Real World/Road Rules Challenge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Real World/Road Rules Challenge | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality, competition |
| Creator(s) | Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV |
| Original run | 1997 – present |
The Real World/Road Rules Challenge is a reality television series on MTV, a spin-off of that network's two flagship reality series, The Real World and Road Rules. The Challenge pits cast members from past seasons of the two shows against each other, usually dividing them into two separate teams according to different criteria, such as by gender, which of the two shows they first appeared on, etc. The two teams must complete challenges in order to win prizes and advance in the game. Recent seasons have taken a cue from other reality shows by adopting the system of eliminating contestants based on performance, or having a team vote a member into an elimination round, in which they must compete against a member from the other team to determine which one goes home.
[edit] History
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. In 1998, the Challenge series was born with Road Rules: All Stars.
After All Stars, producers decided to include former castmembers of Real World in 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 castmembers to compete in one location. During the filming of this season, it was heavily rumored that the Challenge would borrow heavily from the hugely popular reality television show, Survivor. Castmembers were "voted off the island" and for a short time during production, it was rumored that the cast were sleeping outside in tents. (This later proved to be false as the casts stayed in a five-star resort.)
Beginning with the 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 castmember who lost the showdown would be sent home. The Gauntlet seasons featured an intracast dynamic as teams were forced to vote off castmembers within their own groups into the showdown, while the Inferno seasons featured an intercast dynamic as teams were forced to vote off castmembers from the other group into the showdown.
In 2005, Bunim-Murray Productions decided to invite new people to the Challenges who were never a part of either Real World or Road Rules. This decision was forced, in part, because of the status of Road Rules at the time. While Road Rules had stopped production until further notice after its thirteenth season, Real World had just finished wrapping its sixteenth season in Austin, Texas. This created an imbalance between the casts, as newer castmembers were invited to participate in the Challenges more often than older castmembers.
[edit] Seasons
- Road Rules: All-Stars (1997)
- All-Star Challenge (1998)
- Challenge 2000 (2000)
- Extreme Challenge (2001)
- Battle of the Seasons (2002)
- Battle of the Sexes (2003)
- The Gauntlet (2003)
- The Inferno (2004)
- Battle of the Sexes II (2004)
- The Inferno II (2005)
- The Gauntlet II (2005)
- Fresh Meat (2006)
- The Duel (2006)
- The Inferno III (2007)
- Battle of the Seasons II (2007)
- Fresh Meat II was originally confirmed as the Summer 2007 Challenge, but BMP has decided to drop the idea, because Fresh Meat was originally started due to lack of castmembers, and because of Road Rules being cancelled. But, now that Road Rules has been brought back, they no longer need new 'Fresh Meat' castmembers.
- There has been alot of speculation that Battle of the Seasons 2 will be the next challenge theme, but it is not yet confirmed.
[edit] Cast members appearing on the most Challenges
As of season 14, The Inferno III
| # of seasons | Cast member | Original season | Challenge seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 seasons | Veronica Portillo | Road Rules: Semester at Sea | Challenge 2000, Battle of the Seasons, Battle of the Sexes, Gauntlet, Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II |
| 6 seasons | Beth Stolarczyk | The Real World: Los Angeles | All-Star Challenge, Battle of the Seasons, Battle of the Sexes, Inferno II, Gauntlet 2, The Duel |
| Derrick Kosinski | Road Rules: X-Treme | Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II, Gauntlet 2, Fresh Meat, The Duel, Inferno III | |
| Tonya Cooley | The Real World: Chicago | Battle of the Sexes, Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II, Fresh Meat, Inferno III | |
| 5 seasons | Coral Smith | The Real World: Back to New York | Battle of the Seasons, Gauntlet, Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Fresh Meat |
| Julie Stoffer | The Real World: New Orleans | Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, Inferno, Inferno II, Gauntlet 2 | |
| Katie Doyle | Road Rules: The Quest | Gauntlet, Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Fresh Meat | |
| Mike Mizanin | The Real World: Back to New York | Battle of the Seasons, Gauntlet, Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II | |
| Aneesa Ferreira | The Real World: Chicago | Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, The Duel, Inferno III | |
| Tina Barta | Road Rules: South Pacific | Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II, Fresh Meat, The Duel | |
| Abram Boise | Road Rules: South Pacific | Gauntlet, Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II, Inferno III | |
| 4 seasons | Brad Fiorenza | The Real World: San Diego | Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II, Gauntlet 2, The Duel |
| Darrell Taylor | Road Rules: Campus Crawl | Gauntlet, Inferno, Inferno II, Fresh Meat | |
| Mark Long | Road Rules: USA - The First Adventure | Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2 | |
| Rachel Robinson | Road Rules: Campus Crawl | Battle of the Sexes, Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II | |
| Robin Hibbard | The Real World: San Diego | Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II, Gauntlet 2, The Duel | |
| Shane Landrum | Road Rules: Campus Crawl | Battle of the Sexes, Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Fresh Meat | |
| Syrus Yarbrough | The Real World: Boston | Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, Inferno, Gauntlet 2 | |
| Theo Vonkurnatowski | Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour | Battle of the Seasons, Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Fresh Meat | |
| Ace Amerson | The Real World: Paris | Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Inferno III | |
| Timmy Beggy | Road Rules: USA - The Second Adventure | Battle of the Seasons, Inferno, Gauntlet 2, Inferno III | |
| Chris "CT" Tamburello | The Real World: Paris | Inferno, Inferno II, The Duel, Inferno III |
