What's the trashiest TV show concept you can think of? MTV's The Real World probably comes close. Though it used to feature real people with occupations, brains, and sometimes even college degrees (from Harvard, no less), the show has degenerated over the years into alcoholism-condoning, hookup-filled, cancer-causing trash. And what better place for a trashy show than the fakest location of all: Hollywood? MTV's wet dream, The Real World: Hollywood, hasn't just signaled the downfall......

--Nancy Pelosi is coming into town on April 4 to speak at the inauguration of former US Rep Marty Meehan as he becomes chancellor of UMass-Lowell. [Boston Globe] --More people than the state expected chose state-subsidized insurance with the new Massachusetts health care plan, and now the state is wondering how to pay for it all. [Boston Globe] --Voters in Natick declared overwhelmingly that they want to keep the name "Redmen" for their school......

Rob Vassegh of Cheap Thrills Boston sent Bostonist an interview he did with the amazing Titler, who will be performing tonight. For more about getting your kicks in Boston on the cheap, go to Cheap Thrills Boston. “Titler’s Oddville”at The Beehive, 541 Tremont Street, Boston (South End)$10 online / $15 door10pm to MidnightWhen you see the cross-dressing Hitler look-alike on Oddville's flyer, you know this is destined to be one of the edgiest performances Boston......

Did you know the MBTA has a "Civil Disturbance Unit" on wheels that is designed to restrain and transport public-transit perps? We didn't, either. David Abel of the Globe describes the MBTA's ride, which has been in use since May: The large, jet-black bus has four surveillance cameras on its roof trained in every direction, and looks like the kind of tool an authoritarian regime might use to scare or scoop up dissidents and other......

8:00 PM - We're coming to you live! Not from Bostonist HQ, which is in the danger zone of potential postgame revelry, but from our outpost in Central MA (Worcesterist?) where we've been each week to watch the Pats game. The Pats, by the way, just beat Washington 845-7. Mike Vrabel caught eleven touchdown passes. FoxSports is showing Bill Buckner one last time, just in case there was one person left in town who didn't......

Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey, last seen basking in praise for his support of public television at the opening of WGBH's new building, isn't getting much applause from the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET). During a House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection hearing, Markey said that BET represented “the lowest common denominator of cheap and tawdry music videos and other questionable programming.” As connoisseurs of lowbrow culture, Bostonist would like to point out......

Okay, okay, this edition of "Series of Tubes" isn't all about Britney Spears, but local bloggers had plenty to say about her dopey performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. --Karen is far more sympathetic to Britney's case because America can't resist a story of someone like Spears. --Rude Boy finds similarities between Miz Spears and Family Guy. A debate then ensued as to whether or not it was appropriate to discuss Spears in the......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

So, it's summer, and school is out. Why not bide your time on a reality show? Word is that MTV is looking for stars for a new reality series following African-American teens as they work summers in Martha's Vineyard. We're hoping that MTV doesn't make the stars and Martha's Vineyard as glossy and tiresome as the cast from "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills." Then again, they are looking for party types, and they ask for......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

--The guy who threatened another Virginia Tech because he got dumped has been arraigned. Andrew Rosenblum must stay at his parents' home in Needham, and he has to wear a GPS monitoring device. BU and Wheelock College, the school that the recipients of his threatening e-mail attended, have banned him from their campuses. His lawyer called him an "immature young man." Indeed. Rosenblum is getting attention not just because he did something incredibly stupid. He......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

Cold War Kids played the area twice last weekend, Friday night at the Middle East Downstairs, and Saturday at Northampton’s Pearl Street Nightclub. Both shows sharply contrasted with the California-based indie rockers’ gig at Great Scott last fall, most notably in terms of the crowd. The Great Scott show felt like a house party, complete with technical glitches that the small-but-dedicated crowd, most of whom probably read about the band on an MP3 blog, or......

We recently received e-mails proudly announcing the impending arrival of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters on April 13. Even if you didn't notice the - ahem - little problem promotions for the ATHF movie caused in Boston, and even if you've never heard of ATHF, the movie sounds like fun, and the full-length cartoon features the voices of Bruce Campbell and Neil Peart of Rush. But, in our rush to......

It has come to our attention that tickets to the show from SNL musical guest, MySpace phenom, and overall tart, Lily Allen have become a bit hard to come by for her Boston appearance. So we're giving away a pair. She's in town at the last stop on her MTV Discover and Download tour on February 18. The show is at Axis on a Sunday night - but no bother, Monday is President's Day......

As the world holds its breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans......

She was huge on MySpace, didn't you hear? It was totally shocking to learn that the physical disc of her breakout album Alright, Still actually only hit shelves this week state side. The UK twenty-something had us summer crushing on her, and her music. We thought she was just a big tease when she made her first venture over to the US and only hit a few cities – Boston not one of them, and......

The Fox25 Morning News Crew got in a few jabs at ex-governor Mitt Romney's glamorous Long Walk from the State House, and the ever-sensible Anqunette Jamison did indeed let it rip. She said, I had to make sure I was on the right channel. Is this MTV? Am I watching 'My Sweet 16'? It was so elaborate! I think it was a mix between 'My Sweet 16' and Princess Di's wedding. It was so......

Not feeling up for First Nighting? Unable to get to New York City to watch the ball drop in person? As usual, the TV networks are more than willing to provide you with the kind of entertainment that will drive you to drink. Here's the lineup: WGBH 2 (PBS): Garrison Keillor's New Year's Eve Special. 10 pm. This one's for those of you who are feeling civilized. WBZ 4 (CBS): Local First Night Special. The......

The city of Boston unveiled new plans today to hold private developers to a more environmentally friendly standard. The Globe reports that the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) will incorporate these regulations into building codes for the city. Anyone planning a building over 50,000 square feet must meet 26 of the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, and they must also meet a few extra Boston-specific standards, such as......

OK, OK, Bostonist feels a lot better about the Old Towne team, and not just because of a man whom will be known in these parts for a time to come (and maybe longer?), as Dise-K. (And please, don’t' go with D-Mat. Sounds like doormat, and who wants to be named after something that one would use to wipe off their dirty shoes. Wouldn't you want to be named after a nasty, distasteful, comic that......

A true story of seven strangers picked to live in a…firehouse. Back in 1997, when Bostonist was still eligible to participate as a member of MTV's Real World cast (sadly we're too old and not enough of a stereotype for the current seasons), the show filmed a season with the cast living at a converted Beacon Hill firehouse. Yesterday the Boston Globe ran an article about an Eastie residence which sold for $1.15 million, also......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......

Sitting through two minutes and thirty seconds of a trailer can sometimes be painful.The trailer is for The Departed, which spent about a month last year filming exterior shots in town, had us watching closely and hitting repeat for the places we know. Zakim, as the seemingly new icon, makes an appearance. The gold dome of the State House can be seen through a couple of office windows. Chinatown looks amazingly like a fantastic destination,......

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

New Edition and New Kids on the Block arrived on the scene about the same time as MTV, or after the music video station had already become engrained in pop culture. Other Boston bands had been around a lot longer than the music television station. Aerosmith found new success in a younger market when they released Get A Grip. It surged in radio play and with the wild popularity of the music videos. Crazy, Amazing,......

Today we continue on our video theme for the week, bringing videos out of the YouTube vault as our way of saying happy birthday to the new quarter-centenarian on the block, MTV. Yesterday was New Kids, today is New Edition. Choosing between a solo Bobby Brown and the entire Boston-bred crew of New Edition was actually more difficult than we thought. Bobby's got a certain presence we find hard to turn away from – since......

In celebration of 25 years of MTV we're digging around in the archives of music videos that we can find on YouTube. There are almost too many to choose from, so we've decided to go with the group synonymous with break out boy band and Boston. Back when they were still the New Kids on the Block (before the NKOTB refresh), Jonnie, Joey, Jordan, Donnie, and Danny made a musical breakthrough using a whistle in......

On August 1, 1981 MTV started transmission as it began its illustrious incarnation as the first cable music television network. Twenty-five years later to the day we're bringing you that famous video from The Buggles that started it all. There isn't much that we can do to connect this to Boston except to note that many of us grew up with MTV as an integral part of our teen years (tomorrow be on the lookout......