What if Paramount Pictures, instead of hiring comedy genius Albert Brooks to write and direct “Real Life,” hired instead the folks who made “An American Family” to parody themselves? Would that make any sense at all?
“Real World: Lost Season” essentially follows the model of “Real Life” in that it depicts a documentary series gone terribly awry – and yet …
Well, you’ll bitch and disparage it in talkback but secretly watch it anyway – because you are MTV’s sex puppets. It airs commercial-free 9 p.m. Tuesday.
TV Guide says:
Well, you’ll bitch and disparage it in talkback but secretly watch it anyway – because you are MTV’s sex puppets. It airs commercial-free 9 p.m. Tuesday.
TV Guide says:
Dark humor drives this 2002 cable film, which satirizes the reality series by depicting a fictional stint in Vancouver. The season's stereotypical cast features frat boy Adam (John Henry Reardon), serious Omara (Shani Pride), virginal Melinda (Julie Patzwald), sensitive Cash (Matthew Currie Holmes), sexy Liz (Laura Jordan), artistic Boomer (Michael Leisen) and quiet Keith (Peter Shinkoda). Their reality turns grim when they're kidnapped by an obsessed fan (Bryan Kirkwood), who takes them to another camera-equipped house and demands they take part in his own version of the show. Former real-life cast members Amaya, Aneesa, David, Melissa, Mike and Rachel have cameos.
Entertainment Weekly gives it a “C” and says:
The roomies in this TV movie bicker as much as their real-life counterparts do. Coming from real people, that kind of oblivious self-absorption is perversely fascinating, but when scripted, it's just annoying.
The Hollywood Reporter says:
Fans of the show will no doubt tune in for this midsummer original telefilm, but even they will be confused about exactly what MTV is trying to pull off. Is it comedy? Drama? Horror? Parody? In short, it's a little of each but not nearly enough of any. That's the inherent problem with "Lost Season": no mission statement. … we never feel any real danger because the cast members don't seem to. The script by Ted Iredell, Joyce Corrington and James LaRosa simply doesn't create enough tension – no real squirming, let alone terror. … Strong premise, weak execution.
The Los Angeles Times says:
Conceived by MTV as comedy-drama, this 90-minute feature contains little of either. ... Whereas the real "The Real World" can draw in viewers with soap-operatic stories, this fake "Real World" largely repels with self-indulgent, inside-baseball references to past characters and plot lines, as well as elements of "The Blair Witch Project" added for the heck of it. ... there is not even a semblance of pseudo-reality to make the vapid dialogue and plot worth paying attention to, nor is it over-the-top enough to be consistently funny.
But funny how they cast an actress named Julie as the virgin, no?
