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The Surreal Life
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The Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks. The format of the show resembles that of The Real World and Road Rules, in that the cameras not only record the castmates participation in group activities assigned to them, but also their interpersonal relationships and conflicts.
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Encyclopedia
The Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks. The format of the show resembles that of The Real World and Road Rules, in that the cameras not only record the castmates participation in group activities assigned to them, but also their interpersonal relationships and conflicts. The first two seasons aired on the The WB, and subsequent seasons have been shown on VH1.
Season 1
The first season (2003) starred Gabrielle Carteris, MC Hammer, Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis, Jerri Manthey, Vince Neil, and Brande Roderick. Throughout the two-week production, the cast participated in a Survivor-inspired camping trip, a trip to Las Vegas, and a drama-creating Corey Feldman, who got married to his girlfriend in the season finale.
Mindy Cohn and Robin Givens were scheduled to be cast members but dropped out before taping began.
Season 2
The second season (2004) starred Traci Bingham, Trishelle Cannatella, Erik Estrada, Tammy Faye Messner, Ron Jeremy, and Vanilla Ice. Some memorable moments involved Ron Jeremy's topless porn-star pool party, Tammy Faye's book signing with members of the gay and transgender community, and a cameo by Gary Coleman. As the cast works at a local retro diner under Coleman's management, Vanilla Ice sticks a banana down his own pants, hoists Coleman above the deep-fryer, and insists on having the former child star say his catch phrase, "What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" in public when Coleman's Strokes co-star Todd Bridges shows up. These acts led the diminutive sitcom star to "fire" Ice and then quit. The season also introduced "Dirty Laundry", the Surreal Life talk show hosted by Sally Jesse Raphael. Raphael focused on Cannatella and made several unflattering remarks about her drinking problem, and in turn, said she was acting like a slut. Other memorable moments included a surprise stop at the , a nudist resort, from which Tammy Faye fled in tears, and the production of a children's play.
Danny Bonaduce was scheduled to be a cast member but dropped out before taping began.
Season 3
The show's third season (2004) starred Charo, Dave Coulier, Flavor Flav, Jordan Knight, Brigitte Nielsen, and Ryan Starr. Memorable moments included Date Night, an agonizing recording session for the group to produce an original song, and Flavor's insistence that he drive the group's RV despite not having a license. Flavor also caused a brief disconnection with the cast, when it was revealed during Dirty Laundry that he had hit the Surreal Life puppy. After moving to VH1, each season included opening credits, in which each cast member briefly introduced themselves.
Throughout the two weeks, Nielsen and Flav began a relationship which would have a dramatic influence on VH-1's programing over the next five years, as it indirectly spawned 14 spinoffs and sequels to date. The romance first continued in Strange Love and snowballed from there, after the success of the Flavor of Love series.
Season 4
The fourth season (2005) starred Da Brat, Adrianne Curry, Christopher Knight, Chyna, Marcus Schenkenberg, Verne Troyer, and Jane Wiedlin. Like the season prior, another romance-themed spin-off, My Fair Brady was developed around the romantic escapades of Curry and Knight. Among notable moments included conflict between Da Brat and Wiedlin that stemmed from comments made by Da Brat about Wiedlin that were shown during Dirty Laundry, and the strained relationship between Laurer and her now-ex-boyfriend Sean Waltman. More memorable moments included Troyer getting drunk on the first day and urinating in the weight room and Wiedlin getting upset about the group being asked to brand a cow.
Season 5
Season five (2005) played up on the show's namesake surreality by having the house decorated with a circus/carnival theme and the cast was given circus-style taglines during the introduction: Caprice Bourret ("See Britain's Most Beautiful Woman"), José Canseco ("Face the Fantastic Strongman"), Sandy "Pepa" Denton ("Meet the Mystical Musician"), Janice Dickinson ("Behold the World's First Supermodel"), Carey Hart ("Witness the Death-Defying Daredevil"), Omarosa Manigault ("Fear the Ultimate Reality Villain") and Bronson Pinchot ("Marvel at the Man from Mypos"). This was enhanced with the introduction of a three-legged dog named Lucky. An ongoing feud between Manigault and Dickinson was a key focus point in the season, which ended with Dickinson leaving the house during the final dinner.
Season 6
Season six (2006) starred Alexis Arquette, C. C. DeVille, Steve Harwell, Sherman Hemsley, Maven Huffman, Tawny Kitaen and Andrea Lowell. Florence Henderson ("Dr. Flo") assisted the cast as the house therapist. Throughout the two weeks, the cast shot a music video, produced and broadcast a live news program, booked and hosted their own talk show pilots, and participated in a "battle of the bands" competition. During the talk show episode, Marla Gibbs makes a cameo appearance with Hemsley, and the two recreate their retorts and putdowns as Florence and George from The Jeffersons. Arquette brings the transgender community increased visibility and awareness with her appearance in the series. And, struggling with memory and enunciation problems that grow worse, Kitaen is inexplicably left crawling on the floor of a closet by the final episode.
Spin-offs
The Surreal Life is one of VH-1's most spun-off shows, with a complex web of reality series that have, themselves, had spin-off shows. The first spin-off from The Surreal Life was Strange Love, starring Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen, both of Season 3. It premiered in January, 2005 and ran for 11 episodes. The second spin-off, My Fair Brady, starred Adrianne Curry and Christopher Knight. It ran its first season in 2005, concluding with the couple's engagement. The second season debuted in the spring 2006, concluding with a wedding. The third season premiered on January 20, 2008 and detailed the newlyweds' lives as they prepared to expand their family.
Strange Love itself had a spin-off show, titled Flavor of Love. Flavor of Love, once again starring Flavor Flav with a guest appearance by Brigitte Nielsen, ran in early 2006. The second season premiered in August 2006 and the third premiered February 11, 2008.
The Surreal Life: Fame Games reunited cast members of the original Surreal Life series in a competition for cash and prizes.
List of spin-offs
External links
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