MTV casts find reality can be a drag

[TexasStooge]

By LORI PRICE / The Dallas Morning News

Fifteen minutes of fame is costly.

"Everywhere I go, everybody knows all of my business and everybody is like my Uncle Dan and Aunt Patty, but I have no idea who they are," said Adam King, a cast member of the MTV reality show The Real World: Paris.

Mr. King and other ordinary peeps who gained momentary star status as cast members of The Real World and its sibling, Road Rules , are in Dallas this week for the nationwide Reality Bar Crawl Fall 2003 College Tour.

Sure, the celebrity recognition Mr. King speaks of has perks: unsolicited first-class upgrades on plane trips, gifts from popular retailers, adoring fans.

The drag, some cast members said, is that MTV keeps making money off their lives long after they've parted ways – and they get nothing.

When Road Rules went into syndication a few years ago, MTV grossed millions. Cast members' take? Zero.

"Do I get anything for it?" said Mark Long of Road Rules 1. "No, but they want to use me to do promos for it."

Actors in scripted shows can negotiate syndication rights. But Real World/Road Rules cast members get a modest one-time payment, now $450 a week.

"They make millions on the back end, and we never see a dime of it," said Eric Nies, who was part of The Real World's debut season and later hosted The Grind, an MTV dance program.

MTV, contacted about the cast members' complaints, said the network has tried to treat them fairly and has given them new opportunities to use what's left of their celebrity.

"We have always left it to the discretion of Mark [Long] and Eric [Nies] to participate in additional MTV specials and events, which they have gladly done in the past," MTV said Thursday in a written statement.

Some cast members use their Real World/Road Rules images on tours such as the 50-city Reality Bar Crawl and other projects not tied to MTV.

None of the cast members who visited Dallas would give a hard dollar amount for what they earn from the tours, but they said the pay allows them to live a pretty good life.

"I can't buy a Bentley, but I could buy a Harley," said Abram Boise of Road Rules: South Pacific, the 12th season.

Despite the salty feelings about Real World/Road Rules afterlife, cast members said they don't regret the experience. And the tours bring everything full circle.

"I finally feel validated," Mr. Long said.

[wx247]

I don't know whether to feel sorry for them or tell them to shut up and stop whining and get real jobs.

[StormCrazyIowan]

ROFL, me either!!

Oh wait, lemme see, more money than I'm making now to go on tv and be a primadonna/drama queen/b****?? Where do I sign up??