It's not unusual for drama and disaster to attend the production of motion pictures and television. However, few productions have been as plagued as the 17th season of Bunim-Murray's The Real World for MTV. Titled The Real World: Key West, the new season premieres, Tuesday, February 28, 10 P.M.

The off-camera angst began early, and it wasn't caused by temperamental talent, or by the network. In August, Real World: Key West house neighbors, Ed and Nancy Swift, filed a claim against Bunim-Murray, saying the production was running a business in an area zoned only for residential use. Among the Swifts' complaints, was the allegation that the location had drawn scores of tourists and curious locals to their previously quiet neighborhood.

Attorneys for Bunim-Murray Productions countered that the location of the Real World house wasn't made public until the Swifts listed its address in their court papers.

In October, a judge ruled in favor of the production, allowing the completion of the season.

The lawsuit was simply preamble to production woes that included an attack by the Three Furies – not mythology's Magaera, Tisiphone, and Alecto – but those terrible triplets, the hurricane Furies known as Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. When the season finally wrapped, the relief was palpable amongst those involved.

That's when gay The Real World fans turned their attention to Tyler, the show's handsome, blonde, openly gay roommate. Not yet 24, the athletic, smooth-bodied hottie has personally endured far more than his fair share of drama and disaster on his personal road to MTV's most durable series.

Born in Fargo, and then raised in Minneapolis, the sports obsessed youngster's dream of becoming a competitive swimmer ended in a freak accident that nearly claimed his life.

“My high school had a dome – like an all-weather dome,” Tyler told me. “I was class president, and the student council was asked to dismantle the dome. I was helping, standing on the deflated fabric on one end of it while the other end was still filled with air. Suddenly, the air displaced from one end to the other, shooting me thirty feet into the air. I landed on concrete, and my back snapped in half. The only parts of me that weren't in a body cast were my left arm and left leg.”

Painkillers and multiple surgeries followed. Later, Tyler‘s refusal to quit sports resulted in two more back breaks. The courageous youth still has severe disc damage – pain is a constant - and he eventually faces disc replacement surgery.

If the Tufts University graduate (2004) is wise beyond his years, then give the credit to the near-fatal accident that made him rethink his life. As Tyler recalls, “I re-evaluated my whole life after the accident. I couldn't walk. I couldn't shower. I couldn't even bathe myself. The accident gave me an appreciation of life that many people never have.”

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