The Real World: Philadelphia
The Real World: Philadelphia was the fifteenth season of MTV's popular reality television series The Real World, which focuses on of seven diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. The Philadelphia installment premiered in 2004.
The House
The cast lived in a building at the 200 block of Arch Street in Old City Philadelphia. The 11,000 square foot building was built in 1902. It was purchased in 2003 for $2.2 million dollars, and then approximately $3 million more went into the renovation and furnishings. The house had 42 fixed cameras mounted inside for the show. The building was formerly the Union Bank of Philadelphia Building. After that, it was the Church for Merchant Seamen's Center. The building has been on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places since 1977. In March of 2004, producers announced they were stopping construction because of disputes with Philadelphia trade unions, causing a delay of several weeks. The building is now vacant, and the owner, Yaron Properties, plans to convert the building into retail space.
Season Changes
- The Philadelphia Season is the first season of the show with two openly gay men, Karamo Brown and William Hernandez, in the cast. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first season to have two gay characters, regardless of sex. That title belongs to the Chicago season, although the Hawaii season featured a bisexual and a gay man.
Assignment
Every season of the The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates. The Philadelphia cast worked for the Philadelphia Soul, an Arena football team which is partly owned by Jon Bon Jovi. As part of their duties for the Soul, the cast planned and assembled a playground for underprivileged children.
Cast
- Karamo Brown
- Landon Lueck
- Melanie Silcott
- M.J. Garrett
- Sarah Burke
- Shavonda Bilingslea
- William Hernandez
Season Highlights
- MJ and Sarah have a flirtatious relationship, as do Landon and Shavonda. Shavonda, who has a boyfriend at home, struggles to choose between him and Landon.
- Landon also had somewhat of a relationship with an employee for the Philadelphia Soul. This was against the rules of the job. The relationship eventually ended after too many close calls with Soul management.
- The roommates sometimes perceive Melanie as judgmental and critical of their decisions. There are several conflicts with her, including fights with Sarah, Landon, M.J., and Shavonda.
- This season confronted issues such as Landon's problem drinking and M.J'.s homophobia.
- A particularly infamous episode featured a heated fight between Landon and Melanie. Melanie, somewhat of a loner on the cast, had her own group of friends that she had met in the city. When she invited them over one night, a drunk Landon became enraged and pulled out a knife from the kitchen. He began to walk over to Sarah but was led away before he could reach her.
- As in previous seasons, racial issues were a central theme. Karamo, a black man, appears to harbor racist feelings, on account of his being raised to mistrust white people, but with the help of Shavonda, a black woman who identifies with both black and white culture, he begins to learn to be more racially tolerant.
- During the season's group trip, the cast traveled to the Fiji Islands.