The Real World: D.C.,[1] (occasionally known as The Real World: Washington D.C.),[2] is the twenty-third season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships.[3][4] It is the fifth season of The Real World to be filmed in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States.
The season featured eight people who lived in a house in Dupont Circle. Washington, D.C. was officially announced as the location for the newest season on June 10, 2009.[5] Filming began on July 2, 2009[6][7][8] and completed on October 12, 2009. The season's December 30, 2009 premiere[9][10][11] was watched by 1.9 million viewers.[12] The March 31, 2010 season finale was watched by 1.1 million viewers, the record low at the time for a season finale of The Real World.[13] The finale was immediately followed with a reunion special, The Real World: Washington D.C. Reunion. Overall, the season averaged 1.5 million viewers a week[14] and consisted of 14 episodes.
According to MTV's President of Programming, Tony DiSanto, "The charged atmosphere of Washington D.C., the center of our country's social and political change, will provide an electric setting for this next season of The Real World. We are thrilled to be filming our classic franchise in the heart of where history is being made ... it adds a whole new dimension to the great characters and drama our viewers expect and love from The Real World." Washington, D.C. MayorAdrian Fenty welcomed the production, pointing to the impact of young people on the national scene.[3][15]
The Washington Capitals hockey team, singer Melissa Etheridge and Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles make guest appearances this season, in which they interact with the cast. PresidentBarack Obama also appears in two episodes in which cast member Andrew Woods, an aspiring cartoonist, attends a press conference with Washington Times senior correspondent Joe Curl as part of Woods' internship with the newspaper,[16] and when cast member and LGBT rights activist Mike Manning attends the October 10, 2009 Human Rights Campaign dinner at which Obama spoke.[17] Manning also meets with Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado and Congressman James P. Moran of Virginia during the course of his work for the HRC.
^The title used in all media produced by the production company, BMP. Which includes promotional shots, the title sequence and all promos and trailers for the show on MTV's site for the show. As well the title used in press releases for the show at MTV's press site. Original Press release announcing the shows premiere.