One of the more anticipated new series on Paramount+ actually is an old series. The Real World: Homecoming: New York puts the original seven strangers back in the same Manhattan loft nearly 20 years after they first met and kicked off the show that would make unscripted television what it is today.
From what we've seen so far from Paramount+, the original cast members at first seem welcome to the idea doing this whole thing a second time. (And in the midst of a pandemic, no less. The series was shot in January 2021.) Norm Korpi. Julie Gentry. Becky Blasband. Kevin Powell. Andre Comeau. Heather Gardner and Eric Nies are all on board. (Though Nies apparently didn't actually take part in the loft activities.)
MORE: Read our Paramount Plus review
But as a lengthy new trailer for the show makes clear, there's a good chance we're not going to be seeing a happy ending three decades later. (Even though this definitely is going to be one of the best shows on Paramount+.)
Watch that trailer a couple times, though, and you start to question things. (Especially when you remember that this is reality TV we're talking about.)
Maybe it's true that the whole thing blew up and there wasn't any sort of reconciliation or happy ending. Maybe the little snippets we see here are just that — snippets — and don't represent the entire experience. Maybe they're presented without context. Or maybe they're just out-and-out visual clickbait, edited together to make us think that the whole thing is more of a train wreck than it actually turns out to be.
But that's the point of reality television. We tune in for the train wreck. We watch for the fights and the drama and the yelling. That was the case 30 years ago for the original The Real World, and that'll be the case for the reboot on Paramount+.
Paramount+ is the rebranding and extension of CBS All Access that launches on March 4, 2021. It initially comes with a $9.99-a-month price, but will also gain a $4.99 monthly option in July that does not include the live stream of CBS affiliates.
But either way, you'll get the vast ViacomCBS library, which includes current movies and shows from across the vast VicaomCBS universe. You'll be able to watch live sports on Paramount+. You'll be able to watch the NFL on Paramount+. And you should also be able to sign in to Paramount+ with an existing cable subscription just to get the live feed.
