Seven Strangers Picked to Live in a House
MTV’s The Real World, now in its 23rd season, is, as its everlasting introduction tells us, “the true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when people stop being polite… and start getting real.” The show has had any number of memorable moments — Stephen slapping Irene in the Seattle season, Ruthie going to rehab for alcoholism in Hawaii — but it was the show’s third season, set in San Francisco in 1994, and its cast of characters that made the series a hit. This was the season that starred Pedro Zamora, who used the show as a launching pad to educate the nation about HIV/AIDS. It was a personal struggle for him as the show’s first (and only) HIV-positive, openly gay cast member. Pedro’s conflicts with his roommate — the antagonistic bicycle messenger Puck — almost caused him to move out, but it was Puck instead who left the house. Pedro passed away surrounded by members of his Cuban family and a few cast members, just hours after the season finale aired. After his death, then-President Bill Clinton praised his efforts to bring awareness and understanding to the HIV/AIDS cause.
These Walls Look Like Candy
MTV fans should be accustomed to the sometimes utterly ridiculous things celebrities do and say (Jessica Simpson’s “Is this chicken?”, anyone?), but the always entertaining Mariah Carey showed viewers firsthand what it’s like to live inside her world in one of the most-watched Cribs episodes of all time. From Big Boi’s Boom Boom Room to Kim Kardashian’s stipper pole (“I swear it’s for working out”), MTV Cribs has had its share of strange antics, but time spent in Mariah’s 11,000 sq. ft. New York City penthouse might just top the list. In between breaking up a fight between her cat and dog and pausing to workout on a StairMaster in her 4″ stilettos and tiny black dress, Mariah somehow found the time to don a record eight outfits — everything from several of her signature low-cut dresses to a bath towel. But the most talked about moment from Carey’s home tour is when she strips out of a lacy nightie, wraps herself in a towel and sits down to “relax” in a bubble bath with the cameras rolling. Only you, Mariah.
