I'm in Real World Paris ... get me out of here! Advocate columnist and intrepid foreign correspondent Charles Kaiser finds that being embedded in the MTV digs is no slumber party. (television).I was a virtual Real World cast member for a day. I wore a body mike, lived in a house where only the bathrooms offered momentary respite from peering cameras, and never went outside without an entourage--a three-person camera crew plus assorted producers, assistant directors, and baffled onlookers. Maybe, just maybe, it's possible for real Real World cast members to forget after the fifth week that every smile, grimace grimace Neurology A humorless facial 'mask' typically seen in Pts with catatonia. See Amimia. , and grunt is being preserved for legions of MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. viewers, but we virtual types had the experience for only 18 hours. So we never forgot. The venerable staple of cable television, an addiction for teenagers and 20-somethings and a guilty pleasure for everyone else who enjoys the sight of young, seminude sem·i·nude adv. & adj. Only partially clothed: posed seminude for a painter; seminude statues. sem bodies in a hot tub, has just finished filming its 13th season, with the premiere set for June 3. This year it takes place in France. (Who knew it would be the year of the freedom fry?) The show was shot in Le Vesinet, an upscale Paris suburb that looks like a 19th-century version of Stamford, Conn., with big bourgeois houses set on ample green lawns. And yes, there is a gay character: an 18-year-old Irishman named Simon. Desperate to generate ink for a middle-aged show, the publicity mavens at MTV hit on a PR epiphany: Why not invite seven reporters to share the Real World experience? Proving once again that most humans will do anything to be in front of a TV camera--even when their frolics will never be broadcast to the larger world--the glossy mags responded en masse en masse adv. In one group or body; all together: The protesters marched en masse to the capitol. [French : en, in + masse, mass. . GQ, TV Guide, YM, and Blender all splurged for transatlantic plane tickets for their intrepid reporters. Company, a British women's monthly for the young and restless Young and Restless can refer to:
We arrived a couple of days before the real cast members moved in. The Jacuzzi sat forlornly in a packing crate on the front lawn as dozens of workers scrambled to finish the house in time. Producer Tracy Chaplin said he "appreciated" the fact that French workers "stop for lunch for two hours and everything is closed on Sunday" but added "for production it's hell," an observation that infuriated in·fu·ri·ate tr.v. in·fu·ri·at·ed, in·fu·ri·at·ing, in·fu·ri·ates To make furious; enrage. adj. Archaic Furious. Anne Deguy, a French reporter from Paris Match Paris Match is a French weekly magazine. It's best known for the frequent use of paparazzi photographs. The magazine also covers major national and international news along with celebrity features. Paris Match was founded in 1949 by the industrialist Jean Prouvost. . The warnings we had received in advance by E-mail were detailed enough to fill four pages. "The crew will not be speaking to you. Any time anyone leaves the house, you will need to alert the production crew by calling the 'bat phone.' Cell phones and headphones Head-mounted speakers. Headphones have a strap that rests on top of the head, positioning a pair of speakers over both ears. For listening to music or monitoring live performances and audio tracks, both left and right channels are required. are not permitted." Most of the rules quickly went out the window. Nobody seized our cell phones. The crew spoke to us regularly, especially after Rob Tannenbaum, the reporter from Blender, speculated (on mike) about the endowment of the cameraman. "There's no talking about the crew!" rasped one of the assistant directors. We all enjoyed being followed into town by the cameras, at least until the novelty wore off. Some of us enjoyed it less when we learned we couldn't go into a store to buy a bottle of water because it hadn't been "cleared" for filming by the MTV crew. Everyone tried to be "on" for the camera. Tannenbaum was suffering from food poisoning food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illnesses as "ptomaine poisoning," but it was later discovered that , but he still managed to rise to the occasion more often than the rest of us. For most seasons, all Real World decorating has been done out of an Ikea catalog, but this year the producers splurged and hired a local decorator, who produced plenty of Euro-centric details (maps of France, Eiffel Towers) to remind viewers of where they are. "Its very fin de siecle Fin` de sie´cle 1. Lit., end of the century; - mostly used adjectively in English to signify: belonging to, or characteristic of, the close of the 19th century. ," said Tannenbaum. "But I'm not sure which siecle." One experience the real cast members probably didn't have was not being able to get to bed until midnight because the sheets hadn't arrived yet--and then being kept awake in their doorless bedrooms by two MTV PR women, who camped out in the adjacent stairway and kept gossiping there until 2:30 in the morning. At that point, I finally got out of bed to scream at them, and we all got to go to sleep. RELATED ARTICLE: Gay TV guide. May 31 9 P.M. Showtime Soldier's Girl. (2003) The tragic true story of the 1999 murder of U.S. Army Pfc. Barry Winchell, the film turns on the heartbreakingly realistic romance between Winchell and transgendered transgendered adjective Relating to a person who has undergone genital/sexual reassignment surgery Transgender health issues Hormonal therapy, cosmetic surgery, fertility options–eg, egg and sperm banking. See Sexual reassignment. Cf Transsexual. chanteuse chan·teuse n. A woman singer, especially a nightclub singer. 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(1997) Writer-director Deepa Mehta's passionate drama explores the affair between two married Indian women. (Repeats June 25) 2:00 June 22 10 P.M. Showtime Queer as Folk Queer as Folk may refer to:
n. 1. A melodramatic serial in which each episode ends in suspense. 2. A suspenseful situation occurring at the end of a chapter, scene, or episode. 3. is virtually guaranteed as the Pittsburghers wrap up another season. (Repeats June 24) 0:45 June 25 7 P.M. Cinemax "Reel Life," Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the House. (2002) The tale of two women who, over 30-plus years, saw their friendship develop into a romantic relationship that ultimately serves as a testament in favor of domestic-partnership laws. (Repeats June 29) 1:00 --Compiled by Brian Sloan (All times Eastern) SPOTLIGHT June 18, 7 P.M. Cinemax "Reel Life." No Dumb Questions. (2001) Three sisters, ages 6 to 11, have many questions about their uncle's decision to become their aunt. (Repeats June 29) 0:30 |
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