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Moreover, the sexual tension that always heats up The Real World is only lukewarm on Road Rules. On this season's The Real World, for instance, we are witnessing every titillating moment of the flirtation between Neil, a cynical doctoral candidate, and Kat, a bubbly anthropology student. On Road Rules, Carlos (or Los as he prefers to be called), a Howard University student, clearly has a crush on Shelly, a Native American teenager. But when he tries to kiss her, the audience only gets to hear them talk about it later. Kit, after watching herself and the others in the series' first episode, said she was "really surprised by how much the attraction between Los and Shelly was downplayed."
Other participants too have been dissatisfied with the reality-TV versions of their lives. Kat, from The Real World, has complained in published reports that her relationship with Neil has been overdramatized. Meanwhile, Mike, who is regularly shown singing the praises of football and ranch dressing, has contended that his crass side has been too magnified. Murray and Bunim reply that the kids are having a natural reaction to seeing their lives on film. "We condense reality, but we don't distort it," says Murray. "The basic truth of what happens to these people is onscreen."
More of this TV truth is on the way. Murray and Bunim are trying to decide where to set the fifth installment of The Real World, and they may do a second Road Rules series, possibly in Europe. The team is attracting emulators as well. Next week the Disney Channel will launch a 10-part documentary series, Hollywood Lives, which follows a dozen good-looking teenagers who are pursuing entertainment careers. For Generation X, reality doesn't always bite; it just keeps getting knocked off.