MTV, Reality at its Finest

MTV – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The iconic network through the years has slowly evolved into one that is much different than its debut decades earlier. Reality shows, for example, now dominate the airwaves. From the scripted to the ”sort-of” scripted, MTV’s influence on the reality world continues to rule 18 years since the arrival of Real World. 

Thus, we wanted to take a look back in honor of (trying not to puke) Jersey Shore which begins its second season tommorow.

Real World

Real World truly started it all. The show help catapult a dozen knock-offs as well as the reality genre as a whole. The forumla was simple: throw in a group of young, attractive individuals andx make sure at least one is a racist, another a virgin, and the third a minority. It’s not rocket science, but it certainly has been a successful strategy.

The Osbournes

The Osbournes was one of the first reality shows to profile a celebrity family and who better to pick than the whacky Osbournes. First you had Ozzy, or what remains of the former rockstar. Than you had his wise wife, Sharon, and their two dysfunctional kids. Since then, other networks have attempted to profile anyone from Gene Simmons to Dee Snider.

Jackass

Technically, Jackass had an extraordinarily short run (only three seasons and 25 episodes) yet the impact was one of MTV’s most influential. The hilarity helped pave the way for Viva La Bam, Homewrecker, Dr. Steve-O, Jackass: The Movie, its sequel, as well as the upcoming Jackass 3-D. Not bad for a franchise that first gained fame for crashing into trees.

Newlyweds

Who knew that love could be…quite so boring? Starring 98 Degrees’ Nick Lachey and his pretty bride Jessica Simpson, the show was a mega-success and kept both of their careers going for…well…at least a few more years.

Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach and its two spin-offs, The Hills and The City, proved that rich people from Orange County are exactly how we expected – stuck up and incredibly boring. The Hills recently concluded and did admit that the show was (gasp) scripted. As one individual on Twitter responded, “big surprise there.” 

Jersey Shore

The crazy kids from Seaside Heights became the network’s biggest stars over the summer of 2009, when the world was introduced to such previously foreign concepts as “GTL” and “Snooki.” Now, only if The Situation could keep his shirt on.