I am – Hercules!!
After setting its 1992 and 2001 seasons in Manhattan, “The Real World” heads across the East River to Brooklyn for 12 new hourlong episodes launching tonight. It’s the first season in HD and marks the first time the show is starting with eight roommates instead of seven. Those eight are: i) Chet Cannon, 23, SLC punk Republican fratboy Mormon virgin who wants to host TV shows for a living. ii) Ryan Conklin, 23, guitar-strumming Iraq War vet and aspiring filmmaker once assigned to guard Saddam Hussein. iii) Katelynn Casanelli, 24, computer geek, Tae Kwon Do black best and the first female cast member to be born with a penis. iv) Scott Herman, 23, personal trainer, model, actor voted “best abs on the East Coast” by Men’s Health. v) J.D. Ordonez, 22, homosexual competitive swimmer and dolphin trainer. vi) Sarah Rice, 22, bisexual sexually abused artist. vii) Devyn Simone, 20, theatre student and 2005 Miss American Teen. viii) Baya Voce, 21, non-Mormon SLC resident, hip-hop deejay, aspiring dancer and sufferer of panic attacks. Learn what they look like here. 2009 marks the series’ 17th year, which means we’re on the verge of getting cast members who weren’t even born when first-season castmates Julie Gentry and Kevin Powell were screaming at each other on the streets of SoHo. One hears ratings for MTV’s glacially paced, less-real reality show “The Hills” are plummeting and that its flaccid spin-offs “The City” and “Bromance” are off to viewer-challenged starts. I’m hopeful this overstaged-vanity-show fad is going the way of “American Gladiators.” I much prefer the product from the Bunim-Murray shop, which is much better about limiting its casts’ ability to manipulate the way they’re portrayed.

"I love love love DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG as much or more than just about anything I’ve seen this year." -- Harry Knowles

HD Reservoir Dogs: $10.49!! (58% Off!!) (Part of the 215-title 50% off sale!!)