The Real World: Hollywood: Trainwreck Television

The vapid, mindless, hump-hungry 20-something castmembers of the MTV show "The Real World" are about as far from reality as one could possibly be. Watching these people parade into emotional potholes, alcohol abuse and hormone-infused "hookups" with each other has been the staple of the MTV stereotype for over 19 seasons now. Viewers know that it's fun to watch people do the same stupid things they have done, knowing the outcome is going to be the same. Americans love schadenfreude (the idea of taking joy from someone else's misfortune) and the Real World delivers this drug every week.
First broadcast in 1992, the show has become MTVs longest running program to date. Each season is a cookie-cutter of the previous season with a new location, new people and new situations, but the same old predictable drama that has made the show a cultural icon for MTV.

They take seven people that would not normally socialize with each other and put them in an immaculately decorated, ultra-high-tech house, complete with hot tub, pool table espresso-maker and a huge kitchen, free of charge. While they live there, they never have to worry about buying groceries as its all taken care of by the producers. Then they give the people a job doing some kind of creative teamwork position with a hip demographic-friendly company (for example, promoting a club in Vegas, working in a sunless tanning salon in Florida, etc). For their reward, they are given a trip to some fantastic, far-off vacation spot (Greece, Cancun, etc). And of course, they document every waking moment of their lives while living in this fantastic place...

And they call it the Real World.

Most people would argue that their idea of the real world doesn't involve getting passed-out drunk every night, living in a house you don't have to pay or buy groceries for and working in an ultra cool job that allows one to take week-long vacations to exotic locations. Most people's real world is far more mundane and far more finance-conscious. But then, that kind of reality probably wouldn't make for good television.