The Real World: San Francisco

The Real World: San Francisco is the third season of "The Real World." It aired from June 30, 1994 to November 10, 1994.

It is the second season of the series to be filmed in the Pacific States region of the United States, specifically in California after "The Real World: Los Angeles."

The season featured a total of eight cast members over the course of the season, as one cast member was evicted and replaced. This is the first of two seasons to be filmed in San Francisco. Twenty years later, the show made a return in the 29th season "The Real World: Ex-Plosion."

Casting was completed by January of 1994, by which time the cast was informed that one of their housemates would be HIV-positive, though they did not learn which one it was until the day they moved into their Russian Hill house on February 12, 1994. The cast was filmed until they moved out on June 19, 1994.

The second season is noteworthy for the depiction of Pedro Zamora's struggle with AIDS, and his and other cast members' confrontations with David "Puck" Rainey, which led to Rainey's eviction. This conflict provided considered what "Entertainment Weekly" calls emotional high points for the season and are credited with making "The Real World" a hit, for which it was ranked #7 on Time magazine's list of "32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History."

The season is also notable for featuring the first-ever same-sex commitment ceremony on TV, between Pedro and his partner, Sean Sasser.

Season Changes

This season was the first to feature a cast member, Pedro Zamora, dealing with a life-threatening illness.

Future seasons would feature cast members dealing with other illnesses (such as Lyme disease and cystic fibrosis).

This is also the first season to feature an Asian American Pam Ling, and two Hispanic Americans, Pedro Zamora and Rachel Campos.

Residence

The cast lived in a house at 949 Lombard Street in San Francisco, California from February 12 to June 19, 1994.

The house is located between Leavenworth Street and Jones Street, located one block east of the eight sharp turns that have earned the street the distinction of being "the crookedest street in the United States."

Production renovated the third and fourth floors of the building for filming.

A June 8, 2000, fire caused approximately $2 million in damage to the house. Several years after the fire, the building was completely renovated and bears only a slight resemblance to its appearance in 1994.

The renovations include a second garage on the east side of the house, atop of which sits a patio.