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Past Seasons Thread


Lantern7
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Merry Christmas! In light of the season . . . has there been anybody that started off as a jerk, only to become more than bearable? Other than CT, I mean. Darrell might be the closest . . . couldn't stand him in The Gauntlet and The Inferno, but I was good with him winning four Challenges. Then came the fight with Brad, and his early exit from Free Agents II. He should have called it a career after winning with Aviv on Free Agents.

For some reason I fell down the rabbit hole yesterday and ended up binging the original Battle of the Seasons (although I couldn't find the episodes with the hurricane or the reunion... if anyone knows where to find them, links would be much appreciated.) I miss that format so much! I liked that they succumbed to the pressure of the Survivor format, but still clung to the six vs six style for the second half of the season. That way you were still able to revisit some fan favorite cast members, but didn't have to put up with the back stabbing through the whole season. Didn't they also ban splitting the prize money after this season because Sean Duffy drew up contracts so pretty much everyone but the eliminated Road Rulers and Hollywick won? They only got two or three solid episodes of drama (until Chadwick and Stephen were eliminated) and then everyone was just so nice to each other and they were all having such a good time.

The challenges were pretty ridiculous too, it was obvious that the hurricane had them scrambling. The first challenge back they were fighting over inner tubes. I loved all the puzzles though, and everyone's shock over Mike figuring out the Towers of Hanoi. I liked the older challenges because they pushed them physically, but then threw in a curve ball puzzle that always screwed one team over. (Or like when they boys screwed over the girls by copying their puzzle in the first battle of the sexes! Ugh I'm still so mad for them!) The Rush Hour challenge is still one of my favorites. Especially when Mike tries to move the manual with the parking break still on.

I was also a huge fan of Dan from Road Rules because he was good at everything but never a dick about it. Tara was pretty terrible at everything that challenge, and he was always so patient and helpful when she was having a hard time with things. I do wonder if his pornstache and tripping and generally being weird during this season though was so that he wasn't edited into an obligatory love story again after the whole Holly S thing. I haven't watched Challenge 2000 in forever, so I don't remember how extreme that whole arc was (I do remember some tearful confessionals, but I was a strict Dan/Tara fan back then) But I do buy the whole staged for drama angle given how chill she was during Battle of the Seasons.

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On January 4, 2016 at 4:40 PM, BK1978 said:

Watching that clip of Abe's RR season, I wonder what happened to all of those people.  Besides David Giuntoli and Abe it seems like these people have dropped off the world.  I had completely forgotten about Cara.  I remember thinking she was hot but hating her because she was a bitch.  I did not realize that was the season where Tina was a replacement.  Man I hated Tina as well.

 

 

Tina was a mini Coral...talked way too much and had her own skeletons to deal with. Dave was just useless...he wanted to be a leader but did nothing to solve the problems Donell was creating. Donell was a worthless drama queen.

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2 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Just so you know, there's a forum devoted to Road Rules. Nice nickname, BTW. Also: thank goodness that pantload Donell didn't show up to the Challenge. Almost worth getting Abram over and over.

It's Lori's wrestling name from RR-10 ?

On December 24, 2016 at 11:54 PM, Lantern7 said:

Merry Christmas! In light of the season . . . has there been anybody that started off as a jerk, only to become more than bearable? Other than CT, I mean. Darrell might be the closest . . . couldn't stand him in The Gauntlet and The Inferno, but I was good with him winning four Challenges. Then came the fight with Brad, and his early exit from Free Agents II. He should have called it a career after winning with Aviv on Free Agents.

I couldn't stand Laurel because of what she said to Big E in the hot tub. Then I realized it was probably bad editing for her character. Once I saw what she said to Paula and Wes when they were attacking Cara Maria it all made sense. 

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On 1/3/2017 at 11:26 AM, absnow54 said:

 

The challenges were pretty ridiculous too, it was obvious that the hurricane had them scrambling. The first challenge back they were fighting over inner tubes. I loved all the puzzles though, and everyone's shock over Mike figuring out the Towers of Hanoi. I liked the older challenges because they pushed them physically, but then threw in a curve ball puzzle that always screwed one team over. (Or like when they boys screwed over the girls by copying their puzzle in the first battle of the sexes! Ugh I'm still so mad for them!) The Rush Hour challenge is still one of my favorites. Especially when Mike tries to move the manual with the parking break still on.

 

I LOVED the battle of the season challenges! The human mobile, trying to make a basket in the pool while being like, shot out of a cannon, the calf roping, moving the manual transmission cars, and the absolute best, the Newlywed game! Although I always called shenanigans on Hollywick going batshit on Theo when Theo guessed that if Holly had to get plastic surgery, she'd get a boob job. That looked like a serious editing glitch. One second Holly is genuinely laughing and playfully hitting Theo with the scorecards (upon reading his response), and the next second she's stomped off the set saying Theo disrespected her and her marriage. There had to be something in the middle that we missed. Eric Nies falling over laughing though when he realized Theo was about to get his ass kicked by Holly was pretty hilarious though. I really prefer former castmates to come back as the hosts rather than stupid TJ.

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5 minutes ago, Tatum said:

I LOVED the battle of the season challenges! The human mobile, trying to make a basket in the pool while being like, shot out of a cannon, the calf roping, moving the manual transmission cars, and the absolute best, the Newlywed game! Although I always called shenanigans on Hollywick going batshit on Theo when Theo guessed that if Holly had to get plastic surgery, she'd get a boob job. That looked like a serious editing glitch. One second Holly is genuinely laughing and playfully hitting Theo with the scorecards (upon reading his response), and the next second she's stomped off the set saying Theo disrespected her and her marriage. There had to be something in the middle that we missed. Eric Nies falling over laughing though when he realized Theo was about to get his ass kicked by Holly was pretty hilarious though. I really prefer former castmates to come back as the hosts rather than stupid TJ.

TJ gives the quitters so much shit but I'd like to see him attempt some of the things they have to do or eat. Also, Hollyhock makes me want to puke.

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11 minutes ago, Teriyaki Terror said:

TJ gives the quitters so much shit but I'd like to see him attempt some of the things they have to do or eat.

No doubt. Either Jenna or Jay should have handed him their unconsumed raw egg and pig testicle shake (or whatever that was) and told him to knock himself out as they were shooed out of the area.

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While I'm thinking about it . . . what is the roll call of the quitters? Off the top of my head: David Edwards, Amaya (I'll have to double-check), Jake, Emily, Beth, Karamo (he had to leave, so he tanked the Inferno on purpose for Landon), Cameron. Beth again (sucked so hard) . . . and my memory gets fuzzy. Reluctantly, I'll throw in Coral, even though the Veterans of Gauntlet III were assholes to her, and probably would have treated her like shit even if she beat Evelyn, who is basically Poor Man's Laurel. Oh, and Jay & Jenna (maybe just Jay, since Jenna has come back). Does Mike-Mike count? He was hurting bad at the end of Rivals, IIRC.

ETA: Forgot about Chet. Dude could've been a hero and taken Frank out of Free Agents, but he got a cut. I don't remember if he was bleeding. If he was, it wasn't as bad as Abram's nose.

17 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

While I'm thinking about it . . . what is the roll call of the quitters? Off the top of my head: David Edwards, Amaya (I'll have to double-check), Jake, Emily, Beth, Karamo (he had to leave, so he tanked the Inferno on purpose for Landon), Cameron. Beth again (sucked so hard) . . . and my memory gets fuzzy. Reluctantly, I'll throw in Coral, even though the Veterans of Gauntlet III were assholes to her, and probably would have treated her like shit even if she beat Evelyn, who is basically Poor Man's Laurel. Oh, and Jay & Jenna (maybe just Jay, since Jenna has come back). Does Mike-Mike count? He was hurting bad at the end of Rivals, IIRC.

ETA: Forgot about Chet. Dude could've been a hero and taken Frank out of Free Agents, but he got a cut. I don't remember if he was bleeding. If he was, it wasn't as bad as Abram's nose.

Nah, Coral totally wussed out and quit. She's pathetic. I would love to see Evelyn vs Laurel, but I think Evelyn would win. She's good at everything including puzzles. Laurel is kind of useless at puzzles. Also, Evelyn and Paula won Rivals I while Laurel and Cara Maria came in 2nd to them. 

Here's what I remember: the Veterans were on a "trim the fat" kick, and that included most of the guys. They wound up throwing missions in order to pit two of their own female contestants against each other. Coral wound up beating Beth in the Gauntlet, and Beth is as "fat" as they get. But then the guys tried to screw Coral again. She had no Mike. She didn't have Evan, who started showing his true colors at that time (re: not red and white). Given her situation of possibly getting pounded by Evelyn (a.k.a. Rachel v.2.0), Coral opted out. Teege made the Veterans throw in a replacement, and Casey (who is THE biggest wuss) was sacrificed. Evelyn and Casey ripped on Coral, which I didn't like. I kinda wish BMP had film of Coral seeing the finale, where rotund Eric -- whom all the guys were scared of facing in the Gauntlet because he could've Bethed his way deep into the game by beating them there -- almost died, and they got disqualified for not finishing with him. Bullshit? A little bit . . . in the original Gauntlet, lost players meant time penalties. But I think the Veterans deserved it, and the only person I felt bad for was Brad. I still hated CT back then.

ETA: That's how I remember it. I admit that I'm biased because I thought Coral was fun to watch. Evelyn and the Axis of Ass? Not so much.

On 2/19/2017 at 4:59 PM, Lantern7 said:

Here's what I remember: the Veterans were on a "trim the fat" kick, and that included most of the guys. They wound up throwing missions in order to pit two of their own female contestants against each other. Coral wound up beating Beth in the Gauntlet, and Beth is as "fat" as they get. But then the guys tried to screw Coral again. She had no Mike. She didn't have Evan, who started showing his true colors at that time (re: not red and white). Given her situation of possibly getting pounded by Evelyn (a.k.a. Rachel v.2.0), Coral opted out. Teege made the Veterans throw in a replacement, and Casey (who is THE biggest wuss) was sacrificed. Evelyn and Casey ripped on Coral, which I didn't like. I kinda wish BMP had film of Coral seeing the finale, where rotund Eric -- whom all the guys were scared of facing in the Gauntlet because he could've Bethed his way deep into the game by beating them there -- almost died, and they got disqualified for not finishing with him. Bullshit? A little bit . . . in the original Gauntlet, lost players meant time penalties. But I think the Veterans deserved it, and the only person I felt bad for was Brad. I still hated CT back then.

ETA: That's how I remember it. I admit that I'm biased because I thought Coral was fun to watch. Evelyn and the Axis of Ass? Not so much.

I wish the Veterans would have just flat-out said that they disliked Coral personally, rather than use the "trim the fat" argument. Because Robin? CASEY? Useless in most challenges. Has that ever been addressed by anyone from that season? The reunion show, IIRC, did not IMO.

On 2/26/2017 at 3:32 AM, Maharincess said:

I'm watching Battle of the Sexes and the second time around, I still don't understand what the stupid Ion lifesaver was for.  It was said it was to save somebody but the voting had already taken place by the time the lifesaver was given out so it couldn't save anybody. 

Does anybody remember what it was for? 

If I recall, the owner of the Livesaver could pick someone to save, they had to tell Jonny Mosely their choice (before the elimination announcement), and then at the elimination time, if the chosen person was the one picked to go home, they were saved. 

So, in one case, I think RWNO Jamie had won the lifesaver, picked a guy to save, and then Emily and Ruthie and Ellen voted off Veronica. Jamie then changed his choice to save Veronica, which Jonny told him he could not do, since he had already chosen someone else. It was mainly a way to create drama. Another time Shane won and picked Genesis as his recipient, which Genesis was reluctant to accept, as she was the low scoring girl and accepting meant that someone who had scored better than her would be sent home. I think Northern Trail Anne was next on the chopping block and she told Genesis not to feel bad for taking it, even though that meant Anne was going home. I also remember Veronica being in the inner circle while Emily was out, and Veronica told the camera, I'm  taking the high road and not going after Emily, and instead we are choosing to eliminate a poor performer. Just as I was thinking maybe I misjudged Veronica, I read Lori's weekly blog that points out that Veronica neglected to mention that the mission winner was James, who had already picked Emily as his save, therefore Veronica throwing Emily's name out there would have been a waste of time.

On 2/18/2017 at 8:10 PM, Lantern7 said:

While I'm thinking about it . . . what is the roll call of the quitters? Off the top of my head: David Edwards, Amaya (I'll have to double-check), Jake, Emily, Beth, Karamo (he had to leave, so he tanked the Inferno on purpose for Landon), Cameron. Beth again (sucked so hard) . . . and my memory gets fuzzy. Reluctantly, I'll throw in Coral, even though the Veterans of Gauntlet III were assholes to her, and probably would have treated her like shit even if she beat Evelyn, who is basically Poor Man's Laurel. Oh, and Jay & Jenna (maybe just Jay, since Jenna has come back). Does Mike-Mike count? He was hurting bad at the end of Rivals, IIRC.

ETA: Forgot about Chet. Dude could've been a hero and taken Frank out of Free Agents, but he got a cut. I don't remember if he was bleeding. If he was, it wasn't as bad as Abram's nose.

RW Hollywood Dave quit at the beginning of the Island, and also, Diem insisted during the Ruins via her twitter that she'd thrown the match vs. Tonya because she had to go home early. She also said Tonya was aware of this and picked her knowing Tonya would get an automatic win.

 

I also remember RR Tori planned to quit one (I think Cutthroat?) thus allowing Paula her spot in the final, then found out she didn't have to leave early and reneged on Paula (which I think was far dirtier pool than what Bananas did to Paula, but I digress).

 

Also, speculation that Timmy on Inferno III was improperly DQ'd so he could quit with grace over the glass in the knee mission.

 

ETA: Teege accused Australia Ashli of throwing an elimination round. She was injured and not likely to win, but I think she volunteered to go in because otherwise she would have been voted in.

Edited by Tatum

Question for those who remember The Ruins: Had Darrell not pummeled Brad into the following week, would he have been a contender for a spot with the final Champions team? I think he was acting like a dick, but he was probably better than the Axis of Ass (Evan, Johnny, Kevin) and their accomplices (Derrick, Susie). Seriously, I've repressed most of my memories of that season.

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Question for those who remember The Ruins: Had Darrell not pummeled Brad into the following week, would he have been a contender for a spot with the final Champions team? I think he was acting like a dick, but he was probably better than the Axis of Ass (Evan, Johnny, Kevin) and their accomplices (Derrick, Susie). Seriously, I've repressed most of my memories of that season.

I stopped watching after Tonya was kicked off, so disgusted was I with the whole thing. But my feeling is, Darrell may have made it to the end, but only because he was voted in and came back.

Of the 14 champions, the inner circle was JEK, plus Susie, Ibis, and Johanna. On the outer ring were Derrick and Darrell. Outside the circle were Ev, Veronica, and Syrus, who weren't included within the Asshole Brigade, but also not openly targeted, as long as they didn't get in the way. Katie, Tonya, and Wes were treated as lesions that needed to be removed immediately, and the inner circle made no secret of this. Wes because everyone hated him, Tonya because she was a drunk who made everyone uncomfortable, and Katie because she sucked at most competitions and they considered her dead weight (and Kenny helpfully pointed out that she wasn't even pretty, which made her worse than useless).

So, once they got rid of Wes, their next male target was outsider Syrus. After he left, it would  have been a tough call between Derrick and Darrell who would have been sent in. Derrick was closer to JEK outside the show, but they may have figured Darrell would do better in the final. Both men had pissed off the inner circle by protecting Veronica at the expense of Ibis (actually, Johnny did this too, but no one holds him responsible for anything ever). Both guys had expressed some disgust with how JEK treated the women. My feeling is, the next target after Syrus would have been Darrell, but I don't think any of the Challengers would have beaten him, so he would've been back. 

If I recall, Brad was the only remotely formidable male competitor on the Challenger side, and he got sent home, leading a pretty straight path to the end for the male Champions. The champion girls, on the other hand, were in general less athletic than the Challenger girls, particularly considering the best Champion girls were outside of the inner circle. Hell, even Tonya, drunk and mumbling about cats locked in her suitcase, was still a better athlete than Ibis and Johanna. This is likely why the girl/guy ratio was so lopsided at the end.

Somebody posted this on Facebook . . . a video from March 2015 spotlighting celebrations after Challenges.

Am I wrong for being put off by the selection? Hard to see so many scumbags win. And I'm guessing that any season without TJ doesn't count. I mean, Inferno II. Good Guys are whittled down to four people, they only really dispatched one Bad Ass (Dan; Karamo threw the Inferno to make a commitment, Beth left), and they still won. Or The Gauntlet. Watching the Sarah montage, ending with her interviewing, "Who would've thunk it? Sarah won a Challenge!" was one of the few times I misted up over reality television. But no, lets see the assholes win The Ruins. And Rachel and Evan luck into their wins in Duel II. I'm glad that this wasn't made today. Johnny's ultimate dirtbag move on Sarah would've gotten a minute, with slow-motion shots of Sarah cracking into a million pieces.

From The Decider: Apparently, Emily swung her bloody axe fourteen years ago today, and the author labels her the greatest villain in Challenge history. I can't really cosign on that. I mean, that was bad, but all time?!? Over Johnny, Wes, and any number of assholes I can think up? Fuck, by the time of the threesome in The Gauntlet, I basically forgave her. And she probably got asked back by BMP, but she figured three seasons in a row were enough. Lookin' at you, Veronica.

On 5/11/2017 at 0:42 AM, Lantern7 said:

Bumping up for memories of the "Epic Fail" special. How far did they go back? I saw the first several minutes, and I think they only went as far as Coral bailing in Gauntlet III. I'm guessing that Julie splashing down immediately in her final Inferno II mission didn't make the cut because TJ wasn't hosting until the following season.

That was funny, but that episode actually made me feel a little sorry for Julie. Her team basically said, we are voting you into elimination because none of us like you, but we expect you to play the mission to the advantage of the team (ie, take the easiest route, which will allow us to win the mission, but won't allow you to earn the highest time), and we expect you to put the team before your own interest, even though if we have our way you'll be off the team soon enough and won't see any advantage to us winning the mission anyways, and then act all pissed when she tries to save herself.

Most annoying was Jamie's whining, "why would she do that when we were finally winning?" uh, first off, Jamie, didn't you also fall into the water, thereby not helping your own team either, and second, you've made it known you will continue to put her in elimination until she finally loses and leaves, so she should sacrifice her spot on the team for a chance for the team to win more money that she won't even see? OK then.

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Thanks for posting! Although none of my favorite seasons are on, I will still watch some of the older ones.

 

Question though- you can find most of the older seasons on Youtube (such as original battle of the seasons, both battles of the sexes, the original Gauntlet, etc- like almost everything prior to 2006), and you can purchase seasons after 2007 on itunes, amazon, or possibly stream on the Dailymotion for free. Yet, for some reason, the Inferno 3- my all time favorite- does not exist anywhere. You can't buy it, you can't stream it- I cannot find it on any medium. If anyone knows a way to get this one season (where Derrick finally wins, the I hate Tonya game, Abe "washes" Susie's wet clothes via a toilet, Alton, Timmy, and Ace refuse to wear speedos), PLEASE tell me.

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Hello everyone! I'm new to The Challenge and I started watching on Pluto TV. I've seen a little bit of the 5 seasons they have there but mostly Battle of the Seasons 2012. At first I thought it was a nice season because it was mostly new faces and I didn't need to know that much history and their relationships were kind of self explanatory but the more I watch, the worse it gets. San Diego was terrible that season. When Frank yelled at Nany for her sister and Dustin for his past and then called Nany and Alton the 2 biggest troublemakers in the house, I got so annoyed. Then Trishelle acted innocent about getting Nany sent out of the house.

Seeing Marie flip out in her last episode was sad but judging by Ex on the Beach, I guess she's always been like that. I really enjoy Devyn. I didn't like when Nany had her stuff thrown in the pool or when Camila flipped out during the elimination with Big Easy. The behind the scenes gossip for the Fresh Meat team being a last minute replacement for Sydney was interesting and made a lot of sense. If the bit about 2 Vegas teams was true, I feel bad for Nany and Dustin for getting stuck with Trishelle.

I wonder what a new Battle of the Seasons would look like. I hope if they would have an AYTO team, they'd make is S8 people only.

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On 12/21/2019 at 11:08 PM, BK1978 said:

Has there ever been any news on Katie Doyle?  Not going to lie, I had a huge crush on her back then mainly because she looked like one of exes.  Once she stopped showing up on the show it is like she dropped off the face of the earth.

This is an interview from 2017: https://medium.com/@lexieduranyoung/q-a-with-katie-doyle-cooley-d63bb36e7f97

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Pluto TV has made me miss the early Challenges, so I’ve been watching them wherever I can. I am rewatching The Island and I believe I am witnessing the moment that John becomes Johnny Bananas. Had Abram not left, the Challenge may look a lot different today...

Also, any leads on how to watch the complete season of Inferno 3? that would be great. Maybe he became Bananas there...

(edited)

I got bored, and I wound up making a list of what happens to someone who wins the first elimination game of a given season. In most cases, I had to put in multiple entries in one season, usually due to gender.

image.thumb.png.166f28b03c7544283bd0c4032a0346cc.png

I'm guessing this means Jay is going to fail trying to win $1 million. Would that be for the second time or the third?

ETA: In Gauntlet 2, I counted Jodi's win, even though Cameran wound up quitting. Ruthie won the first female Gauntlet that actually happened. With IOTC, I counted the first wins from the challengers and the champions. I can clear up anything else if needed.

Edited by Lantern7

I signed up for a month of MTV Hits, which has Challenge seasons 20-30.  I'll be damned if I can find 1-19 for anything less than $2 an episode, which...let's see how long this quarantine lasts first.  (Unless someone knows where I can find them...that's really what I want to see.)  I watched 20 (Cutthroat), 21 (Rivals I), and 22 (Exes I) in about a day each.  Now I'm on 23 (Battle of the Seasons II) and it's taken me about 4 days to get through 3 episodes.  Should I keep going?  I remember who wins and some of the details, but not the whole thing.  I've seen every season (though I didn't remember much of Cutthroat AT ALL), but I can't remember - are there anymore seasons after 23 worth watching?  I honestly just want the earlier season - wah, poor me, lol.

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12 hours ago, lasu said:

I signed up for a month of MTV Hits, which has Challenge seasons 20-30.  I'll be damned if I can find 1-19 for anything less than $2 an episode, which...let's see how long this quarantine lasts first.  (Unless someone knows where I can find them...that's really what I want to see.)  I watched 20 (Cutthroat), 21 (Rivals I), and 22 (Exes I) in about a day each.  Now I'm on 23 (Battle of the Seasons II) and it's taken me about 4 days to get through 3 episodes.  Should I keep going?  I remember who wins and some of the details, but not the whole thing.  I've seen every season (though I didn't remember much of Cutthroat AT ALL), but I can't remember - are there anymore seasons after 23 worth watching?  I honestly just want the earlier season - wah, poor me, lol.

Cutthroat and Rivals 1 were some of my favorites, and I don't remember anything remarkable after that so...nahhh. 

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