“The Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles” is set for a Nov. 24 premiere on Paramount Plus, with seven of the original cast members from “The Real World: Los Angeles” reuniting in the same Venice Beach house they shared during their 1993 season.
The docuseries will feature Beth Anthony, Beth Stolarczyk, David Edwards, Glen Naessens, Irene Berrera-Kearns, Jon Brennan and Tami Roman, who reconnect almost two decades after last appearing on-screen together. Like the previous “Real World Homecoming” season (“New York”), they will reflect on how the series transformed their lives and potentially squash old conflicts.
The Los Angeles season of “The Real World” premiered on MTV in summer 1993, originally under the name “The Real World: California,” and was a thematic departure from the show’s “New York” season, which launched the franchise in 1992. It also featured the series’ first — but not its last — ouster of a castmate, when Edwards, a stand-up comedian, pulled the bed sheets off Tami Akbar (now Tami Roman) while she was in her underwear, and the cast voted to evict him from the house. There ended up being nine total castmates over the course of the show, with Naessens replacing Edwards, and Anthony joining midseason after Berrera-Kearns got married and left the show. Anthony, then called “Beth A” to distinguish her from Stolarczyk, continued the revolutionary LGBTQ representation that “The Real World” had begun on its first season with Norman Korpi: Anthony identified as a lesbian, which caused her housemates — especially Roman — to reflect on their prejudices.
Roman has gone on to be a mainstay in reality television since this show. She starred on VH1’s “Basketball Wives” (having been married to NBA star Kenny Anderson), “Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars,” and several other shows.
Stolarczyk moved from “The Real World” onto a number of seasons of MTV’s competition program “The Challenge,” most recently appearing on the special “All Stars” season. Brennan and Edwards also appeared on a few seasons of “The Challenge.” For Edwards, those stints came in between scripted acting gigs such as “Family Reunion: The Movie” and “Scary Movie 3.”
Only cast members Aaron Behle (then an econ major at UCLA) and Dominic Griffin (then a bartender and Variety freelancer!) aren’t returning for the “Homecoming” nostalgia. According to their LinkedIn pages, they both seem alive and well. Behle appears to be the CEO of an eyewear company in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Griffin’s page says he’s worked at Disney Music Group since 2004.
“The Real World Homecoming” is executive produced by Sitarah Pendelton-Eaglin, Candida Boyette-Clemons and Nadim Amiry for MTV Entertainment Studios; and Jonathan Murray, Julie Pizzi, Erica Ross, Kevin Lee and James Knox for Bunim/Murray Productions. Skye Topic, Jacob Lane, Joe Rosenzweig and Lauren Goldstein serve as co-executive producers, and George Verschoor is consulting producer.
Watch a teaser below.