DC ExtraTime: Welcome to Christmas at Tyler’s

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Right now as we watch Devin, Tori, Nelson and Nurys on The Challenge: Ride or Dies through the first two months-plus in Argentina, we can just marvel at how the first three have become big names on this show in the past half-dozen years, and how the ladder has quickly established herself in this year's rookie class. To the average fan within Challenge Nation, they might be just another group of four people in a world dominated by those who have been on this show longer than them... but to us, we have a better appreciation of them because of the fact that DCBLOG keeps an eye on the whole MTV world.

We have the unique distinction of having covered the entire MTV journeys of those four people above from the very beginning: they all began as those looking for love on Are You The One? -- and where three of those four above also went onto Ex On The Beach. We have seen through the entire journey of MTV's first foray into the current romantic reality craze both here at home and abroad, and when we get settled in the new year we'll be dusting off that matchup chart as the first season of AYTO since 2019 heads to Paramount+. And Season 9 will see new pairs of lovers try to find love inside the Truth Booth, and with a familiar face in Catfish's Kamie Crawford taking over as host when it debuts on January 18th.

Back on Christmas Day two years ago tomorrow, we took a look back at where it all began for AYTO when alumni of the first two seasons got together virtually on Instagram Live and Zoom to reminisce on that memorable experience of coming in single, coming out of it with a share of $1 million, and giving us so many memorable moments -- which became possible when their seasons joined the Netflix lineup. But one person was too busy to join them for that holiday party... and as it turns out, our subject was busy with another tradition of this year's last two months -- and it's one that's everywhere right now.

DC ExtraTime: An AYTO Girl Makes "Love Not War" with Jason Derulo

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

As the calendar turned to the month of December over a week ago, it marked not only the start of the run-up to tonight's premiere of The Challenge: Double Agents, but also the start of a depressing time for those who have Netflix. This is the last month that the platform's most streamed show, The Office, will be available for those to binge, as the show's distributor NBC Universal will bring the series to its fledging rival Peacock come January 1st, joining fellow Must See TV hit Friends in leaving the biggest player in the world of streaming video on demand for an in-house startup in the streaming wars.

But on the upside of things, December also saw the start of something magical for those who follow MTV Reality in the first of several shows from the channel's vast library being made available to Netflix. Unlike its rivals in the field (including where Friends went with HBO Max), the vision ViacomCBS has when it comes to making its shows available on streaming is that it doesn't make it exclusive to its own platform -- in this case, it's CBS All Access (soon Paramount+). Case in point: reboots of Singled Out and Punk'd were available on the now-shuttered Quibi service, and Facebook Watch was the home to the most recent season of The Real World in Atlanta.

In this case, two seasons each of The Challenge, Survivor and Teen Mom are being made available on Netflix, while Catfish and Jersey Shore are available on Hulu. And on December 1st as that time of year known as cuffing season began, it also got to welcome the first two seasons of MTV's Are You The One? to its lineup much to the delight of those who have followed the entire series from day 1 - which includes this blogger. By week's end, the show vaulted to the top 10 of Netflix's most-viewed TV shows list, and that has given reason for some of the show's alumni to do something that they didn't get to do when it aired back in 2014: do live sessions on Instagram with fellow castmates just like those from later seasons have been able to do to spill the tea... we'll share you some of those flashbacks from those as we get deeper into this winter.

But this has also brought to light the many accomplishments the many AYTO alumni have achieved since they were on the show, including the handful of those who've made their way to The Challenge including Amber M. of Season 8, Devin & Nelson of the legendary Season 3 cast, and part of the next generation of female challengers Tori and Kam who are among the group of Double Agents. There are so many other things that has happened to their fellow alumni since they left that last matchup, but this time we'd rather save the time and space for that... which leads us to the latest instance of AYTO making a mark on the mainstream.

DC ExtraTime: A Second Chance at How to Date

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

In two weeks from now, a new season of Love, MTV Style will turn its attention to an unlikely place for viewers who are used to sights of sandy beaches, sun, sexy castmates in bikinis & swimwear, and enough drama to let you dream of being in that summer weather while you're sipping on that hot cocoa or that icy cold one this time of year. But before the spotlight shifts to "The Ultimate Relations-XXX Show" and a new winter version of Ex On The Beach in Peak of Love, there is something of interest to those who love this rapidly-growing reality sub-genre, featuring some familiar faces.

Back in this spring, we looked at one of MTV's most versatile reality alums of recent times, Derrick Henry, as he got to spend some quality time with a hot young lady on the web series 6-Hour Match on YouTube love channel Daily Steam. It is only part of a romantic dating show resume Mr. Chocolate has amassed which saw him be on Are You The One? Season 5, two seasons of The Challenge, the U.S. version of European reality format Game of Clones, and recently on one of a slew of MTV's digital shows that appears on its YouTube channel each weekend, Flex on My Ex. But perhaps his most notable reality stint came with being part of the first Ex On The Beach U.S. cast and being the first ex to show up when he came as the ex of Angela Babicz, who then returned for Season 2 of the show last year and met her current boyfriend, 5-time Challenger Nelson Thomas.

Both Derrick H. and Nelson not only got to experience the American take on MTV's global dating franchise but are also alumni of AYTO, which marked MTV's first entry into the current romantic reality dating craze that now has networks everywhere making an investment, with Love Island and Temptation Island joining AYTO, Ex On The Beach, 90 Day Fiance and, of course, Bachelor Nation on our screens. And judging by the attention two of the Young Bucks got when Nelson & Angela appeared on Dr. Phil and fellow Challenger Cory Wharton becoming a dad again with EOTB original Taylor Selfridge last month, then Ex On The Beach is making waves both here and globally.. You can tell by some of its U.K. and U.S. alumni being a big part of The Challenge, as well as the Kaplan Twins of last season appearing on both Dr. Phil and with the Kardashians.

Also this year, Daily Steam invited two of those who were on Cory's and Nelson's EOTB seasons, as well as an AYTO alum of years gone by, to be on one of their many projects that gave them another shot at love. But here, it's more like what Derrick had to end his summer: a mix of The Dating Game with some laughs, and where the contestants are who are looking for their perfect match.