DC ExtraTime Flashback: The Gauntlet III - Ten Years Later

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

As this is being posted on this Saturday, December 16, many of you who are in college and high school are now into your fortnight-long winter break, and you're now onto the holiday rush with just ten days left to get that Christmas shopping done after all of those excruciating final exams. The holidays also mean some much needed time with family and friends, and we'll be sharing with you a few of them both here and tomorrow. First, a couple oldies but goodies that took place last weekend, which takes us on a Flashback in time to 2008.


Ten years ago next month, The Challenge went south of the border to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for The Gauntlet III as a stacked team of Veterans with nine present or future champions faced an unheralded group of Rookies who were just lucky to enjoy a free vacation. It was the fifteenth season of the show, and the first to adopt MTV's now-standard one-hour episode format with all of the action, drama and both a challenge and elimination stacked into 60 minutes. But of course, it's best known for what happened at the very end: Big Easy collapsing in the final, costing his deep veterans team a certain win and giving the title and the entire $300,000 purse by default to the rookies. That ordeal inspired his remarkable transformation, which we covered in an In-Depth story earlier this year during Invasion.
   For what will happen with the runners-up who won't receive a cut of the prize money available to those who make the final on Vendettas starting next month, they will suffer the punishing feeling that Kam, Alicia, Eddie and their AYTO5 castmates had earlier this year and of course Sarah last year on Rivals III of going home empty handed. It was the same feeling that the Gauntlet III veterans had in the heat of the Mexican sun, whose efforts they had racked up all season long had all went for not once TJ Lavin gave them the sorrow news that Big Easy was sent to the hospital and since they needed everyone to finish to collect the cash, it of course was a stunning moment to see them lose.

DC SocialPulse: Champs vs. Stars - "When Push Comes to Shoving Stars"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

As you get to enjoy some special Saturday NFL, going to the mall or just chilling on this Saturday, welcome back to DCBLOG's look at the week Inside the MTV Trifecta. Last night, we brought you a parrot and another bar brawl on Floribama Shore, and now we turn to some relatively tame action taking place on The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars.
   Last week, the much anticipated stint of Terrell Owens on this season came to a merciful end when after his spat with CT he decided to bolt out of the game. He wasn't the only one to leave: the death of her father saw Ashley put family above all else in leaving, and for a moment it was as if another one was gonna leave too. Plus, we also saw dirty gameplay yet again, and the master of eliminations squares off in the arena with his closest friend, and someone you'll get to know in the new year.
   Along with that, this week a team severely depleted by one's outrageous behavior, another's freak injury and her leaving receives a boost as a new player arrives to join the competition. Meanwhile, that Champs team and the Stars partake in an extremely physical challenge that brings, for the first of two weeks, the world's game into the fifth major sport. And as they struggle to keep themselves together, a newly formed alliance threatens to flip the script.

Ahead, all the action, reaction and interaction from this Challenge week which also includes some of those on Vendettas getting to mingle a bit as we head towards next month's premiere. And after the Pulse, we'll have info on an event taking place tonight featuring some Challenge favorites... all of that is ahead on the 'Pulse of Champs vs. Stars.

MTV Trifecta: Floribama Shore - "Home Sweet Home to Me"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse below contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

After the week we've had, aren't you glad the weekend -- and for many, the holiday break -- has arrived? We are, as DCBLOG is about to take you Inside The MTV Trifecta, which this week includes the Stars getting a dose of what The Challenge is all about, and revelations on the Are You The One? Reunion, among other things to come. But first, we begin with Episode 4 of Floribama Shore as the drama is heating up.
   Last week, the guys and the girls ganged up on one another in a good old battle of the sexes, while the formidable duo with nice hairstyles in Gus and Jeremiah got a chance to do what they do best in the bed, and Aimee decided that work isn't her cup of tea and opts to give everyone a reason to go to the bathroom thanks to her taco soup. And the house took advantage of a happy hour night of drinks with fellow locals that turned into more than they bargained for.
   That would happen to be a bar brawl that breaks out in one of the clubs, and that's where this week's episode begins as they defend themselves from the onslaught of the warring tribes. However, a person who's not on this actual cast but still feels like the ninth roommate continues to be that cloud that hovers over the house by the beach. For another, they get a chance to meet the family for a change, but will another rough night on the town turn this house upside down?

Ahead, the 'Pulse reaction, action and interaction to this week's episode, plus a meeting of old and new, as we bring you our look at Floribama Shore and the week Inside the MTV Trifecta on DCBLOG.  And welcome to the weekend.

DC ExtraTime: Funny File - Are You The One? Meets Punk'd

The following is an update of an original post from DC WRAP for The Challenge XXX Week 5, reposted in the interest of our readers and featuring alumni of Are You The One? which will be featured here this weekend.

BY DC CUEVA                     
■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

Last week saw a gripping end to a season that began all the way back in August with its cast being revealed on a hot summer's weekend. Down by the Bayou and in a region that's shown a spirit of resiliency in addition to its warmth and Southern hospitality, we saw one of the most climatic and nail-biting finishes that we have ever seen to an MTV reality series -- maybe any reality series across the dial. The cast of Are You The One? Season 6, a group who affectionately call themselves the Sexy Season 6, dug deep from a unprecedented deficit any cast of that show had been in late in the season to roar all the way back from one light and one Truth Booth match to light all 11 beams and win $1 million in dramatic fashion in a historic comeback.
   To mark this comeback of the year, the likely candidate for several awards on our DCBLOG Reality Debrief at the end of next week and two of AYTO's biggest alums having both a stellar 2017 and another readying to settle some unfinished business, ExtraTime would like to revisit a story we did during The Challenge XXX over the summer where Second Chances champ and the mastermind of a similar late comeback on Season 3, Devin Walker, got to team with the house's fellow resident comedian, Zak Longo, as they went into the group's Rolodex to prank some of their fellow alumni including some of the Season 5 losing squad. After that, a new update to that as they get to become their inner high school seniors for a moment and haze the Season 6 newbies with the help of Dirty 30 finalist Tori Deal.
   Enjoy this bonus trip into the ExtraTime Funny File, before we offer you our traditional weekend look Inside the MTV Trifecta and the week's episodes, including last night's first part of the AYTO Season 6 Reunion, starting tomorrow.

DC ExtraTime: AYTO Meets NPH and Fergie

Following are excerpts from DCBLOG's Are You The One? posts, reposted in the interest of our readers and featuring a key figure in last night's first part of the AYTO Season 6 Reunion which will be covered on here this weekend.

BY DC CUEVA                     
■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT


POST #1: From AYTO Season 6 Episode 2

MICHAEL & FERGIE

Last week, the object of Keyana's affection, Michael got to tend bar in the clubhouse of Bravo's late night show Watch What Happens Live with the channel's signature host Andy Cohen, and a guest of that show is someone who is musical royalty and whose nickname is the Dutchess.

   It was in the mid-'80s that Stacy Ferguson began her showbiz career as the voice of Sally in two Charlie Brown specials, but it was her five-year stint on the Kids Incorporated where she first made her mark, as well as being part of girl group Wild Orchid. But it was a call she got from a hip-hop group that would change her life, as she joined The Black Eyed Peas at the most opportune time as the group broadened its musical scope from just hip-hop to also include pop and dance-pop. Fergie, will.i.am, apl.de.ap & Taboo would garner the music world's attention with over 76 million records sold, and hits like "I Gotta Feeling," "Where Is The Love" and a Super Bowl halftime show. And she has also fared very well solo-wise, with several hit singles as well as her own brand fragrance... her second solo album just released this past month.
   When Michael and one of his friends appeared on WWHL, this is what happened next...

Loving the Milk Men On @BravoWWHL @andy @michaeldean2_0 @Fergie #WWHL #milk @JussieSmollett pic.twitter.com/AsR4uz8Grb

— VJ Brendan Thompson (@VJBrendan) September 27, 2017

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POST #2: From AYTO Season 6 Episode 4

MICHAEL MEETS NPH

And lastly on our AYTO Pulse on Saturday, one Are You The One? alum pledged their support for the man who took back a UFC title that was effectively handed to him by the former holder's troubles with the law and then drugs after a failed drug test following his most recent fight. Now a member of Season 6 has one-upped Anthony of Season 2 and him meeting UFC champ Daniel Cormier by gaining the backing of a big name superstar. Coincidentally, the person of our focus here shares the same place of birth as the place of residency man who fought DC that night, Jon Jones.

If you grew up in the early '90s, you might remember Neil Patrick Harris playing the title role of Doogie Howser, M.D., a child prodigy who was able to complete everything a person would take years to accomplish to become a doctor before most of us would enter high school. His character completed high school, college and medical school in eight years to become America's youngest licensed doctor at age 14. And the series documented his challenges of balancing the fascinating world of medicine with the problems people his age go through... and every episode of Doogie ended with him typing an entry into his computer diary his observations of what went through that week.
   Neil got his start as a child actor who was discovered in Albuquerque, NM, then cast in a 1988 film with Whoopi Goldberg and netted him a Golden Globe nod before Doogie came calling. TV guest roles followed the show's four-season run along with the first of many mature film roles, which would see him star in the Harold & Kumar franchise, and lend his voice talents to The Smurfs and other animated movies. And on Broadway, the experience he learned early on enabled Neil to embrace roles both dramatically and musically: from the successful play Rent and starring alongside Debbie Gibson and Vanessa Hudgens to hosting its biggest event, the Tony Awards, four times.
   To another generation of fans, NPH is best known for playing Barney Stinson on the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother, which followed main character Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) and his Manhattan friends (including Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segal) and documented the events that led them meet their mom. The show gained a cult following, numerous awards, and became infamous for its series finale in 2014 with a controversial twist ending that left everyone shaking their heads. And on the most-watched entertainment broadcast each year, two times Neil has taken the stage at the Oscars: first in 2010 in delivering the opening number, and five years later being the show's host.
   And along with other roles -- the current one being playing main antagonist Count Olaf on Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harris is one of the most prominent celebrities to take pride in themselves in being openly gay. Eleven years ago next month, he officially came out of the closet after having been in a three-year relationship with partner David Burtka. They would then become parents to baby twins Gideon and Harper in 2010, then a year later the men announced their engagement just before the landmark Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage national law. They tied the knot three years later in Italy with Elton John performing at their reception.

So far in New Orleans, Michael has been in an up and down relationship with Keyana and also attempted to break off Kareem & Alivia, which suggests through teasers on Instagram may find themselves in rough waters come Wednesday. And after he and his friend got to hang out with Fergie at Bravo's Watch What Happens Live after the premiere (just as rumors of the Dutchess' marriage with Josh Duhamel has been going "Boom Boom Pow" recently), Mike now he has the backing of Mr. NPH when he got to take part in a promotional event for Cigna when Neil went back to when he started his career in doing a commercial for them in being a doctor once again. Below is them meeting at that event where both took part in a workout put on by the company.

Post workout this morning pic.twitter.com/tB0SixykQc

— Michael Dean (@michaeldean2_0) October 13, 2017

- I AM DC

DC ExtraTime: Funny File - AYTO 5's Carolina

Following are excerpts from DCBLOG's Are You The One? posts, reposted in the interest of our readers and featuring a key figure in last night's first part of the AYTO Season 6 Reunion which will be covered on here this weekend.

#DCBLOG's BEST OF 2017
BY DC CUEVA                     
■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT


POST #1: from Before AYTO Season 5 Finale

AN iPHONE FLASHBACK w/ CAROLINA

As we told you back in early January, those in Las Vegas look forward to its first big event of the year and the annual kickoff of wondering what's next in those gadgets we rely on everyday - the Consumer Electronics Show. But one notable item wasn't introduced at any of those shows that take place after the buzz wears off of the holiday shopping season, also the world's largest annual convention taking place in the city with the most convention space of any city anywhere.
   Ten years ago, the iPhone was introduced by Apple patriarch Steve Jobs at the MacWorld 2007 convention in San Francisco's Moscone Center, up the ways from the company's headquarters in Cupertino, CA. The first two models - a 4GB and 8GB - went on sale in the U.S. that June as hundreds of customers lined up outside Apple stores nationwide to the phone that would be the game-changer in the world of mobile phones, with some media calling it "the Jesus phone." The iPhone has become an essential part of the lives of countless millions of people here and around the world.
   And you're not alone: I was given my first iPhone for my birthday back in 2011 and am into my third phone - an SE in case you ask. I do utilize the two previous phones for the sake of being able to retweet cast members' tweets on my DCNOW live hub when episodes of the Trifecta air on TV, and the same goes for sports events and awards shows too.  And of course, I'm on my phone much of the time when I'm not at my day job - always keeping an eye out for what's up around the world, or capturing photos and video for my various social media platforms.

When we met Carolina, she was that Brazilian who now calls Seattle home, and who is honest and independent. Through the help of the Flow Chart that was posted on last week's AYTO Aftermatch, she was first spotted with Joey, then with Ozzy and with Jaylan, but sat for five straight weeks with Hayden at matchup before they were sent into the Truth Booth and became our second Perfect Match. And in the week or so since, she, along with both her perfect match and Gianna, have gotten some hate in social land.
   But something that wasn't mentioned much in her MTV.com bio was that when she came onto the show, she was a student in video & music production in college in the Seattle area. In prep to do this vignette, we happened to find her YouTube channel, which features her going skydiving and a few other odds and ends. She has something in common with me in having a passion to do original videos which we then post on that site.

A video that came up there was one she made in Fall 2014, following the release of the iPhone 6, which increased the screen size and upgraded cameras, connectivity and speed to where now everyone in my family except me have that model (I opted for the SE upgrade so I can still keep the same sized phone holder on my belt, by the way). In the video we have embedded below, she and her class made a parody video where they went into an Apple Store in the Pacific Northwest, had a guy play the role of Apple CEO Tim Cook and where they predicted that the model for the iPhone 7. Check it out for yourself below...which also includes Carolina as well.

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POST #2: From Week 7 of AYTO Season 6

CROUCHING JOGGER, HIDDEN LATE FEES

If you caught that peek at Episode 8, you might've spotted someone very familiar: Taylor from Season 5 invading the house for next week's challenge in what should be the most anticipated "exes" visit we've ever had for the purpose that someone from a previous season will, for the first time ever, return on a regular AYTO season -- not counting Second Chances. That offers the bridge to this brief but hilarious bit of ExtraTime.
   Amidst iPhone mania we've been having this month with the releases of X and 9, earlier this year we showed a parody video featuring Carolina from the first cast to ever lose the money when her, Tay and their cast came up short in Week 10. There, she and her friends discussed a prototype version of the iPhone 7 that ultimately didn't get approval from Tim Cook and the board. But we've also happen to find on her YouTube channel something, as we like to always say, you'll get a kick out of.

In the following film short, Carolina is the lead character in their class's sendup of the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the wuxia film that became a surprise worldwide box office hit. That movie won four Oscars including Best Foreign Language Film and remains influential for its martial arts, screenplay and behind the scenes aspects.  In their version of the film entitled Crouching Jogger, Hidden Late Fees, Carolina plays the role Zhang Ziyi played of martial artist Jen Yu in the original film, as she jogs through the Western Washington wilderness when a man comes out of nowhere and she decides to take to a fight. Check it out below.

- I AM DC

DC WRAP: Are You The One? Season 6 - The Finale and The Comeback

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

Fitting for a year that has seen practically everything take place in the shows you love as well as a record year for this very site that covers this world best, you can't think of a better week than the one we had in the first full week of December in what we call the MTV Trifecta. There was a bar fight over draft beer and drama brewing for the newbies of Floribama Shore, T.O. and Ashley M. leaving Champs vs. Stars for reasons other than actually being eliminated, and the countdown to The Challenge Vendettas kicking off with new blood from outside the Trifecta ecosystem invading the big show.
   But who knew all three of these moments would be upstaged for the week's biggest story by what might be the biggest surprise we've had this year -- perhaps ever: the Cinderella story of the eleventh hour comeback of the cast of Are You The One? Season 6. Considering how they began this season with the largest odds ever placed against an AYTO cast to run the table, of getting from where they began to where they did, and the obstacles that plagued their Caribbean predecessors, if you bet money in Vegas on the cast going 11 for 11 to begin with before this, then frame that receipt in your rec room because of the monumental feat they pulled off down in New Orleans to win $1 Million.
   As we did for The Challenge XXX a few weeks ago and as tradition dictates for the final act of the major series we cover, this entire post is dedicated to the AYTO season 6 finale as ahead we'll recap the big moments of the season's homestretch of the final three episodes, including the dramatic finale. Plus, we'll break down the game & final outcome from inside the Strategy Room and unload a ton of tidbits about why this may replace Gauntlet Queen Sarah Greyson's Challenge title run as the ultimate Underdog Story in the history of the MTV Trifecta. All of that, plus reaction from the cast, is coming up on the WRAP before part 1 of the reunion airs in a few hours.

DC SocialPulse: Are You The One? Season 6 - The Finale (MEGA)

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

As you enjoy a Sunday Funday that includes playing in the snow, holiday shopping and watching zombies running around all over the place, DCBLOG's look Inside the MTV Trifecta has reached the week's principal focus. And after a bar fight for beer and players being eliminated while not really eliminated on shows which this week accounted for the two undercard appetizers, plus our juicy look at the Dirty 30 Reunion, we have now reached the main event. And for a season whose buzz began with the cast being revealed during the summer heat in August, premiered a month later as fall began, and which ends in the first week of December and with the holidays in the air, we have for you the season finale of Are You The One? Season 6.
   It has no doubt been a trying season in this quest for love and money for this fall's crop of 22 single girls and guys leading Terrence J. to not surprisingly tag them with the dubious title, "worst cast ever." And what happened last week at the Matchup with them getting no higher than their season high of 5 beams and a failed first try at strategy by Keith did more to comprehend that. But also last week, the cast finally gained the kind of momentum that can get any AYTO cast anywhere: them gaining their first Perfect Match in the Truth Booth in Tyler & Nicole, as the cast went in with the gigantic task of trying to go 11 for 11 in two weeks.
   With the house morale at an all-time low after their ninth trip to the backyard light show and many just ready for the flight home with unfulfilled promises, this week is, of course, the always intense and nerve-wracking tenth & final week. For one couple who have had feelings all season long, they get to push each other over the edge... that includes a precious stuffed animal. But as always, the focus is on the final Truth Booth and Matchup - and given the events of March 15th earlier this year, the onus is on this group to defy logic and the odds, and to execute the right strategy to get all the puzzle pieces together and hope this Hail Mary will find them in Eleventh Heaven.

You and us will find out if they do as we'll have all the action, reaction and interaction of the finale and the aftermath of the series' first 12th episode straight ahead, which also includes a birthday for the one who has killed it with his live tweets of all of these episodes. And after you find out if this impossible dream can come true or not, we'll offer a thank you to one of those who we featured on here during this six-month run around the MTV world.
   One week, one shot, one chance, one last try for $1 million. After the jump, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of the Finale of Season 6 of Are You The One? from New Orleans. Join us, will you?