While 850 Viacom employees got laid off this morning, we were taking our first look inside the Red Hook house of the Real World Brooklyn cast! MTV gave big ups to the borough by adding a cast member this season for a total of eight good-looking 18 to 24-year-olds. There isn't one New Yorker in the bunch--but this season features the first transgender (and the token Mormon, Iraq vet and gay dolphin trainer, naturally). If......

Photo via dorkasaurus_rex's flickr. Kids, it's a cruel world out there. First they take away your TRL, and now this. Word is that Viacom has begun a "company-wide restructuring plan," which was announced via an email memo (after the jump) at 8:30 this morning, and means they're cutting down staff in all divisions. By the end of the corporate massacre, about 850 positions will have been eliminated. This shouldn't be too shocking considering the......

First, there was Laguna Beach, then came The Hills, and now spin-off numéro trois: The City. That's right, Manhattan is getting it's very own MTV scripted "reality" show, complete with Hills alum Whitney Port and some dude who says he's a "downtown hipster, i wear a fedora." A blurb about the series paints the picture of "a whole new world" for the 20-something, "as she packs up and moves to the bright lights of Manhattan...taking......

While the death rattle has been audible for quite some time, Viacom only officially announced Total Request Live's retirement in September, and yesterday they officially faded to black. So while the corpse of Total Request Live is barely cold, the NY Times just isn't ready to say goodbye. They're asking their readers to send in their fondest memories of Carson Daly & Co. (who knew the Gray Lady and MTV teen screamfest had a crossover......

The Real World Brooklyn teaser trailer has been released, and while it's probably best presented without comment, we will say that they're really making this one seem dramatic! Each cast member is like a fortune cookie, with their own little special cliché sayings inside. Take a gander (but as Curbed notes, don't expect too many scenic Red Hook shots). Real World Brooklyn 'Trailer' Expect the series to hit the airwaves in early 2009, and according......

For his Steely Dan-sampled "Champion" video, Kanye West turned himself into a Muppet (video), and now The Daily News reports that West could be developing a Muppet-like television show. MTV's Doug Herzog told the paper "We're working on a pilot with Kanye. It's going to be a black version of 'The Muppets.'" Maybe Bert & Ernie could make a cameo and work on their rap game...or perhaps Roosevelt Franklin can make be resurrected! In real......

TRL photobooth wall, by Jen Carlson. MTV is finally canceling their TRL (Total Request Live) series, after rumors have been circulating about its demise for over a year. Variety reports that the show, which has had a long shelf life as is—lasting over a decade—"will depart in mid-November with a two-hour Saturday-afternoon special. Its departure will coincide with the return of another music vid-themed show, Feedback New MTV (FNMTV)." The screams in Times Square......

Rent to get Evicted this Weekend Rent, the rock-musical that did more to force LES hipster culture into that mainstream than anybody would care to admit, will take its final bows this weekend on Broadway. The once acclaimed show, which has been on the stage since 1996, will leave as the 7th longest Broadway run ever, and has built up a devoted following of longtime fans. And, just in case you were dying to get......

Looks like The Real World's latest cast has finally settled in to their Red Hook digs. NewYorkology spotted the seven strangers as they left their new residence at Pier 41, "they were heading toward Sunny’s, but instead made the turn, map, toward Van Brunt, with the Ikea straight ahead down Beard Street." They can have their IKEA; just stay away from Sunny's! Anyway, this could very well be their first Friday night in town...you've all......

While MTV is keeping mum on the whereabouts of the upcoming Real World Brooklyn location, the borough is all wise to the fact that they're setting up camp in Red Hook (after not moving to Carroll Gardens or Downtown's BellTel Lofts). The Brooklyn Paper asked some residents how they felt about their new future neighbors, who will reside at Pier 41 at 204 Van Dyke Street.“I’d rather have another Ikea,” said John Varonian, who has......

MTV has once again invaded Brooklyn; earlier this year the network dissected the Todd P scene, and last night they were right back at it, filming at the Market Hotel (or Harket Motel, which it has more recently been called). Reports say that a sign greeted show-goers last night saying, in short, that "MTV is filming and can use your likeness in all media that exists, or may exist in the future, and by being......

From a source who was over at the Pier 41 building in Red Hook earlier today, where the latest Real World cast is rumored to be moving, word of "progress" on the cast's living space comes in: "They're building them a cabana, and a sand pit right now." They also tell us that "somebody also did a short film shoot the other day down the block from the Pier 41 building, permitted/blocked off streets, possibly......

Carroll Gardens, you totally got Punk'd...the seven newest Real World strangers won't be moving to your quaint little neighborhood after all, instead they'll be moving to Red Hook. So says the latest rumor, which claims "construction of a make-shift apartment has begun on the upstairs end of Pier-41 (204 Van Dyke Street) as of last week. The space had most recently been used a few years ago when it was built-out as a bar/night club......

Has MTV's The Real World faked out Brooklyn? First they're all but confirmed to move into Downtown Brooklyn's BellTell Lofts, with rumors of a Carroll Gardens residence quickly disappearing, but now an intern says the show "may not even film there because they were having some issues with the BellTel Lofts building with the location at 116 Third Place in Carroll Gardens as the backup." Residents beware! The Real Deal all but confirms the Carroll......

You knew it would come to this: Spitzer paramour Ashley Dupré is trying to parlay her infamy into regular fame with a career in reality television. Her lawyer says the former escort has “prospects for many exciting new projects” and she's headed to Hollywood. Though “a rep” for Dupre (presumably one rep on a team of many) admits she doesn’t quite have a TV deal yet, E! News is reporting that a dating show may......

Brianna Taylor entered MTV's Real World Hollywood house as an unknown, but is using the show to catapult her music career. Her debut album just came out earlier this month, and tonight she plays at the Canal Room with American Idol's Blake Lewis. Earlier this week she told us about her music, the reality spotlight, and how the new Brooklyn cast may act around town. Being from Philly, have you played many shows in NYC?......

Last week the Brooklyn Paper reported that MTV's Real World cast would be moving into a Downtown Brooklyn loft; this week they have much more believable news of the locale. Sorry Carroll Gardens, looks like the network has their eye on you. A property owner in the 'nabe says he's in negotiations which may land the seven strangers into his "gorgeous, six-story, five-unit, gut-renovated brick rowhouse on Third Place (once ranked #23 in ToNY's best......

What part of Brooklyn will MTV's newest seven strangers inhabit when their show "The Real World” moves in this summer? The Brooklyn Paper reports that they may move into the BellTel Lofts (pictured) located Downtown...and decidedly "unhip." Allegedly MTV has scouted the penthouse units at the Bridge Street building, which is still under construction.Executive Producer Jim Johnston confirmed that he has looked at the building, though he would not say if a lease has been......

Entering its 21st season, MTV's The Real World returns to New York for a third time...but for the first time it's headed to an outer-borough. That's right, the seven generic, good-looking roommates will be heading to Brooklyn. Shooting begins this summer, and will result in 12 hour-long episodes. In the press release we received, Jon Murray, co-creator of the show, says "The Brooklyn season, like the Hollywood season, will focus on what people loved......

The Village Voice has taken a page from MTV and begun to invade the cribs of rock stars. Okay, indie rock stars...who haven't quite broken out of their downtown bubble yet. First up on Indie Cribz (it's really called that): Team Robespierre. Mediocre band, amazing "semi-legal" apartment story. Bassist of the band, Mike House, lives in a former squat on 9th Street between Avenues C and D. In 2002 Giuliani sold the former squat to......

THEATER: Lisa Kron’s solo play 2.5 Minute Ride, which won an OBIE when it premiered at the Public Theater in 1999, is currently being revived with Nicole Golden as the autobiographical “Lisa.” The play concerns Lisa's attempts to make a documentary about the life of her father, a German Jew who survived the Holocaust but lost his parents at Auschwitz. 2.5 Minute Ride finds him, in his later years, a blind diabetic with a heart......

Playwright David Mamet (pictured) will be maintaining a blog to promote his new Broadway play, November, which stars Nathan Lane as contemporary American president Charles Smith and Laurie Metcalf as his lesbian speech writer. What’s interesting, perhaps, is that Mamet will be writing the blog – which he says he’ll update for the duration of the open-ended run – as President Smith. Sample entry from Monday:CONGRESSIONAL PAGE SEX SCANDALS It seems to me that, at......

MTV is getting all old school and reporting on relevant music! The channel traveled all the way to Brooklyn for a piece on bands closely associated with the Todd P scene. Best of all, they declare Manhattan's LES dead! Not a great way to promote their new vLES, we suppose. MTVMusic VideosMTV ShowsEntertainment News The network focuses on some great Brooklyn-based bands: Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, The Muggabears...bands many music fans have been embracing for......

It's been quite some time since we hopped the virtual F train to the virtual Lower East Side (that's VLES, for those in the know), but it seems one NY Times scribe has been making some frequent visits to the online world. In fact, he may even prefer it to its real life counterpart.There were no imperious bouncers or foul odors to contend with, and no fluids of any kind expectorated on my shoes. Except......

MTV's Un-credible New Years The Time Warner on-screen guide simply said "Tila Tequila" on MTV when the clock struck midnight last Monday, leading a casual observer to assume they were blowing through a marathon of her depressing reality show. But oh no! The oddly shaped, elfish face of the network apparently gets sole, top billing over the biggest night of the year as the host of MTV's annual New Years Eve party. She was mostly......

When it came to New Year's Eve countdown broadcasts, we were traditional and stuck with Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Which means we missed out on $275-million man Alex Rodriguez counting down with Carson Daly on Daly's New Year's Eve program. New York sports talk radio was discussing the Yankee's appearance, jokingly calling him "Mr. New York." Well, not only is A-Rod loving NYC these days, he's also being managed by Guy Oseary......

A sparkling new 700-pound ball, tons of confetti, and over a million people helped ring in the New Year from Times Square last night/early today. Mayor Bloomberg and police Police Academy valedictorian Karolina Wierzchowska, who also served in the Iraq War, hit the switch that brought the famous Times Square New Year's ball down. The Daily News called it a "shimmering pole dance," and it was the 100th time Times Square has had a......

We interviewed hundreds of people this year, from long-time rockers to the designer of New York’s subway map. Here are a few conversations you may have missed:On the day Radiohead’s In Rainbows was released exclusively online, musician Jonny Greenwood talked about the “experiment.” Doctor for the uninsured Jay Parkinson told us how to save $1,250 on our next MRI. Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz wondered why they can't make a quiet truck. Actor/Director John Turturro......

The latest in the Batman canon, The Dark Knight, is poised to be next summer's blockbuster hit, and ex-Brooklynite/current Manhattanite Heath Ledger seems to be stealing the show. A trailer recently came out with plenty of focus on Ledger's Joker character, and you can watch it below (MTV also has a shot-by-shot analysis). Does he outshine Jack Nicholson's 1989 Joker? We're excited to see this new take on the crime clown. As with 2005's Batman......

In some good news, the bigwigs at Viacom have heard the angry cries of their permanent freelancing employees, and today announced they were ready to concede. Just over one week ago the company Scrooged over a large portion of their workforce when they announced permalancers insurance benefits and their 401K plans would soon be a ghost of Christmas Past. Demanding equal treatment with full time employees (which the permalancers basically are), the group took......