Tonya Cooley was a member of 2002′s “Real World: Chicago,” and since then she’s appeared as a Playboy Cybergirl of the Week and starred in Cinemax’s The Erotic Traveler 02: Lost in Ecstasy (sounds good). She has also appeared on eight seasons of the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge,” a career that is likely over now that she’s suing MTV and the castmates that allegedly raped her with a toothbrush.

Cooley’s lawsuit claims that while she was passed out — and MTV was filming — Santucci and Starkman “took another male participant’s toothbrush and rubbed the toothbrush around plaintiff’s genitals, including rubbing her labia and inserting the toothbrush into plaintiff’s vagina.”

But if she was passed out and didn’t object, is it really rape? Yes? Oh. I should probably write that down somewhere.

Cooley then alleges producers replaced the toothbrush and didn’t tell her what happened. She also says producers encouraged male cast members to “inappropriately touch female cast members’ bodies, including in intimate areas,” while stripped of their bathing suits. Apparently she and other female “Challenge” participants reported the incidents, but MTV didn’t do anything about it. [Zap2it via TMZ]

If this is true, it’s a pretty terrible and disgusting act. But not surprising. In fact, MTV has “you might get raped” built into its reality contracts. Seriously. Remember when the standard “Real World” contract leaked? It’s right there in Stipulation 7:

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Below is the trailer for the 397th season of “The Real World,” which was filmed in San Diego. It tells the story of seven morons stupid enough to agree to MTV’s exploitative contract who then live in an exquisite house no normal young person could possibly afford. If my understanding of the trailer is correct, the three attractive men, three attractive women, and one annoying lesbian then spend the next however many weeks going to bars, riding on boats, puking out fish guts, arguing in their underwear, and engaging in coitus. It’s really breaking new ground for the series. Nothing says “must-see TV” quite like two muscular dudes in boxer-briefs having a physical confrontation. GRRRR HOMOEROTICISM!!!

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When “The Real World” debuted twenty years ago, it was about seven reasonably intelligent strangers trying to make their way in New York City. Now the show is about people too stupid to recognize a terrible, exploitative contract. The Village Voice obtained the standard contract for cast members, and some of the stipulations are absolutely brazen in their subhuman treatment of cast members. Some choice examples:

• You may die, lose limbs, and suffer nervous breakdowns. (Stipulation 1)
• You grant the Producer blanket rights to your life story. (49)
• The Producer can do pretty much anything they want with your life story, including misrepresent it. (49)
• You may be humiliated and explicitly portrayed “in a false light.” (12)
• You can’t change your physical appearance during filming, without the Producer’s express permission. (26)
• The production crew can show up at your personal house at any time to film and/or to take anything they want, as long as they return the objects once production has ended. (20a)
• The Producer holds the authorship and copyright to every photograph, email, website, sound or video recording, documented performance created in relation to the program, on every medium imaginable. (8)
• You’re obligated to participate in a Reunion Special for up to five years after the show ends, you’ll be paid $2500 for your involvement, and the Producer only has to give you 14 days notice. (50c) [VV via the 20s]

And yet none of that is as bad as this combination:

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RENEWED: “Futurama,” for two more 13-episode cycles. The once-canceled Fox sitcom is enjoying its second life on Comedy Central, averaging 2.5 million viewers per episode after factoring in DVR.

CANCELED: “The Real Housewives of DC.” The White House-storming iteration of “Housewives” struggled to find viewers and won’t be renewed, according to Radar. That’s one down, and six — O.C., New Jersey, New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Beverly Hills — to go. Baby steps, people.

RENEWED: “The Real World,” for two more seasons. Presently airing its 25th season and casting for the 26th, MTV ordered seasons 27 and 28 yesterday. No word yet on where the casts will be living and filming, but I’d like to recommend somewhere hot. Like, say, the center of the Earth. Or maybe the sun.

CANCELED: “Lights Out,” FX’s boxing drama that drew viewers at the rate of “Terriers” but wasn’t half as good. Wanna know why it failed? The protagonist has the exact same voice as Tony Danza.

There have been thousands of people to appear on reality shows (although, oddly, I don’t know anyone who has), so it’s understandable that at least a few of them are going to be crazy. The nine individuals and one band listed below (none of whom were famous before appearing on a reality show, otherwise Anna Nicole Smith would have this thing WON) are not only insane, but their lives have been in disastrous disarray since appearing on TV.

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