02x02 - MTV & The Real World

[bunniefuu]

Landing on cable,

MTV was about pushing
television's boundaries.

Hi, MTV!

But in the '90s,

MTV launches
an entirely new kind of TV.

- This is the true story.
- "The Real World."

Everything changed after that.

- What are gonna do, hit me?
- 'Cause I'm a Black man I'm gonna hit you?

- That's what you assume?
- No.

It gave birth to an entire
genre of television.

[ Screaming ]

It's called "reality TV."

- You're disgusting!
- David!

You're watching real people
in real lives.

I'm going to terminate
the pregnancy.

For better...

So I love you.

But often for worse...

Shut up. You.

Being yourself
in front of the camera

can now make you famous.

That was when
it came true to me,

like,
this is actually happening.

And it's like the real weird
sh*t is just about to start.

Oh! Oh!

[ Laughter ]

[♪♪]

[ Dial-up modems screeching ]

[♪♪]

I'm back in!

[ Man shouting, applause ]

By the end of the '90s,

the "M" in "MTV"
stood mostly for "mayhem."

Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville,
and I have gas.

This is how
you drink fresh milk.

[ Groaning ]

I'm lubing up
the little toy car

because I'm going to
put it in my butt.

Oh...

- [ Laughing ]
- This doesn't happen in nature.

I can't watch it.

I don't watch any reality TV.

None.

It just gives me
the worst stomachache.

[ Laughs ]

That's how MTV makes
parents feel

back when the "M" in "MTV"
stood exclusively for "music."

Welcome to MTV,
Music Television.

The world's first
video music channel,

all day, all night, in stereo.

When it was founded in 1981,
its point was to be

a 24-hour music-video jukebox,
and there was no structure.

It was truly just kind of
a nonstop cycle of videos.

Almost from the start,

the channel helped to define
an entire generation.

MTV, throughout the '80s, was
the arbiter of what cool was.

I'm Dave Holmes.

I was a VJ on MTV
from 1998 to 2002,

and now I am a writer and editor
at-large for Esquire magazine.

MTV just seemed like a clubhouse
that you wanted to get into.

By the late '80s,
MTV expands to include shows

that cater to older teens
and late-night partiers.

You're watching
the "Headbangers Ball."

I'm your host, Lita.

You had "Headbangers Ball,"
you had "Yo! MTV Raps."

You had the "Top 20 Countdown."

And when grunge explodes,

MTV gives its audience
and mostly young staff

a front-row seat
to the changing culture.

My career at MTV started
back when I was

right out of high school.

You know 17, 18.

I was going to NYU Film and
got me an internship there.

I'm Tony DiSanto, and I'm
the CEO of Allyance Media Group,

but most importantly,

I was a long-term
former employee of MTV.

It was so exciting being in that
basement set, that MTV vibe.

It started really not
just reflecting pop culture,

but MTV became pop culture.

Yet, despite its
social prominence,

serving up music videos on TV

faces the same problem
as playing songs on the radio.

Apparently, the viewers at home
would change the channel

every time a song came on
that they didn't like.

And that's when they start
to experiment

with other kinds of programing.

So they have
"Liquid Television,"

which is this amazing venue
for independent animation.

Just peel, lick, and stick.

My name is Amanda Ann Klein,
and I am the author

of "Millennials k*lled
the Video Star:

MTV's Transition
to Reality Programming."

So MTV, you know, constantly
has to update its content.

And so that was where
they engaged in the work of,

you know, the "political good."

The '92 presidential campaign,
with its generational battle

between George Bush
and Bill Clinton,

provides MTV with an opportunity
to join in,

with specials
like "Choose or Lose."

We were in the first
Bush administration.

Change was in the air.

And for Bill Clinton just to
make an appearance on MTV

made a massive difference,
I think, in his campaign.

It really showed
that this was someone

who could actually speak
the language of young people.

If you had it to do over again,
would you inhale?

Sure, if I could.
I tried before.

And then at the same time,
you saw real standoffish.

From the, you know,
the Bush side of things.

Well, I'm a little concerned
about 13-year-old pregnancies.

Maybe others are.

I'm very much...
May I finish, please?

And it just galvanized
their audience,

you know, the youth of America.

MTV also launches Rock the Vote

and solicits music's
biggest stars to speak out

on issues important
to MTV's audience.

Don't just sit there,
let's get to it.

Speak your mind,
there's nothing to it.

Vote!

But politics just isn't
as interesting to young people

as what's happening on Fox's
recently launched show

"Beverly Hills 90210."

[♪♪]

So MTV shifts gears

and goes looking for
a youth-orientated soap opera

of their own.

Two unknown TV writers living in
New York take up the challenge.

What they create
will transform television

for the next four decades.

So Jonathan Murray,

who had a background
in documentary film making,

and Mary-Ellis Bunim, who had
a background in soap operas,

they are working on a drama

focused on
a bunch of young people.

They pitched MTV
that they wanted

to do a soap opera
in the vein of "90210,"

and MTV came back, was like,

"Yeah, it's too expensive.
You can't."

"Okay, what if
we throw the writers out?

That'll save money."

[♪♪]

It's like,
"Yeah, still too expensive."

"Okay, what if...
What if we throw the actors out

and we just have regular people
and no scripts?"

And, like, you can sh**t


of this stuff
a week for nothing.

And "The Real World" was born.

- This is the true story.
- "The Real World."

So this was 1992.

I'm a musician, and apparently
the casting directors

were going around to where young
people worked and congregated.

I'm Andre Comeau.

I was on the first season
of MTV's "Real World,"

and we started
this whole reality-TV hell.

[♪♪]

My sister was a promotions
executive at EMI Records,

one of the places
that they were, you know,

mining for young talent,
and one of her friends

recommended me
to that casting director.

[♪♪]

But Andre's still up against


After numerous interviews
and auditions,

he gets a life-altering call.

I was super excited.

And, you know,
we all went out and celebrated.

[♪♪]

It was all young artists.

There were a couple musicians.
There was a dancer.

There was a poet.
There was a model.

There is a painter.

And then an aspiring
singer-songwriter.

- Hi.
- Just walk around.

This is where we live?

It was all people who had gone
to New York to make it happen.

And it was just like,
"Let's watch them live."

- So how old are you?
- I'm 19.

- 19?
- Yeah!

Oh!
That's a baby.

I'm the baby?

Despite seeming totally unique,

"The Real World"
isn't the first show

to document regular people
living their lives.

That honor goes to

a little-remembered PBS series
from 1973,

"An American Family."

They found this family that had
five children,

and they filmed them for
a period of about six months.

It was just them going about
their everyday lives.

The idea that everyday people

are interesting enough
on their own.

So "The real World" is a return

to this one moment in the '70s

when people had basically agreed
to be part of this fishbowl,

this social experiment.

"The Real World" format may
date back to PBS in the '70s,

but that's about the only thing
this '90s MTV show

has in common
with that earlier decade.

Utopia is beautiful,
you know what I mean?

I'm not even
talking about Utopia.

- But in a way, you are.
- No!

They were having
interesting conversations.

On the networks,
we weren't really seeing this.

Everything was, like,
super manufactured.

This had the smell
of being real.

[♪♪]

"The Real World"
felt subversive.

It felt edgy.

It felt MTV.

♪ You're sloppy,
wishy-washy ♪

♪ It's time to watch me ♪

♪ Yo, I'm good to go,
I got the female funk flow ♪

♪ Again ♪

[♪♪]

The show encourages cast mates
to engage

in the country's increasingly
volatile social issues.

[♪♪]

One of my favorite memories
was driving down to Washington

and being a part
of the women's rights rally

that we participated in.

They also went to
a political campaign.

And so they were
very much involved.

Even if they weren't always
getting it right,

they were engaged with it
and talking about it.

But "The Real World" is so
unlike anything else on TV,

the cast are flying
completely blind.

If you look back on it,

nobody knows what
they're supposed to be doing.

They don't, like, have a bunch
of zingers in a notes app.

They just kind of showed up
to be normal,

and conflict happened,

but it seemed
to happen organically.

Go, Heather.
[ Pager beeps ]

- What is that?
- A beeper.

Do you sell drugs?
Why do you have a beeper?

Once she said the bit
about the drug dealer,

I really want to talk to her.

I really want to know
what she thinks.

Okay, so everyone's
gonna be against me

because I'm the only Southerner.

I don't consider myself r*cist
in any way.

I don't even know
how it ended up like that.

In early '92,
the most sensitive conflicts

in America center around race.

The entire country is awaiting
a verdict in the trial

of the four white cops
who beat Rodney King.

It was such a hotbed moment
in time.

You know, the United States

was going
through such a racial reckoning

because of the Rodney King
beatings, which was horrific.

And so it was very ironic
that these very issues

and debates
were happening in the loft

as they were happening
out in the world.

But I think there's a lot
of opportunity in this country.

Opportunity for what?

They took one look at me
and they were like,

"No, we can't hire him."
You know what I'm saying?

Why not, Becky?
The color of my skin.

Kevin, who is
a poet and activist,

is trying to make his
white housemates understand

the experience
of the Black male in America.

-You called me a r*cist.
-If you and I went
to the same job and applied,
who would get it?

- I don't know.
- You would get it. More than likely.

- How do you know?
- I've gone through enough job interviews.

- You just called me a r*cist.
- 'Cause you are.

And his housemates are often
not ready to receive it.

How many times
have you been stopped

and spread against a police car?

- How many times?
- I've never been stopped.

All right, then.
You don't know how it feels.

It's very real and honest
in that way.

I just know that the scales
are tipped

in certain people's favors and
has been for a very long time.

You don't know until you've
walked in somebody else's shoes

who's got a favor
and who doesn't.

As the racism debate simmers
inside the loft,

outside in the real real world,
a full-on race w*r is raging.

Outside in the real real world,


oand into the night, extending,
their dusk-to-dawn curfew.

On April 29, 1992,

the four white cops who beat
Rodney King are acquitted.

Saturday, the mayor's office

put its conservative
damage estimate

at more than
half a billion dollars.

They don't represent the people
no more.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Over the next week,

the L.A. riots
death toll hits 63.

Please, in the name of Jesus,
cut out the violence!

[♪♪]

Back in New York,

the cast of MTV's
"The Real World"

watch in horror.

The riots that were happening
in Los Angeles in real time.

And Kevin, the writer,
is an activist.

Of the 1960s.

What did you say, Julie?
"It doesn't make a difference."

Know what I'm saying?
And you didn't even apologize.

No, I didn't.

The Manhattan loft becomes
a microcosm

of the country's
rising racial tensions.

You come from a particular background,
I come from a particular background.

Wait a minute.
Will you listen?

- That has nothing to do with your culture.
- Yes, it does.

Julie,
the youngest cast member,

a white woman who had grown up
very sheltered,

had not a lot of experience
talking with people

from different
racial backgrounds.

- Look at Los Angeles.
- What are you gonna do? Hit me?

'Cause I'm a Black man
I'm gonna hit you?

- That's what you assume?
- No.

I remember just watching it
and taking Julie's side

because, of course,
I was a young, white,

sheltered, middle-class girl.

You're 19 years old.
White girl from Alabama.

You call yourself a teacher?!
Get out of my face!

- Why you upset?
- I'm so sick of this!

The roommates
seem to all take Julie's side.

This isn't the first time that
we've seen him go at someone.

The six of us bonded apart
from Kevin.

[♪♪]

He was the oldest one
by about five years.

So when he did have this
brush-up with Julie,

it was like, "Kevin freaked out,
Kevin freaked out."

Looking back on the season
now as an adult

and having seen decades
of the kind of abuse

that Black men were facing,
you can see that essentially

everything Kevin had said
to his roommates was correct.

He was saying
what needed to be said.

[♪♪]

But the show is more than just
arguments and racial uneasiness.

[♪♪]

The roommates are also out
pursuing their dreams.

Or just having a good time.

It was just such a great time
to be in New York.

Not with other cast members, no.

The cast was hooking up
with the crew.

[ Laughs ]

That's really
what was happening.

Well, there's one thing
that did happen in Jamaica,

which, um... happened.

The only hookup,
the love connection

that actually happened

was between
Becky and the director, Bill,

and it unfortunately got Bill

into some hot water
with the production,

and he had to leave the show.

[ Laughter ]

On the last day of sh**ting,

the cast burst into
the control room

to celebrate what they think
is the end

to this televised
social experiment.

Feel like we've been stranded
for three months,

and now we've gotten
off Gilligan's Island.

They showed us
the first episode of the show.

When I saw how things were
manipulated in editing,

that was very... scary.

I was naively expecting it
to be more of a documentary,

and here it is
playing out like a soap opera.

The cast of the first season
of "The Real World,"

is the first to then
have to see what happens after.

After all that footage
goes to an editor

and after somebody decides

what you've said
that they're going to use

and what you said that might
get taken out of context.

You can almost see at the end

when they're saying
goodbye to one another

that they're just like,
"Well, that's over."

And it's like, "No,
the real weird sh*t

is just about to start.

And, you know, God,
I hope you're okay."

[♪♪]

On May 21, 1992,
just days after filming ends,

"The Real World"
premieres on MTV.

What I remember mostly was how
quickly it sort of caught fire.

And, you know, the cast
suddenly becoming stars.

[♪♪]

That kind of instant celebrity

often comes
with fame and fortune,

but it doesn't quite
work out that way.

The grand total was $2,600.

Before the filming,
I had my music attorney

read through my contract.

"We own everything.
You own nothing."

[♪♪]

We expected it to air once,
maybe twice.

It becomes a hit show
that gets run and rerun

and marathon weekend
run for years to come.

They gave up their lives
and their images for nothing,

which is tough.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Fame without fortune is a drag.

You're on call because so
many people just walk up to you

and naturally think
they know you.

I did not cope well
with how it played out.

And it was really heartbreaking.

I felt like I had
to get away from myself.

I had one of those crazy
suicidal moments in the mirror

where you, you know, you cut off
all your hair in a fit of rage.

Not only do I cut my hair,
I cut the cord.

I had to get rid of MTV.

It was a difficult time
in my life.

Despite Andre's
personal struggles,

many twenty something fans
see "The Real World"

as a new and novel way
to get their 15 minutes of fame.

I'm an attention hog!

At the time, watching
season one of "The Real World,"

I was like,
"Sign me up. Sign me up."

Never did make a tape, but I was
like, "I could do that."

I want to be
on "The Real World"

because my life
is really [bleep] up.

[♪♪]

In January 1993,
seven new housemates

are on board for
"The Real World: Los Angeles."

It seems like
the producers clocked

that people remembered
the fighting.

You pin me down
in that argument!

Stupid b*tch.

And so they were like,
"Fighting. Got it.

"You want fighting,
we'll give you fighting."

You don't call somebody trash.

- I didn't call you trash.
- Yes, you did.

They put three of them
into, like, a Winnebago

to drive across the country
from New York to L.A.

to, like, symbolically
pass the torch.

Tami and Dominic,
and Jon from Kentucky.

They are so different.

They are immediately hating
on each other.

So pretty funny if I'd have
socked your a*s in the head.

If you're brave enough
to do it,

then you're brave enough
to get hit right back.

You need to go to new lengths
to to grab viewers.

That's the evolutionary scale
of reality TV.

I'm really good
at moving the stick, though.

- I bet you are, Tami.
- [ Laughs ]

Season two is the first group
of people to understand

the value
of speaking in soundbites.

Beth.
And she was carrying a cat.

I can't stand cats.

So for the first time
you're seeing people

give a little bit of thought
to themselves as a character

and what they're giving
the editor to work with.

- Aah! David!
- David, stop!

The new cast's desired
to be good TV

may contribute
to a dangerous confrontation.

Beth and Tami and David
are joking around.

- [ Telephone rings ]
- Phone's ringing.

It was, you know,
late at night.

Tami's trying to go to bed.

Don't do that!
I swear to God!

Don't!

Tami says that she
doesn't have any clothing on

under her blanket.

And David says, "Well, I'm gonna
go find out."

It's one of those moments where
everyone's having a good time,

and then there is a shift.

[ Screaming ]

No! David!

Aaah!

You watch it now
from today's perspective,

and it's a woman saying,
"No. No.

I'm in my underwear.
No."

[ Screaming ]

- You're disgusting!
- Whoo!

[ Laughs ]

Things really go off the rails
in a bad way.

Tami's so upset,
a house meeting is called.

We want him to leave.
We don't want him here.

There is a discussion of this
being a kind of as*ault

and that the women
didn't feel safe.

And he becomes the first person

to get kicked out of
a "Real World" house.

[♪♪]

But that first
will be overshadowed

by Tami revealing something

never-before divulged
on reality TV.

In case everybody
didn't already know by now

that I'm pregnant.

And I'm going to terminate
the pregnancy.

This is
a pretty radical moment.

Even today, you do not see

people getting ab*rtion
on television.

"The Real World: California."

At the beginning of the decade,

the Roe v. Wade court ruling
is under attack.

As legalized ab*rtion

becomes an even more
divisive issue,

ab*rtion clinics
become battlefields.

It was an incredibly
dangerous time

to be an ab*rtion provider.

Michael Griffin is accused

of sh**ting
ab*rtion doctor David Gunn.

Doctors were being shot,

people were being harassed
walking into and out of clinics.

So it wasn't a small thing

that MTV decided to address this
in "The Real World."

It was like a really
hard decision

for me to make that decision,
but...

It was a brave choice
for the network,

because for the first time

you saw the human face
of a person

who is
going to have an ab*rtion.

Finding out that I was pregnant
was a big downer for me

because at this particular point
and time in my life, I mean,

I'm not ready for kids.

Even if you didn't
approve of ab*rtion,

which, like, Jon in the house
does not approve of ab*rtion...

I think that Tami's making
a mistake.

He's still her friend,

and this is her choice.

He's chosen to stick by me

and help me
through the situation.

To compare it
to its sort of inspiration,

"Beverly Hills 90210" talked
about ab*rtion...

This is hard enough, okay,
so just let me say it.

But you would never get
a character

who actually had an ab*rtion.

They would either
lose the baby conveniently,

or they would just decide
to go ahead and have it.

"The Real World" does neither.

It shows Tami making
her own decisions

about how to handle
her pregnancy.

I first had to decide
how I was going to tell my mom.

I was very pissed off.

We see her go to the clinic.

When I walked into the clinic,
the first thing that hit my mind

was that I wanted it
to be over very quickly.

She is the first

and maybe still only person
to have an ab*rtion.

You need to fill these out

and bring them up
as soon as you're done.

Thank you.

This was a real person,

and it was hard to, like,
vilify her, you know?

I don't remember there
being any angry editorials

in The Wall Street Journal
about it or anything,

in-Go home, get some Advil

or some Tylenol,

and that'll help her.

- Okay.
- Get some food.

- You okay? Give me a hug.
- I'm fine.

Tami's ab*rtion in
"Real World" season two

had power and impact

because it was authentic
and real.

You're presenting real life
in an unfiltered fashion

and not imposing artifice on it.

Are you okay?

Hmm? No.
Sick.

I think that's reality
television at its best.

Tami's personal experience,

including her work
at a local A*DS clinic,

helped to make season two
of "The Real World"

a ratings success for MTV.

She also inspires
the show's co-creators,

Jonathan Murray
and Mary-Ellis Bunim

to set season three at ground
zero for the A*DS crisis...

San Francisco.

You know, San Francisco
had been, you know,

a part of the epidemic
for such a long time.

And in 1994,
there was no treatment.

We had 200,000 people,
you know,

in the early '90s
who had died of A*DS.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

And so Bunim and Murray
made a point of casting

not only an out g*y man
but one with HIV.

His name is Pedro Zamora,
and his openness

and authenticity shines
throughout his audition tape.

I just got out of

a three-and-a-half-year
relationship, um...

to an as*h*le.

[ Laughs ]

I had to say it.

He's funny. He's kind.
He's soap-opera handsome.

And he's living
with this terrible disease.

I'm Judd Winnick.

I was a cast member on
"Real World 3: San Francisco."

All he wanted to do
was to show people

what it was really like
to live with A*DS and HIV.

He wanted people to understand.

Where are you from originally?

- Cuba.
- Cuba.

- How long have you been here?
- 13 years.

He was on the Mariel boat lift
in 1980

when, you know, thousands
and thousands of Cubans

came over to the United States.

So are you ready for this?

I think so.

Five more people to meet,
right?

The producers at MTV
decide not to inform

the other cast mates
that Pedro has HIV.

All of us knew that somebody
was HIV positive,

but we didn't know who.

I am Pam Ling.

I was cast on the third season

of MTV's "The Real World,"
San Francisco.

That's where she's coming from,
then.

Of course, Pedro knew
who was HIV positive,

and he did a very kind
of artful thing

where he would kind
of casually drop, like,

"Oh, I need
to show you my scrapbook."

The reason I brought
the scrapbook was because

it was gonna
make it easier for me

to let them know
that I was HIV positive.

He'd actually been doing
A*DS education in high schools,

and then he'd had his story
in The Wall Street Journal.

In Washington,
iadvocating for HIV and A*DS.

But not everyone
in the San Francisco House

welcomes Pedro.

Rachel kind of just got up
and left.

I wanted to ask some
hardcore questions

about how it affects him,

how it's gonna affect us
as his roommate.

None of those
things were discussed.

When Rachel finds out
that he has HIV, is like,

"Well, I don't think I should
share a bathroom with you."

There may have been, in the
back of my head, something,

"Well, I'm sharing a bathroom
with somebody that has HIV."

At the time it was
a death sentence,

so Rachel's fears
are not unwarranted.

[♪♪]

But it's Puck,
a local bike messenger,

who will give Pedro
the hardest time.

- Hi.
- Hey.

- [ Laughs ]
- Hi.

I am the Puck.

When production cast Puck,

they knew he'd be
pretty outrageous.

I would never
go out like Pedro anyway.

If I did have A*DS, I'd be in,
like, the south of France

and Nepal and Switzerland,
and then I'd die.

I don't think they understood
that he would eventually

get really, really vicious.

I know I don't like him,
Rachel.

I know in three minutes.
"You're a dork."

My stance is this... Unh-unh.

Puck was just
reality-TV villain as*h*le

who treated him badly.

The problem is that Pedro
got attention from the roommates

and was liked,

and Puck was kind of instantly
disliked by just about everyone.

And so there was, I think,
this resentment.

I told you
we were the odd couple.

Well, you know, there's
a dirty guy and a clean guy.

An unconfirmed g*y guy.

What I really hate
is this whole g*y thing.

One guy's dirty,
one guy's clean.

You tell me.
Are we fitting the bill?

His personality
seemed to change

when he knew
he was being filmed.

Puck's antics become
even more problematic

as Pedro's health
begins to deteriorate.

Your total helper T cells
are 32 right now.

So that's a drop for you.

Bad living conditions
and stress in the house,

this stuff was negatively
affecting his health.

My T cell count dropped again.

I have like maybe 30 T cells,
which is ridiculous.

He had, like,
no immune system left, right?

Normally you have
over 500 T cells

to measure your immunity.

Pedro's declining health

only seems to fuel Puck's
bullying behavior.

He started getting angrier

when attention
wasn't being paid to him.

And it started coming out
in h*m* remarks.

All he talks about is how,
"Heterosexuals are this.

And [ Spanish accent ] "I can
make fun of heterosexuals

because you're heterosexuals."

And it just tended escalate.

He just keeps coming off
as a d*ck

to someone who's trying to
do something good in the world.

What I heard you say,
not only tonight

but since the first day,
is that you don't

give a [bleep] about
what I feel.

What can you do about
your choice, Pedro?

Not live with you.

The tension in the house
continues to escalate

until Pedro issues an ultimatum.

- I am saying it right now.
- What?

Either I get out
or he gets out.

So by the time I get back,
the decision has to be made.

As long as Puck
lives in this house,

Pedro does not live
in the house.

By 1994, San Francisco
has been supportive

of g*y rights for decades.

The city elected the first
openly g*y mayor in California,

Harvey Milk.

It also hosts the country's
largest g*y pride parade.

So when "The Real World:
San Francisco" cast is forced

to choose
between A*DS educator Pedro

and belligerent bully Puck...

Shut up. You.

Deal with it or not,
but I'm not gonna change.

Their decision
does their adoptive city proud.

I think Puck should leave.

- He should go.
- I agree.

Ultimately he is asked
to leave the house.

I think we would all make
the same choice, you know?

Do I want to live
with a Pedro or a Puck?

The choice is clear.

One thing I noticed
since Puck has left

is that everyone
on separate occasions

has commented about how peaceful
the house is now.

With Puck voted out
of the house,

Pedro can once again
focus on his life's mission...

Educating the country's youth
about a deadly disease.

I will probably not see
the age of 30.

I will probably die
before I turn 30 years of age.

And somehow you had to find some
type of meaning to your life.

[♪♪]

With his health seemingly on
the mend, Pedro is invigorated.

"The Real World" captures
his budding relationship

with Sean Sasser,

a fellow A*DS educator
who's also HIV positive.

MTV really did honor
Pedro's story,

but the genius of it
being on reality TV

is that we got to see him
fall in love,

and he trusted that
they were telling

a complete story.

But like too many A*DS
sufferers of that decade,

Pedro's health
eventually worsens.

[ Coughing ]

You just got warmer.

We're gonna have to
call the clinic.

As season three airs on MTV,
viewers tune in to follow along

with Pedro's
courageous struggle.

No, it's going up again.

I found out that
my temperature was 104.

Pedro's incredible fame
and illness

came both at the same time.

Do you know
how you contracted A*DS?

I know that I got it
through unprotected sex.

He went from being

a very highly sought after
local speaker

to, you know, an enormous star.

[♪♪]

And Pedro actually got
really sick

in the middle of doing
a bunch of this press stuff.

He got PCP pneumonia and he was
hospitalized, but he recovered.

Pedro's recovery opens up
the opportunity for Sean and him

to formalize their relationship
in another reality-TV first.

Had a commitment ceremony
in the house,

which we basically, like,
threw a g*y wedding

in the house for the first time.

And it was a big deal.

You know,
it was a g*y wedding in 1994,

you know, on television.

It is a lot easier for me
to face my own fears

and face the uncertainty
of my own life,

knowing that he's there.

So I love you.

And we were
really proud of that

because it was so meaningful.

And it was beautiful.

[♪♪]

And it's a ratings bonanza
for MTV.

"The Real World" season three

was like
a cultural juggernaut, right?

I just felt, like, so relieved
that this important story

was gonna be out there.

[ Monitor beeping ]

But soon after the wedding,

Pedro's health declines
once again.

[♪♪]

What are you supposed to do
when your friend's dying?

Even the president is moved
by Pedro's story.

President Clinton called
just to check in.

Hello, Pedro.
It's President Clinton.

I just called to tell you I
was thinking about you

and praying for you.

He might not be able to answer,
but he understands everything.

Okay.

Bill Clinton arranged
for his siblings

who were still in Cuba
to be able to come to America,

knowing that Pedro
was probably dying.

[♪♪]

At that time, Pedro was like
a significant cultural figure.

And Pedro was, you know,
people's friend by now.

So if you're under
the age of 30,

"The Real World"
was a real event.

The day after the final episode

of "The Real World:
San Francisco" airs on MTV,

America's friend dies in Miami.

[ Flatline beeps ]

Pedro Zamora, teenage A*DS
activist and MTV personality,

was only 22 years old.

Pam and I were with Pedro
when he passed away,

and he died without any pain.

And he died
with his family around him.

Today, 1,500 people attended
a memorial service for Zamora

in Miami Beach.

People really felt
connected to him.

And so when, you know, when
he died, people were devastated.

It's very, very rare
that you have an experience

where you're a part of something

that is so much bigger
than yourself.

And, uh...

And I'm very conscious of that.
Still.

As tragic as it was and is,

it's really incredible what
that season of "Real World" did

for everyone's
understanding of HIV.

Now no one in America can say

they've never known someone
who's living with A*DS.

The challenge to each of us
is to do something about it.

It really made a lot
of difference

and a lot of change.

It's an incredible moment
in television history.

But if the history of
television teaches us anything

its that the show must go on.

And as MTV pumps out follow-up
seasons of "The Real World,"

the genuine emotion of the first
three seasons will be replaced

by something darker
and more unsettling.

- [ Glass breaking ]
- Oh!

The death
of 22-year-old Pedro Zamora

and the attention he brings
to "The Real World"

marks a new era for MTV.

The success
that "The Real World" had

beg at a hunger for more
and more reality programing

from the execs at MTV.

But the tone of reality
programs is shifting.

Talk shows like "Jerry Springer"
demonstrate audiences

will show up for confrontation.

What are you gonna do,
[bleep] hit me with your Walker?

No, with this!

The more fistfights
and depravity, the better.

MTV responds
with "Real World" spin-offs

where conflict
takes center stage.

If I'm being a b*tch,
I'm so sorry. I'm human.

I can't be Mrs. Nice Person
all the time.

So "Road Rules,"
which is "Real World" in an R.V.

And then there's enough alumni
from both of those shows

that you can put them
back together

and have the "Real World/
Road Rules Challenge,"

where they're, like,
beating each other up

and playing paintball
or whatever.

The shift in reality
is on full display

when the show's producers
sh**t a reunion special

and it quickly devolves
into performative conflict.

What'd you say about Pedro
when he died?!

You said, "Good riddance,"
didn't you?! "Everywhere!

- If you're g*y and you have A*DS,
you deserve to get it."
- Get off your soapbox, Judd.

That's what you [bleep] said!
Tell me you didn't say it!

Your mother's my secret lover.

Looking back on it,
it's even more egregious

That kind of personality
just does not age well.

For the second time,

Puck is kicked out of
"The Real World."

Take yourself out of here,
then.

Oh, you know what?

[ Cheers and applause ]

Youth audience,
they devour content

and it burns really bright.

The stuff they love
burns really bright.

Then it would burn out,
and they're looking for
the next thing.

And I think that's why you see
things change and become louder.

- [ Crash ]
- [ Screaming ]

That's what contestants are
doing on MTV's new game show,

"Trashed."

It became almost like, uh...
like crack.

Like, you just had to keep going

and getting your next fix,
the next reality idea.

And how do we cut through,
how do we make things different,

how do we make things bigger?

But bigger isn't always better.

For "The Real World,"

the authentic reality on display
in its initial seasons

is replaced by vapid battles
over airtime and attention.

By the end of the decade,
the show was very focused

on partying, drinking,

hooking up with one another,
and getting in fistfights.

First he was beating me up,
but then I start to come back.

This is the time
when "Girls Gone Wild" videos

are being sold.

This all becomes entertainment,

seeing young people gone wild.

And this becomes
a golden formula for MTV.

Turn on the video monitor that
has a camera over the hot tub.

They were really enjoying
themselves in that hot tub.

It's all they want.
Hookups and hot tubs.

That's what they love.

It certainly works hand in hand

with the shift
in generations from,

you know, the initial generation
that MTV was was catering to

was Generation X.

By the late '90s,

it has shifted its attention
to millennials.

I'm back in!

Millennials are very interested
in branding themselves.

[ Laughter ]

They just wanted to get famous
and be seen.

It would make a show suffer.

That got bad news
written all over it.

Then there's "Jackass."

Oh! Oh!

As the millennium hits,

MTV redefines reality TV
once again with "Jackass,"

introducing audiences
to stunts and pranks

that test
the limits of good taste, humor,

and human endurance.

As happens a lot
in pop culture,

something happens
that the smart people think

is gonna be a gimmick,

and then it's like...
Then it explodes.

Then reality TV is a thing.

[♪♪]

And now it's 90%
of every network,

and there are
a thousand networks.

It's crazy.

Reality TV rolls on,

and its legacy
will always be linked

to the pioneers
who broke first ground.

Pam and I went through
the nonsense together.

We met on this
crazy television show.

We fell in love, we got married,
we have two kids.

We have a house, jobs, lives.

That's not what's supposed
to happen with reality TV.

Reality TV has an opportunity

to show people
as they really are.

But we're not doing that.

In the '90s, we had
an aspect of our lives

that we were trying
to share with people,

not every waking moment
of our lives.

The directive is
kind of different now,

but to have been in the nucleus
of that thing

during the time that I was
is, like, such an honor.

The power of a kind of silly
TV show has

to affect people's behavior for,

you know, three decades after
is really striking.

[♪♪]

We did go through
a lot together

and it's, you know...

we'll always be connected in
a very deep and meaningful way.

[♪♪]

It was a wild experience.