All Pucked Up: David "Puck" Rainey of 'Real World: San Francisco'

Since the Reality TV Hall of Shame was first announced, one person we have gotten more nominations about than just about anybody else is David “Puck” Rainey of Real World: San Francisco. Make no mistake about it: Puck was great TV. A pizza-faced bicycle messenger with a desperate need for attention, Puck was grotesque and proud of it. He blew snot rockets in the street. He celebrated the scabs that seemed to cover every inch of his body. He left boogers in his housemates' peanut butter. He was rude, out-of-control, larger than life and anti-MTV in every way, yet in some ways there may be no better representative of the MTV mentality. He was ten times as outrageous as the Osbournes, but whereas the Osbournes are ultimately a loving family, Puck had no redeeming qualities. He was unlike anyone who had been on TV before, a true freak of nature. And for a while, it was fun to watch. If conflict is the bread and butter of reality shows, then Puck was a loaf and a half. Unpredictable and indecipherable, you truly couldn't take your eyes off him.

But Puck's behavior wasn't so innocent, and it wasn't long before his antics revealed themselves to be more than just, well, puckish. In fact, the warning signs were there from the very first day. While the other new cast members were picking bedrooms and swapping their background info, they were left wondering where Mystery Roomie #7 was. Well, he was in jail, that's where. That's right. The guy's first day on TV, and he gets himself arrested. Not the best way to make a first impression, unless your only desire in life is to get attention.

But a criminal rap sheet was only the beginning, and like the festering sores on Puck's face, things soon got ugly. Later, Puck would "find" a dog under suspicious circumstances and bring it home, causing his roommates to wonder whether he had actually looked for its owner before walking off with it. The dog was clearly someone's beloved pet, but Puck had no intention of returning it, at least until the roomies discovered "Missing" signs plastered all over the city. A stray dog, indeed. Puck reluctantly agreed to return the pilfered pooch, then had the audacity to grovel for a reward when he handed it back to its rightful owner.

Puck somehow managed to charm pretty sorority girl Rachel for a while, and they bonded over, among other things, their discomfort concerning roommate Pedro's HIV-positive status. But Rachel's misgivings about Pedro came from ignorance – she had never known anyone with AIDS before – and the more she learned about Pedro's disease, the more she came to appreciate and admire Pedro. In fact, she and Pedro became such good friends that she invited him to come home with her and meet her conservative family.

Puck never achieved such enlightenment. He seemed threatened by Pedro, specifically by all the attention Pedro was getting. So Puck did everything he could to steal the limelight back, turning his unpleasantness up to 10. He lashed out at Rachel. He lashed out at Judd. He called Mohammed a bitch. But mostly, he focused his hostility directly at Pedro, whose only crime was daring to be more interesting than Puck. Pedro was so earnest and caring that he was impossible not to like, yet Puck still found a way. Puck's constant instigating became so bad that Pedro eventually decided to leave the house. All the stress Puck was causing was aggravating Pedro's illness, and Pedro, too nice to want to cause any conflict, couldn't see the more obvious solution: that Puck was the one who should leave, even if he had to be kicked out. Thankfully, his roommates knew what had to be done.

Along with David from Real World: Los Angeles, Puck was one of the first people ever voted off a reality show – not because the rules of the show demanded it and not because the show was giving away a generous cash prize, but simply because he was unbearable to live with. You might even be able to trace back the genesis of "competitive" reality shows like Survivor and Big Brother to that moment on The Real World when Puck's housemates dumped him over the speakerphone.

But Puck is significant in TV history for another reason. The term "reality TV" is often criticized as being a misnomer. Just how real can a show be when seven penniless young people are living in a million-dollar house and surrounded by cameras and boom mikes all day? Well, despite his otherworldly appearance, Puck was the one who really drove home the "reality" aspect of the show. If Puck were just another TV bad guy like J.R. Ewing or that chick in the wig from Melrose Place, we could've relished his dirty deeds and savored the drama they aroused. But he was real, and so was Pedro, the nice guy who, for no good reason, Puck was out to destroy. To watch reality TV is to face up to the harsh fact that the bad people we're seeing are really out there in the world, and the good people are really getting hurt.

Shortly after the final episode of the series aired, Pedro passed away. At a subsequent reunion special, the other roommates wanted to reminisce about their friend. But an unrepentant Puck showed up in costume, looking like a demented gold prospector and desperate to cause trouble. A shouting match broke out, and Judd accused Puck of dismissing Pedro's death by saying "good riddance." Like just about everything Puck did on The Real World, it was good TV. But it was bad reality. And that is why Puck is so deserving of being in the Reality TV Hall of Shame.

Jerry Mahoney advises you to always check your peanut butter before eating it – especially if you have roommates. He can be reached at gimmemyprops@yahoo.com.

If you have a nomination for the Reality TV Hall of Shame, send it in and we’’ll take a look at it. But remember, the participant or show has to be truly deserving to be inducted into the Hall.

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