| The Real World: Seattle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Season Information | |
| Season No. | 7 |
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Season Run | June 16, 1998 – November 3, 1998 |
| No. of Episodes | 20 |
| Cast | |
| Starring | Janet Choi Nathan Blackburn Rebecca Lord Lindsay Brien Stephen Williams Irene McGee David Burns |
| Season Chronology | |
| Previous | The Real World: Boston |
| Next | The Real World: Hawaii |
| Gallery | |
The Real World: Seattle is the seventh season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It is the third season of The Real World to be filmed in the Pacific States region, specifically in Washington and is also the first season to be filmed in the Pacific Northwest.
Season Change[]
This season was the first to feature cast members who knew each other before arriving at the house. David and Nathan were both cadets at the Virginia Military Institute, which is why they say "This is the true story of seven people" instead of "seven strangers" in the opening sequence.
Assignment[]
Almost every season of The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates. The Seattle cast worked as "modulators" at KNDD-FM, an alternative rock radio station. Their job begins as a series of promotional duties but eventually leads to producing and hosting a live radio show.
Residence[]
The cast lived at Pier 70, a 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) pier located at 2815 Alaskan Way in Seattle, just north of the intersection of Alaskan Way and Clay Street, on Elliott Bay. It was built in 1902 by shipping industry pioneers Ainsworth & Dunn. One of the largest docks on the waterfront, Pier 70 initially served sailing and steamer ships, such as the famous Blue Funnel Line, a fleet of large freighters that operated between Europe, the Orient and the Pacific Coast. In 1916, a spectacular fire destroyed the upper Pier and roof, and required rebuilding of the dock. During World War II, the Washington state Liquor Board used the Pier as a warehouse, and from 1946 to 1955, the United States Coast Guard used it as its Seattle base. In 1970, Ainsworth & Dunn converted it into for retail and restaurant space. Triad Development bought it in 1995 and converted it into office/retail space for tenants such as Pier 1 Imports.A pier would again be used for a season residence on The Real World: Brooklyn in 2009. For filming of the season, the interior design was handled by Two Downtown, Ltd. Residential use of the Pier is prohibited by urban harborfront districting, which required the production to obtain a special permit declaring the Pier a 24-hour film set. It has since been completely remodeled, with its brick surface replaced with conventional siding, and only somewhat resembles the pier seen during filming. It is now used for retail and office space, and is home to the Waterfront Seafood Grill, which changed its name to Aqua by El Gaucho in 2011. The original seven roommates of Real World Seattle: Bad Blood dined at Aqua by El Gaucho in their season's first episode in 2016.
Cast[]
| Cast Member | Age* | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Janet Choi | 21 | Chicago, Illinois |
| Nathan Blackburn | 21 | Chesterfield, Virginia |
| Rebecca Lord | 19 | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Lindsay Brien | 21 | Aspen, Colorado |
| Stephen Williams | 20 | San Diego, California |
| Irene McGee | 22 | Pleasant Valley, New York |
| David Burns | 21 | Charlestown, Massachusetts |
*Age at the time of filming.
Legacy[]
The Real World: Seattle is notable for an incident in which cast member Stephen Williams slapped Irene McGee as she moved out of the house, which is cited as one of the series' memorable moments by Time magazine.