MARY-ELLIS BUNIM, 1946-2004: Mary-Ellis Bunim, who co-created "The Real World," the first and still the best reality series on television, has died of breast cancer at the age of 57. Bunim founded Bunim-Murray Productions with partner Jon Murray, and they presided over the original "Real World" in 1992 and the subsequent 13 seasons, in addition to "Road Rules," "Love Cruise," and (somewhat less auspiciously) "The Simple Life" and "Making the Band."
Were it not for Bunim, reality TV as a trend may never have taken off, and if not for her shows personally, America would have been left unexposed, to this day, to such characters as Puck, Pedro, Elka, Montana, Colin, Amaya, Coral/Nicole, Trishelle, Julie Stouffer, Cara Nussbaum-Kahn, and that girl on the San Diego show who's afraid of big boats.