Bunim-Murray announces that it will pull out of Philadelphia because of union protests

In a stunning move announced just yesterday, Bunim-Murray Productions have decided to pull out of Philadelphia. You heard right, the fifteenth season of the Real World will no longer belong to Philadelphia. In an article published by Philly.com, producers pulled out of the city, with 70% of principal construction completed on the house, when union protests outside the Third and Arch house apparently forced BMP to their wit's end. Taping was scheduled to begin in three weeks. Apparently, for the past fourteen seasons, producers at BMP have insisted on hiring non-union contractors to work on the house. This continued without incident, even on big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. However, Philadelphia unions had offered the Real World producers a deal once filming started, that would include unions on production once the show began filming. BMP turned them down.

If you remember, this is not the first time The Real World has encountered protests at their door. Back in the Chicago season, the house was hounded by protestors demanding that the Real World leave the Wicker Park section of the city. After castmembers were hassled, arrests were made, and even red paint was splattered on the infamous orange front door, producers decided to stick it out in Chicago. "After considerable evaluation, we are disappointed to announce that Bunim/Murray Productions has decided not to shoot The Real World in Philadelphia," a spokeswoman for BMP said Tuesday. Most likely, this will push back filming a few more weeks to a yet unnamed location

The Blog has had three million visitors since 2002

Excellent news: we've hit 3,000,000! That's right, since coming online a little less than two years ago, the Blog has managed to get to 3,000,000 visits. Thanks to everyone who makes the Blog what it is... Especially everyone who visits! Hopefully, we can hit twice as many sometime soon!

Carpenters union is protesting the construction surrounding the Real World house in Philadelphia

You can take a peek at the new Real World house in Philadelphia by clicking on the link below. It's the house on the right.
Real World Houses

The new season isn't being filmed until April but already it is making waves. For the past two weeks, the local carpenters' union has set up shop in front of the new house. They are protesting the use of a non-union contractor to prepare the house for the arrival of the seven strangers. Negotiations are being made as we speak to limit the number of pickets and keep the crowds down.

The Blog opens up its own domain name and adds a poster

Hello, hello... Good news! You can now reach The Real World/Road Rules Blog at our very own domain name: http://www.therealworldroadrulesblog.com! Easy and simple to remember. Our old addresses will still function as well.

In other site news, please welcome a new poster to the Blog, Jessica! Make her feel warm and welcome as she will be providing news to all you Real World/Road Rules fans!

Abe appeared on 48 Hours yesterday as part of an expose on his filmmaker fiancee

In other engagement news, Abe (Latin America) is engaged to be married as well. Last night, CBS News ran a 48 Hours Investigation on the film, "Searching for Angela Shelton", which details the seriousness and reality of abuse. Abe appeared on the program, introduced as the filmmaker's fiancee. Congratulations to Abe. Read more on the film and how Abe helped her at this article. Thanks to Sara and Erin for that information!