Virus turns our lives into inadvertent 'Cribs' reboot

Nina L. Diaz wanted more. She arrived at MTV in 1997 as a young freelancer and, within a few years, became a staff executive producer with MTV News and documentaries. Though this was a grittier branch of the operation than the slick, glossy world of music videos, Diaz still felt like the artists she interviewed were stifled by the traditional sit-down, Q&A format.

"I wanted to go deeper," Diaz said. "I wanted to know who they were when they were off-campus, if you will."

A self-described TV junkie who grew up watching "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and other ur-reality programs, Diaz had an idea: What if you could follow your favorite celebrity home? What if you could see how they really lived: what snacks they stashed in their pantry, how messy their bedrooms were, what photos were on the walls? What if, in their most intimate places, they felt looser and at ease and revealed more of their true selves?

Diaz pitched this vision to her bosses at MTV: "Cribs" would be a remix of a classic, lifting the basic DNA of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" but with one crucial twist. While "Lifestyles" was narrated by Robin Leach, on "Cribs," the celebrities would narrate the episodes themselves. "I was clear that I didn't want a host," she said. "I wanted it to be first-person. I wanted that unfiltered, raw, real, let-your-hair-down version of these artists and celebrities." Diaz got the green light, and the series premiered on Sept. 12, 2000.

"Oh my God, I was obsessed with the show. Obsessed!" said Sharon Osbourne, whose family home was featured in the series premiere and who would soon be an early reality-TV star herself when "The Osbournes" premiered on MTV in 2002. "'Cribs' was the first time, really, that kids could watch their idols at home and see how they lived," she said. "Which everybody just loves to...