It may be up for debate whether Washington is Hollywood for ugly people, as the joke goes, but there’s little doubt that the TV industry likes what it sees in the nation’s capital.
Whether for appearances or patriotism, a throng of new television shows, particularly reality programs, has chosen the venerable city of marble and monuments as their location.
MTV, a pioneer in the reality genre, opted to take its long-running series “The Real World” to Washington for its 23rd season. The D.C. version of the globe-trotting show, which has filmed in New York, Paris and Cancun, Mexico, is set to air in late December. The outcome of last year’s presidential election helped sway the network to film in the nation’s capital.
“We’ve always wanted to come to here,” the show’s executive producer, Jim Johnston, said during filming over the summer. “It’s been scouted off and on for the last 10 years. Plus, you want to be here because, let’s face it, it’s the election . . . you can feel the energy on the streets. Everyone is just so proud to be here right now and the potential for change and being a part of it, you just feel it.”
Bravo has plans to add the influential metropolitan area to its “Real Housewives” franchise, which has been based in Orange County, Calif.; Atlanta; New Jersey; and New York.
The network hasn’t announced its cast yet, and it’s still unclear the level of political involvement the “Housewives” will have. But at least two with Beltway ties are reportedly out of the running — Republican fundraiser Lisa Spies and health-care lobbyist Edwina Rogers. An air date for the series has not been set.
On the CW, the D.C. social circuit — packed with charity galas and society parties — gets put under the reality lens in “Blonde Charity Mafia,” which chronicles the lives of three D.C. junior socialites.
“There are more reality shows being filmed here,” said Josh Friedman, communications director of the city’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development. “It’s just an exciting, interesting time to be in D.C. There’s a lot of great energy and enthusiasm.”
Comedy and politics are still mixing in D.C., as well.
Wanda Sykes taped her comedy special “I’ma Be Me” during the summer at the Warner Theatre, and the program aired last month on HBO.
In December, the premium cable network will show “Robin Williams: Weapons of Self-Destruction,” which films at DAR Constitution Hall this month.
It’s hardly the first time the Beltway has served as host to comedians. In 2004, Chris Rock’s fourth HBO special, “Chris Rock: Never Scared,” was filmed in Washington. And in 2006, comedian-author-playwright Lewis Black, a D.C. native, filmed “Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed” at the Warner Theatre.
