MTV creates reality TV show worth watching

By: Zach Wingerter

Posted: 6/16/05

Remember the days when cell phones, DVDs and that Pizzazz pizza-cooker-thingy seemed like simple and unimportant futuristic fads?

Yeah, well me either (I've been a frozen pizza fanatic since I was two), but I assure you doubts existed at one point. In this technologically-advanced world, it seems crazy to think about a time when Pong ruled, bellbottoms were cutting-edge and the Bee Gees didn't suck, but that's exactly where MTV is taking us with its new reality show "The '70s House."

Twelve contestants will be tossed into a wood-paneled house without their cell phones and will participate in '70s-style competitions from a roller-derby to game show spoofs in hopes of winning cash and prizes. Stars from the '70s like Jimmy Walker, Deney Terrio and even Erik Estrada (my hero) will make guest appearances on the show, which premieres July 5 at 9:30 p.m. on MTV.

Perhaps the greatest part of this show is that the participants are originally unaware of what they're getting into - they think they're going into some sort of "Real World" environment and instead get tossed into the '70s-decorated home. The housemates are limited to '70s clothing and '70s shows on a small TV.

It will be great to see how 12 people like me will be able to deal with rules that take away not only their modern possessions but their modern phrases as well. Housemates will be penalized by the show's co-hosts - stand-up comedians Bil Dwyer and Natasha Leggero - for slip-ups including modern lingo and use of modern technology.

"Eating, sleeping and breathing the 1970s will be a whole new world for these kids who weren't even born when this decade hit the first time around. If the culture shock doesn't wear them out, the '70s-style meals of fondue and TV dinners just might," Lois Curren, executive vice president of MTV, told TVRules.net.

Technology plays a big role today - that's one of the major underlying points of the show, which is sneakily partnered with HP. "We see this partnership with MTV as an innovative opportunity to showcase the positive and pervasive impact technology has in young people's lives and connect with the people who will dictate how technology will be used now and in the future," Siobhan O'Connor, vice president of Consumer Brand and Marketing for HP, told TVRules.net.

I am glad we have technology such as the computer that I'm using to type this column. With this I can go back and correct typos, but if I used a typewriter I couldn't do that. That wuold be a shaame.