Sunday, November 29, 2020

Inside MTV Reality: Welcome to The Challenge - Double Agents

BY DC CUEVA                        
 @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Hello everyone and thanks very much for joining us... and if we haven't spoken yet, a pleasant Seasons Greetings to you here on this American Thanksgiving weekend. But most important of all, we hope that you & your family are safe & healthy during a year that, thankfully, will soon be left behind in the past. As we got to say on here back eight months ago in the last week of March, we know that 2020 has been an extraordinary and excruciating year for all of us... obviously, you don't need to be reminded of the many bad things that have happened in the past twelve months.
   However, if there's something that's given you, me and all of us an respite from what's been going on in this world of ours, then television has offered that much-needed "Escape You Deserve," regardless of what program you're watching, or where or how you're getting it. This very fact hasn't been as important in these times we are in right now as, just as it was in the spring and summer, we're spending this winter and these holidays at home in quarantine and on lockdown wherever you are. And the inescapable genre of reality television has offered us plenty to be entertained during this trying year.

Reality TV as MTV sees it has been affected a bit this year in some of the shows that we at DCBLOG cover not airing this year as production around the industry has been a hit by the pandemic. But for the shows that have aired, there's no doubt that they've entertained us and brought much needed escapist entertainment: Jersey Shore has returned once again as the OG's are taking over a private island just after Angelina's eventful wedding night and Pauly & Vinny taking over Vegas for A Double Shot at Love. Meanwhile, there was plenty going down in Florida: in Siesta Key, a Queen moved on from a King to a Bachelor and an ex-producer fell in love with one of her castmates, while in nearby Floribama Shore a bromance broke up along with an arrival of a girl from down south.
   Shortly after, Mattie made her way again into the beat we are familiar with: while all action in the world of sports was put on hold, this spring The Challenge provided action-hungry fans, reality viewers and those who have been rolling with this show from the start with plenty of goodies. From the unlikely alliance that was forged between two of its biggest legends, to a crop of rookies who more than earned their stripes, plus plenty of bold challenges to fit the time we are in now, Total Madness proved why this show is called "the fifth major pro sport" as it introduced more of America to how great TV's original reality competition series really is. And it ended with a familiar result: a Brit who proved her worth as a rookie last year ascending to the mountain top, while the biggest figure in this show's history added to his legend with an untouchable seventh Challenge crown.

Now, four months after Johnny Bananas & Jenny West rejoiced in the snow of the Total Madness final - and having been entertained by Da'vonne & Bayleigh on Big Brother All-Stars, as winter begins the stage is set for Season 36 of The Challenge. This time, the scene shifts to where Johnny reigned supreme when he won his fourth ring eight years ago: the country of Iceland which welcomed him, fellow Challenge champs CT, Camila and Emily, and the late Diem Brown for the last act of Battle of the Exes. But as the Banana man is taking this winter off to tend to his second job of traveling the world as host of NBC's 1st Look, there will be new (and/or returning) champions this time around, but the aspect of this game won't change that much.
   We should be in for a compelling, captivating and exciting season full of action, drama and much more which once again will be kicked off by the sound of the air horn of twenty-six season host T.J. Lavin, a decade after the devastating crash that ended his BMX career and the subsequent recovery that followed. Just as it was with the last act of the infamous trilogy of two years ago, it will be a partnered Challenge season that will see past champions of The Challenge and Big Brother compete alongside the big names of this show we know, and rookies that span the entire reality TV world. There is even representation from outside this genre in the field, too... we are definitely living in new times.
   In this island this close to the Arctic Circle, the game they will be playing will have the feel of a summer blockbuster Hollywood movie. And in Double Agents, these players will try to outsmart one another in a game of espionage full of secrets, spies and lies - all for a chance to gain a share of $1 million by the time the snow melts come next spring. Of course, no Challenge season would be complete without TJ unleashing one of his patented twists on the competitors, and we'll expect to see at least a few of those along with some insane challenges, plenty of drama and much more that we'll be witness to in the coming months, and it all premieres in ten days from tonight on Wednesday, December 9th.

In a time where, right now, it's just football of both the American and international kinds that's in action right now - and with college hoops at home now starting up along with cricket down under, Double Agents will once again take center stage in our midweek sporting and television entertainment this winter. And we at DCBLOG are pleased to again be the blog site of record to the mayhem that will be going down in Iceland, and we'll be breaking the ice here with this season preview as we look at what's ahead of us with how this season will play out and get our first look at the thirty competitors chosen for this season. Exactly a third of those Challengers are rookies, and later on we'll have our traditional deep dive into the first-time competitors as they try to earn some respect.
​   So, welcome on in Challenge Nation... get cozy, put on that uniform and join us after the jump as DCBLOG takes our first look at MTV's The Challenge: Double Agents. It's nice to have you with us.


  A CHALLENGE PRIMER  
  AND WHAT TO EXPECT  

If you are new to The Challenge for the first time, welcome to what is called "the fifth major pro sport" by a lot of us who watch the show, who follow it for their various platforms and those in the media who watch this intently. Thanks to part to the exposure Total Madness got during the sport-less spring earlier this year and where over twenty seasons of it are now on the CBS All Access service - plus promotion by the broader ViacomCBS suite of platforms, this series is finally getting the much overdue respect it deserves in being the first show of its kind in the reality competition field, two years before Survivor and Big Brother debuted on American television, also on the Eye network and as alums of those two series plus others in and outside the corporate walls are joining in on the fun.
   The Challenge is like any other reality competition show that's out there that you probably watch, but with a bit of a harder edge than what you get on there. The competition in this show is more intense and grueling... and competitors actually are fitness freaks who train to be on this show well before they get picked. The action that goes on there gives you the feel of watching your favorite sport in the physical & mental nature of the regular challenges and the elimination battles that often pit players one-on-one. The show operates in a freeze-out format for most of the season where players are eliminated one-by-one each week until only a handful are left, and those who make it there will get to contest the season's final challenge -- and that's where the money awaits them once they cross the finish line.
   But that's just the competition aspect of The Challenge: this is, after all, reality TV... and this is reality TV as MTV does it: the drama that takes place among the competitors in between competition gets just as much or even more airtime in the episodes. There are plenty of soap opera-worth fights, hookups and the like, and yet there's still time to fit in strategy talk, the process of elimination and who will impress whoever is in power to stay out of the chamber. And this show has had various formats in its thirty-five proceeding regular seasons (and a few spinoff ones too), which has seen it rotate among team and individual formats, and in the case of this season, we have a paired challenge.
   In the case of this season, Double Agents is a paired Challenge, and the format will be similar to what we saw on Final Reckoning and most of War of the Worlds 1, among other seasons with two-player teams. But as Entertainment Weekly got to reveal first in their preseason content, the teams who are partnered up in the opening season draft may not be the same by the time we get into springtime: the partnerships could shift by way of steals among the entire cast, depending upon whom has power in the game, whoever wins in eliminations and any twists TJ might throw at them. That includes the return of the red skulls in which those who win those battles under the lights are eligible to make that final and he will make sure no one get a free ride.
   Other than that, that's all we know about how things will operate... and then, there's the players.


  MEET THE DOUBLE AGENTS  

Collage Credit: Twitter/IG @RachD1214
We may be spending our winter & spring without the presence of the seven-time champ (save for a half-hour late on Saturday nights), but this Season 36 field of Challengers still have something for everyone for those day one'ers to pull for and the casuals go put their support behind on Double Agents. And as we attest from covering the stories behind the story on this site, there are plenty of strong personalities that range from an MTV king and the return of two veterans to more representation from the diverse VCBS programming palette and even into the mainstream plucking a former WWE wrestler.
   The Double Agents cast have a combined total of over 140 previous Challenge appearances between the twenty-one players with a past regular or spin-off season in their CV. Four Challengers have titles to their names, seven others won a season of a non-Challenge reality show that they competed on, and thirteen other finalists who are itching to take the next step & lift the crown this time around. A third of this cast - ten in total - are competing in their first regular Challenge season as rookies in representing shows that encompass the entire Viacom/CBS suite, while two veterans are returning from a several seasons' hiatus to try and regain past glory... and yes, the British invasion continues with two more from the Isles joining in. And there is also something that, until now, we've never had on either a Challenge or a Real World, as well as the first athlete from the Champs vs. Stars trilogy to make their way into the main show.
   For the more in-depth profiles of each of the competitors, feel free to view fellow Challenge blogger Allan Aguirre's daily previews of the cast as premiere night approaches, while we here will keep it pure & simple in offering just the brief gist of all the players here, starting with the past champs and the big dog when it comes to rings...

THE HEAVY HITTERS  
DARRELL 4x - He started his Challenge career out doing something unprecedented: enter the winner's circle four straight seasons - and in his first four. Those of you in Challenge Nation know how storied Darrell's career is going back to Gauntlet I, and him being able to make it to the last elimination on Invasion & nab MVP honors of Champs vs. Pros proved he still has it after a long layoff. Darrell is now the oldest Challenger in any season on here and his experience will be vital to whoever will be his partner - but getting up there in age may hamper his chances. But remember, a man in a red shirt in his 40's won The Masters last year, so anything is possible.
ASHLEY 2x - What we saw in July proved one's theory that being cursed for stealing one's money doesn't exist... but when you're the only female Challenge champ on this cast then that's still a reason for having a target in this game. After what went down on Final Reckoning, Ashley lost the first elimination on War of the Worlds, went back into the final on WOTW2 and was the 2nd girl out on Total Madness. Regardless of how you feel about her, she is still great television who also backs up being a decent competitor with a good social game which have combined to give her two titles. But we never know which Ashley has made the plane ride up north - you can never tell...
C.T. 3x - C.T. returns for number eighteen with three titles, both Champs vs. Stars spinoffs and a strong legacy that he will leave behind once it's time to say it's time. C.T. was once the most feared bad man in Challenge Nation, but with a family back home perhaps golden hour is approaching on his career with not much left to prove. Having been there & done that a lot will prove valuable in a pair format like this, but this is also the same man who got beaten last season in an elimination he was expected to win. It looks as though he's gotten leaner and that might help out a bit, but the question is that if there is enough left in the tank for one more run for #4.
WES 2x - He is America's mastermind & MTV's favorite gingerman, and this spring Wes did something we never even thought about: align with the Banana man. Since he returned on WOTW1, Wes picked up where he left off with a bronze that season, but got eliminated in the succeeding two starts. He will have the luxury of having Devin by his side again, is very much civil with everyone else in Iceland including the other returning vet, and he'll have a new set of rookies to try & align with. The politics is there for the taking as it always is for Wes, but now we wonder if the drive to get to #3 has also made the plane ride from Kansas City.
THERESA - Ten years ago, Theresa was part of the Fresh Meat II draft class and went on to a decent career of six seasons that blossomed late in dropping the last elimination on Free Agents and making it to semifinal week on Exes 2 with Wes. And in her own Redemption House story, she got the benefit of getting recoupled with Leroy for the final there and finished 2nd, and then becoming a mom of two & a wife to an NFL free agent. There's a new purpose now for Theresa to play for back home, and there's no doubt that she'll be welcomed back into the fold -- and since every season has at least one water-based challenge that should also be invaluable in her return.
CORY - For the so-called MTV King, Cory will once again have fanbases of several shows be at his side as will his ride or die Nelson and his growing family back home. What we got see from him last season might as well been the turning point in winning three challenges, an elimination and another trip to the final where, despite finishing third, has a brief lead in that closely contested day 2. After taking all of 2019 off post-Final Reckoning, it seems that absence helped Cory turned the corner a bit to where he can now be in this top tier of our preview, and with Bananas away now it's all there for him to take advantage - but then again there's his struggles too.
ANEESA - Thanks to her taking out Jenna on Total Madness, Aneesa is now the only Challenger to win eliminations in three different decades, only adding to having the longest lineage of any Challenger still competing two decades after her MTV debut. You know of how she has been close and not winning so many times, of competing with two generations of players and everything else she's given us since her rookie season fifteen seasons ago. Aneesa was able to push Bayleigh in the semifinal elimination last time out, which proved that there's more to her than just the hilarious confessionals and face reactions, and she hopes to ride off into the sunset a winner at last.
LEROY - Every season it seems, we have been pulling for that one figure more than anyone else to try and get that first ring: that's certainly the case with Leroy. This is his twelfth start on here, but this will the first without Johnny Bananas at his side... but he does have his other ride or die here too. He's excelled physically and not done well on the political side, but who has since made things up with his girl among other matters which will be a key storyline this winter. Roylee has a lot to prove once again and where if he wins he should be set for the rest of his life and not just because of his girl, but also for that he's a barber - we'll enjoy this season even more if he wins.
NANY - It's not just him who is need to win that first title - Nany is about to enter her tenth Challenge and still has only made it to a final just once in that span. She has been motivated to be on this show and is desperate to win, but hasn't made much in making that power move or a meaningful choice to benefit herself in this game. Madness was one such thing where she could have altered the game a bit in having Tori face stiff opposition or dare herself to face Big T - but a member of her Holy Trilogy went in. Neither Jenna or Kailah are back to join her this time, and the political side has to look to new people and other familiar faces if #10 will be #1 for Nany.
KAM - And lastly, there's Killa Kam: it's her fifth Challenge and already she's amassed a solid CV that's made her a huge force in a short time. She's made two finals appearances, achieved a solid record in the nighttime spectacular of the elimination floor, and built a reputation for making major power moves including manipulating the Final Reckoning house to rig a vote in her favor. As this season's social media promotion indicates, the Queen is certainly gonna be a huge figure once again, and all signs are on Kam reigning supreme on the throne once the finals jackpot is paid off. She should certainly be the betting man's favorite on the female side going into the gate.

 THE RETURNEES  
FESSY - Among last season's rookie class, it wasn't until after the halfway point that Fessy turned it on: beating Jordan in the midseason elimination purge (even if that pole wrestle battle was an unfair fight), then winning two late season challenges to earn his finals berth and led for some time before falling back to the silver position. Given what we saw there on Total Madness, you'd expect him to take the next step - but after what we saw with another BB alum on his sophomore season then it should be a different story for Fessy here.
KAYCEE With so much going on in Prague, it's safe to say we didn't get to see much of Kaycee on Madness outside of winning two dailies, beating Kailah in purgatory, a lone confessional, flirting with Nany and her blowup with Bayleigh. It was very much the same thing on her Big Brother season where she went on to win two years ago, and here she finished second in the female bracket while quietly going about her business. But this time, we should expect to see more of her thanks to be pegged as a contender by some after that rookie season.
JAY Even though he went out earlier than the other two CBS returnees from last spring, it's clear that Jay was consensus rookie of the season on Total Madness. There was a bit of optimism going into this first ride, but after manhandling CT in the second guys elimination, holding his own in the dailies and bringing some positive vibes to the bunker, things are now looking upwards. The hardest thing for any returning rookie is to follow that up with a decent second act and being a Challenge staple -- that is now in Jay's hands and it's up to him to deliver again.
DEVIN The last time we saw Devin, it was last year in the Ex On The Beach house - and last we saw him on The Challenge it was getting sent home with Cory after his fight with another Challenge dad on Final Reckoning after they arrived as mercenaries. But after that sojourn to Malibu, the Puppet Master returns - and good thing he will once again be co-captaining the ship that is the Wes Express... and the last time he was on a full Challenge, he took down Bananas on Vendettas. What can we expect from Big D this time? Who knows.
JOSH Mr. Pots & Pans made his way to from being King of Big Brother 19 to Challenge Nation last year in being Amanda's last Challenge partner, then won a couple dailies as part of Team USA on WOTW II and going deep into the last weeks on Total Madness. Sure he hasn't won an elimination battle and that is a talking point for his detractors to blab on him on the social sphere just as it was three summers ago - and of course there's the plenty of drama he's been in with lots of fantasy points for tears. But the fact that this is a partnered game for $1 million again, that should wake Josh up.
KYLE The Tyneside Pirate is now the only Brit who's been on every Challenge since their Invasion began, and he's the only one of that first class from Vendettas to be represented here. You'd now think that he is now firmly part of Challenge Nation in both its competitive aspect with a rookie finals berth and being safe game wise, and the house element with the frequent hookup and commentary. Being that the Invasion has just a few figures here this time, Kyle now feels like a father figure to his fellow Brits, and we wouldn't be surprised if he once again surprises us.
NICOLE Z.This is only Nicole's third Challenge and usually after a few seasons' hiatus we'd be excited for one's return... but given a not-so-decent reputation she has in this community that's not the case for here. Sure, she's a 2-time finalist who's never gotten eliminated and who has a lot of people going against her for what happened with her & Laurel last we saw them at the Peak. It's agreed upon that Nicole is the best fit on a physical level, but the question coming into this is whether she's learned anything -- and given her two-year sojourn, we will learn if she has.
NELSON Nelson is back for another go as both a great competitor and one who, as fellow Challenge fan Irving wrote on the Challenge Fans Facebook forum, "reality TV gold" (and thanks for giving me a mention). If that cringe-worthy Dr. Phil visit made him more well-known, then Total Madness must've felt like a baptism of fire: his outbursts at Kailah and Aneesa garnered him much hate, him sacrificing his game to let Cory go for the money won him all of our respect. And now that he is single, a big challenge going in is to keep his head in the game rather than fall in love again...
BIG T. A memorable moment from the Madness was what befell poor Big T.: her foot stepping on a glass on the floor, getting that foot bloodied up much that it had to bandaged up, and eventually having to be medically evacuated. We live in a world where people are worthy of second chances, and after wanting to have that second chance that she wanted so badly after being the first lady to go on WOTW2 after pushing Georgia H. there, T. now should have that retake on redemption this time. You can't but help to appreciate the energy she brings regardless of what this season might hold for her.
TORI As we talk to you on this Thanksgiving weekend, you know what's been going on with her, but let's keep with just Challenger Tori instead. She has been touted as part of the next generation of Challengers and after her rookie Dirty 30 season things were looking up... But though she made it to the end on War of the Worlds 2 and got something more out of it, what happened with losing to Jenna and getting Challenge Nation's ire after talking to Allan things have let up a bit. Tori, though, is one of those who MTV supports so much, and now it's up to her to see if she can live up to the hype.

 THE ROOKIES  
LOLO - It's clear that the rookie field is led by the first Pro from Champs vs. Pros to cross onto the regular show. And as we head into an unprecedented Olympic year, Lolo Jones is using Double Agents to spring board into two last runs at gold on the track and on the sled. What we saw three years ago impressed us in pushing Ashley to the limit and pushing nerves among the Stars... and she has been in the fire of the Celeb Big Brother house and Dancing with the Stars too. A regular Challenge is a whole different animal, and Lolo can shut the trolls up if she has an impressive campaign.
AMBER M. AYTO's crossover into The Challenge has been well-documented (and greatly foreseen by my bud Andrew Kirk), and the latest one to make this plunge is Amber M. of the sexually fluid Season 8 of last year. She can thank her season fir reinstating getaway challenges after a year off to give her some competitive experience going into her rookie start, and Amber certainly has nothing to lose coming in. And oh, she also has her very own YouTube channel where she can definitely spill that tea...
MECHIE In a year without a U.S. Ex On The Beach, this winter's rookie rep from the sand is none other than Mechie, who we followed getting into plenty of Malibu girl drama with a few of them there. The music world best knows him one who opened up for Meek Mill but more as the one who dated Blac Chyna and which ignited drama with them and Rob Kardashian. He is no doubt the tabloid favorite of the rookies, but Mechie will find out that being a Challenger is a whole different game in itself - but he might have no problem on the drama/love front.
AMBER B. Our lone Big Brother rookie comes from All-Stars champ Cody Calafiore's season: Amber B. appeared on BB16 in 2014 where she briefly held HOH honors before falling short of the jury cutoff... and the Bomb Squad member was also in consideration to join Cody on BB22 but didn't make the cut. Still, this Knoxville native has spent her post-BB life cutting her teeth in the modeling world and her promo pic would be miles above all the others. Amber knows what has happened since the BB takeover began and now it's her turn...
NATALIE A. The other CBS Double Agents rookie carries two flags of both Amazing Race and Survivor, and who's also the first U.S. champ from the ladder to come onto here. Natalie came onto the former with her sister & finished in 4th, then came onto the second bloodlines season in San Juan Del Sur who plowed her way through the field to $1 million, and then finished runner-up on Winners at War earlier this year after being in that show's own Redemption House. There were so many fans clamoring for Natalie to make the jump to The Challenge, and so they get their wish.
LIO RUSH In a world where one of The Challenge's biggest icons is a WWE vet, it was a matter of time before the show got something in return. Last year, Lio Rush was a Cruiserweight Champion two years after he first signed with Vince McMahon's company... but after he got in hot water for making fun of a female wrestler he mired in the minors before going from the NXT brand to becoming champ and going onto RAW. COVID saw him be released as he's returned to the indie wrestling scene, but music has also kept him busy prior to joining Challenge Nation.
JOSEPH Hoping to follow in what Ninja Natalie got to do in jumping from the Peacock to Viacom Ville so successfully is Joseph, who comes from a totally different kind of competition show. A year ago, he was on the stage of America's Got Talent where he thrilled the judges and got a coveted golden buzzer from Howie Mandel. But to think that he has just a musical pedigree to his resume doesn't fully tell who he also is: he also spent time racing on the motocross circuits, and that competitive fire just might as well fuel Joe in taking his talents from the stage of The Challenge.
GABBY 🇬🇧After a summer without a British Love Island but with one in Vegas, we have the fourth Islander to come ashore here: Gabby was on Georgia and Theo's season three years ago and who was in a big relationship with a member of a UK hip-hop group... and she was also on Celeb Big Brother UK a year later. Unlike Kayleigh, Melissa or others, Gabby is a fitness model & trainer who is certainly in her own element when it comes to being fit, just as what we've seen with Joss and a few other Challengers here stateside. Don't be surprised if she gets to fly under the radar and make a deep run again.
LIV 🇬🇧On the other side of the spectrum in the drama sphere lies the other UK rep of Liv, who also appeared on the original show for both Big T and Bear, UK Channel 4's Shipwrecked. Even though she was part of the winning side of her season, she didn't have a good time behind the scenes and who had felt so stressed out about filming that she considered taking a purge from social media. But it was just recently on Instagram that Liv revealed that she is pregnant... but let's not get ahead of ourselves: there should be plenty of fireworks coming from Liv as it has been for T.
NAM 🇩🇪 - Until now, no man of Asian descent has ever competed on The Challenge or been on Real World - and no one from Continental Europe (outside the UK) has suited up on the former. That changes with German-Vietnamese native Nam, who comes onto here having competed on Netflix's answer to Ninja Warrior: Ultimate Beastmaster a few years ago. He shares a trait with Jen from last year being a widely followed Instagram fitness model who works for the German version of Men's Health. These two aspects should serve him well as he goes about tackling this tall Challenge.

We were last in Iceland, Challenge wise, when Bananas and Camila reigned supreme for his fourth ring and her first. And it's the absence of the now seven-time champ and how the guys' field will be impacted by him taking this winter off for global journeys that are among the burning questions we have as we sit around the hotstove waiting for next week to come.
   There's also these: "How will Darrell and Theresa handle their first seasons back in a long while?", "Will we finally see Leroy or Nany take over the throne?", "Will Ashley not focus on the drama to become a three-time champ?", "Can Wes return to the winners circle?", "What does Killa Kam have for us next?", "Can Big Brother finally win #1," and "Is this the year Lolo finally becomes queen?" And there's many more which will be answered during the course of the next several months.
   Over two decades after it began, The Challenge finally has the spotlight it has so desired for so long in the field of reality competition shows... thanks in no small part to several factors of COVID, the increasing media attention and everything else. Because of how things are now, it may not have the huge task awaiting it of trying to keep us entertained with something fresh & competitive as Total Madness did earlier this year, but Double Agents does have something going for it that will nonetheless keep us glued: a cast with something for everyone and for every taste, and plenty of action and drama which will glue viewers tuned. There's no doubt that we should be in quite a winter escape ahead...



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As we wrap up our DCBLOG preview of Double Agents, may we remind you of a couple others who cover MTV Reality and The Challenge as a way for get much more after you've read this preview...
We wouldn't do this chance to make shoutouts to this community without mentioning Challenge Mania with Derrick Kosinski and Scott Yager. And with the incredible resume that they have racked up since the bulldog restarted his podcasts three years ago, you don't need to be reminded of those who have joined the show, other than it's a who's who... plus they recap the episodes if you're lucky to pony up some $$. They're all up at their Spreaker site and other podcast points of interest.
Another guy who has had a 2020 has been New Yorker Mike Lewis, who has had a great year getting tough-to-get guests onto his YouTube channel. And last week, he had the honor of kicking off the many interviews across the AV medium with this season's competitors, starting with Joseph. Check it out there on his channel, and there will be plenty more interviews with the current players as the season goes on.

As for us here, think of DCBLOG as the Sunday supplement to the MTV Reality shows you love. If you enjoy Derrick & Scott, Mike and the so many others who do podcasts, recaps and other things around the web, then we think of ourselves as The New York Times... and we have proudly been able to cover this world for eight years, which has also seen us cover each feeder series featuring these Challengers (EOTB, Floribama Shore, AYTO, etc.) and other series of particular interest.
   We'll be with you every week to cover Double Agents as only we can, starting with exclusive SocialPulse diaries of all the Twitter play-by-play uncensored. With the WRAP, we'll be able to offer our own take on the traditional episode recaps with reviews, opinions, analysis and the like... and we round it all off with ExtraTime: our unique look at MTV Reality, its people and the world as seen from our vantage point with our trademark storytelling as we introduce the newbies, look back on the past and offer high-caliber content that caters to hardcore, casual and passionate fans and viewers.
   Now here's the catch: unlike other outlets, DCBLOG delays posting our episode coverage for later on - as more and more of you are cutting the cord and can't watch the episodes live on Wednesday nights, we abstain from posting our episode coverage and give you the time to catch up before we arrive at the biggest time of the whole week: the weekend. Regardless, like, comment & share our links, subscribe to our email list, bookmark this site, and tell a friend... we hope you'll like it and that you'll be entertained.

Now, the next piece of business here is to offer our other preseason tradition: our traditional introduction to the season's rookies in this winter's edition of Who Are These Newbies?  We'll take the chance to do a deep dive on the first-time competitors of Double Agents for those who are interested in them -- but do not be alarmed when we tell you that not everyone of the ten rookies will be profiled in-depth... we'll tell you why when that post comes up next week as we count down to December 9th (which also doubles as the 16th anniversary of that epic night of me meeting Linkin Park and the late Chester Bennington).
   Also coming up: for the past year, I've been living a double life as a YouTuber: since last Thanksgiving I have posted 116 videos on my channel that consists exclusively of original videos shot by me, most during this pandemic. And after posting all of my #DCVegas content during this time, the DC Coast To Coast series is underway covering two past trips to New York and Disneyland... and a new video will premiere shortly at YouTube.com/DC408Dxtr.

So, this is only just the beginning to what should be an amazing season of the show we love... we know you are all ready for The Challenge coming up in ten days from tonight. We'll talk to you here then as we continue our ride Inside MTV Reality at DCBLOG... but for right now, takk og bless...

- I AM DC
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