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: Sexy and These "Beasts" Know It... (Including That "One")

*** CAUTION: This Post Contains Spoilers for Those Who Haven't Caught Up with Watching This Series So Far, Please Read with Caution Below. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

   ESTIMATED READING TIME: 16 Mins.

Along with offering weekly episode coverage of the shows you love as we've gone Inside MTV Reality on here for eight years, DCBLOG has also been able to bring you the other side of television's most-talked about reality programming. Whenever something that pops up on the social feeds that opens our eyes a bit, or when this ecosystem crosses at the intersection of pop culture, then we get to tell these stories through the unique vantage point of ExtraTime... including this first one of the fall 2021 cycle.

All Sexy Beasts Screencaps Courtesy Netflix

The world of reality television has offered us plenty of memorable moments, personalities, shows and formats that have become staples everywhere you go. In watching The Challenge the past three years an aspect that didn't exist years ago, and one that no one could have envisioned, is now par for the course: those from other reality franchises (most of which air on an MTV or ViacomCBS-affiliated outlet in any territory around the world) now compete on the show along with your longtime and new favorites.

Of course, you got MTV to thank -- or to blame, depending on whom you ask -- for making it possible for networks to devote a decent amount of their primetime evening entertainment programming to non-scripted content part of our 21st century television landscape. Same goes for the many over-the-top streaming outlets that have become a hot commodity in our year-plus at home in pandemic life, where they have also invested in reality programming around their elaborate budgets on scripted content.

And as we have been seeing three reality alumni from shows that actually air on internet platforms that compete with Paramount+ for our eyeballs in this new age, over the summer that new world and that of the MTV Reality ecosystem collided, at least for one episode. It all came in perhaps the most bizarre of all dating and reality shows that's come along during the past two decades... and for the root of all this, you have to go back to the last summer of the old normal.

Inside MTV Reality: The Look Ahead - Are You The One? Heads to Vanderpump Rules?!?

 #DCBLOG  EXCLUSIVE 

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BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Back in 2019, this site first zoomed in on the happenings of a popular restaurant located not far from the Sunset Strip and down the street from the headquarters of a firm that's been feeling the heat lately in the organizers of the Golden Globe Awards. SUR is one of the businesses owned by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Lisa Vanderpump, which is best known as the location for one of the many spinoffs of Bravo's signature reality franchise.

In a way, Vanderpump Rules is perhaps bigger than the parent series itself in that, for eight seasons, it has followed just about everyone who has worked for Lisa at SUR or at the many other restaurants and businesses under either her watch or that of the other cast members, for whom they have such a solid following among reality TV fans and those in the social media realm. That includes Scheana Shay, who last week welcomed her first baby two years after sparking rumors that she would be the first in her cast to become a mom but later revealed that she was freezing her eggs before expecting, and during when she going through a divorce of her fiancé.

Since it aired the finale of its eighth season aired 11 months ago, VPR has gone through a lot: not only has Scheana and the cast welcomed babies to their families and have tied the knot, the obvious situation we're still in because of the pandemic meant that the restaurant was shut down for an entire year... and during SUR's closure the series was also affected by the summer that changed everything in reality TV. And now after the long layoff, filming of Season 9 is now underway down in the Southland, with it to air on the NBC Universal-owned cable channel later this year.

And you might be wondering why we are covering this show in the first place once again after we first featured Scheana on here getting to host Jersey Shore's Ronnie Ortiz and MTV vet Kailah Casillas the night he had that IG live fight with his baby mama Jen Hurley... It's because of a few photos that popped up on the SUR Instagram page in the past week that gives us some wondering that the takeover of alumni of the reality shows we cover solely on here in MTV's lineup may stretch to the show that calls the restaurant its home. For the origin of this, you have to go back to around the time when this show was well into its second season.

DC ExtraTime: The AYTO Flasher Takes Over the Hollywood Sign

*** CAUTION: This Post Contains Content That is Intended for a Mature Audience. Parental Guidance is Suggested. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Twitter @JuliaRose_33

Earlier this winter in time for both cuffing season and five of its alumni suiting up on The Challenge Double Agents, MTV's Are You The One? was thrust into the spotlight when the first two seasons of MTV's first entry into the modern reality dating show craze was made available on Netflix. The original Season 1 cast and their Season 2 successors gathered together separately via Zoom and Instagram Live to spill the tea, something they didn't get to do much when their seasons aired back in 2014.

The aforementioned current season of The Challenge features Tori Deal, who made her MTV debut five years ago on AYTO Season 4, and who recently endured a breakup with her ex-fiancé, three-time Challenge champ Jordan Wiseley. On a global level, her season is part of the broad resume across the showbiz industry of Israeli born reality star Asaf Goren, but to another section of the American public it's also the one introduced perhaps AYTO's most tabloid-friendly alumnus.

The journey Julia Rose has been on hasn't followed Tori to the fifth major pro sport, but has surely made a name for herself in the world of online influencers and doing whatever it takes to bring attention to her emerging brand in content not suitable for work or Instagram. And this past week came the latest chapter in this ongoing circus that has taken her from the World Series to getting close with Jake Paul, to one of the biggest landmarks in all the world.

DC ExtraTime: Is Miley Cyrus's Brother Cheating with That MTV Lover Girl?

BY DC CUEVA                         

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

MTV-Related Photos Courtesy MTV

This Thursday night, the bubble of a hotel rented out by MTV's most beloved family ever, the cast of Jersey Shore, will have their fourth Vacation and tenth overall season be crashed by the arrival of someone who we last saw just a few short months ago in Las Vegas. The lost summer of 2020 saw us have to spend those warm days & nights be trapped at home, but it didn't deter us from having fun in watching those sights of things we desperately need come to us by way of the capital of adult freedom.

A Double Shot at Love debuted in spring 2019 in between the second and third seasons of the Jersey comeback tour as the attention turned to the two remaining bachelors in this dysfunctional family, DJ Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino as they sought to find their perfect match. After the stunning twist of that first season in the battle to win the hearts of the bromance, DSAL returned for Season 2 last year as the attention turned to having the most epic summer ever in the heart of the Southern Nevada desert. And in a summer without Are You The One or Ex On The Beach, we were more than entertained by the Shore franchise's hybrid of love, fist pumps and hiliarity... and even help to manage a day/nightclub located right on the Strip.

But before Nikki Hall comes walking into the hotel to spend quality time with Pauly, we have a perfect segue way to her visit to Hotel Jersey: someone who she was closest to the past two years -- and one who was the only familiar face other than the bromance to walk into the DSAL mansion two years ago -- is now following in the footsteps of some of her fellow contemporaries in the land of MTV love in making some moves. And for here, it's a member of one of the most renowned musical families of recent memory, the first big moment of which came during that rad decade of the '90s.

DC ExtraTime Flashback: Are You The One? - Reflection from the Originals

This Post is Dedicated in Memory of One of AYTO's Beloved Castmates, Alexis Eddy, Who Died Back in January of This Year.

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

The story of MTV Reality represents the history of the non-scripted genre as it is recognized by fans and the industry, encompassing almost three decades of some of TV's most unique programming. During these coming months in addition to weekly coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents, DCBLOG ExtraTime is proud to offer a special Flashback series as we look back at some of the most memorable moments, greatest shows and incredible personalities that has shaped this entire genre.

During a year we will finally put to rest in less than a week from now, a recent trend in the land of social media has been of users on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the like to compare themselves from when they started doing something and how it's evolved greatly to this moment in their lives. In the case of yours truly, my "How It Began, How It's Going" moment doesn't really apply to being posted on those apps, but on this page you're viewing right now.

   In my first cycle of blogging on MTV matters on this DCBLOG site in the summer of 2013, that first summer consisted of less than twenty posts covering just the season-ending reunion of Season 28 of The Real World in Portland and the entirety of the ensuing Rivals II Challenge, with a few supplementary posts on the side which ultimately evolved these posts known as the ExtraTime series. What I didn't know going into the next wave of programming the following winter was that my beat would begin to gradually expand to the point where it's now a year-round activity that doesn't just cover the fifth major pro sport and the show that began reality TV.

   I've been a lifelong MTV fan going back over two decades well before I decided to take my fandom into social media in joining Twitter in the summer of 2012 and then to the blogosphere a year later. As one who has a lot of memories of watching a wide range of shows reflecting the joy of being young, in what this very post is the 1300th on this site I not only covered those two aforementioned shows, but also everything from the fun and drama of two different sets of cliques who call Florida home, to tabloid-friendly series, one-hit wonders and the list goes on.

But, there's one show that helped pave the way for helping expanding my horizons in this world: seven years ago next month, that show came along in combining the elements of what MTV does best in this genre of the big-time drama we come to expect from reality TV, the high-stakes of The Challenge and incredibly young & hot people... with a thing my parents have been fans of for a long time: Bachelor Nation and romantic reality dating shows. The show was given the gymnastic name of Perfect 10 to begin with, but it evolved into Are You The One? -- known just by the acronym AYTO.

   It's safe to say that I was hooked from the very beginning, and I can also be one of the small handful who can lay claim to being a Day-1'er. I have followed this ride from the start and from even before the buzz began to take shape: someone from that original group liking my pictures on Instagram helped break the ice. And it has continued through the Season 3 cast and the incredible resume they've chalked up since, the ultimate heartbreak that Season 5 had to go through in the Caribbean, the comeback of the decade Season 6 pulled off in New Orleans, and its most recent chapter in giving the LGBT community their chance to look for love.

   And we at this site have gotten to follow the entire journey of these eight seasons: we've taken the 'Pulse of every episode, told the backstories of many of those who've gone for love on AYTO, and done our best to sort things out when it comes to cracking the code of the perfect matches like what NBC's Steve Kornacki has done in becoming an icon and making his khaki pants a hot Christmas gift in sorting out the Path to the White House through analytics during this year's election and now, the NFL playoffs.

It may not be MTV's first foray into this genre after its 90s hit Singled Out and its first collaboration with Jersey Shore executive producer Sally-Ann Salsano in A Shot at Love... but this is by far its most unique and successful when it comes to the many facets of what the game is about, and how it has brought that recipe for success into a genre that's now the hottest trend in the non-scripted space. But in a year that had no new season of it airing this year due to the pandemic, as we began cuffing season we got the next best thing that's just as good: so many flashbacks... thanks to it joining the biggest player in the battle for streaming supremacy.

   Earlier this month, MTV's Are You The One? joined Netflix when the first two seasons of the show was made available on the platform, and by week's end it was in the top 10 list of most viewed shows there. And this gave reason for the series' first two casts to get together to do something they didn't get to do much when it aired back in 2014 but is something recent casts have gotten to enjoy: spilling the tea on social media and on YouTube. We're sure you're gonna have the feels and the flashbacks going back down memory lane as you check this out on this Christmas Day...

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: AYTO Takes Over Boogie's Comedy Slam

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Tomorrow is a day most of us have been looking forward to, or dreading, depending on the mood you are in right now as we are this close to Election Day. As a place you come to for a place of escape as detailed by a slogan I've taken ownership of since March - "The Escape You Deserve", we don't really need to elaborate on that title above... but one aspect of American society which has taken full advantage of this situation we are in has been the world of comedy. And judging by the playful jabs and jokes that Stephen Colbert and other late night talk show hosts have given us before bed all during this tough year, then they have treated this campaign and lead-up to tomorrow as a daily field day.

Making you laugh has been a regular fixture of this DCBLOG ExtraTime series, including the instances of online pranksters hanging out with MTV'ers, the lighter moments involving these people, and what we got planned next in showing those hilarious costumes from back on Halloween on Saturday night. And someone who's been a frequent subject on here has been the resident comedian of the show that brought me into watching romantic reality TV: John Jacobs was part of the first Are You The One? cast and paved the way for other shows to join The Challenge when he was on Battle of the Exes 2, but we've featured JJ many times here including his Tampa News Force YouTube satire series.

Two years ago, we had another comedian take a break from telling jokes to head to the one show where the hopes of a perfect match and a million dollars can live or die by lasers and lights. And just recently, that man got to do what he does best in front of a couple NBA stars and in two places he calls home: the stand-up stage and in the place he grew up in - the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.

DC ExtraTime Double Shot: Meet Tai Verdes, and Bryce & A Busch Girl

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

As this lost summer of sorts rages on, yesterday saw our lives feel full once again thanks to the 10th anniversary of the forming of One Direction, followed by Taylor Swift releasing a new surprise album. And it's with those two items in mind that we have two musical stories for the price of one to start off your summer's weekend...

Last Friday, global pop star Chris Brown dropped a new music video that saw him do something that's inconceivable in our new reality, but something we're sure we're gonna do once we finally socially distance ourselves from COVID: throw a house party. Those who also follow our primary beat of MTV Reality shows may have spotted a familiar face asking Chris and Young Thug to join her on her next journey: Nurys Mateo of Are You The One? and Ex On The Beach. But as it turns out, she isn't the only alum of the Season 6 cast to make waves this summer (new dad Malcolm and dad-to-be Anthony included).

In the final two weeks that determined the group's fate, one of the key turning points that kick-started their historic comeback from being down to one light in two weeks to lighting all eleven at season's end to fly out of New Orleans $1 million richer was what happened in their ninth week. After sitting together for most of those excruciating eight weeks as everyone was focused on various romances in that house, Bostonian Nicole Spiller and Los Angeles basketballer Tyler Colon were sent into the Truth Booth, and they emerged as what turned out to be the season's only Perfect Match.

But perhaps, Ty saved his biggest moments of his AYTO experience for when he got to take out of his suitcase a ukulele to join the Oakland rapper who always wears that baseball cap (and who once got to meet up with a guy named Stephen Curry), Ethan Cohen aka "Emoney," to perform some music. They first collaborated on a song that they fittingly called "The Perfect Match Song" which they then performed at the end of the end-of-season reunion, followed by recording some songs together including "Happy Place."

DC ExtraTime: Someone You Should Know - Love is Blind's Mark Cuevas

*** WARNING: One Video Embedded in This Post Contains Adult Language Not Usually Heard on Conventional Television... Parental Guidance is Suggested. This Post Also Contains Spoilers for Some Readers... Please Read with Caution. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Something that has galvanized all of us who watch and obsess over the world of reality television in the course of two decades has been its romantic aspects. There are those who find themselves in love on reality dramas like Laguna Beach and Siesta Key, those who hook up to try and gain clout on The Challenge, and of course reality dating shows. The past year has seen this subgenre become a hot item with just about every network having at least one of those love shows airing on their platform.

You are not alone: I've been obsessed with Are You The One and Ex On The Beach since they began on MTV and is now into A Double Shot at Love this summer, while my mom & dad are longtime loyal members of Bachelor Nation. But you're not gonna believe this: since we're busy watching YouTube Vegas slot videos (like both my mom & dad are right now at this moment as this post goes to press), sports, news, my MTV obsession and other things, neither me nor my parents subscribe to any pay TV streaming service... same goes for premium channels.

But there is something of interest to those who follow those who fall in love on television thanks to browsing through the Instagram feeds several times each day. It's what happened last weekend as public places begin to open back up after that long & quiet spring caused by the corona crisis that brings us to the latest subject of Someone You Should Know: a star from one of the year's breakout hits across the whole TV dial - not just factual entertainment. And it comes from an aspect of the media that, at first, wouldn't be the first choice in the world of reality TV, but in the space of the first six months of this year has given us some delightful guilty pleasures.

DC ExtraTime: AYTO Meets An American Idol

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This extended Valentine's & President's holiday weekend we're now in will, this Sunday, see the premiere of the eighteenth overall season of the show that is the epitome of when up & coming singers from across this broad country of ours take the stage, perform in front of the bright lights and who can go from being no-names to big names in the span of a few months. As the granddaddy of modern-day musical talent showcases, American Idol enjoyed a glorious run of being the most-watched show on American television for nearly a decade, and like many other programs it has not only been revived after it went off the air a few years ago, it's also a reality genre that was brought to us by the folks across the pond.

(Josh Vertucci/ABC)

The Idol franchise originated in 2001 in the United Kingdom when TV producer Nigel Lythgoe saw a TV musical talent show while on holiday (British slang for "vacation") in Australia and was inspired by that show's idea of a judge panel watching singers audition in front of them. He & music exec Simon Fuller (the man behind the Spice Girls) took that idea, added voting by phone (and later, by mobile texting) by viewers, humanizing the performers in telling their backstories, and everything going on in real life to create Pop Idol. He hired a little-known but always blunt record producer & talent scout named Simon Cowell as a judge, and the program became successful first in the UK before evolving into the more successful The X Factor, and the originating show turned its attention to outside Britain (where a local version has been adopted in nearly 50 countries), including becoming big in the United States.

After a lukewarm reception in its initial pitches to the American networks, the FOX network would ultimately and reluctantly sign onto the Idol idea in the summer of 2002. It stayed true to the original British format, but tweaked the series into airing multiple nights to show as many auditions from cities across America in the season's first phase, then ensure everyone coast-to-coast could vote for their favorite performances before the results are revealed the next night -- now standard practice for reality competition shows. The combination of incredible performances and talent, the judges and the interactivity of the voting process, saw Idol become a phenomenon in its rookie year, and saw Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson and many others become household names as did its original judges in Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon, and its host in a radio DJ by the name of Ryan Seacrest.

American Idol returns for its third season on ABC this weekend... and it's in that spirit that we'd like to tell you one small story involving an MTV Reality alum who got to meet one of its biggest alumni. A note: this does not include the two notable Idol alums who are heading towards the end of their winters in the Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love chalet of Adore Delano (aka Daniel Noriega) from the '07 & '08 seasons, or fellow alum Ryan Gallagher... but the co-subject is part of an exclusive club that only her and sixteen others are a part of.

DC ExtraTime: The AYTO'er/World Series Flasher Meets Jake Paul

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Something that was commonplace in the decade that's just past us by has been of MTV Reality alums making their mark outside the channel itself - and we've followed many of their treks for you here. As far as 2019 is concerned, Angela Babicz & Nelson Thomas met on Ex On The Beach Season 2 and brought their relationship drama to the stage of Dr. Phil -- and last night they rung in the new year together in Las Vegas. There's fellow EOTB2 single Corey Brooks having his beach boxing session getting video-bombed by Bradley Cooper, housemate Nurys Mateo getting to lock lips with Cardi B. in the music video for her lead single off her last album, and so many other stories in seven years.

And then, there's Julia Rose of Are You The One? Season 4 of now four years ago, who garnered much attention in October when she took some friends out to the ballgame - but not necessarily for baseball, no less one of America's most-revered sporting events. Julia and two friends who she works with for adult entertainment company SHAGMAG, and she co-founded with along with her love & fiance, Stephen McHugh, decided to crash the 2019 World Series by flashing themselves behind home plate during the Fall Classic... and they paid the price in gaining the Pete Rose treatment from Major League Baseball: a lifetime ban from attending games.

Since what went down in Washington, D.C. a few months ago, the amount of followers to Julia's social media platforms have only increased (she did beat Cheyenne Floyd of Season 3 and Teen Mom OG to 1 million followers) as has the public attention for her. So much was the case when she received the VIP treatment at one of 2019's most-anticipated fights - and one that didn't involve full-time professional boxers: YouTube influencers KSI and Logan Paul squaring off in a rematch of their disputed majority draw in their first bout in London back in February. It came after the ladder ran into EOTB UK star turned stripper & now Challenge champ Rogan O'Connor while they both were in London for the Tuber's press tour and the filming of the War of the Worlds 2 reunion.

Julia and her friends sat ringside watching that rematch and an undercard headlined by British fighter Billy Joe Saunders at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and streamed live on DAZN, and the six-round main event in the cruiserweight division saw KSI squeak out a split decision points victory over Logan, and settled the score in the battle of the YouTubers. Outside of the ring, Julia was spotted in her Instagram story giving a kiss to a friend seated next to her... but unlike what happened that night at Nationals Park her being spotted there was the only action viewers saw of her on TV. And her getting to see one-half of the most revered & hated siblings in all of YouTube brought her to the attention of Logan's brother, and one who's now part of Team MTV himself.

DC ExtraTime: The World Series Crash by the AYTO Flasher

 *** CAUTION: This post contains content intended only for a mature audience. Parental Guidance is Suggested. *** 

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

When you look at it, baseball is a sport that is rich in tradition and history, where this past season marked the 150th anniversary of professional baseball starting in this country when the Cincinnati Red Stockings (the present Reds) began play by the National Association in 1869. The sport is the true epitome of "old school" in American sport, from the Red Sox and Cubs playing in small & cozy ballparks that have been around for over 100 years, to the relative slow pace of games that take 3 hours to complete from first to last pitch. And it's a tradition every fall that baseball's best battle to make it to the World Series and claim the championship of Major League Baseball.
   Even though no team has been able to put together back-to-back championships for a longer spell than in the 150-year history of the Fall Classic, the past two decades have seen classic postseason battles, the crown being rotated among the Yankees, Cardinals, Phillies and modern-day expansion clubs. But the most notable headline has been of lengthy title droughts coming to an end with the Red Sox turning an 86-year championship drought into four titles in 15 years, the Giants winning three in five years after waiting 56 years for a ring, and the Cubs winning it all after a classic Game 7 in 2016 in snapping 108 years of futility as those Lovable Losers.

Sports Illustrated

This year's World Series produced the fortieth Game 7 in the long history of the Fall Classic, and while it might not have clicked with the whole of the American sporting public - which echoes the relative drop of interest in the national pastime since the strike of twenty-five years ago, it once again put the nation's capital back in the sporting spotlight, as for the second time in 16 months a team from Washington, D.C. competed for a championship. The Washington Nationals came to the World Series for the first time in their current iteration going back to being the Montreal Expos up until 2005, while the Houston Astros looked to win a second World Series in three years after they won the 2017 crown and lifted the spirits of their hometown after Hurricane Harvey months before.
   In the end, history was made: the Nationals won their first World Series title and gave the Capitol its second baseball championship after the Senators and legendary pitcher Warren Johnson upset a heavily favored New York Giants team in 1924. For the first time in the history of American sports, a best-of-seven postseason series was won by the visiting team, and for the first time since 2012 a team not seeded first won all four of the biggest sporting prizes in the continent. And on Saturday - for the second time in over a year, the District of Columbia had a victory parade in their city for a sports title, a year after the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup... and coupled with the WNBA's Mystics winning their 2nd title, it makes the nation's capital the City of Champions.

But until Daniel Hudson dealt the season's last pitch to Houston outfielder Michael Brantley who swung, missed and struck out for the last out, the most talked-about moment of this year's Fall Classic came not on the field, but in the stands in Nationals Park during Game 5 last Sunday. There - and similar to what happened at Madison Square Garden at UFC 254 a few days later, the President and his wife received an expectedly unwelcome welcome from the crowd just a year before what should be an intense reelection campaign amidst a divided America we are in now (and a capital that always goes blue on election night).
   But that pregame moment paled in comparison to what happened during the game itself. There, two women sitting behind home plate decided to take advantage of the national spotlight of the grand old game's biggest showcase to do something that is as risque as it can get at a sporting event, and something that stole the spotlight on a night that, with momentum at stake heading back to Texas in what became a best-of-3 World Series, was THE big story on social media in the hours afterwards.

DC ExtraTime: A Politician, A Couple Twins, and That AYTO Guy...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Right now amid the tense times we're in, American politics is focusing in on what our President will do next, and to evaluate those from the opposition party who will eventually face off with him in next year's presidential election, including the next candidates' debate scheduled for two weeks from now. It is an election that serves as the subject of the first new project that one of TV's go-to producers, Ryan Murphy, has crafted for Netflix after the company spent $300 million to bring his talents to streamville. And it comes a week after the premiere of season 8 of his FX series, American Horror Story, which has Champs vs. Pros alum Gus Kenworthy as part of its cast.

Last Friday, Murphy's first series for Netflix, The Politician, premiered for subscribers to watch and binge, and like many of his past projects it has some notable stars in its lineup. AHS veteran Jessica Lange joined her fellow producer for The Politician as does Gwyneth Paltrow, though its key star is Pitch Perfect's Ben Platt, who turns his attention from a member of the opposing vocal group Benji Applebaum to playing the role of an ambitious student. Zoey Deutch plays Platt's running mate, Glee's Laura Dreyfuss as a campaign adviser, and cameos from The Practice's Dylan McDermott, Bette Midler and Tony Danza's TV wife on Who's The Boss?, Judith Light.

Platt's character, Payton Hobart, is a wealthy student from Santa Barbara and, since age 7, has had ambitions of going in the halls of Saint Sebastian High School to one day follow in another California native, Ronald Reagan, and ascend to become President of the United States. But before he can make the journey to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he has to get through a political race as treacherous and difficult as any national election: a local one just to become president of his student body while also having his eyes on going to Harvard. To do that, Payton has to look for ways to outdo what his other classmates are doing to get to the top seat, while staying true to his image and morality.

Amidst a cast that has those much older than Platt and who are newcomers to the acting world, two other characters in The Politician are brothers of Payton's and who are just going about their lives while their brother is competing to be top dog, but who in real life are twins. Wilmington, NC natives Trevor and Trey Eason are fairly new to the TV & film scene, having done A Smile as Big as the Moon for Hallmark Channel and a short film. When filmed wrapped for season 1 of The Politician last year, Trevor captioned on Instagram, "I still can't believe this is real... it hasn't quite hit me yet. To the whole cast and crew, I absolutely love you all and I am honored to call you all my new friends!! What an experience this is! I can't wait to start season 2!!!!"

John (2nd/R), w/ Trey, Trevor &
friend Josh Robinson (IG)

These days, the Eason twins are residing up the way in New York City, where no doubt they've become star struck as seeing their faces look at Paltrow on billboards promoting their show. And along the way, they've become friends with someone who competed for love and money on season 4 of MTV's Are You The One?, John Conner from Nebraska. In case you don't remember the original season for one-half of Challenge power couple Tori Deal & Jordan, John was the guy who dated future Playboy hottie Julia Rose early on that summer before she found her own perfect match, Philly guy Stephen McHugh (they're still together a few years later despite his close call with Hannah of season 5).

John joined the twins for a premiere party hosted by Platt last weekend in the Big Apple, and when
The Politician was posted in the Netflix library a week ago John wrote on IG @ItsJohnConner, "So I just wanna post a little something today for two of my best friends @trevoreason & @trey_eason because today is a monumental day in their lives! Today @the_politician Came out on @netflix! So damn proud of you guys and I’m so excited to see what the future has in store for you! Can’t wait to come home and watch it with you guys! Make sure you watch @the_politician on @netflix!"

View this post on Instagram

So I just wanna post a little something today for two of my best friends @trevoreason & @trey_eason because today is a monumental day in their lives! Today @the_politician Came out on @netflix! So damn proud of you guys and I’m so excited to see what the future has in store for you! Can’t wait to come home and watch it with you guys! Make sure you watch @the_politician on @netflix!

A post shared by John Conner (@itsjohnconner) on Sep 27, 2019 at 10:48am PDT

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DC ExtraTime: Survivor in Buckeye Country

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This summer, MTV's Are You The One? made plenty of history along the way for its eighth season, coming five years after it began as one of the many new shows to come along on the channel and who benefited from the launchpad of debuting out of its biggest shows. For Season 8, the casting of this season's set of romantic singles were made up entirely of sexually-fluid singles from the LGBTQ+ community... the first reality dating show on U.S. television to explore this new world where the hashtag "Love Wins" takes on greater meaning. And after its season finale this past week, it serves as the basis to this story that offers the bridge to the next chapter in 2019 in reality TV.

Two years ago this month, this website stumbled upon a fan who met the cast of The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30 when it launched its first $1 million season and found that he had gathered his friends in the backyard of his house for several seasons of a home-made reality series. The result was one of our most-viewed posts and a recurring subject of this ExtraTime series: The Caucus Challenge franchise hosted, edited and sometimes competed in by Andres Rodriguez - himself also one who takes pride in being out & proud himself, and who has done three additional seasons of that show, and two seasons of a spin-off series, since that original post in September 2017.

Facebook.com/SurvivorTimeChange

As it turns out, Caucus is one of many of a slew of series that are made for YouTube that are inspired by reality television and beamed into desktops, mobile devices and connected TV's for enjoyment by the viewing public that's just as good as you'd find on the broadcast and cable networks. Ordinary people with a decent internet connection and budget are able to their own version of the shows they love, and so many of the most talked-about people of the moment in pop culture are internet stars who take this world seriously, who have millions of subscribers and followers, and who have snazzy budgets to offer YouTube videos of the network television-level of quality.

The most common of reality show imitations involves the series that might not have been the first reality competition show as that title belongs to The Challenge. But it was the show that made a genre that had previously been the domain of U.S. cable TV and broadcast networks outside America, and whose arrival to the States nineteen years ago this summer changed the game for both reality TV and the television industry of the biggest exporters and importers of entertainment in the universe. And one of those who competed on there got a chance at love on a revolutionary season of the MTV reality dating show that brought love and money together, and had a prime role in this AYTO season in being one half of arguably one of this franchise's biggest romances.

DC ExtraTime: AYTO Takes Over The Four

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

For now, the attention of those who follow the MTV Reality beat is on Floribama Shore, The Challenge, Catfish and Teen Mom. But soon, those who are anxious for something a little bit more wild will have something to look forward to when Too Stupid to Die debuts the night after the VMA's, the second Jersey Shore Family Vacation two nights later, and an extension of VH1's Mob Wives when Karen Gravano's daughter and her friends welcome the world to Staten Island.
   And there's television's guiltiest guilty pleasure: Are You The One? and Season 7. We'll offer our traditional preseason preview coming later this week, including a welcome to the next generation of those looking for love and $1 million. But to give you a little appetizer for what will come then as well as its August 15th premiere, there is a link between one of those who are ready to take on the task of finding their perfect match and one of this year's newest reality television hits.

When I joined social media six years ago, the reality TV slate was just as busy as it is today, with three shows on the 2012-13 network television schedules having musical singing competitions. American Idol was still on the air, but thanks to its bold concept The Voice was starting to take some buzz away… and an American version of British showcase The X Factor debuted, and introduced the world to a group who would become Fifth Harmony.

   Ultimately, it then became just one show when X Factor USA didn't garner a large following as that in the UK and Idol had run its course on FOX, leaving the iconic rotating chairs as the long survivor in the music wars. But in this 2018 year of TV reboots and returns, ABC brought the show back this past March with Ryan Seacrest once again at the helm, while up north Canada's CTV initiated a new original format called The Launch.

This winter, a FOX network which thrived during Idol's run -- and after it ended has since fallen to the cellar among the major networks -- decided to throw its hat into the musical talent ring again by launching something different. The Four: Battle for Stardom debuted in January, and with a format that was introduced in Israel it twisted this tried & true genre by forgoing the stage auditions altogether, and instead giving artists time to relax in a holding room as challengers before the big moment of getting to perform their hearts out in front of the judges.
   Sean "Diddy" Combs, Meghan Trainor and DJ Khaled (and before he was ousted from his Republic Records post by the #MeToo movement, music executive Charlie Walk) are the panel for which the singers get to perform in front of and get critiqued afterwards, and they hold in their hands the fate of these performers who decide who among the challengers then go up against The Four. Those are the top singers who consist of those from all musical genres, and they must be at the top of their game to keep their seat or see a challenger take their place as a member of the quartet.
   The format sees the singers perform in front of Diddy, Meghan and the big daddy himself as well as the reigning performers of The Four and the audience, and if the judges give a singer a unanimous Yes vote, they advance on. And in the second half of each episode, they go up against a member of The Four in a sing-off, and the audience decides who performed the best... and whoever emerges victorious gets to sit back, relax and prepare for the next week. In the end, the last one standing takes the crown, a recording deal and is named an "On The Verge" artist by iHeartRadio.

One of those who has been keeping tabs on this year's two seasons of The Four is one of those who will be heading to Hawaii for the Season of Fate that debuts a week from Wednesday: Asia Woodley will be joining twenty-one others who are in need in love for Season 7 with Terrence J. and friends. But as fate would have it, filming for AYTO 7 fell smack dab in between both seasons of the show, giving her the opportunity to "Win Together, Love Together" after Evvie McKinney was crowned Season 1's champion and before Season 2 debuted in June... all without missing a single song.
   As an entertainment reporter and on-air host for website MUSE TV, Asia has been covering The Four since its January premiere. Below are interviews from the red carpet as she got to talk with series host Fergie, Meghan and Season 1 Four members Jason Warrior, Tim Johnson Jr., Nick Harrison and Kendyle Paige. And then, Asia got to talk to all four finalists from last week's season finale: Sharaya J., Leah Jenea, Whitney Reign and the eventually champion, James Graham.

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Videos Embedded Courtesy MUSE.TV