At first, DCBLOG's plans for putting the punctuation mark on this early 2021 cycle of our coverage of MTV's The Challenge and the seventeenth overall season of the fifth major pro sport that we've covered in the nine years of this site had us cover the All-Stars reunion. But given the light nature of the Twitter buzz surrounding it, that won't be the case -- and the next time we bring you our signature 'Pulse episode posts will be when we commence the countdown to Season 37 at the end of this summer. So instead, we shall offer you this following special attraction for your enjoyment...
Thanks in part to that growing sentiment, those of you who got to join a new player in the streaming wars, Paramount+, no doubt got to enjoy The Challenge: All-Stars this spring. Despite it airing not on MTV and lacking the length of its regular season counterpart, this spinoff was more than just a usual sister of the main show: it more than lived up to the hype and brought us some great entertainment with the drama we come to expect from this show with some more than familiar faces. And it was all made possible by the efforts of not only the fans, but also by one who, a quarter century ago, made his reality TV debut on the first season of Road Rules.
Mark Long is appropriately nicknamed "The Godfather" in MTV Reality circles and with good reason: him being part of that first venture in an RV across the country in 1995 brought him much stature in this community of ours, one that brought him to doing many Challenge seasons starting with the first one in its competitive form in 1999, and then to both iterations of Battle of the Sexes, the second installments of The Gauntlet and The Duel, and recently on Battle of the Exes. His efforts of leading the charge to successfully landing an All-Stars Challenge spinoff only adds to his legend... and this past week, Mark wrapped up this successful venture with a fitting birthday bash to turn the magic 50 years old.
Three years ago this first June's weekend, several events happened to members of Team MTV: Wes Bergmann got married in Kansas City in the company of his Real World Austin castmates, while 4-time Challenge champ C.T. Tamburello joined mommy-to-be Jenna Compono and power couple Kam Williams & Leroy Garrett to run the famous Nickelodeon Double Dare obstacle course in San Francisco. And in New York City, many of their fellow Challengers past and present gathered in a bar in New York City to mark the kickoff to Final Reckoning and to also celebrate Mark's 47th birthday.
Among the dignitaries to join him for that big bash in the Big Apple in the summer of 2018 was Johnny Bananas, Darrell Taylor, Derrick Kosinski, Jemmye Carroll and Syrus Yarborough... and they would join Mark again back on Thursday night on the opposite coast in Los Angeles as they celebrated his golden birthday, just after the four competed with him on All-Stars. This big party took place in the same house that Michael Jackson rented out while preparing for his 2009 world tour before he died... and as has been the case for gatherings like these, everyone invited had their vaccination shots.
Compared to that NYC party, this one was much more star-studded: fellow All-Stars Beth Stolarczyk, KellyAnne Judd, Nehemiah Clark, Yes Duffy and Ruthie Alcaide joined with Mark for the big occasion, with Teck Holmes holding down the 1's and 2's as house DJ. Jonna Mannion, Kendal Sheppard, Aneesa Ferreira, Laterrian Wallace, Arissa Hill and OG alums Jon Brennan, Montana from RW Boston season, Amaya of RW Hawaii and Gauntlet queen Sarah Greyson also marked the big night underneath the stars.
They were also joined by America's Favorite Big Brother All-Star Da'Vonne Rogers and fellow alumni the Nolan Twins and Morgan Willett, Double Agents rookie Amber Martinez & her AYTO 8 alum Max Gentile with their fellow love show alums in video queen Nurys, Diandra, Anthony M., Ozzy, Cameron & ex Ariana and the king of MTV love Derrick H. And in attendance at this quaint little gathering was also Challenge Mania co-host, Scott Yager, along with Love Islander turned 2-time Challenger Georgia Harrison.
Below, the many highlights - both of the moving and still kind - of a historic evening at La La Land... and that includes someone getting thrown into the pool. You wouldn't expect anything else from a party as exciting and eventful as this, and it feels good to have sights like those below once again. And cheers to you, Mr. Godfather... you've done all of us in Challenge Nation proud.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).