The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the longest-running reality series in history, credited with launching the modern reality TV genre.
The series was hailed in its early years for depicting issues of contemporary young-adulthood relevant to its core audience, such as sex, prejudice, religion, abortion, illness, sexuality, AIDS, death, politics and substance abuse, but later garnered a reputation as a showcase for immature and irresponsible behavior.
Following Bunim’s death from breast cancer in 2004, Bunim/Murray Productions continues to produce the program. The 28th and most recent season, set in Portland, Oregon, premiered on March 27, 2013, and ended its first run on June 12, 2013. An upcoming 29th season, set in San Francisco, California, is currently in production, and is expected to air in 2014.
The series has generated two notable spin-offs, both broadcast by MTV: Road Rules, which lasted for 14 seasons, and the reality game show The Challenge, which has run for over 20 seasons since 1998. The Challenge is mostly cast-contestant dependent on both The Real World and Road Rules, as it combines contestants from various seasons of both shows. Coordinating the series with its spin-off, MTV alternates between airing seasons of The Real World and The Challenge and ends out seasons of both shows by showing previews for the upcoming season of the other.
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Dave Kindig, owner and operator of Kindig-It Design, turns out unique vehicles for his demanding (and sometimes famous) clientele. From rendering and design to building and restoring, viewers see vehicles being made from the ground up before being revealed to the car’s owner.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began in September 2004 and has since aired annually from August/September through to December. The show is produced by FremantleMedia’s Thames and Cowell’s production company SYCOtv. It is broadcast on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and TV3 in Ireland, with spin-off behind-the-scenes show The Xtra Factor screened on ITV2. It is the originator of the international The X Factor franchise. The X Factor was devised as a replacement for the highly successful Pop Idol, which was put on indefinite hiatus after its second series, largely because Cowell, who was a judge on Pop Idol, wished to launch a show to which he owned the television rights. The perceived similarity between the two shows later became the subject of a legal dispute. The “X Factor” of the title refers to the undefinable “something” that makes for star quality.
The original judging panel was Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. Dannii Minogue joined the panel in series 4, and Cheryl Cole replaced Osbourne in series 5 after her departure. After series 7, Cowell and Cole both left to judge the American version of the show whilst Minogue left the show due to commitments on Australia’s Got Talent. Kelly Rowland, Tulisa Contostavlos and Gary Barlow then joined Walsh on the judging panel for series 8, though Rowland announced she would not return for series 9 and was replaced by Nicole Scherzinger. Osbourne later returned in 2013, replacing Contostavlos. Since 2007, the show has been presented by Dermot O’Leary, who replaced original host Kate Thornton. The show is split into a series of phases, following the contestants from auditions through to the grand finale. In the original televised audition phase of the show, contestants sang in an audition room in front of just the judges. From series 6 onwards, auditionees sing on a stage in front of the judges and a live audience. Successful auditionees go through to “bootcamp” and then to “judges’ houses”, where judges narrow down the acts in their category down to three or four acts to mentor for the live shows, where the public vote for their favourite acts following weekly live performances by the contestants.
Home bakers with a terrible track record take a crack at re-creating edible masterpieces for a $10,000 prize. It’s part reality contest, part hot mess.
Gordon Ramsay drives to struggling restaurants across the country in his state-of-the-art mobile kitchen and command center, Hell On Wheels, and tries to bring them back from the brink of disaster – all in just 24 hours.
The Internet can be a powerful tool, allowing people to communicate and conduct business across borders. Unfortunately, that also makes it easy for people to, often anonymously, threaten others — or worse — post content that they don’t like. This series tells stories of folks whose lives were ruined because they did something as simple as sending a tweet or posting a status update. Each episode features two people whose lives were turned upside down because of a few keystrokes. The true tales include a woman who received death threats for sending a tweet calling for a cable show’s cancellation, a British man who was detained by the Department of Homeland Security because British slang was misunderstood, and a woman who was forced to move out of her town because of violent threats directed toward her for using the wrong emoji on Facebook.
Polar opposite friends Luke Caldwell and Clint Robertson take an unconventional approach to house flipping in their hometown of Boise, Idaho. While refined designer Luke likes to reach for the stars, rugged contractor Clint remains focused on their bottom line. With an endless inventory of old houses to choose from, the only decision this dynamic duo needs to make is which house to transform next.
Love Island will see a stunning cast engage in the ultimate game of love, as they land in a sunshine paradise in search of passion and romance. Each of the glamorous members of the public will live like celebrities in a luxury villa, but in order to stay there, they will not only have to win over the hearts of each other, but also the hearts of the public. Can true love win out on Love Island or is it all a game? Caroline Flack, introduces us to the cast of hot, young singles who have come looking for a summer of love and romance. The winners will leave the island with £50,000 in six weeks’ time but to get their hands on it the singles will need to go the distance.
California builder and designer Jasmine Roth is on a mission to make sure not all suburban homes look the same. Jasmine transforms builder-basic houses into custom dream homes by giving them features that stand out from the crowd.
Celebrities compete in a singing competition with one major twist: each singer is shrouded from head to toe in an elaborate costume, complete with full face mask to conceal his or her identity. One singer will be eliminated each week, ultimately revealing his or her true identity.
