTV’s landmark reality show The Real World have reunited for a new edition of the series, and you won’t have to wait very long to watch it. The Real World Homecoming: New York, featuring all seven participants from the first season of the show, will debut March 4 as part of the day-one lineup for the soon-to-launch Paramount+. While specifics regarding the format and length are scant, RW Homecoming will consist of multiple episodes and was shot on location at the same Soho loft where those now-infamous seven Gen-X strangers first met 29 years ago next week. A source familiar with the format says the cast spent “several days†together taping the show, which will feature them gathering to “revisit the shocking moments and explosive issues that transpired during the historic season and discuss how they parallel in today’s social climate.â€
News of the Real World spinoff was first reported on January 21 via reality-show message board Vevmo, with Reality Blurred’s Andy Dehnart filling out more details later in the month. While Paramount+ and MTV Entertainment Studios are currently only confirming production of this one project, a source confirms to Vulture that it wouldn’t be off base to read something into the title Real World Homecoming — namely that next month’s premiere will be the start of a new franchise of Real World cast reunions. (Dehnart offers more details on why this might be.) Launching the project on Paramount+ rather than MTV makes a lot of sense: The audiences most interested in the new show likely haven’t watched MTV on cable in years, and the buzz around the reunion could be a good way to drive sign-ups. It also fits with MTV Entertainment Studios’ strategy of mining existing IP for new projects. “With Paramount+ being the home to so many global reality hit franchises, it seems only fitting to bring back the franchise and cast that started it all,†said Chris McCarthy, president of MTV Entertainment Group.
In case you’ve forgotten (or are too young to remember), Becky Blasband, Andre Comeau, Heather B. Gardner, Julie Gentry, Norman Korpi, Eric Nies, and Kevin Powell were the first seven folks to dive into the cocoon of The Real World back in 1992. While it wasn’t the very first time cameras had followed strangers for weeks on end, the series marked the first time in the United States producers adopted the now-familiar soap-opera-like style of reality shows to tell their story over multiple weeks. The series was an instant hit among Gen-X audiences and helped set the stage for future game-changers such as Survivor. There have now been 32 seasons of the Real World produced for and aired on cable TV and one produced for streaming (2019’s reboot for Facebook Watch). Jonathan Murray, Julie Pizzi, Erica Ross, Kevin Lee, and Trish Gold of Real World production house Bunim/Murray are executive producers of the new show, along with Sitarah Pendelton-Eaglin, Candida Boyette-Clemons, and Nadim Amiry of MTV Entertainment Studios.