After 18 seasons on MTV, The Real World is finally going under. Down Under, that is.
The 19th installment of the hot-tub hopping reality series will be filmed in Sydney, the network and Bunim-Murray Productions confirmed Tuesday.
"We are extremely thrilled to be bringing the show to Australia for its 19th season," Real World cocreator and Bunim-Murray President Jon Murray said in a statement. "Australians are fun-loving people who love to party, so the Real World cast should feel right at home!"
Murray told the New York Post he had signed a lease on a 20,000-square-foot waterfront property on Monday, but declined to say where it is located, beyond that it is in walking distance of "all the iconic structures," including the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and, more importantly, that clubs and bars are "right around the corner."
The Australian season will mark only the third time that MTV has taken its cast of seven strangers to an international destination. The show was previously filmed in London for the fourth season and in Paris for the 13th season. Both seasons fared poorly with viewers.
This time around, MTV will forgo the European experience in favor of finding out what happens when people stop being polite and start finding out that Foster's isn't really Australian for beer.
Filming is slated to begin next month, and the season is scheduled to premiere as soon as summer 2007.
"The rich, dynamic culture of Sydney is the perfect backdrop for a new season that will undoubtedly satisfy its loyal fan base as well as attract legions of new viewers," Lois Curren, the executive vice president of MTV Series Entertainment, said in a statement.
The cast of the show has not yet been revealed, but it's safe to assume that it will probably comprise the following non-mutually exclusive categories: someone gay, someone black, someone who is uncomfortable with black and/or gay people, a token hottie, a total basketcase and someone completely unmemorable. (But we're just guessing here.)
The current season of The Real World was filmed last summer in Denver, where the cast worked as Outward Bound instructors, designing courses for 13- and 14-year-olds from New Orleans.
According to MTV, the season has reached 74 million viewers to date, including those who stream episodes over the Internet or tune into repeat airings.