Road Rules - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your Roadies Topic!

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Lantern7]

In case you're wondering why this forum has been established, MTV Classic will be running episodes from the show, starting with the first season (aka "Marky Mark Long And The Funky Bunch") this Sunday. Whether you want to binge episodes as they reair or recall past seasons from memory, this would be the place to do it.

I'm thinking the best season has to be Northern Trail. Not too many headaches, and we got a young Dan and Roni, the latter being a highly-underrated competitor.

ETA: What about best opening credits? Sometimes, I can hear South Pacific, with the old tagline incorporated into song. Worst would be X-Treme. "LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER FROM HELL!!!" They did put X the Extreme Puppy in there, years before Daisy on RW: Portland.

[Lantern7]

If you want to talk about individual cast members, ranging from Mark (who "auditioned" to replace Puck in 1994) to the idiots from Viewers' Revenge, this is the place to do it.

Best Roadie to never appear on a Challenge? I'm thinking Msaada. I'm biased because she gave a great interview with Stee on MBTV, and she was so normal. As for best bromance . . . I reckon it's a toss-up between Christian and Timmy (RR2) and James and Theo (RR9). I confess my memory is very fuzzy in general

[Bob Sambob]

OK, I'm going to do this again. Try to name as many cast members from memory before I run out of steam:

Mark, Kit, Allison, Shelly, Los
Timmy, Christian, Effie, Emily, Devin
Chris, Michelle, Belou, Antoine, Patrice
Kalle, Jake, Vince, Erika, Oscar
Dan, Tara, Anne, Noah, Jon, Roni
Chadwick, Piggy, Susie, Kefla, Shayne, Christina
Josh, Abe, Brian, Holly, Sarah, Gladys
Veronica, Pua, Ayanna, Pawel, Yes, Shawn
James, Theo, Laterrian, Msaada, Kathryn, Holly(wick)
Steve, Blair, Adam, Ellen, Sophia, Christena, Jisella (Katie)
Darrell, Shane, Eric, Rachel, Kendal, Sarah (Raquel)
Dave, Donell, Abram, Cara,
Christena, Marybeth (Chris) (Tina) (Nick)
Patrick, Derrick, Danny (Jeremy), Jodi, Kina (Angela), Ibis (Jillian)

OK, this was much easier than I expected, right up until I got to the seasons where they deliberately started to make the missions impossible to finish, just so they could kick people off and introduce new cast members.

In fact, as you can see, I'm pretty sure I'm inventing a season that didn't exist, and since I refuse to look it up, I'm stuck.

I originally had Christena as a member of The Quest (I forgot Sophia with the Afro).

And lastly, I left the Viewer's Revenge season off since it began with a cast of all-stars.
The Pit Crew (a forgotten Challenge feeder system) is all that matters, and the only ones that really left a mark were Tori (obviously) and, I guess, Dan (who did a Challenge or two) and Derek (who might be best remembered as one of the guys TRYING to hold C.T. back when he was trying to eat Adam's brain).
I think Lamonte and Angel both did at least one Challenge.
David was the big oaf who got booted off the show for leaking info (remember, the show was in real time with a "Big Brother"-esque tape delay). Ivory was the one who wanted to hook up with Kina. After that, I remember two members of the Pit Crew who I always thought looked bred for the Challenge but probably never got an invite because they never got on the RV: Jerry and Kristen.

[Lantern7]

There was no "Nick" on South Pacific. You're thinking of Jeremy, but did two Challenges, but was about as memorable as Charlie. Who? Exactly. I think there was a Nick on the following season.

Before I forget . . . Here's my interview with Sophia from 2001.

ETA: Sarah Grayson is in a play running at the Fringe Festival in NYC. I'll be going on Sunday.

[Bob Sambob]

Which proves that I invented a season in there somewhere. Pretty sure the two seasons I couldn't complete are actually the same season, and then I have the replacements mixed up between it and the X-Treme season.

[ExplainItAgain]

Wow, first season. This takes me back. It's amazing how they really just let them loose and it all seemed very unorganized. No cell phones, no GPS. They snuck into a hotel to stay for one night and had to eat Taco Bell bean burritos all the time.

The fashion of the early 90s! So little makeup, hair extensions, etc. Kit was the oldest on the first season - she's 46 now!

Shelly Spottedhorse! Wow, I wonder whatever happened to her. She's like the Real World LA Aaron of Road Rules...never to be heard from again.

[Lantern7]

My mother watched some of the marathon. I would've recorded it all, but I don't think there was enough DVR stuff. She called Los "a piece of work." That sounds right, right? I mean, he's probably a prince compared to the toads we've been presented with, but he could have been better.

I still have the theory that BMP wants somebody to die on-camera. That almost happened when Mark's chute didn't deploy right away. Dude's hair looked like somebody who almost perished.

ETA: I don't know how many seasons we'll be getting. The end credits and "MTV" add-ons means that we're looking at the syndicated copy. I think that would cover RR1-8. And I did check next week's schedule. . . MTV Classic will have stuff devoted to the VMAs. I would like to see Christian and Timmy again. It's been too long.

[snarts]

Quote

The fashion of the early 90s! So little makeup, hair extensions, etc. Kit was the oldest on the first season - she's 46 now!

That's what I noticed too, all the flannel and baggy jeans. My awesome figure years were wasted looking like a lumberjack. 

Yes, I've watched RR since the beginning, so this was like a trip back in time.  SS1 musings;  Los was a misogynistic asshole & Kit had that IT factor from the beginning.  Was following Twitter during the marathon to see if any of the cast members surfaced.  I'm dying to know where Los & Shelly are now.  Someone did post that Alison is a Dr. in the San Diego area  Her Bio  

Edited to add that RR2 is scheduled for 9/4!  It appears they're going on order and will show them all.  My fave is RR3.  Can't wait!

Edited August 22, 2016 by snarts

[Lantern7]

Didn't Belou come close to killing Antoine in RR3? I'm only really familiar with their Challenge work.

Here's hoping Allison didn't have a boy and name him "Kermit."

[Princess Sparkle]

Well, hurting him maybe; she didn't come anywhere near killing him.  They were at breakfast and she got angry at him and grabbed a butter knife, but then ran upstairs before she did anything while the others calmed her down.  Antoine, who didn't see the butter knife originally (he just thought she was yelling)  was told a minute later that she had one, then chased her outside and tried to push her into the canal, so the rest of the group had to pull them apart.  

Edited August 22, 2016 by Princess Sparkle

[ExplainItAgain]

It's kind of nice to know that Alison wanted to be a doctor before RR and that after RR she made it happen. Those were the days....before every reality show contestant was an aspiring actor or famewhore. How fun to have had that experience back in the 90s before cell phones and social media.

Edited August 22, 2016 by ExplainItAgain

[Lantern7]

Heads-up: RR2 will be aired in thirteen days. So if you wanna see Christian, Devin, Effie, Emily and Timmy, you have been warned. I don't remember much, save for the Christian/Timmy friendship and the Devin/Emily showmance. Showmance-adjacent? Also, I want to see if Timmy was as corny as a Nebraskan's stool even in 1996.

[Sister Havana]

8 hours ago, snarts said:

That's what I noticed too, all the flannel and baggy jeans. My awesome figure years were wasted looking like a lumberjack. 

Yes, I've watched RR since the beginning, so this was like a trip back in time.  SS1 musings;  Los was a misogynistic asshole & Kit had that IT factor from the beginning.  Was following Twitter during the marathon to see if any of the cast members surfaced.  I'm dying to know where Los & Shelly are now.  Someone did post that Alison is a Dr. in the San Diego area  Her Bio  

Edited to add that RR2 is scheduled for 9/4!  It appears they're going on order and will show them all.  My fave is RR3.  Can't wait!

Kit and Mark were tweeting about it. 

So excited to see RR2 again. RR Europe and RR Northern Trail were my two favorite seasons. I loved Australia too.

ETA: Wasn't RR2 the season where they had to steal the 8 ball from the Real World: Miami pool table?

Edited August 22, 2016 by Sister Havana

[Bob Sambob]

1 minute ago, Sister Havana said:

So excited to see RR2 again. RR Europe and RR Northern Trail were my two favorite seasons. I loved Australia too.

I'm praying for a RR Europe marathon. I've been a pretty loyal RW/RR viewer from Day 1, but the seasons I know I still have huge gaps with are RW London, RR2, RR Europe, RR Down Under (I think), and RR Semester at Sea. Just how big of a gap, I'm not sure, but those are the BMP seasons I know there's episodes I've missed.

[Lantern7]

RW: London is slated to air on September 3. If RR: Europe was syndicated, I'm sure MTV Classic will air it. I'll try to catch that and Islands, a season with a limited Chalenge legacy.

[GreatKazu]

 CarLOS in many ways reminded me of Kevin from RWNY. The threats, name-calling only to the females, I got the same vibe from him that I got from Kevin - abusive asshole. I was correct in my assessment of Kevin when he admitted years later he had been abusive to his ex girlfriends. I wonder if LOS was also abuser to any partners? Shelly must have felt just awful having to be stuck on an RV with such a prick who threatened to slap her. Allison also had to endure his bullshit. 

[Bob Sambob]

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

RW: London is slated to air on September 3.

Yes, I posted that. I'll be knocking out two of my personal long-lost seasons in one weekend.

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'll try to catch that and Islands, a season with a limited Chalenge legacy.

Depends on how you define "legacy" in this case. Kalle was on the first true Challenge, Jake was on the first true BOTSexes, then they moved on.
And technically, RR Islands (and RW Boston) spawned the entire Challenge franchise with their two-episode crossover in Puerto Rico. They were the guinea pigs.

[Lady Iris]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 7:12 PM, Lantern7 said:

I would like to see Christian and Timmy again. It's been too long.

Ohhh I cant wait for that season. I adored Timmy and he and Christian's bromance was a thing of beauty.

 

17 hours ago, Sister Havana said:

ETA: Wasn't RR2 the season where they had to steal the 8 ball from the Real World: Miami pool table?

Omg. so adorably innocent back then. Now they'd probably challenge them to have group sex on the pool table.

[GreatKazu]

8 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

Omg. so adorably innocent back then. Now they'd probably challenge them to have group sex on the pool table.

That would not be a challenge nowadays for most reality show participants. That would be the norm.

[Lantern7]

"Why aren't you moaning?!?" "You're putting it in a pocket."

Does anybody remember how many RR seasons were syndicated? I'm thinking we would get subsequent editions with unaltered soundtracks. And maybe the casting specials. Maybe not the two-hour Maximum Velocity Tour recap ep, where BMP let Theo riff on the season.

[Bob Sambob]

I doubt we'll ever get the casting specials. I'm pretty sure the casting specials were always made by MTV, while the show was produced by BMP and distributed by MTV.

[Tatum]

On 8/22/2016 at 8:22 PM, Lantern7 said:

RW: London is slated to air on September 3. If RR: Europe was syndicated, I'm sure MTV Classic will air it. I'll try to catch that and Islands, a season with a limited Chalenge legacy.

RR Europe and RR Islands are forever my favorites. I love the episode where they're all explaining to Belou how annoying she is, and she decides to just jump out the castle window. As she's sticking her head through the window, the rest of them look at each other like, 1. is she seriously going to try this? and 2. are we going to do anything to stop her? finally I believe Patrice grabs the back of her dress to pull her away from the window.

 

I read in the behind the scenes book that the filming crew absolutely despised the RR Europe cast.

[Lantern7]

I hope the crew felt regret after Michelle was killed in an accident. I feel bad for her . . . she was the second BMPer to pass away, yet most people would forget she existed and focus on Pedro, Frankie, Joey Kovar, Diem and Ryan Knight.

I'm hoping Battle Of The Seasons gets replayed so we can see Belou go nuts against people who deserved it. I'd tune into RR3 to see if she was as nuts back then. And I hope she became a good "mudder" to Lloje, or however you spell his name.

[snarts]

Quote

RR Europe and RR Islands are forever my favorites.

Mine too, along with RR2.  Add in the early All-Stars & RW/RR Challenges.  I'm really hoping MTVClassic will show some of those.

RR was my early travel porn before the days of House Hunters International.  There are still places I want to go just from seeing them on RR.

[Lady Iris]

I'm praying they show the early RW/RR Challenges. I remember Janet was in one of them and she's so adorably sweet and funny. Beth S and Mark were in one too, might've been the first or second one.

[Sister Havana]

On 8/25/2016 at 5:18 PM, Lantern7 said:

I'd tune into RR3 to see if she was as nuts back then. 

Spoiler alert: She was, if not more so. 

[Tatum]

On August 27, 2016 at 1:17 PM, Sister Havana said:

Spoiler alert: She was, if not more so. 

You know, I thought Belou could be funny but I would have despised living with her. I remember one episode where she lost her passport (was buried somewhere in her luggage) and she's cursing and flinging around items and stomping around and it's basically everyone's fault but hers that she's misplaced her passport, and there's poor Michelle just sitting there calmly like, oh Belou's losing her shit again must be a day that ends in Y. 

[Bob Sambob]

6 hours ago, Tatum said:

You know, I thought Belou could be funny but I would have despised living with her. I remember one episode where she lost her passport (was buried somewhere in her luggage) and she's cursing and flinging around items and stomping around and it's basically everyone's fault but hers that she's misplaced her passport, and there's poor Michelle just sitting there calmly like, oh Belou's losing her shit again must be a day that ends in Y. 

It's been a long-ass time since someone referenced a BMP scene I don't remember. Christ, I NEED a RR: Europe marathon! There have been 31 seasons of "The Real World," there were 14 seasons of "Road Rules," and there have been 28 seasons of "The Challenge" (29 if you count the Spring Break Challenge, which I do, to a certain extent -- it's as much a Challenge season as "Road Rules All-Stars" was). That's close to 75 seasons of Bunim-Murray television content. And without questions, RR: Europe is by far the season I saw the least of. Back in the day, when they would show marathons all the friggin' time on MTV, this was the season that still rarely got shown. A marathon HAS to happen.

[Tatum]

For whatever reason, RR3 got next to no airplay. And certain episodes never had a rerun- the fashion show Michelle and Belou were in only aired once. The one or two times BMP reran that season they skipped that episode. 

Mary Ellis Bunim said in the book that RR3 cast was extremely rude to the filming crew- Antoine actually kicked his camera man out of anger at Belou. 

She also said the cast was very secretive and uncooperative during confessionals and this cast changed their casting process as a result to avoid it happening again. All cast except Patrice ended up on The Challenge at some point so I guess no hard feelings but MEB seemed quite sour at the time.

[Sister Havana]

Speaking of Patrice, he was on the German version of Dancing With The Stars in 2014. He was the first one eliminated.

[snarts]

The fact that I remembered her full name scares me, but Belou is on Facebook.  Squeee, so is Chris!

[Lantern7]

In your defense, it is an easy name to remember.

Patrice is considered a celebrity in Germany? What for? I'm legit curious.

[Tatum]

Believe Patrice was a German fashion model when he was cast on Road Rules. 

 

Belou is derived from elizaBEth LOUise, per the book. 

[Lantern7]

Checking MTV Classic's site . . . no sign of any RR on September 11. Maybe it'll be run every other week? There's no RW slated the day before. I think RR1 will be run on September 8-9.

For anybody who was into RR3 . . . was Antoine . . . ambiguous in his original tour of duty? I still have memories of the "Toine-ata" shown on the reunion after BOTS1, with him yelling, "Anything for my boys!"

[Tatum]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Checking MTV Classic's site . . . no sign of any RR on September 11. Maybe it'll be run every other week? There's no RW slated the day before. I think RR1 will be run on September 8-9.

For anybody who was into RR3 . . . was Antoine . . . ambiguous in his original tour of duty? I still have memories of the "Toine-ata" shown on the reunion after BOTS1, with him yelling, "Anything for my boys!"

I do recall a lengthy TWOP discussion around the time of the first Battle of the Sexes airing regarding Antoine's sexuality, but I think most people decided it was more of a cultural thing with him. As far as I know, his only romances on the shows he's been on have been with women. On RR3, he hooked up with Belou and a series of random women local to wherever they were staying. I know he also hooked up with another woman while on BOTS1, but I can't remember who. Possibly NOLA Melissa?

[Lantern7]

Reposted the preview special for Battle Of The Sexes from 2002/2003 on my blog. The funny thing is that I made a reference for New York viewers to tune in on Saturday nights at 1 a.m. to catch Road Rules: Europe. So I guess it was syndicated.

[Tatum]

Does anyone remember when MTV aired Real World and Road Rules Theater? It was basically a group of people sitting on couches watching the show, and then commenting on it. They'd show the people talking about the episode before and after commercial breaks. The girl that hosted it had curly blondish hair and may have been a VJ. Pretty sure it aired in 1998. Anyways, it was really funny. They really skewered Belou and also RW SF Cory. 

[GreatKazu]

OMG Tatum you have all the tidbits about RR3. I can't remember anything about it other than Belou.

RW and RR Theater? I have no recollection of that show. Sounds like the People's Couch on the Bravo Network.

I am looking forward to RR2. The only exception being I have to endure watching Effie. Effie was an effing bitch.

[Bob Sambob]

32 minutes ago, GreatKazu said:

I am looking forward to RR2. The only exception being I have to endure watching Effie. Effie was an effing bitch.

I always remember the, I think, Civil War re-creation mission, where the Roadies got awakened at the buttcrack of dawn, and Effie just kept saying "I'm up ... I'm UP! OK?" like a little kid who doesn't want to go to school, and Timmy telling the guy running the mission, "Um, she's not fighting this war until she gets her coffee." Pretty funny.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Bob Sambob

[Lady Iris]

I adored Timmy! So looking forward to seeing RR season 2. I have to say I'm not as put off as I thought I'd be at the soundtrack being reduced to generic music. I'd have loved to have heard how it was originally done just to add to the nostalgia of seeing these early seasons of RW and RR.

[Tatum]

1 hour ago, Lady Iris said:

I adored Timmy! So looking forward to seeing RR season 2. I have to say I'm not as put off as I thought I'd be at the soundtrack being reduced to generic music. I'd have loved to have heard how it was originally done just to add to the nostalgia of seeing these early seasons of RW and RR.

I know what you mean. I was watching RR Islands on Youtube and as Kalle is explaining to the cameras that she is at a crossroads in her relationship with her boyfriend at home, and then they start playing One Headlight by the Wallflowers. All the sudden I was back in the 8th grade, squealing that Jake and Kalle were One True Pair.

[Lantern7]

Bumping up for the RR2 marathon tomorrow. Also, RW: Las Vegas is slated for September 17, so we might not get RR3 the following day. I hate to think they'd run the adjacent Campus Crawl, because I never liked seeing Sarah suffer. And aside from her and Kendal's coat, there was nothing worth watching. Well . . . there was Steven getting handcuffed to the hot tub. That was awesome. "Raquel? Raquel???"

ETA: RR2 marathon starts at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. I've set the whole season on DVR.

[snarts]

For those who might have missed the S1 marathon a few weeks back, my DVR is showing multiple episodes airing daytime this Thurs & Fri.

[Lantern7]

I'll have to check the MTV Classic schedule to see what will air on the 18th.

I'm flipping between MTV Classic and Esquire . . . did we see a commercial for All-Star Challenge?

Seeing the gang invade the Miami house. Funny to see Dan and Cynthia again. Were the pranks funnier when RR wasn't well known? I still remember the time RR9 swiped the Aibo dog, and Melissa's reaction was, "Is this some Road Rules bullshit? Because I don't want to play!!"

[Sister Havana]

Their mission this episode was...registering people to vote. Those were the days!

[Racj82]

"Christian, don't drown. It'll ruin your day" Timmie cracks me up.

[snarts]

4 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

 

I'm flipping between MTV Classic and Esquire . . . did we see a commercial for All-Star Challenge?

Lantern7, yes, we did. Mixed into the commercials between episodes 2 & 3. The Playboy Mansion party.

I beg them to air the early challenges, they were my absolute favorites. 

[GreatKazu]

On 8/31/2016 at 0:14 AM, Bob Sambob said:

I always remember the, I think, Civil War re-creation mission, where the Roadies got awakened at the buttcrack of dawn, and Effie just kept saying "I'm up ... I'm UP! OK?" like a little kid who doesn't want to go to school, and Timmy telling the guy running the mission, "Um, she's not fighting this war until she gets her coffee." Pretty funny.

Timmy was the best.  Christian as well. Timmy was like the female version of Kit. Those are the kind of people I love to be around and why I really liked them on this show. While Effie and Los (RR1) who had some deep-rooted issues including behaving like two, immature, angry kids, everyone else just took things in stride and enjoyed the trip.