DC SocialPulse: Are You The One? - Come One, Come All: The Premiere

*** 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  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This is the final day of June, and the last day of the one month that gives an entire community from coast to coast reason to celebrate and to remind everyone who they really are. This is Pride Month, and it's with this backdrop that we commence the Summer of Love in MTV Reality, and the start of something new in a five year's tradition.

Since it premiered in 2014, Are You The One? has come into its own as a refreshing and entertaining take on finding love in the genre of romantic reality dating television. But the 2019 installment of this social experiment will take on something new, as it's now Come One, Come All: the first time that any show in this subgenre will cast those who are sexually fluid can get their shot at $1 million and landing their perfect match... and also provide viewers a new and better understanding of what it's like to find romance while also being someone who's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and those who take pride in being proud of who they are, and where they can love anyone.
   This week, it's the first act of Season 8 as AYTO will make history and MTV will add more to its storied legacy of embracing the LGBTQ+ community, as a group of 16 sexually fluid singles will come to Hawaii, and where they will find that anyone can be paired with anybody. We'll have the chance to get to know everyone a bit more than has been usually the case with previous seasons of this show, including a few of the singles coming out for the first time. And as is always the case for when our group moves in for the first time, there will be trouble looming for these first-time couples, with love triangles getting formed and everything else as they begin the journey to love and money, as we'll have it all covered here.

As we begin, for the many of you who might be new to this site and checking us out for the first time, welcome, get comfortable and indulge yourself in DCBLOG's insightful and distinctive look at Are You The One and some of your favorite reality shows. The SocialPulse is one of those aspects - a unique aspect of our MTV coverage that's exclusive to us, and bringing you the other show taking place simultaneously to when the episodes air each week: social interaction among castmates, fellow AYTO & MTV alumni and fans as viewed by them in the Twitter sphere, part of the communal experience watching the show as it airs on TV, and the leadup and aftermath which are just as entertaining. We've done the Pulse for every episode of AYTO, plus other series of interest too.
   These exclusive running diaries are specially designed, curated & pieced together in its uncensored & raw entirety to bring the drama, hookups, jaw-dropping moments and more to you here as it took place in its original Wednesday night airings as a service to all fans each week. Whether you're reliving it all over again on your DVR or on-demand, or if you don't have cable or satellite in relying on streaming it later & are just catching up for the first time, you are covered here. And along with those, we also offer our take on the traditional weekly episode recaps with opinions & analysis, and you'll most especially love our site's other key element of ExtraTime: our spotlight on the people and stories of the MTV Reality world, both on- and off-camera, and in and outside the bubble.

Now, the following is the action, reaction and interaction, and the actual posts of the cast of AYTO: Come One, Come All, fellow reality alumni and fans like you as they watched the premiere on Wednesday, June 26, along with the day-before buildup and the aftermath to that first episode.
• As we begin, please note there is explicit language in many of the tweets below, but they are kept uncensored in order to retain the heat of the moment. So if you are mature enough, please read with discretion. :-)
• Plus, if you haven't watched the episode yet, then do not proceed with reading this post. But need not worry...DCBLOG will compile all of these tweets into these posts after every episode so you won't be in the dark of how your favorites saw this all unfold.

Sixteen singles who are unique in their own way have come to Hawaii for a history-making season of the ultimate love experiment. Welcome to the premiere Pulse of Season 8 of Are You The One, and thanks for joining us... enjoy.

DC SocialPulse Extra: Before the Are You The One? Season 8 Premiere

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Glad to have you here, and good to be back on the blog grind here after taking a much-needed but well-deserved sabbatical following the near non-stop run of MTV Reality shows - as well as the euphoria I had two weeks ago winning $2,000 on a slot pull on my trip to Reno for my cousin's big day (more on that forthcoming). But after this break, I'm ready to get back in the swing of things bringing you our own view of the summer of 2019 of the shows you love... make that, the Summer of Love.

Though the afterglow of seeing Turbo win The Challenge: War of the Worlds has now dimmed, things are now getting into overdrive as far as the wider scope of MTV Reality is concerned: we've just had the premiere this week of The Hills: New Beginnings, a most eventful ending to A Double Shot at Love with Pauly & Vinny, and we have the return of The Real World over on Facebook. But our principal focus this summer is on the two shows of love that have emerged onto the scene in the past five years - the first one of which will be our focus for now on here.

History is about to be made during this Pride Month, as the show that brought to our attention love, money and perfect matches will hold the first season of any romantic reality show on U.S. television that will feature a sexually-fluid cast comprised of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Are You The One? Season 8 is appropriately titled, Come One, Come All, and the season will not only feature everything MTV fans come to expect and a dose of love all around, but also help viewers better understand the LGBT community as they take center stage this season.

We'll have the Pulse of the premiere of this season to come here later, but until then we have the countdown to the new season and much more to come on this Pulse Extra. Welcome friends.

MTV Reality: Welcome to Are You The One? Season 8 - Come One, Come All

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This year marks five years since the addition to this MTV fan's reality diet of The Real World and The Challenge & a few other things of a dose of love. There, Are You The One? introduced a unique formula to a genre that was fairly light when it debuted in 2014 as one of the handful of new shows to debut in the coveted landing spot of airing after MTV's highest-rated shows, but has since become a hot commodity years later in reality dating shows. Thanks to it, the terms "Truth Booth," "Perfect Match" and "Boom Boom Room" joined the lexicon as did a number of notable entries into The Challenge draft pool... and introduced a growing trend in sports known as analytics to the game of analyzing and predicting the possibilities of running the table to $1 million.

The last time we got to watch this annual ritual of finding love and money in lights, lasers and loads of possibilities was last summer & fall, when the Season 7 cast confronted a bold new challenge: trying to look for their perfect match by not only getting coupled up in the house, but relying on fate to get them to the magic number of 11. Out were, for one season at least, the getaway challenges, and in was the fate button, which came up some surprising choices for the truth booth with some random choices. But along with all of what we came to expect from the show, the house found themselves in almost a similar rough spot as the Season 6 cast... but a late charge in the Truth Booth proved to be the difference as the cast of the Season of Fate took home the seven figures.

As we reconvene our quest for love with our latest set of new romantics, the game and the setting is very much different for Season 8 of Are You The One?. This season will commence amidst the backdrop of the annual celebration of an important segment of MTV's audience, as Pride Month sees the world take a moment to celebrate the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, which also includes those who identify themselves as Queer, Pansexual, Omnisexual and Fluid. Those who are part of this proud community have been part of the MTV Reality fabric since the first Real World season in 1992 with Norman Korpi being part of the original group of seven strangers in New York, and which have chronicled generations of the LGBT community taking up residency in the show that began an entire genre.

Those who proudly fly the rainbow flag, who grew up watching the likes of Katelynn from RW Brooklyn, Big Brother alums Natalie and Jozea on The Challenge and Ex On The Beach, and MTV's most notable LGBT alum in Queer Eye's Karamo Brown, will now have a season just for themselves in what is a first for the entire romantic reality sub-genre. This season, those who are sexually fluid make up the entire cast, all amidst the drama and romance synonymous with this show, and a season that promises to offer a new definition to finding love among those who know no bounds.

After the jump, our first look at Season 8 of Are You The One? - Come One, Come All. Welcome back, lovebirds...

MTV Reality: Welcome to The Real World Atlanta

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Well, good summer to all of you as we enter the hottest time of the year and the steamiest season of all in the world of MTV Reality. And so far, 2019 has surely offered the good stuff spanning the entire reality spectrum.
   In this first half, we've seen Lindsay Lohan have an eventful summer at her Greek Beach Club, #Jalex become a thing of the past in Siesta Key, and controversy finally see the end of a Teen Mom. Another TM alum was a key figure of an eventful Season 2 of Ex On The Beach, while there was also plenty of drama on Floribama Shore. And The Challenge got a much-needed shot in the arm when War of the Worlds brought together familiar veterans with new reality talent from around the world, and produced a worthy & popular champion in a Turkish reality megastar.
   Right now, we've just seen the remaining ladies of A Double Shot at Love join DJ Pauly D. and Vinny on the road as Jersey Shore's resident bachelors and bromance head towards determining who is their one. Tonight, Amber, Catelynn & Maci will mark ten years on MTV with a new season of Teen Mom OG, which also sees Cheyenne & Cory roll along with their new lives as parents. And we've seen Kirk & Codi from Floribama Shore go under the ink on How Far is Tattoo Far? as did Kailah and Tony as they joined Snooki & Nico in that famous parlor.
   And in two weeks, reality dating TV will enter uncharted territory when Are You The One? welcomes those who are sexually fluid as they encounter the truth booth for the genre's first LGBT-themed season debuting during, of all things, Pride Month. That same week, we'll welcome back some old friends with the debut of 2019's big MTV reboot in The Hills: New Beginnings, as Speidi, Audrina, Whitney and the rest of our Hollywood friends will bring us to their world yet again.

Following in the steps of both The Hills and Jersey Shore, another big MTV relaunch is one that is not airing on the MTV linear TV channel itself, but will be playing out on a different platform in the ever-increasing world that is streaming web TV, and whose new home is most fittingly the world's largest social media network. While The Challenge is the show of immense interest for a lot of you who visit this site, the show that saw so many of the vets we've loved over the years, as well as some who have made their mark in the entertainment industry, get their start was with The Real World.
   This is the show that started the entire journey of MTV Reality twenty-seven years ago this summer when a formula combining co-creators Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jon Murray's passions for soap operas and documentaries first played out in New York City, and turned into the hybrid of reality TV now commonplace. A trend-setting cast of six diverse Tri-State area natives and a naive young girl from Alabama comprised that freshman class of seven strangers, and helped demonstrate the possibilities of what happens when seven strangers get together in a loft, to see what happens "when people stop being polite and start getting real."
   Thirty-one succeeding seasons soon followed, which brought the show to America's greatest cities and to several locales outside the U.S. with enduring personalities, memorable moments and beyond. And when we last left this world two years ago, the show went through a rebranding phase to try and regain public interest in a crowded reality landscape, from a prequel of what would become Ex On The Beach to plenty of Bad Blood... even taking cues from Road Rules. But while those twist seasons introduced us to Cory, Kailah, Tony and social media darling Kim (Tyara's counterpart on Bad Blood), the show at its best lies in the show's original formula first conceived three decades ago.

That's what will be happening as the show will return to its roots in embracing its past, taking full advantage of the present world we live in, and using the power of social media to bring this show to a whole new audience as well. This unique social experiment not only invented a whole genre, it blazed a trail in bringing culturally resonant stories and issues into TV like no other show had done before, as well as the unique experience of adulthood, people coming of age and diverse casts that helped to spark conversation among viewers long before social media.
   The next generation of The Real World will begin next week in one of America's greatest cities of Atlanta, GA, host of this year's Super Bowl, a past Olympic host city, and home to a number of notable MTV'ers from the aforementioned Kirk to Nia from the Portland season and Simone of the original AYTO cast. The latest group of seven strangers who have been chosen to join this legacy perfectly fits the show's original premise that it will bring to life again during a most intense and divisive time in our country, just as it was when Season 1 premiered a month after the L.A. riots.
   And there will sure be plenty of charged emotions to come during this summer in Hotlanta, as well as the drama and occasional fun and hilarity that we've come to expect from the MTV Reality brand. From sexuality and immigration to race, teen pregnancy and virginity, this is a Real World that bring together both fans of the old school seasons and the socially conscious millennial generation for an experience that, if you're one of the 2 billion-plus users who visit Facebook every day on desktops, mobile and beyond, you'll be glued to it just as it was for previous generations when it aired on TV.

So welcome to Atlanta, to summer 2019, and a new era of The Real World... After the jump, an introduction to the cast who will join special company in the show that started it all.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge War of the Worlds - The Reunion

*** 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. ***

BACKTRACKED EDITION
BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Welcome to the month of June and to summer 2019 in MTV Reality, as well as to a calm before the storm of sorts after one of the most epic seasons ever of The Challenge, and ahead of the return of the show that started it all and a new take of finding love in perfect matches.

When we began the countdown to it back in January, War of the Worlds sought to give fans who were fed up with trilogy of the three seasons that succeeded it an opportunity to win them back, all after the drama of Dirty 30, Vendettas and Final Reckoning and the tumultuous end to that saga in Ashley stealing $1 million. A group of those time-tested veterans and those who joined this world in the past year got to meet up with reality stars from all over the world for the first truly global season of The Challenge that helped to give the show we love a much-needed shot in the arm with a return to where the focus should be: the competition. And from the shock exits of the big names to the emergence of new stars who've now conquered America, it sure was a season to remember.

In perhaps the hardest and most epic final The Challenge has ever had, eight worthy competitors played their way into the two-day marathon for a share of $1 million... in the end, it was Turkish reality superstar Turabi Çamkıran, better known as "Turbo," who outlasted Theo, Wes, Ninja, Cara Maria, Hunter, Mattie and Georgia to add more to his growing legend in the global reality space in adding a $750,000 check - a staggering ₺4.56 million in the Turkish currency of Iira - to having won back-to-back titles of being Sole Survivor on his country's iteration of Survivor. And considering how recent Challenge champs have been competitors with at least some degree of questionable behavior, Turbo's victory is just as celebrated as when C.T. won the first of his two Challenges six years ago.

All that is left to do on War of the Worlds is a two-hour discussion of the season's events as most of the vets and prospects will gather one more time for the Reunion, taking place for the first time outside the U.S. in the grand city of London, and hosted by Champs vs. Pros/Stars emcee and soon to be new dad Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and a star of that trilogy, Olympian & Celeb Big Brother 2 houseguest Lolo Jones. From betrayal and gameplay to hookups and scandals, all will be revealed... the action, reaction and interaction is ahead, along with a trip to the tattoo parlor. Join us there.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge War of the Worlds - The Final Part 2

*** 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. ***

BACKTRACKED EDITION
BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Back in early February, just after a snoozer of a Super Bowl in another Patriots title, MTV's The Challenge set off on starting both a new year and a new era anew after an agonizing long year & a half's trilogy. War of the Worlds brought together top Challengers we've known for a long time with those from outside the MTV Reality community and the United States for a Challenge season unlike any other. And after a season that seems to have breezed by quite a bit compared to last season - and with unpredictability sending home the big name veterans earlier than planned, destiny awaits our finalists at the start of summer.

Cara Maria, Georgia, Hunter, Mattie, Ninja, Theo, Turbo and Wes were worthy finalists who more than proved themselves to make it all the way to the end for a shot at a share of $1 million, and when we were last in Namibia they had completed a one- to two-day's worth of work in the scorching heat of the desert: a 50-mile trek that began with them doing several laps of running and bicycling with puzzle stations in between in just that first day alone. When you have all of those ingredients, not everyone will make it out alive - at least as the game is concerned... and Georgia and Mattie succumbed to the pressure when they were eliminated, and Ninja almost bit the dust as well. That explains why things have stepped up for this final much to everyone's excitement, and it's only day 1.

At the end of the first half, Theo, Wes and Turbo finished in the top three and TJ Lavin made them the trifecta for one last Tribunal... one last twist to a season that's had it all. This week, they will determine who in the bottom three will they bring with them to Day 2 and which two will have to face each other to advance on. Then, all that's left is one more trip around the same dunes in this corner of southern Africa that saw Zach win his lone Challenge as a rookie, then a trip to the beach where the money will await them after battles with brains, food and brawn. They will determine who wins it all... and only the top three will cash... with $750,000 going to the champion in a final that, once again, is a cumulative timed final, with #1 not necessarily going to who crosses the line first.

After the events of last year, will Hunter write his ultimate redemption story? Will Cara or Wes become immortals with their third Challenge title? Or will a rookie follow in Thor's footsteps and become a champ in their first try? The answers will unfold after the jump on the SocialPulse of Day 2 of The Challenge: War of the Worlds Final. We're so glad you're with us here on this Memorial Day.

DC SocialPulse Extra: Before The Challenge War of the Worlds Final - Part 2

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Happy Memorial Day to all of you in blog land, and as we celebrate summer in America, the end is just about here for MTV's The Challenge: War of the Worlds. As far as we see it here, the Final in Namibia has already had plenty of drama taking place, and all that's left is a final Tribunal and an in-final elimination before the final exam continues along towards crowning a champion.
   The 'Pulse of Part 2 of the finale comes your way here in just a bit, where by the time we're done with that we'll see who wins the whole thing. But for the time being, enjoy the in-between chatter in the MTV Reality community from before the finale, which also includes the Game of Thrones series finale, anticipation for the vets making a one-night-only return, and much more. And afterwards, more on a big summer happening taking place in just a few weeks... that's all ahead here.

DC ExtraTime: The Caucus Challenge - Rivals Roulette

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Instagram @Dre.Media

Two years ago during The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30, DCBLOG found out about something that was unique and one of a kind that took place in the New York City suburb of Secaucus, New Jersey. It was there that an MTV superfan who has had many opportunities to meet the MTV Reality family at numerous reunion tapings and events, Andres Rodriguez, had invited some of his friends from high school, his neighborhood and everyone else's friends to his house... not for the usual watch parties among friends that take place every week in places across this country of ours, but for something totally different. It has become of one of our most popular stories, a recurring one at best, for perhaps the most unique story we could find anywhere of MTV fandom taken to a whole new level.

For nine seasons dating back a few years to when he was still attending high school, Andres and his friends have taken part in a made-for-YouTube web series inspired by The Challenge that saw the weekly challenges that he had seen his favorite challenger, Kailah and the rest of those he's gotten to cross paths with, be brought into his house's backyard in a town that's well-known for its ties to the media aspects of America's four major sports leagues and not far from the venues that make up the Meadowlands complex. It would become known as The Caucus Challenge... and when he saw this site's original story on it in fall 2017 - which tied in with him meeting the Dirty 30 cast during premiere week, Andres was touched by how what he was able to do received recognition even from a not as nationally known but well respected west coast blog site 3,000 miles away, and soon it got the attention of both MTV and the castmates who he's gotten to hang out with many times since.

Since that first post on The Caucus Challenge, Andres hosted and produced two additional seasons of the show where upgraded the series on the production side to match the same on-air look as the MTV show for Season 8 of Deception and Season 9 of Prime Revival, where the product only got better as did the competition and twists on the field and the intrigue that takes place in between with those who have competed in many seasons before and those who are joining the game for the first time. Because of the climate of the Northeast and New York City, as well as the demands of the school year and work, seasons of his show are not filmed during the fall or winter... meaning that he would have to wait for spring to arrive to film seasons of it between that time and the summer.

In a way, it almost felt like baseball season of sorts for this in this community: there's the long wait through fall, the agonizing winter and them having to wait until March for the feelings to come once more. But in the case of this year, it would make the long wait for a landmark season in this show's history a more juicy one that would be worth sitting through many months for. It's Season 10 of The Caucus Challenge, and a season unlike any other: a hybrid of a popular MTV Challenge format, and a popular Vegas casino game: Rivals Roulette.