Is MTV's 'The Real World' coming to the Pearl? It sure looks that way
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PORTLAND, Ore. - It looks like seven strangers will stop being polite and start getting real in the Pearl District.
Rumor has it that MTV is going to be taping its next The Real World series in Portland and we found production crews on hand outside Northwest 9th between Everett and Flanders getting a place ready.
Blogger Byron Beck posted that the loft would be above Believe Antique and Art and the shop's owner told us that all the work on the block has made for quite the commotion amongst the neighbors.
"The neighbors are all excited," said Lucy Knaugh. "They keep coming and telling me it's reality television and we have new lights, new cameras."
There is no word yet on when taping will begin but Beck wrote that based on city code requests, the crew could be around through the end of the year.
They are working at Cool Harry's Yogurt in the downtown food cart pods
Um, no thanks. Portland is already on the map and we don't need more people moving here because they saw it on Mtv. We'll stick with more permanent shows like Grimm and Leverage. Fake reality tv - not so much. Thanks anyway.
People will not be welcoming to anyone on that show because it is a dragged out farce. The only good season was the first when they had to get jobs. Now they just need to not get the girls pregnant and limit the vomit from partying and Mtv thinks they have a winning show. Pathetic.Â
 @MagicMooseÂ
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As long as it sells truckloads of more advertising than it takes to produce, it will be a "winning" show.
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And as long as dead-heads (not Grateful Dead fans but REAL dead-in-the-heads) watch whatever drivel reality show gets put on without complaint, advertising will sell.
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Season one was MTVs desperate attempt to fill time when videos were too expensive for them to show any more hours of. That desperation of every member, the cast, the crew, the production team, meant there was real emotion in the program, it meant something to everyone. (They all would have been working as waiters in Cafes had it failed)
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But long gone is that sense of dedication. And with tiny production budgets (compared to scripted stuff or even videos), and dumptrucks of loyal fans who are willing to watch 32 minutes of "program" for every hour, the huge profits and little work have made all reality TV the go-to thing for networks.
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What started as a desperation move by some young crew on a third tier cable network, is now the gold standard of crap TV for high profits and no production.
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There was a time in the 90's that the real world featured a HIV positive member of the cast.This might have been the last of the meaningful episodes.Pedro Zammora, for those who didn't follow the early days of "reality" television, was the first openly HIV-positive person to become a prominent character on MTV's "The Real World," back in 1994. He died at the age of 22, not long after the show ended, but he used his high profile to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases. He caught the eye of President Clinton and is today regarded as a courageous pioneer in speaking openly about something that's sometimes still hard to talk about.
 @noneofyourbizzness OK
It's manufactured reality. I'm aware of one of the local restaurants that two of the players will be working at for their "real" jobs. It should be interesting 'cuz they've probably never waited a table in their lives. Doubtless it will really piss off the actual employees who truly work for a living. The business owner doesn't even get paid for their participation. Hopefully it will increase business, and the owner and employees can benefit. Portland should bathe in their current world popularity while they can.
half the people of portland already act like they're on the show
 @PhuzzÂ
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I have never watched any sort of reality show. It reminds me of my ex-wife who sat in front of the TV every single day watching her Soap Operas--especially when her entire life was already soap opera.Â
Lucky us!
That "show" is still on the air? Are other people's lives really that interesting?
 @randomdude It's interesting to the 13 year old female demographic.