THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100056
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 68 lines
MEET MIKE of MTV's ``Real World V.'' Today, he's nobody you ever heard of before - a 24-year Floridian who knows a little accounting, dabbled in the restaurant business and is working hard to shave some strokes off his golf game. After tonight, when the fifth season of ``Real World'' premieres at 10 on MTV with back-to-back episodes, who knows?
Mike may evolve into a household name, as did the obnoxious, scab-picking, eating-peanut-butter-with-his-fingers bike messenger David ``Puck'' Rainey of the ``Real World'' set in San Francisco.
``Real World'' also brought fame to the late Pedro Zamora, who impressed viewers with his struggle against AIDS. And it gave celebrity to Lars, the Berliner in leather who was part of ``Real World'' when it was set in London. And to Neil, also of the London ``Real World'' bunch, who got his tongue bitten when he tried to kiss a dude in a club.
After ``Real World I'' in 1992, Julie, Kevin, Norman, Eric, Andre and the others who shared a Manhattan loft became as well-known as the cast of ``Friends'' today. And wasn't ``Real World I'' the inspiration for ``Friends'' on NBC?
Now come seven more young people to open their lives to the MTV cameras. Will they connect with MTV's audience as did the seven who shared the cool digs in San Francisco in 1994? Or will they be as forgettable as the shallow, bickering bunch who were set up in Venice Beach, Calif., by MTV in 1993?
Now it's time to get acquainted with seven new Real Worlders. Will they be appealing or appalling?
Mike isn't talking much about how ``Real World V'' evolved after the seven - five Americans, one Cuban-American and one native of the former USSR - settled into their house in Miami.
This ``Real World'' has a twist. The seven roommates will be partners in a new business they will start from scratch with the help of fiftysomething Landon Thorne, hired by MTV to clue the Miami Seven in on entrepreneurship.
What kind of a business do they choose? A coffee bar, perhaps?
Mike isn't saying.
And does the business succeed or crash?
``I'm sworn to secrecy,'' he said.
Mike's roommates include Cynthia, 22, from Oakland, Calif., a waitress who also attends San Jose State; Flora, 24, the Russian immigrant who's a bartender when she's not studying art in Boston; and Dan, 21, of Overland Park, Kan., who is a senior at Rutgers. MTV says he's the most talkative of the bunch.
And there is Melissa, 22, who is in her last year at the University of Miami; Sarah, 25, a graduate of Indiana U. who works as an editor; and Joe, 25, a graduate business student from Fordham U. who says he's a computer nerd.
It is an older, wiser and more mature bunch than seen on ``Real World'' in the past, says MTV.
``We're all grownups,'' Mike said.
Starting tonight, we'll see if they act like grownups.
It took about two weeks or so for Mike to get used to living with a camera crew of 25 scrambling through windows and doors to get the best shots. ``You have to remember to close the bathroom door,'' he said. ``Or the camera will follow you in there, too.''
``After a while, you regard the camera as a piece of furniture that doesn't intrude. To be honest, when taping ended, I missed seeing the camera. I almost freaked out when it was gone. I had gotten used to it.''
``Real World'' started out as an experiment on MTV in 1992 - something different to break up the hours of music videos, a soap opera without a script. When viewership reached 700,000, MTV asked the producers to do ``Real World II,'' which attracted an audience of 2 million.
Today, ``Real World'' is an MTV franchise seen in 34 countries, a docu-soap watched by millions. It made Puck darn near as popular as Beavis and Butt-head. by CNB