Hurricanes affect ‘The Real World’

Reality TV season is in full swing. Two "Apprentice" seasons have kicked in, "Survivor" is back, Tyra Banks is putting her "Top Models" through their paces, and the diet is on on "Biggest Loser." And after one week's vacation, we're back to answer your reality TV questions.

Q: Did the cast of "The Real World: Key West" evacuate for Hurricane Rita?

A: Andy says: Before heading toward Louisiana and Texas, Hurricane Rita plowed through the Florida keys, the eye of the storm passing just south of Key West. And that’s where the next season of “The Real World” is being filmed. Their house is on Key Haven, a tiny island of multimillion dollar homes right next to Key West.

While MTV reps wouldn’t comment, both residents and tourists were forced to evacuate, and the cast did, too. Digital Spy reported that the cast went to West Palm Beach, hundreds of miles north and well out of the way of the hurricane.  The site also reported that cameras kept rolling throughout the evacuation.

When they return to the southernmost point in the continental United States, the cast will likely take part in the debauchery known as Fantasy Fest, which takes place the final week in October. Additionally, I've heard that the cast will be opening up their own business, because that worked so well for "The Real World Miami." They'll be running a tanning salon and bathing suit store.

Gael says: And of course, before Rita hit, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, where the 2000 "Real World" cast lived in the Belfort Mansion. We haven't heard specifics on how the mansion did or did not weather Katrina, but its location, on St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District, was one of the areas that came through the storm better than most. One poster on NOLA.com has posted photos from the street. I'm not familiar enough with New Orleans to know if the Belfort is covered here or not.

Some "Real World New Orleans" cast members have shared their thoughts about the city's devastation on MTV's Web site. David, the cast member known for his rendition of "Come On, Be My Baby Tonight," tells of a ghostly encounter he said he experienced in the city, and adds "Anyone seeking to find what New Orleans was all about only need to open their hearts and understand that as long as there is life and human spirit, New Orleans lives."

And Melissa, whose friendship with New Orleans artist Lionel Milton was shown on the program, has posted on her Web site that he is safe. although he has lost his home, car, and all of his artwork.

Q: With so many options to choose from, what is your top site/blog that reviews, recaps, and generally picks apart reality TV? In other words, what sites/blogs do YOU read for a good laugh or some inside dirt?    —Steve

A: Gael says: Funny you should ask that (readers, I swear this is a real question), because I hired Andy to work with me on this column on the basis of his own very excellent reality news site, Reality Blurred. He updates every weekday with multiple reality TV news items drawn from newspapers across the nation, and has his own faithful audience that provides him with inside news and tips. He's too modest to mention his own site in his answer, so I'll do it for him.

Another great resource is also run by MSNBC.com contributors. Tara Ariano and Sarah D. Bunting are the co-creators and co-editors of Television Without Pity. (Other MSNBC.com contributors, including Kim Reed and Linda Holmes, also write there.)

In addition to the hilarious recaps, their forums are an excellent source of news. Thousands of posters from all over post in the forums, so if a Real Worlder got arrested in even the tiniest town, you can bet someone on TWoP read about it and posted a link to the news. (Sorry, reality-show alums, you just can't hide.)

And finally, a site whose staffers do not contribute here: TV Tattle is an exhaustive Weblog of TV news, both reality and otherwise. Whenever I haven't checked the site for a few days, I find myself settling in for a long surf, and usually e-mailing various links to friends and co-workers as I read.

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