The Challenge (TV series)

The Challenge (originally known as Road Rules: All Stars, followed by Real World/Road Rules Challenge and occasionally known as The Real World/Road Rules Challenge during this time), is a reality competition show on MTV that is spun off from two of the network's reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules. Originally featuring alumni from these two shows, casting for The Challenge has slowly expanded to include contestants who debuted on The Challenge itself, alumni from other MTV franchises including Are You the One?, Ex on the Beach (Brazil, UK and US), Geordie Shore and from other non-MTV shows. The contestants compete against one another in various extreme challenges to avoid elimination. The winners of the final challenge win the competition and share a large cash prize.^[1][2] The Challenge is currently hosted by T. J. Lavin.

The series premiered on June 1, 1998. The show was originally titled Road Rules: All Stars (in which notable Real World alumni participated in a Road Rules style road-trip). It was renamed Real World/Road Rules Challenge for the 2nd season, then later abridged to simply The Challenge by the show's 19th season.

Since the fourth season, each season has supplied the show with a unique subtitle, such as Rivals. Each season consists of a format and theme whereby the subtitle is derived. The show's current season, Double Agents, premiered on December 9, 2020.^[3] A new special limited-series, titled The Challenge: All Stars premiered on April 1, 2021 on the Paramount+ streaming service.^[4][5]

Structure[edit]

Overview[edit]

The Challenge casts are season specific as the cast varies from season to season. The casts are made up of contestants originating from one of The Challenge's related TV programs and contestants originating from one of the few Challenge seasons that have allowed previously unknown contestants. These shows and seasons are: Real World, Road Rules, Are You the One?, The Challenge (from Fresh Meat, Fresh Meat II, Spring Break Challenge and Battle of the Bloodlines). Many recent alumni come from a variety of reality shows Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Ex on the Beach, and Geordie Shore.

A season's typical multitude of cast members are usually divided up into separate teams or pairs according to a certain criteria, which varies from season to season. The criteria that teams have been arranged by over the show's history have ranged, from gender, a contestants original show, heroic/villainous status and ex-romantic partners of contestants. Each of the opposing teams compete in numerous missions in order to win prizes and advance in the overall game. Following each mission, a team or a cast member is voted into an elimination round to take on the least successful team from the previous mission. In elimination rounds, they must compete against one another to determine which one is eliminated from the season. Each season has its own, very distinct elimination round, distinguished from those of other seasons in title, design, and general atmosphere. Determining which two teams or two cast members are sent into the episode's elimination round frequently leads to drama and contestants playing the game dirty; this is due to the show's contestants being in charge of who is thrown into elimination rounds.^[6] Like that of The Real World, sporadically throughout the course of each episode, various contestants are seen privately expressing themselves through reality TV confessionals about the events taking place on the show.

Some seasons, however, have used entirely different formats from the typical: The Island is one Challenge in particular that adopted many features atypical to Real World/Road Rules Challenge, instead taking concepts like that of another reality television game show Survivor; as another example, the first season (Road Rules: All Stars) ironically only included contestants from The Real World and consisted of a much smaller cast before the show was completely reconstructed by its second season. Except for season one, a monetary prize has always been the award for winning the final mission.

Theme and format by season title[edit]

Each distinct season title has indicated the general gameplay format used:

• Original Real World/Road Rules Challenge (including RW/RR Challenge 2000 and RW/RR Extreme Challenge): Real World vs. Road Rules groupings, six players per team, no eliminations, missions in number of previous challenges (though the original Gauntlet and Inferno were Real World vs. Road Rules).
• Battle of the Seasons (2002) and Battle of the Seasons (2012): On the first Battle of the Seasons, players were separated into teams of Real World and Road Rules, each cast member is paired off with a castmate from their original season. Each mission gave points based on finish. After each mission, the players with the most points cumulative from each team became the "Inner Circle" and voted off whichever pair they wanted. The individual winning pair of each challenge would earn an "additional prize." After five pairs from each team were voted off, the final three Real World teams and final three Road Rules teams would compete against each other in a series of challenges before the final race. The 2012 Battle of the Seasons had a completely different format from the original. Each team consists of two men and two women from select seasons. After each challenge, there is a winning team and a losing team. The losing team is automatically sent to "The Arena," and faces possible elimination. The winning team become the Power Team, and selects one team to battle against the last-place team in the Arena. The teams entering the Arena must select one player of each gender from their own team to compete in the elimination. If the teams entering the Arena cannot decide which players will compete in the elimination, the Power Team chooses for them. The winning pair in the elimination rounds return to their season and stay in the game, while the losing pair is eliminated, reducing their season to two players.
• Battle of the Sexes and Battle of the Sexes 2: As the title implies, players are divided by gender. Each mission gave points based on finish, either with a partner or individually. After each mission, the players with the most points cumulative from each team became the "Inner Circle" and voted off whoever they wanted to. The winner of each challenge would earn a "lifesaver" which could be given to a member of either team; the recipient of the "lifesaver" would enjoy total immunity from being voted out, which created many interesting situations. No life-shields were used in the second installment. The final three players of each gender would compete against each other in a final race.
• Inferno, Inferno II and Inferno 3: The first Inferno consisted of Team Real World vs. Team Road Rules. The 2nd and 3rd installment consisted of Team Bad Asses vs. Team Good Guys. Teams nominate two of their own players for each elimination round and vote one of the opponents' two nominations into the "Inferno" round. The players going into the "Inferno" then have the opportunity to save themselves from going in by winning a "life saver" in the challenge before the "Inferno."
• Gauntlet, Gauntlet 2 and Gauntlet III: The first gauntlet consisted of Team Real World vs. Team Road Rules. The 2nd and 3rd installment consisted of Team Veterans vs. Team Rookies. In the 2nd and 3rd particular installment, "Veterans" are considered players who have participated in a minimum of two challenges, while "Rookies" had either participated in one challenge or none at all. In the first two installments, team captains are assigned on a pre-challenge mission. The losing team's captains would alternate between male and female to go into the "Gauntlet," in which they would face off against someone from their own team as voted by the remaining team members. In the third installment, no team captains are assigned, and the winning team also protects one player from the losing team from being chosen for the Gauntlet, but cannot protect the same player on two consecutive opportunities.
• Fresh Meat and Fresh Meat II: These seasons introduce new people to Challenges without appearing on The Real World or Road Rules. These new players are "drafted" by "alumni" of the opposite gender (those who come from RW, RR, or previous 'FM' - some alumni contestants may also be rookies and have not competed before) to create pairings which are the teams for these Challenges. The winning team chooses one team for an elimination round called an "Exile," while the other team is selected by a vote.
• The Duel and The Duel II: Promoted as "every man for himself" as there are no permanent teams (though some individual challenges require teams to be formed). All players compete individually, leading to just one champion of each gender.
• The Island: A challenge with no missions, just elimination rounds where the competitors are put on an island with limited supplies. In each episode, the competitors select three people (not necessarily by gender) to go into an elimination round to win safety and a key to the prize money chest at the final challenge. The two non-winning players have a chance to plead their case to all the other competitors at the vote-off, where one player wins a key and the other is eliminated.
• The Ruins: Two teams of "Challengers" and "Champions" based on whether players have won a previous season's final challenge. Prior to each challenge, each team nominates a group of three players of each gender within the team for elimination; after that challenge, the winning team's nominated group picks the match-ups for the "Ruins," which consist of a male Challenger against a male Champion, and a female Challenger against a female Champion.
• Cutthroat: Teams are not initially set. There is a race in the beginning, and while the top three players are announced, the bottom three are named as captains of the three teams; the three teams are then drafted by the captains (while maintaining equal numbers of players of each gender). Each challenge involves all three teams; the winning team is safe from the elimination round — the "Gulag," while the losing teams go against each other in the Gulag. Voting is done within one's own team by secret ballot to choose one player of each gender to go into the Gulag.
• Rivals, Rivals II and Rivals III: The first two installments feature two-player teams of the same gender consist of players who are paired against their "worst enemies," whom they have engaged in bitter feuds, fights and rivalries with in previous Real World and/or Challenge seasons. The challenge winner is safe from elimination – "The Jungle," while the last-place finisher and a non-winning team of the same gender battle it out in "The Jungle." Each challenge alternates between a male and a female Jungle elimination in the first two instalments. The third instalment features male/female pairs. The third instalment also has 3 teams going into the elimination; the losing team and 2 teams picked by the winning team. At the Jungle, the 2 teams picked for elimination by the winning team go back and forth picking skulls out of a box. There are 3 white skulls and 1 black skull. Whoever picks the black skull, them and their partner go into the Jungle against the last-place team, and the other team is safe from the Jungle. Also, in the finale, teammates would go head to head in challenges, whoever finishes first the most in the challenges would decide if they would keep the money they earned for their respective placing or split it with their partner. If the cast member chose to keep it for themselves, then their teammate would leave empty-handed.
• Battle of the Exes and Battle of the Exes II: Pairs of former romantic couples compete in a challenge where the winner is safe from elimination and will be known as "The Power Couple," and they are responsible for choosing one team to go into the elimination round called "The Dome," along with the team that came in last place in the challenge. A twist was added on Battle of the Exes II: Eliminated teams would compete in "Battle of the Ex-iled," which no one in the house knows about. The eliminated team will compete against the last "Ex-ile" winner and the loser would be permanently eliminated. This lasts until only four teams remain in the house, and the last team standing from Ex-ile will go back to the house for two more challenges before the final, which they are eligible for as long as they are not eliminated again.
• Free Agents: Each challenge is declared as either an individual, pair, or team challenge. For pair and team challenges, names are drawn out of a bag — one of each gender, or more for multi-team or pair challenges — that will be designated as captains. For team challenges, the captains will select players that will be split evenly amongst gender. For pair challenges, the captains will either select players of the opposite gender for challenges that are designated as male/female pairs or the same gender for challenges that are designated as same-gender pairs. The winning team/pair/players are safe from elimination and choose one player of each gender for elimination. The remaining non-winning players then participate in "The Draw," where the one player of each gender that draws a "kill card" faces the previously voted players in the elimination round.
• Battle of the Bloodlines: The season starts with 14 pairs of two, each consisting of a The Real World, The Challenge or Are You The One? alumni and their relatives. The winning pair of the mission sends in one pair to face the losing team of the mission into The Pit, depending on gender. However, after the second elimination, pairs are separated into two teams, each consisting of 12. The losing team has to send one player from the losing team into The Pit, while the winning team has to send another player from the losing team into The Pit. If a player loses in The Pit, that player is not only eliminated but so is their bloodline. The final five teams reverted to their pairs of two. The Pit consisted of both teammates competing instead of one representative competing for both teams for one elimination, then reverted to one representative for each team for the last elimination.
• Invasion of the Champions: The game started off with 18 Underdogs (players who have yet to win a challenge) who get dropped off a boat and onto a beach, where they were living in "The Shelter." They compete individually in challenges, followed by an elimination round. The male and female winners of the challenge would be safe from elimination, and earn their ticket to "The Oasis" — the season house. The last-place male and female finishers automatically went straight into elimination for the first challenge. In the second challenge, the challenge winners will choose a player of the opposite gender to go into the elimination. The rest of the house then voted in who goes against them for the first and second challenge. The males voted for the females, and vice versa. For the third challenge, and the last chance to earn a ticket to the Oasis, the winners will be safe from elimination, and the two remaining players of each gender will compete. In the elimination, each gender will compete. The winners of the elimination round would return to the game, and earn a ticket to The Oasis. The losers of the elimination round go home. Players could not go into The Oasis until every ticket has been earned. Players who earned their ticket to the Oasis will be exempt from elimination and will not compete in challenges until the Champions enter the game. Beginning with the fourth challenge, ss the season twist, eight Champions of past seasons of the show will enter the game, and the Underdogs will form a team against them. Each challenge will be designated for an Underdog or a Champion elimination — entitled "The Fortress." The winning team will earn $10,000 in their team bank account. The best performing guy and girl of the team designated for the Fortress will then choose one guy and one girl to go into the elimination. The rest of the house will then vote in the players who will go against them. The winners return to the game, and the losers go home.
• XXX: Dirty 30: The cast is composed of contestants who have acted dirty on a past season or show. Similar to Free Agents, each challenge is either an individual, teams, or pairs challenge. The winning individual, pair, or teams would than nominate 1 player from each gender to go into the Presidio. The remaining non-winning players then participate in "The Double Cross Draw" where the one player of each gender that draws "The Double Cross" (XX) chooses a player from their own gender, who also participated in the draw, to join the previously nominated player into the Presidio to face elimination. In a twist, the eliminated players are sent into the Redemption House to compete for a spot back into the game.
• Vendettas: Each challenger in this season has at least one "vendetta" with someone in the game. Similar to both Free Agents and Dirty 30, each challenge is either an individual, teams or pairs challenge. Each competitor has their own individual bank accounts. The top three winners from each challenge, no matter the gender, form the "Troika". The loser of the challenge automatically goes into elimination. Depending on whether it's a male or female elimination, the Troika nominates three players to go into "The Ring". Later, the three nominees sit with the Troika in "The Inquisition," to give their case as to why they should stay in the game and why one (or both) of the other nominees should go in. In The Ring, the Troika votes for one of the three players from The Inquisition to go against the last place finisher in the challenge. The winner of The Ring stays in the game as also receives a grenade. The winner chooses between three grenades, each grenade earning them a special power to change the game. For example, at the end of the first elimination, Nelson took the Money Grab grenade, which allowed him to take $5,000 from another competitor.
• Final Reckoning: This season is the final season of the revenge "Trilogy" that began with Dirty 30. The season puts competitors into pairs with vendettas from their prior seasons, and they must work together as partners. The team that wins the daily challenge receives immunity and the "Power Vote", which allows them to cast their vote twice for one team. Similar to Cutthroat, voting is done anonymously. In a season twist, the teams that voted the team into the Armageddon are revealed, and the team that is voted into the Armageddon may then call out any team that voted for them as their opponent. The winner of the Armageddon returns to the game, while the loser is sent into the Redemption House. The "Double Cross" is used in the Redemption House, with whoever pulling the Double Cross having the power to choose one of the other teams as their opponent, while eliminating the other teams from the game for good. In another season twist, two "Mercenaries" teams will arrive at points midway through the season, and will have the opportunity to win their way into the game via an elimination.
• War of the Worlds: For the first ten episodes, cast members competed in male/female pairs. Each team was composed of an alumni player paired with a prospect of the opposite sex. Prospects pick their alumni partner in the order that was determined based on their rank in the "Impending Dune" mission. Each team will then compete in numerous challenges followed by elimination rounds known as "The Killing Floor". The top three teams of each challenge will form "The Tribunal", where they will nominate three teams to possibly face elimination in "The Killing Floor". Nominated teams face "The Tribunal" and plead their case as to why they should not be sent into elimination. At "The Killing Floor," each person in "The Tribunal" will vote individually for one out of three nominated teams to go into elimination. The team that is voted in, can call out any team that is not safe to face in elimination. The winners of the elimination will stay in the game and hold the Relic, which grants them safety from the next elimination. The losers are eliminated from the game. During the 10th episode of the season, host T.J. Lavin revealed that the rest of the competition will be an individual game. The rules of the season remain the same, but the cast members no longer have to work with their alumni or prospect partner.
• War of the Worlds 2: Players are divided into two teams (Team UK and Team USA) based on their respective home country. Four 'Reinforcements' also arrived following the first challenge not yet designated a team, the team who won the opening challenge would have their choice of two reinforcements (one male and one female) to join their team while the remaining two would join the other team. Each episode, teams would compete in a Main Match where the winning team would elect a speaker. The speaker then selects one male and one female from their respective team to form the tribunal. Following the Main Match, the losing team must nominate one player of the designated gender to compete in a Death Match known as the 'Proving Ground'. The tribunal observes the nominations and is able to interrogate the nominated player of the losing team – usually asking for potential opponents in the Proving Ground. At 'The Proving Ground', the tribunal individually votes for a second player to enter the Proving Ground and compete against the nominee. The second player may come from either team. The two players then must face each other in the Proving Ground challenge where the losing player is eliminated from the game. The winning player is allowed to remain in the game and given the opportunity to become a 'turncoat' and swap teams. Once a player swaps teams they may not swap back.
• Total Madness: Players compete in either individual, pair or team challenges, with the winning team forming a tribunal. Players not in the tribunal participate in nominations. Each contestant individually votes for one player of the designated gender into elimination. The player who receives the most votes will participate in the elimination round. Following nominations, the tribunal select three players of the designated gender to interrogate. One of these three chosen interrogated competitors will be selected for possible elimination. At the "Purgatory," the tribunal is asked to individually vote for the second player to participate in the elimination. From Episode 2 onward, a tribunal member of the designated gender may volunteer for elimination, instead of voting for an interrogated competitor. The player selected by nomination participates in an elimination round against the player selected by the tribunal, or the volunteer from the tribunal. The loser is eliminated while the winner receives a "Red Skull" and remains in the game. The coveted Red Skull—a twist that was introduced after the first elimination—is required in order to participate in the Final Challenge and can only be earned by winning in a Purgatory elimination round.
• Double Agents: For the opening challenge, players compete as individuals. The player with the fastest overall time in the challenge will choose a partner of the opposite sex. The rest of the players then have to form their own pair with a player of the opposite sex. The losers of the daily challenge all privately vote for one team to send in to the "Crater". The challenge winners (called the" Double Agents") then vote in a team to go against the house vote, or may volunteer for elimination themselves. The Double Agents are also shown the nominated team, and which individuals voted for them. At the "Crater", the gender of the elimination is revealed, and the player of the designated gender from both the nominated team and the Double Agent selection must compete . The winning player of the elimination ("Crater") remainis in the game and can then choose to stay with their partner or select any player of the opposite gender as their new partner, excluding the Double Agents. The loser is eliminated. Upon winning the "Crater", players receive a "Gold Skull" which qualifies them to compete in the final challenge. Players without a partner are considered "Rogue Agents", do not participate in the subsequent daily challenge and are exempt from being voted into the Crater. Once a player of the opposite gender also becomes a Rogue Agent, the two contestants form a new team and compete as usual.

Hosts[edit]

The series initially used no hosts but instead a former cast member who had been kicked off his or her season, providing assignments as "Mr." or "Ms. Big" (David "Puck" Rainey, David Edwards, and Gladys Sanabria served this role). After one season without anyone in this role, the series began using hosts: Eric Nies and Mark Long co-hosted a season, and Jonny Moseley and Dave Mirra hosted various seasons before T. J. Lavin became the show's regular host by the 11th season.

TV show's conception[edit]

During the filming of The Real World: Boston and Road Rules: Islands, the two casts met while the Real World cast was vacationing in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Producers set up a face-off where both teams would compete for a cash prize. The intensely competitive challenge brought in high ratings and this set ideas in motion to produce yet another spin-off series. After another face-off called AquaGames, hosted by Kit Hoover and Mark Long, between The Real World: Seattle and Road Rules: Down Under in 1998, the Challenge series was born in 1998 with Road Rules: All Stars, and featured cast members from five different seasons of The Real World.

After All Stars, producers decided to include former cast members of Road Rules in the series as well. In the next season, two six-member teams were sent around the world in a competition to see which show could best the other in head-to-head competition. The series followed the format for three years and brought in hugely successful ratings.

Following the hugely successful boom of reality television in the new millennium, producers decided to add new elements to the series. In 2001, production began on Battle of the Seasons. This season, the first to depart from the previous six-member structure, brought in a large group of former cast members to compete in one location. Beginning with the first Battle of the Seasons, MTV added a fantasy challenge game to their website. Players "draft" cast members, a la fantasy baseball and cast members are given points for performing certain tasks, such as cursing or "hooking up."

After switching to the "vote off" format, the series would alternate between "Battle" seasons, including two seasons of Battle of the Sexes and themed Challenges which included the Gauntlet and Inferno seasons. Both the Gauntlet and Inferno seasons contained "showdown" matches between members of the two opposing teams. The cast member who lost the showdown would be sent home. The Gauntlet seasons featured an intra-cast dynamic as teams were forced to vote off cast members within their own groups into the showdown, while the Inferno seasons featured an inter-cast dynamic as teams were forced to vote off cast members from the other group into the showdown.

The Challenge lingo[edit]

Veterans and rookies[edit]

Two commonly used terms on the show are "veterans" (or vets) and "rookies". Veterans are particularly thought of as players that have won at least one Challenge season, but the term has also been applied to players who have appeared on several seasons of the show, or have appeared in the final stages of a challenge. Rookies are thought of as players that have done none of the above. The most vulnerable rookies are those who have just recently completed their respective shows season and are participating in the game for their very first time; often they are the first to be singled out and targeted by everyone else due to their lack of bonds with existing cast. However, at least one rookie has reached the final challenge on almost every season. Exceptions include The Island, Battle of the Exes and War of the Worlds 2. This statistic would also apply for Fresh Meat II among the debuting "Alumni" contestant (by virtue of the "Fresh Meat" format, there would always be a First Time player in that Final).

Alliance[edit]

Another commonly used term on the show is "alliance." The term is used to refer to challengers working together. These contestants have colluded together so as to increase their overall chances of winning the season game. But for safety in numbers offered by the collusion, the show's contestants would run the risk of victimization to the game's politics and popularity factors. Politics plays a role due to the show's formats in which options of who is thrown into elimination rounds and other determining factors are left up to challengers themselves. Alliances are typically formed through pacts and negotiations made among certain contestants early on in the game. Alliance operations can range from saving alliance members, throwing missions for the purposes of advancing the alliance, picking and choosing based upon alliance involvement as opposed to levels of performance, etc.

In early seasons of the show, alliances were heavily frowned upon by most of the contestants. As such, alliances used to be carried out with much more secrecy, craft, and deviousness. In fact, many of the earliest alliances on the show were formed to sabotage members of one's own team who were perceived as weak. Once exposed, alliances typically came as offensive and shocking to those not involved. Since the later seasons, however, alliances have become a norm among the show's contestants, so much so that most contestants are expected to join an alliance upon beginning out a season. Despite its use among most, there are still a minority of contestants who elect to play the game straightforwardly, feeling as though alliance tactics are a sign of weakness and a lack of competitive spirit. Those who reject alliances, however, are seen as not playing the game strategically. Although the widespread and overt practice of alliance construction has expelled its original devious reputation, its effectiveness and capacity to surprise attack has waned.

Specials[edit]

Spring Break Challenge[edit]

In March 2010, prior to the airing of the 19th season, MTV aired a special spring break spin-off of The Challenge in Acapulco, Mexico.^[7] Challenge alum coached teams of college-aged friends in various challenges of old and new, while Fresh Meat alumnus Evan Starkman and The Real World: Key West alumna Paula Meronek served as broadcasters, with T. J. Lavin as the host. Camila Nakagawa, a contestant of the winning team, went on to appear on future challenges, with her debut Challenge being Cutthroat. To date, Camila is the only player to appear on the challenges.

The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars[edit]

The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars (originally known as The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros) is a special recurring mini-series of The Challenge.^[8] In each multi-week event, alumni from The Challenge compete against celebrities to win money for charity.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

The Challenge: CT's Getting Married[edit]

The Challenge: CT's Getting Married is a two-part special revolving around the wedding of Challenge star Chris "CT" Tamburello and Lilianet Solares. MTV released the trailer and premiere date on November 20, 2018. The two-week special premiered on December 11, 2018 and concluded on December 18, 2018.^[15][16]

The Challenge: All Stars[edit]

In 2020, Road Rules: USA – The First Adventure alumnus Mark Long started asking his social media followers if they'd be interested in seeing former cast members of The Challenge coming together for a new version of the series. The movement was titled "We Want OGs". After his idea went viral, he announced a partnership with Bunim/Murray Productions to further develop his project and began gauging interest from potential former cast members.^[17] By February 2021, the project had been confirmed, and several former cast members for the show were revealed. On February 24, 2021, the show was officially announced as The Challenge: All Stars, and premiered on the Paramount+ streaming service on April 1, 2021.^[18]

Seasons[edit]

5 Timers Club[edit]

Cast members[edit]