Real World/Road Rules Challenge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Real World/Road Rules Challenge | |
|---|---|
| Format | Reality, competition |
| Created by | Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV |
| Original run | 1997 – present |
Real World/Road Rules Challenge is a reality television series on MTV, that spun off from that network's two flagship reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules. Each Challenge pits only cast members from past seasons of the two shows against each other (with the exclusion of The Fresh Meat Challenge), 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. Each Challenge season has a subtitle, such as Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno. 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.
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[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 The 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 was sleeping outside in tents. (This later proved to be false as the cast 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
| Title | Year aired | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Road Rules: All Stars | 1998 | Began in Lake Placid, New York, ended in Key West, Florida |
| 2 | The Real World/Road Rules Challenge | 1999 | Began in San Francisco, ended in Universal City, California |
| 3 | The Real World/Road Rules Challenge 2000 | 2000 | Began in Las Vegas, Nevada, ended in Miami |
| 4 | The Real World/Road Rules Extreme Challenge | 2001 | Began in Maine, ended in California |
| 5 | The Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Seasons | 2002 | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico |
| 6 | The Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes | 2003 | Montego Bay, Jamaica |
| 7 | The Gauntlet | 2003 - 2004 | Telluride, Colorado |
| 8 | The Inferno | 2004 | Acapulco, Mexico |
| 9 | Battle of the Sexes 2 | 2004 - 2005 | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| 10 | The Inferno II | 2005 | Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico |
| 11 | The Gauntlet 2 | 2005 - 2006 | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 12 | Fresh Meat | 2006 | Australia |
| 13 | The Duel | 2006 - 2007 | Búzios, Brazil |
| 14 | The Inferno 3 | 2007 | Cape Town, South Africa |
| 15 | The Gauntlet III | 2008 | Nayarit, Mexico |
| 16 | The Duel II | 2008 | Panama |
[edit] Cast members appearing on the most Challenges
| Cast member | Original season | Challenge seasons | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appeared on 7 seasons | Beth Stolarczyk | The Real World: Los Angeles | The RW/RR Challenge, The RW/RR Battle of the Seasons, The RW/RR Battle of the Sexes, The Inferno II, The Gauntlet 2, The Duel, The Gauntlet III |
| Veronica Portillo | Road Rules: Semester at Sea | The RW/RR Challenge 2000, The RW/RR Battle of the Seasons, The RW/RR Battle of the Sexes, The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno II | |
| Appeared on 6 seasons | Coral Smith | The Real World: Back to New York | The RW/RR Battle of the Seasons, The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, Fresh Meat, The Gauntlet III |
| Derrick Kosinski | Road Rules: X-Treme | Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II, The Gauntlet 2, Fresh Meat, The Duel, The Inferno 3 | |
| Katie Doyle | Road Rules: The Quest | The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Gauntlet 2, Fresh Meat, The Gauntlet III | |
| Tonya Cooley | The Real World: Chicago | The RW/RR Battle of the Sexes, The Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II, Fresh Meat, The Inferno 3 | |
| Appeared on 5 seasons | Abram Boise | Road Rules: South Pacific | The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II, The Inferno 3 |
| Aneesa Ferreira | The Real World: Chicago | The RW/RR Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Gauntlet 2, The Duel, The Inferno 3 | |
| Brad Fiorenza | The Real World: San Diego | Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II, The Gauntlet 2, The Duel, The Gauntlet III | |
| CT Tamburello | The Real World: Paris | The Inferno, The Inferno II, The Duel, The Inferno 3, The Gauntlet III | |
| Julie Stoffer | The Real World: New Orleans | The RW/RR Extreme Challenge, The RW/RR Battle of the Sexes, The Inferno, The Inferno II, The Gauntlet 2 | |
| Mike Mizanin | The Real World: Back to New York | The RW/RR Battle of the Seasons, The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II | |
| Robin Hibbard | The Real World: San Diego | Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II, The Gauntlet 2, The Duel, The Gauntlet III | |
| Tina Barta | Road Rules: South Pacific | The Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno II, Fresh Meat, The Duel |
[edit] Notes
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