DC FORUM: Welcome Back Inside MTV Reality

A Word from the Blogger

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

This week officially kicks off the tenth anniversary season of Inside MTV Reality on DCBLOG -- something that's a little belated but still something that we have been looking forward to for some time. It is a celebration of sorts that, like what we had to go through just a few years ago at this time, was something we had to put off for various reasons. One is for matters that affected the showbiz industry when Hollywood was shut down during the dual writers' and actors strikes last year... but the most important one, for this one at least, was of gaining a better appreciation of what I have and for the people around me when family time has been needed after our ultimate of heartaches.

I might have been late to the party somewhat, considering that this fan has been watching these shows since 1998 -- and who has a vault of memories of watching over this world even before I join the social platform formerly known as Twitter. But the advice I got from a fellow fan and NorCal'er in Andrew Kirk gave birth to this very site back in 2013 (yes, this celebration is later than we had planned and now during the first full year of blogs)... and there was no better time to get ourselves initiated in this world than in the midst of what had to be one of the greatest times that any fan of these drama-filled, trash TV has ever had the pleasure of enjoying. 

That time in the first quarter of 2014 provided a glimpse of what the next generation of MTV Reality would offer over the rest of the decade and in the Twenties: the first-ever major alteration of the longest standing format in the reality genre and the channel's first entry into the modern reality dating show subgenre both here in the U.S. and overseas. There was Season 25 of a first of its kind reality competition series, more tabloid-friendly drama among the most scrutinized group of young moms, a pair who roamed the country to expose online love, and other samplers of the life of being young. And all of this took place while most of the OG's of the biggest MTV series ever were on their first hiatus.

What took place both that year and the one before that in the last half of 2013 in the last pre-twist Real World in Portland and the Rivals II Challenge helped set the stage for our amazing run that followed of covering the shows, the people, the moments and the stories that turned this person from just a fan who watches these shows like you, into going on a path of fulfilling a lifelong dream of being in the journalism and media worlds -- albeit for a fan blog like this and later my own YouTube channel documenting my annual trips to Las Vegas. Those two shows above would be joined by the aforementioned Are You The One, a few years later here by the U.S. version of Ex On The Beach, and by a few other shows that expanded my MTV horizons even further in this wild and wacky world.

Even before joining social media in the public form of it (this one had a MySpace to start out and joined Facebook for just his inner circle in the '00s) I've already enjoyed a wide variety of MTV content, which made getting into the sultry drama of the Florida version of The Hills and Laguna Beach of Siesta Key outside Tampa Bay more easier. The same held true for their wild party-hard counterparts in Floribama Shore up in Panama City Beach, which got me into the door of the global Shore franchise marked by the Jersey originals when their bromance of Pauly and Vinny went for love... and where anyone who has a P+ subscription can see its international versions too. And there's many other shows that might not have reached their level of being on multiple seasons, but we have covered them too in and around those.

It was only fitting that I signed on my presence on the social platform formerly known as Twitter on the night of a Real World season premiere a year before DCBLOG began in 2012. And in addition to getting to directly interact with cast members (which I did a lot of in the early years), it became the platform to see how everyone -- they, you and the fellow MTV fandom -- saw the shows take place online, and our Social-Pulse presentations in well over hundreds of them became a signature of this site. And we have seen a lot of memorable moments go down over the past decade: from two steals of the entire money Challenge prize purse, and the controversial final night of the only AYTO season to go broke, to when we comforted a Bronx ladies' man when he lost a parent half a continent away... and so many others that made our jaws drop, got us talking on social media, and made the next-day water cooler talk.

The people who we've met in the MTV world over the past decade have been many by the hundreds: there's the 7-time champ whose theft on the Rivals III finale cemented his legend status that's taken him beyond The Challenge the past few years. There's a leading lady of that show's new generation who was part of an AYTO cast who overcame the mightiest odds to the money, and made friends of the music world en route to her debut. And there's a man whose imprint is on virtually every MTV Reality show we've followed the past ten years, which has taken him from the Bay to Hawaii, to many Challenges and even the Teen Mom franchise. And Bananas, Nurys and Cory are a few of the plethora of personalities who we've followed over these ten years, both on these shows and crossovers into the mainstream that's helped to keep MTV relevant in a way even today.

The approaching of this summer's Paris Olympics sees not only my favorite sporting event and binge-worthy guilty pleasure, but also an aspect DCBLOG takes part of our inspiration from: the many human stories among the thousands of athletes competing told during the Games by the world's networks using a decades' old playbook by one of sports television's greatest icons of going "up close and personal." And the ExtraTime series has told so many of those stories over the years as we've gone beyond the shows to cover this world at large through the MTV Reality prism: from Cory's perfect match going for a dip with the world's most notorious "problem child", to an alum of a forgotten winter version of Jersey Shore and his quest to reconnect with his perfect match half a world away during the pandemic... and hundreds of others that have taken them to other shows, pop culture, and those stories sometimes that will make you laugh out loud, shed a tear, make you feel pressured to go after someone perhaps.

That first full year of our blog coverage ten years ago was also when we tearfully lost two Challengers in a span of just two weeks after they competed together on Exes 2. It's that same feeling that we all went through together saying farewell to Diem Brown and Ryan Knight that November of 2014 is one I also went lived through myself eight years later... and that has had a reason with me taking that hiatus. But if he can talk to me in my dreams, then my dad will obviously tell me to keep doing what I love doing... and I feel refreshed and ready to return to this hobby, which we are proud to do here this spring a decade after we started this thing.

For the last year & a half, I've enjoyed this relatively limited slate of the MTV schedule as just a fan and interested viewer before the idea of becoming a content creator came about... as well as broadening my viewing options by doubling the number of streaming services I've subscribed to compared to a year ago. But when we get this all restarted all over again, it will be as if we never left... but going forward as our original intent was to provide, it's the role we've embraced as storytellers that will become more of a focus on this site, while still offering timely and traditional episode recaps. We'll also expand our focus to my other passions of sports, music, other shows, Vegas and other things... and in every instance, we will maintain the high level of standards and quality commitment that this site has set forth over this run, even if I might be a bit too rusty getting back in the groove -- but just leave me some slack.

Ten years -- it has been quite the time in our world since early 2014 when the journey we've taken inside this fascinating world of reality television and its pioneer began to take full shape during that amazing time. When we all needed that escape from the chaos of everything going on in this world especially the past few years, watching this timeless genre has represented that ideal respite. And while there's a lot that has changed, others have weathered that storm to still be here... and we are, after some time away. And what does the next decade have in store? We'll find out when we preview The Challenge: All-Stars Season 4 in a few days... and Welcome Back as we once again go Inside MTV Reality on the BLOG.

- I AM DC

@DC408DXTR

The Look: The Life We Live - A Return to the Poconos

*** CAUTION: Videos Embedded Below Contain Adult Language and Content Intended for a Mature Audience. Viewer Discretion is Advised. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

As DCBLOG marks its tenth anniversary over the course of the next eighteen months, there's been one thing that we have covered just about as often as any other topic we have featured on here... perhaps, even more than most others. No, it's not anybody we've documented in the dozens of series and seasons we have covered Inside MTV Reality on this page... but something that was inspired by television's most unique reality programming, and which this site has followed every step of its journey since we first came across it back five years ago.

Instagram @Dre.Media

It was during this very same week in July 2017 that Andres Rodriguez from Secaucus, New Jersey got to go and meet the cast of The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30 when most of them were getting together in New York to launch the pioneering reality series' first $1 million season. Obviously, there was a lot of buzz going into the big season -- and for those of us who got to sit through all of that, we had to swallow a bitter pill at how it all ended. But other than getting to discover both Siesta Key and Floribama Shore along with Cory Wharton becoming a dad, maybe the best thing to come out of the second half of 2017 was the thing now affectionally referred to as Dre.Media.

The reason we were brought to Andres in the first place was that he was the creator, producer, editor, host, occasional competitor and main protagonist of a wide array of original YouTube content, including "live reality games" -- homemade versions of existing reality television shows. Dre has created twelve seasons of The Caucus Challenge, which began when he was a high school junior in this New York suburb best known for its many and countless connections to the sports world, and which has continued to entertain those in the YouTube community. And this site has covered every step of the Caucus journey here since, with a new season just now streaming.

However, there was a time during this tough time in our world that Dre couldn't get to put on a season of his beloved show... and he had to resort to doing something else -- such as, getting some of his friends and their friends together for a weekend excursion. So gave birth to The Life We Live... and for its eighth season, TLWL got to do something it had never done before: venture back to the scene of a crime.

Inside MTV Reality: The Look Ahead - The Biggest MTV Crossover Event Ever

CAUTION: This Post Contains Potential Spoilers, Please Read with Caution Below. But No Worries, It's Only Small & Minor Ones with Just Cast Info. To Prevent Trolls from Spoiling Things Below, Comments In This Post Have Been Turned Off.

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

As we're a few weeks into this new year, 2022 will mark two anniversaries when it comes to both this very site and the principal beat of this page. For the ladder - and after it turned 40 years old last summer, MTV is marking the thirtieth anniversary of when it invented the form of reality television as it is widely recognized when The Real World premiered for the first time in New York. For DCBLOG, this spring will see us enter our tenth year of going Inside MTV Reality on here, and we take a great deal of pride in what we've done to provide a different view of the most-talked about shows in this genre and covering this world as no one else does.

Last week, Season 2 of The Challenge: All-Stars crowned its winner and we'll be covering that and the season's homestretch ahead here... but those of us who cover the fifth major pro sport can finally take a breather after watching and covering that show for most of the past year -- and where it began as the only "pro sport" that was airing on TV when Double Agents began 13 months ago. But at the same time, a site like ours that covers the whole wide world of the MTV beat will shift its focus to other things that will keep us busy in this offseason until then. And that includes getting to feature The Real World with DCBLOG offering a series of posts on the Homecoming reunions on Paramount+ and its most recent chapter in Atlanta that streamed three years ago on Facebook.

When we began our MTV coverage in the summer of 2013, there were only two shows that we featured in that first cycle in those two aforementioned shows, when CT won the first of his four titles on the former and when a 3-time champion made his MTV debut on the ladder. But channeling a longstanding interest I've had in MTV matters over the years, the DCBLOG beat has expanded several-fold over the past decade to allow me to feature, in one way or another, many of the channel's reality offerings. Challenge or not, this year should offer plenty to look forward to. That includes a special Teen Mom spinoff as the one who represents the MTV Reality community in that sorority, Are You The One alum and Challenge finalist Cheyenne Floyd, joins her fellow moms on a winter vacation down in paradise.

At some point this year, we will head back to paradise of a different kind as one of the new shows that we've covered from the start reopens for business when the American iteration of Ex On The Beach returns for its fifth season on our shores. That show is, like Challenge seasons of late, has become a gathering of reality TV's finest... but there is one coming attraction that might be just as anticipated in 2022 as any big summer blockbuster movie. And in this installment of "The Look Ahead," we will take a look ahead at what might be the biggest MTV crossover event ever.

Inside MTV Reality - MTV's Following: Bretman Rock

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Once upon a time in the early stages of its development, reality television embraced the opportunity to feature the biggest stars in showbiz in their own series: the Osbourne family, Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie, and so many more. Thursday night saw a final curtain call for the most famous celeb-reality series ever, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which has followed over the past decade & a half the royal family of this genre, while also documenting the remarkable growth from adolescence to adulthood of Kendall, Kim, Khloé, Kourtney, Kylie and Rob.

Two years ago, MTV tapped back into this field to follow the biggest stars in YouTube in their own reality series... but not for the traditional linear cable network, but for the MTV YouTube channel. The first subject of No Filter was none other than powerhouse social influencer Tana Mongeau as cameras followed her always fascinating life as one of the biggest stars in all of YouTube. This includes, of course, her much publicized romance and even more publicized wedding night with Jake Paul, as well as friendships and relationships with family and friends in her inner circle.

For its second installment this spring, the focus of MTV Following turned its attention westward from the continental United States to our fiftieth state in the union. Awaiting the MTV cameras in the Hawaiian Islands was someone who lives his life as vibrantly as his personality, and one who had grown his profile even before the lens were focused on him, as Bretman Rock welcomed everyone to his own humble abode in this tropical paradise.

DC ExtraTime: The Life We Live - Rocky Mountain Style

*** CAUTION: Videos Embedded Below Contain Adult Language and Content Intended for a Mature Audience. Viewer Discretion is Advised. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

All Photos Courtesy IG @Dre.Media

Winter --- it's perhaps the most magical of the four seasons when the first dusting of snow begins just as we ring in the Christmas holiday season. But as evidenced by what happened down in Texas recently, it can also be just as excruciating as a sweltering 100° summer heatwave when temperatures fall well below average into the freezing range when things get out of control. But you just can't help but stare in awe of whenever that mixture of ice and rain fall out of the sky, and for a time we all become kids again putting together snowmen, do snow angels and take advantage of the slopes to go skiing and snowboarding.

It is in this backdrop that offers the compelling setting for the biggest season yet of a YouTube show put on by someone who I first discovered here four years ago. There that summer of 2017, he got to meet his favorite member of MTV's The Challenge, Kailah Casillas, and the rest of her Season 30 cast... so did some of those who he collaborated on for his homemade Caucus Challenge series in his Secaucus, New Jersey backyard. And ever since we first featured him then, Andres Rodriguez has continued to bring an increasing local and national fanbase some guilty pleasure television that is created, produced and edited all by himself... and one which has also increased by one show to a Real World-like spinoff.

And while we were all getting snowed during this winter of 2021 as well as what we hope will be the last weeks & months of this seemingly endless but now almost about to end COVID lockdown, over the holidays Dre decided to go big once again during the midst of this pandemic. This time, he invited along some of his friends and asked a bunch of newbies to join him for the biggest season yet of his more chill but equally as dramatic sister series of Caucus. And if the first four seasons of it brought its fair share of drama and fun in New York State and Miami, then The Life We Live has no doubt saved its juiciest stuff for the group's first-ever trip outside of the Eastern Time Zone and into the Rocky Mountains.

DC ExtraTime Funny File: A Millionaire Goes Hiding in the TP Section...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

This week will mark a grim milestone that marked the end of the old normal when one earth-shattering announcement changed everything about our world. Because we here at DCBLOG value the four words of us being "The Escape You Deserve," you really don't need to be reminded of what happened on that day in March exactly one year ago. But one of those things to come out of that event was of how so many of you probably had to buy more of than the usual amount of a popular item that is in just about every bathroom, kitchen and bedroom in your house: tissues, paper towels and toilet paper as the word "hoarding" became part of the vocabulary for everyone who goes to the supermarket.

Back in 2019 in our sub-series of Someone You Should Know vignettes of those who the MTV Reality fam get to cross paths with, we shone the spotlight on three YouTube pranksters: Isaiah "Steezy Kane" Shepard, Dylan Polley and Rohan Kohli. In the case of the ladder, he has filmed several videos on both his own channel and with his friends Nicky & Ricky Ireland at Ireland Boys Productions where he and them have spent many overnights trapped inside Walmart stores, a trampoline park and the world's largest McDonald's restaurant outside of Disney World. And if you think that trying to spend a whole day at a theme park or on the Vegas strip as I have many times, then pale that in comparison to having to 12 to 24 hours being inside a well-known corporate establishment or a fun place like those.

The one who got to meet Rohan, Steezy and Dylan when they filmed hilarious videos together when they were in Austin, TX back in 2019 was Cody Dunlap, who we famously saw lay a load on the local water supply on the lone season of MTV's entry into survivalist reality competition shows, Stranded with a Million Dollars. And if you are a fan of Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid, you probably are familiar with his castmate Makani Nalu, who has been on two seasons of that revealing show since she was part of the final foursome that emerged out of Fiji with $125,000.

Since that lone MTV appearance that spring of 2017, Cody has become a popular figure on TikTok in offering advice on how to make money through door-to-door sales, how to bet on sports as it has become a hot commodity in the past few years, and collecting shoes and Pokemon cards. And he also happens to share something in common with the YouTube prankster trio: he, too, also got to do his own overnight challenge... and he accomplished that feat before he made it onto national television.

Back in fall 2016 -- just as he was adjusting to being back at home after that month's long sojourn to the South Pacific for Stranded, Cody and his younger brother Kaleb went on a hop to a local Walmart store... but not necessarily to pick up those essential goods. The older and younger Dunlap brothers had become fascinated with the popular YouTube trend that was popularized by Rohan and the Ireland Boys in creating and building forts consisting of toilet paper, and decided to spend some time building those while spending some time being embedding themselves beneath the sections that hold that TP and other necessary things that we all need for our daily lives.

And below, the Millionaire and his Brother decide to go hiding in the toilet paper section... and maybe after you watch, could we have found the ideal at-home activity for the family to enjoy in what we hope are the last days and months of this lockdown? This might be it...

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

Inside MTV Reality: A Big Brother Gets Catfished?

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Two years ago if you're lucky enough to follow the whole palette of what MTV has to offer, you may recall what happened during Final Reckoning when a guy who knows a couple Agents of this season got a surprise phone call from a surprise person on another MTV show. We're talking about the moment on Catfish in 2018 when Jay G. -- who was a roomie of Cory and Ashley's on his Real World season and who you remember for what happened on Exes 2 -- got a phone call from Max Joseph during his last investigation. It aired during the week of the ladder invading South Africa as a mercenary en route to becoming a millionaire and during that breakout year for the former as he got used to daddy life.

   This year marks the tenth anniversary of the original Catfish documentary film that inspired the TV series of the same name which, of course, centers around what happened to show host Nev Schulman. He has had quite a bit more attention of late thanks to having being one of those lucky handful chosen for this year's installment of Dancing with the Stars and narrowing missing winning the coveted Crystal Ball. Usually, he would crisscross America to meet those who've fallen in online love and has been witness to his fair share of memorable moments ever since. But as it has been doing this year of a pandemic, Nev & Max's replacement, Miss Teen USA 2010 Kamie Crawford, have been doing all their investigations at home and being connected to each other and their subjects through video-chat... same goes for their Ghosted counterparts Rachel Lindsay and Travis Mills.

   A year ago this month saw Viacom and CBS complete their re-merger and as it was during their first corporate marriage, there's been plenty of cross promotion in the expanded company with plenty of familiar names to Challenge Nation making appearances on shows across the entire company -- and that includes what goes down in daytime today on the Eye, which we will cover later this week. Also, there's Nickelodeon producing a kid-friendly simulcast of one of the Eye's upcoming slate of NFL playoff games in the run-up to the network airing Super Bowl LV.

DC ExtraTime: A Team MTV Halloween 2020

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

IG Clockwise from top left: @T_Raines, 
@_Maria_Elizondo, @DJPaulyD, 
and @Taylor.Selfridge

We are now into the month of November, and today is a big day in this country... but this is not the biggest day of the 11th month of the year to this blogger nor is that four-day weekend of Thanksgiving that comes later on: my birthday comes in ten days from right now as this is being posted on this Tuesday. But the one day of the year that's best known in my universe by the hashtag #DCBDay comes right during the midst of the fall & winter holidays, which begins on Halloween.

When we rang in 2020 ten long months ago, we anticipated this among other holidays to fall during the most exciting time of the entire week: the weekend - and on the most ideal of days to celebrate that last day of the month on a Saturday night. What none of us didn't expect was that many of us would have to celebrate the spookiest of holidays in the comfort of our own homes, perhaps not having as many guests knock on the door for trick or treating due to the pandemic, or even risking it all to dress up for those parties that are such a part of our culture when we reach October 31st on the calendar.

Nonetheless, this year's installment of Halloween has provided us with plenty of options when it comes to picking those costumes, and that was perhaps the most important thing on the minds of the people who we keep our tabs on in going Inside MTV Reality on this DCBLOG site. Of course, that would be the cast members of the shows that we cover greatly on here, ranging from The Challenge and Are You The One to Siesta Key to the Shore franchise.

Below and in no particular order, a long but diverse sampling of what they dressed up as for a most unusual Halloween 2020 from the world of Instagram. And after they got to binge watch one particular program on a certain pay stream service in the past year, you'll never guess what the most popular costume was this time around...

DC ExtraTime - The Caucus Challenge Presents: The Life We Live

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Instagram @Dre.Media

Back in 2017 while the first $1 million season of MTV's The Challenge was going on, the keen eye of ours caught hold of a made-for-internet competition in the backyard of the house of its creator, who also happened to be a Challenge superfan. Secaucus, NJ native Andres Rodriguez got a chance to meet the cast of XXX: Dirty 30 during premiere week three years ago as part of the fandom that joined them for special workout sessions to help train the next generation of challengers who also double as some of its biggest fans (that includes our latest Someone You Should Know subject, "Big Dave" Olmann).

The reason why we were drawn to Andres in the first place was that he was the creator of The Caucus Challenge, a series of homemade Challenges created for his YouTube channel featuring his high school friends turned competitors as they looked for something to do during spring and summer breaks when not busy with their studies. It was our original story on Caucus back in 2017 that had a huge impact on its creator, and inspired him to do several more installments of the series even after his big moment of walking the graduation stage of accept his diploma. And we would've been featuring a new season of the big show, had it not been for the panic of a global pandemic dominating this twisted 2020.

Last year, Dre decided to broaden his horizons beyond the ten-or-so seasons that he's produced of The Caucus Challenge and create a spinoff series along the lines of what you enjoy about the show that began reality TV as we all know it. Instead of players competing in his backyard, it's venturing out of his house and to places outside of a town better known as a major hub in sports circles and being mentioned occasionally on Jersey Shore, starring some of those who he's known his life and who competed on Caucus, and just living their lives. So began, The Life We Live.

DC ExtraTime Special: When Reality Got A Reality Check - A Genre at a Crossroads

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of the featured content, comments are turned off. Certain social posts contain content that may be offensive to some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Wanna Blow Back? Tweet Me @DC408Dxtr.

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Right now as we go through the first month of this lost summer of 2020, we are living in such peril times in our world, and we have absolutely no idea of what the future holds. From the uprising that has seen everyone across this land unite against police brutality, to the ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic as the world opens up again, and the country in increasing numbers turning its back on an embattled President, it's such a critical time to be alive... and nowhere is this being felt than right here in America.

The effect that the Black Lives Matter protests and the renewed tensions we've been going through in the course of the past month have seen plenty of casualties. For example, the popular form of police television has gone through a sizable shift in the wake of the small events in Minneapolis that saw riots all across this country. As a result, one of TV's longest-running non-scripted programs and a staple of weekends on basic cable have, with the snap of a finger, been given their pink slips in COPS and Live P.D., and even sparking talk of sending to the pound the adorable police dogs of Nickelodeon's Pup Patrol.

Close to home in where we are situated in covering everything related to the primary beat of this site, something that you are accustomed to as a source of escapism has also been touched quite a bit by the ongoing animosity and new revelations coming up during this timeframe may also see the world of MTV Reality be not quite the same anymore once we are finally over the tough times we are in. And in the snap of a finger, three of the channel's most prominent figures have been blacked out from its roster, while a fourth had a hand in taking down key figures of another series that she got her start on before she joined the MTV family two years ago.

Yes, we are living in unprecedented times... and we here at DCBLOG - and me being this lifelong MTV fan who has been shook by the events of the last few weeks, thought it would be an appropriate time to take stock in what has been a hard time. Though it is not our thing here to take the chance to go after people for what they have been go, it's worth an opportunity to take a look at what has gone down in as brief & to the point as possible, as well as what it all means and what is next. We caution that some of the content being presented may be upsetting and we advise viewer discretion.

DC ExtraTime Special: The Protests That Shut Down America - From Team MTV's Eyes

*** EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of the content being featured, comments are turned off. Certain featured social posts contain scenes of an intense nature which may be distressing to some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB
Estimated Reading Time: 20 MINS. 

(does not include IGTV viewing time)

If you are a loyal viewer of everything MTV offers you in the world of reality television, no mention of it would be complete without the show that started it all... and it was just recently that MTV's Pluto TV channel added to its rotation earlier seasons of The Real World. In fall 2016 in the last season of it to air on MTV itself, Seattle not only saw "Bad Blood" take place inside the Season 32 house, but also brought us a moment that linked that season to the first one 24 years earlier in New York City, and a heated argument on race that Kevin Powell had with Julie Gentry in the streets.
   In the Pacific Northwest, the roommates partook in a protest in downtown to vent their anger at how police were badly mistreating people of color, most especially Blacks. Three years prior, young African-American Treyvon Martin was killed by white man George Zimmerman, but it was him getting away with a not guilty charge that saw everyone voice their anger and began the Black Lives Matter movement. But it would take for more high-profile murders of other Blacks and for NFL'er Colin Kaepernick to take a knee when the National Anthem was played for this to finally become a coast-to-coast movement.
   In the same city and streets that become a war zone when the 1999 World Trade Organization circus came to town, the Black Lives Matter protest that was attended by Black castmates Theo Bradley, Anika Rashaun and their roommates was peaceful. And it was when Theo's brother Kassius Bass took the mic and shared his story of being judged by his appearance and assured everyone that he would be on their side, taking place the same summer that incidents in Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas sparked over 100 protests that summer... and this was months before that year's election.

IG @RoyleeTheBarber

But few of us could hardly imagine that, four years later, we'd be bringing up Black Lives Matter once again on this DCBLOG site... this time under much more serious matters, and in a more dire time than at any point in the lifetimes of most of us. It was what happened when Black man George Floyd was pinned down to death by a Minneapolis policeman that has caused millions of Americans to emerge out of several months' lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and erupt into a state of Total Madness... quite literally.
   Since the events of what happened on May 26, what started out as a local protest in Minnesota's Twin Cities has grown like a summertime wildfire into a becoming a super tornado, a tsunami, a category 5 hurricane and an catastrophic earthquake all rolled into one that would not even register on the intensity scale. The immense amount of anger we have felt over this latest act of police brutality the past two weeks have seen protests in over 200 cities in America and overseas. Peaceful ones in the daylight have turned into riots after dark, and have seen police & protesters face off every day since this ordeal began.
   Those who have demonstrated and braved the heat & concerns of a second virus wave are supporting Black Lives Matter in record numbers as they seek to give Floyd's family the justice they deserve and to speak out against how the cops have treated Blacks and other people of color. And it's not just in the Twin Cities where all four policemen responsible for that death being charged: other incidents have taken place in Louisville after the death of Breonna Taylor in March and David McAtee this past week, and many others across this country too many to mention.
   More than a dozen of America's biggest cities have declared nightly curfews, while over twenty state governors have asked for over 17,000 National Guard troops to watch the streets, as well as U.S. Marshals to patrol Washington, D.C. Over 11,000 people have been apprehended & placed behind bars, and it has caused widespread looting that may plunge an American economy already suffering from COVID-19 deeper into a second Great Depression. And of course, the man at the center of this is the President and whose antics have seen everyone go in on him amidst all the teargas.

We here at DCBLOG exist to be what we like to call, "The Escape You Deserve," as we have always strive to provide a place of shelter & calmness in the madness of covering the true escapism of reality TV. Same goes for when you happen to glance over at my Twitter or Instagram @DC408Dxtr, where the only mention of the events going on are posts I posted last weekend lending my support to the African-American community during this time of upheaval.
   But because of the unprecedented events taking place right now and how some of your favorite cast members from the shows we cover and you watch as a source of comfort have become actively engaged in this, we've decided to show you how they have been experiencing & partaking in the The Protests That Shut Down America, from their point of view, as seen in the following social media posts below with occasional context, description and background. We do caution that some of the content shown may be disturbing to some readers and we advise viewer discretion.

Inside MTV Reality: Cheyenne's Teen Mom OG Journey

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

As we're now in March, it's springtime and the shows that began in the fall on the network side of things get more juicier at the ladder half of their seasons. And during what's been a most eventful first few months of 2020, reality TV is offering us some much need escapism: Season 40 of Survivor: Winners at War, Big Brother Canada north of the border, and the juicy drama down in Siesta Key which tonight wraps up the winter portion of season 3. And after we cover that on here this weekend, our focus will shift straight to The Challenge: Total Madness which begins in three weeks from now, and that will come as good news to a competitor on that season, which brings us to this...

In the midst of Women's History Month, next Tuesday Teen Mom OG returns as the franchise enters its second decade in its various forms, dating back to when the two generations of women the show has featured the past ten years were first introduced on predecessor series 16 and Pregnant in summer 2009. The first group of moms -- Amber Portwood, Catelynn Lowell & Maci Bookout -- will welcome back the MTV cameras once again as they navigate parenthood and life as adults in their mid-20's, ten years after their debut when they were at the rightful age of sweet 16 and as teenagers. Also joining them is Teen Mom 3's MacKenzie McKee, who joined this sorority last season, and where this spring we'll be seeing her deal with family tragedy as her grandmother Angie Doughit passed away over the holidays after a valiant and courageous battle with brain cancer.

But there is one reason why many of those who identify themselves as part of Challenge Nation -- and viewers of the shows they're connected to -- have joined the Teen Mom audience: It's for that Cheyenne Floyd is part of the OG cast now, having joined as one of the two replacements for Farrah Abraham along with politician's daughter Bristol Palin (who MacKenzie replaced after she left last year). Cheyenne started on Are You The One? in 2015 as part of its legendary Season 3 class, went onto The Challenge the next year and met the man who now shares custody of their baby girl Ryder. And many times Challenger and Real World alum Cory Wharton has become just as part of her world despite not being together, as now he will now be a dad to two baby girls as his Ex On The Beach girlfriend Taylor Selfridge awaits her first kid in the midst of a busy spring for Cory.

With our almost total focus on The Challenge and other matters revolving around that show and related series, other than being featured occasionally in our episode coverage we've not covered Teen Mom since our introductory post prior to Cheyenne's October 2018 debut... it's OK since the franchise already receives extensive press coverage anyway. But if we got the chance to cover it more often (and with our deep respect to the other castmates who are special in their own way), then it's on just one condition that we only cover Cheyenne's universe. And after the jump, we'll have a look back at some of her journey (and Cory & Taylor's too), before it begins St. Patrick's Day next week.

The Look: MTV's No Filter - Tana Turns 21

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

On two occasions here, DCBLOG has featured the most viled pair of brothers in the world of social media and the global platform known as YouTube. In December 2018, Jake Paul invited some friends over for a $10,000 made-for-YT game of trying to be the longest to stay in a tub full of Icy Hot, and the one who outlasted him and everyone else was Taylor Selfridge from Are You The One? Season 5 and Ex On The Beach Season 1, and now a mom in waiting with MTV king Cory Wharton. And midway through The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2, we featured his older brother, Logan, when during the press tour of his recent boxing rematch with rival YouTuber KSI in London, he ran an eventual champion of that just-concluded season, two-series EOTB alum Rogan O'Connor.

The Paul brothers have earned a reputation for creating videos that are always must-see viewing, wild antics that have attracted tabloid attention, and being two of the biggest stars in the world of viral videos and social influencers. Often times, it's controversy that brings in the buzz for both Jake and most particularly Logan, but nothing seems to have totally brought them down... anything from two attempts to create a supergroup of social influencers under their wing under the banner of "Team 10," to those two fights. And this past summer, Jake brought his talents to MTV for a new venture, but only as the supporting act to the person who was the subject of so much attention during what was the biggest moment in this viral world this year -- and it happens to involve his girlfriend turned wife.

Tana Mongeau was born during the heat of a typical Las Vegas summer in June 1998 and spent her childhood, adolescence and early part of her adult life in the desert. But it wasn't almost three years ago this winter that she would become known for the first time when, already having been a vlogger on YouTube for two years and where her "Storytime" bits have become her signature series, she posted a controversial video addressing the time when a person she was on tour with, fellow YouTuber iDubbbz, uttered the N-word in front of her, and was forced to say sorry on her channel weeks later - both garnering a cumulative total of 10 million views. And it was during this time that she was being investigated by the feds after someone supposedly hacked into her email accounts about a possible terrorist plot at McCarran International Airport in Vegas.

On Memorial Day 2018, Tana announced her own convention, TanaCon, taking place simultaneously with what is the most prestigious conference in the video tech community, VidCon, in Anaheim, CA outside Disneyland. The beef she had with VidCon (now owned by ViacomCBS) was that she was snubbed and restricted in past events and proceeded to go on her own and invited Shane Dawson, Casey Neistat and other influencers for TanaCon. But when thousands of people came to the door the weekend of June 22-23, they endured hours of standing in the 80° heat and with a lack of food & water... and the sunburn, dehydration and one being hospitalized turned this event into another Fyre Fest, and the immense criticism led to lawsuits and an apology from the organizer herself.

Tana's life outside the vlogging circle has seen her date notable exes: rapper Lil Xan who dated her for some time (and who later dated Noah Cyrus and now YouTuber Gabby Parsons, as well as having had a pregnancy scare last year), then teen pop star, actress and model Bella Thorne during the ordeal of TanaCon and continued for two years, and she had a few months' affair with Justin Bieber lookalike Brad Sousa before she began dating Jake. And Tana, like the Pauls, has also released music in having released several singles during this same time frame... one which has seen her YouTube videos be viewed over 921 million times by her 7 million subscribers (on two channels) there, plus nearly 5 million followers on Instagram and almost 2 million on Twitter.

Last year, Viacom's Digital Studios unit made Tana the subject of a new reality series created solely for MTV's YouTube channel entitled, MTV No Filter: Tana Turns 21, and where cameras will get to follow her and her friends through life as a vlogger, in the studio, partying like rockstars and the ultimate of all transitions for anyone in their twenties: becoming adults. The series' synopsis reads, "Viewers and fans will get to follow Tana through friendships and struggles as she takes on the next phase of her life. She just turned 21 in June and celebrated her birthday with a shocking public engagement to fellow YouTube creator Jake Paul. From learning how to drive and launching her own line of merch to starring on MTV's Wild 'N Out and now becoming a Featured Creator at VidCon, there’s never a dull moment."

The summer begins for her trying to rebuild her reputation in the community post-TanaCon, along with some personal demons in having endured those bad breakups. But it's when she finds her rebound guy in Jake and her getting her boobs pierced that roommate, Ashly, may worry that she may have found the wrong man. It takes some time but ultimately Tana & Jake get engaged, then decide a wedding date and add in a twist: an agreement on the legality of their nuptials - hence, the immense scrutiny that surrounded them all summer long right until they got to say their "I do's" in front of family, friends and a record streaming audience to everything that goes down on wedding night - and yes, that includes that fight.

But along with the main event, the undercard events include her 21st birthday... but like what has been the case at any big party in Siesta Key, no party can take place without drama going down: she and Jake get into it over the invitation list. And after the mess of the previous two years, the organizers that realize that the made a huge mistake of not realizing how big she has become in this world, and is named a Featured Creator at the 2019 convention. Those events and more are chronicled in Season 1 of Tana Turns 21... and the entire season is embedded below to binge on.

DCBLOG Look Ahead: A December Friday the 13th Weekend

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We hope you're enjoying your winter's week, and as the snow & the temps are falling wherever you are we hope both safe and warm. Both the year and decade in MTV Reality is now in its final twenty days (you'd probably pinch yourself reading this), and this week should be a dandy as we bring to a close The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 while also turning things up a bit on Floribama Shore and Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love... our blog coverage of all of those comes your way on this Friday the 13th Weekend.

For this small update of sorts here this late night, as you loyal readers know our site maintains a never-ending commitment to excellence and quality here, and we want to make sure to put on the finest and most thorough blog content possible. And as it turns out, the mission of wanting to get out our most important post of this month is actually a much bigger task to us than we first thought when composing all the drafts for it.
   It's with that in mind that, despite our first inklings about it and the social media advertising that it would be up by now, our Who Are These Newbies? introduction to the singles of Peak of Love will now come after this week's Pulse posts - it is still in the middle draft stages with still much to write. We want to make sure to cover every single detail on Adore, Daniel, La Demi, Allie, Ryan, Georgia and Callum since, after all, the average MTV viewer doesn't know that much about them the same way they know those who watch just the reality shows airing on just that channel.
   It's always a tall task & a difficult post for yours truly to put together: lots of research, scouring the web for video, and writing a several paragraph's capsule on multiple cast members who are new to MTV fans - while also maintaining journalistic standards and exceptionally high levels this site has to getting it right, like any other news operation. We do this for every Challenge and now Ex On The Beach - and we've featured almost 150 people in this series, and when our post is complete, it'll be up then... we do need all the time we need here to perfect it.

As for what's to come during this week's blog wave, here's what's ahead...

● Tonight (as we talk to you on this Wednesday, Dec. 11th) marked the end of the two seasons in 2019 of The Challenge as War of the Worlds 2 came to a close with its $1 million final. As we noted last week, we know a lot of you don't subscribe to cable, satellite or even to a live streaming TV service, and with respect to them we won't spoil the finale on here right now. Our SocialPulse posts covering social media's reaction to the final act will be up this weekend, starting with Part 1 (a Backtracked edition) Friday at 6PM ET/3PM PT, and tonight's Part 2 will be up on Sunday. You all do have plenty of time now until then to get caught up.

● In between those two posts, the 'Pulse of Floribama Shore and Ex On The Beach will be up here for this week's episodes airing in less than 24 hours, as a Florida bromance may meet its end by perhaps the most explosive fight we've had in the Sunshine State, and the first Cut elimination of the winter goes down as another Ex arrives into the chalet. We hear there will be plenty of drama in both SPB and New Zealand.

● If there's time in between our two Challenge finale Pulse posts, ExtraTime will join one of this season's EOTB singles as she goes for love on a show that brought hilarity to the reality dating genre... if it's not posted on here this weekend, watch for it after our Newbies bit is posted early next week. And a story to keep an eye out for during this winter: the one Ex a lot of you are waiting to see invade the Peak also brings to focus a teenage pop star who, fifteen years ago, was on top of the pops... we'll be meeting her once Jemmye comes to New Zealand.


And it's not just here at DCBLOG that I'm getting to work hard to perfect my craft: on Thanksgiving night, I began posting short video blogs from my #DCVegas X trip earlier this fall. I spent some of my slot winnings from my Reno trip this summer to buy a gimbal and editing software, and I got to film four days of video in Las Vegas which, I hope, will be just as entertaining on the visual side as these DCBLOG posts are in the written form. The blog takes top priority, but I'll be back to editing the second wave of videos which'll be up during the pre-Christmas weekend next week.

So, that's what's ahead both here on DCBLOG and on my YouTube channel. While we have a minute, make sure to subscribe to this site by entering your email in the side form "Follow DCBLOG by Email" for desktop readers, the "Subscribe to DCBLOG" buttons for those with an RSS feed, or if you have Google and Blogger to add our site to your Reading List in the site dashboard... you'll often be the first about our posts before those on my social media networks. Be sure to join us Friday when we begin covering the final act of War of the Worlds 2, and talk to you then.

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

The Look Ahead: Ex Goes Snow, a Floribama Newbie, and a Vegas Pool Party

 CAUTION: This Post Contains Potential Spoilers, Please Read with Caution Below. But No Worries, It's Only Small & Minor Ones with Just Cast Info. 

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We are now officially into the month of October, and we are now well underway with the new year in television -- that is, as far as those who are in the business of operating the networks see it. The cheapo, low-budget reality series that entertained us this summer have given way to the big major scripted shows with their new seasons, but there is still plenty for us to be engaged with on the reality side of things.

Fairly soon - or right about now, those shows that debuted and premiered during the summer will give way to new seasons and series on the unscripted front. And while we here at DCBLOG always keep our feet in the present covering the weekly Pulse and the stories behind the story of the shows that are on now including The Challenge, we're also keeping our eye on what's ahead. That's the subject of this latest installment of The Look Ahead - discussing spoiler-free (or at best, just small minor spoiler) rumors surrounding upcoming MTV series on occasion around our week-to-week content.

In a moment, we'll be taking a first peek at the next season of Ex On The Beach, someone new coming to Floribama Shore, and the return of the girls who competed for the hearts of the Jersey Shore bromance. So yet again, join us for a serving of some tea around the autumn hotstove.

The Look: Teen Mom - Young Moms Club

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Second chances: it's something that can either be offered to you almost instantly, or would have to hope for fate to somehow get another shot. Three recent sporting champions fit this description perfectly: the Virginia men's basketball team went from being the first #1 seed to lose to a 16th seed at last year's NCAA tournament to then come back and win it all the following season. The New England Patriots bounced back from a Super Bowl LII loss to regain their title this past season, and last week Tiger Woods returned to golf's throne after a long journey proceeding his fifth Masters victory.

Getting another opportunity is a thing that's rare when it comes to the world of TV: fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine got teary-eyed when it was cancelled by FOX... only for those tears to become those of joy once it was revived by NBC only days later. In MTV Challenge circles, him invading Invasion of the Champions and an injury she had on Champs vs. Stars brought Exes 2 lovebirds Zach Nichols and Jenna Compono back together after a breakup the previous year, while Big Brother 19 champ Josh Martinez was given another chance to compete on the current season of War of the Worlds when a competitor was forced to withdraw after sustaining an injury in the opening purge challenge.

But these stories of gaining new life in both sports and the fifth major pro sport pale in comparison to the twisted journey of those who will have another chance to introduce themselves to the MTV community next week. But this time, it will be thanks to the banner of a franchise that got its start ten summers ago when the first generation of Teen Moms were 16 & Pregnant back in 2009. And they will bring to this always scrutinized MTV franchise several firsts, as they will welcome everyone into the Young Moms Club... but the story of how a group of young ladies from America's Finest City got here can be traced back a year in rather strange circumstances.

DC ExtraTime: The Lohan Beach Club and Marvel Cinematic Universe Unite

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel

Many years ago, the most iconic animated TV series of our time, The Simpsons, envisioned a world where 20th Century Fox would once become owned by The Walt Disney Company when it combined the searchlight logo of the former with a tagline of the ladder in one now memorable screencap. That pipe dream became a reality this week when Mickey Mouse's ambition of taking over one of his studios' rivals was realized when Disney completed the company's $71 billion takeover of much of 21st Century Fox, including its movie studio, TV production arm and other assets... creating a powerful media super conglomerate.
   This news came at the most opportune time for those who follow the movies just ahead of the summer blockbuster season that kicks off in over a month from now. The now combined Disney/Fox operation -- which turned Hollywood's major film studios into the Big Five -- now distributes films not only from their two main film studio units, but also the iconic family animated films by Disney Animation and Pixar - including Toy Story, the Star Wars franchise, and titles from Marvel Studios. All of these assets will provide the ammunition for Disney to take on Netflix for world domination in the streaming sphere, which includes the top-grossing film of this spring.
   When the Disney/21st Century Fox merger became official late Tuesday night, those who avidly follow Marvel Comic movies began to discuss the seemingly inevitable prospects of all of their favorite characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe being under one roof, with crossovers now all but certain. Think of that as the fantasies coming true for everyone connected to this world the same way Challenge fans imagine having all of their favorite Challengers competing in one mega-season. The Universe is miles ahead of all other movie franchises in having grossed over $17.5 billion at the box office, part of a $28 billion business when merchandise sales and other related things are factored in.

Earlier this month saw the release of the 21st film in an MCU saga that dates back to Iron Man over a decade ago, and last year produced the year's two biggest films as measured by the cash flowing in at the box office: Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther. The new film is Captain Marvel, which strategically dropped on International Women's Day, March 8th, and is the first of its kind in the Marvel franchise where a woman is playing its lead role: Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson playing superhero Carol Danvers, a comic book character who bears the movie's title. Anna Boden and filmmaking partner Ryan Fleck co-wrote & directed a movie set in 1995, which sees Carol become Captain Marvel when the world finds itself in between two alien worlds in conflict.

Clark Gregg playing
Agent Coulson

   Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Bendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Annette Bening and Gemma Chan join Bree on the cast, as is someone whose lineage in the MCU goes all the way back to the beginning. Agent Philip Coulson appeared in Iron Man eleven years ago, along with its 2010 sequel, Thor and The Avengers, and is the lead character on ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson serves as a high-ranking member of the espionage agency, and has been featured in comics, a digital series and other media. Captain Marvel sees the Agent back when he was a rookie on the police force... and the role itself -- the longest lineage of anyone who's appeared in the MCU --  is portrayed by Clark Gregg, who's also done voice work for Marvel's animated series, and pre-Marvel appeared on The West Wing, Will & Grace and The New Adventures of Old Christine.
   It would seem a strange segueway from a spring blockbuster movie that‘s garnered over $800 million at the global box office to an MTV Reality series, but there is one link... thanks in part to the kind of link-up that can only happen when you live down in the land of the stars: Hollywood.