DC FORUM: 2021 is a WRAP….

A Word from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

In just a few days, we will say farewell to this year of 2021 where things just started to feel normal to a degree, but where in many ways things felt the same as it was at this time last year when we just wanted 2020 to just go out in a blaze. A lot of you who are reading this might feel the same way as we are about to ring in 2022 in around seventy hours from right now.

But as it has many times during the course of the past twenty-two months or so, you have found a haven in the shows you love to watch, the music you love to listen, the sports that unite us and the passions that bind us together. That's the premise that I have brought to DCBLOG over the past nine years, and where I have also done quite a bit of video work during the past five years.

This has formed the premise of what I call The Escape You Deserve, which I have been preaching over this traumatizing and exhausting time in our world in offering something else for you to check out: blog coverage of television's most-talked about reality shows and occasional posts covering sports and music. And there's also been a few posts covering that fourth passion of Las Vegas, which has evolved into the DC VEGAS vlog series that just premiered on my YouTube channel.

To keep this all short and sweet and simple -- and without wanting to elaborate much as I tend to be a private person and would prefer to keep it all to myself and to the inner circle, I am taking a break from both DCBLOG and YouTube for the remainder of this holiday period and perhaps for a week or two after we ring in the New Year this weekend. Being able to have worked my rear end off to bring you this outstanding content especially with posting fourteen videos on Christmas weekend alone and getting close to reaching 1500 articles on this site, the time feels right to take a deserved break

Once I come back from this self-imposed sojourn, we will have a ton of episode coverage and other things to cover from the MTV beat before we turn the attention to whatever comes in the first few months of the new year, plus another series of sports posts and other things on the side. And on the vlogs, there's my first-ever visits to Downtown Las Vegas, Resorts World and the World Series of Poker, as well as this fall's 20th anniversary reunion of my Milpitas High School graduating class.

I hope you all got to enjoy the amazing, quality work I got to offer all of you this year, and I look forward to resuming it all in the new year after this time to rest, relax, reenergize and recover while also spending quality time with my biggest fans -- my family and relatives. Enjoy the rest of the holidays and be safe out there especially right now... we'll see you soon.

- I AM DC   #DCBLOG

#TheEscapeYouDeserve

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The $1 Million Finale Part 2

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Merry Christmas to all of you on on the most merriest day of them all on the calendar, and wherever you are we hope you are having a good one, as a friend to us in the MTV beat Brian Cohen would say at the end of his podcasts. And along with plenty of videos on YouTube what did Santa DC bring to those of you who visit DCBLOG today? This blogger has brought you the 'Pulse of MTV's The Challenge... and the season finale of Season 37 of Spies, Lies & Allies, a season that began all the way back in the heat of summer and ending during the winter holiday season.

When we left Croatia at the end of the first hour of this battle back last Saturday (for reasons to be explained below), we began with TJ Lavin dropping his latest Teej-bomb on the ten remaining players of the almost thirty that began this whole thing back in August: in order to make the final, they would have to sweat out one more set of eliminations -- a double one. While it was Tori and Devin who won their way to the final eight, it was Amanda who won our hearts in falling short but having came here to compete for her newborn back home... though it was what happened with one of the agents helping out that left a sour taste in some.

Tori, Devin, CT, Emy, Kaycee, Kyle, Nany and Nelson advanced onward to the $1 million final which, once again, will last two days... and the teams were split down the middle into foursomes. And at the end of the first part it was the first four on that list that were in the lead... but you cannot win a Challenge crown on the first day alone. As we return to Croatia, the fight continues with the kind of exhausting test that brings every aspect the players have endured this fall & winter into the fore once again that will determine who reigns victorious. And en route to the finish line, a big story of this season may find itself going through one more big hurdle, while a moment etched in many's minds in the past five years of this show will have a role in what happens after the agents finish this marathon.

Ahead, DCBLOG offers you the SocialPulse of the nineteenth and final week of competition of Season 37 of The Challenge, as we find out who wins it all on Spies, Lies & Allies. And it's with what happens at the end that will offer the context of the ExtraTime story that follows: a night of history being made in reality TV that also gave one rapidly-growing section of our society reason to celebrate... and this blogger can also lay claim to being part of that community. So put on that ugly sweater, grab that cup of eggnog and welcome on in Challenge Nation, and thanks for joining us here on this Christmas Day.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge All-Stars 2 - The Second Half Begins...

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Happy Christmas wherever you are around the world, where it's already the big Saturday in Asia, Europe and Africa where Santa has already given your presents under the tree. And if you are lucky enough to be up at this hour in the U.S., we're glad you've joined us for this special late night presentation of the DCBLOG MTV Reality SocialPulse as we kick off a busy end to 2021 on here. And just ahead on here, the last act of Season 37 of The Challenge and Season 4 of Floribama Shore... but we begin for those of you who are up right now (including us in the Cueva Crib for our first in-person Christmas bash in two years) with Week 6 of The Challenge All-Stars Season 2.

Last we were in Mexico, one of the biggest alumni to make their debut on here was Tina, who came to Road Rules South Pacific in 2003 as a replacement and then made her mark on several Challenges. But perhaps, she must've saved her best work for when she decided to call attention to everyone in the kitchen with pots and pans and took a page out of not only Big Brother Josh's playbook but also from Taylor Swift's lyric book: "the Old Tina can't get to the phone." Her making her stand in the house and then in the elimination arena in throwing her battle added more to her legend, conceding victory to one who has had quite a tough year in Melinda after miscarrying her second baby earlier this year.

As what has been the case during the regular show's regular season and what will be the case when we get to cover the Spies, Lies & Allies finale later on this Christmas Day will show, it's not officially serious business time on a Challenge until TJ Lavin decides to throw a pebble at the players at the midway point. As we return to Cancun, that will be the case when he will twist things up once again when the players tackle a scary daily game in the water that involves jumping down into the lake... and for one player, it will put into focus a fear they have of tackling both the heights and the sea. What happens here and then in the arena will test out what has become the season's dominant alliance.

After the break, DCBLOG and Santa DC brings you an early Xmas gift: the 'Pulse of Week 6 of The Challenge All-Stars... plus, is Leslie Chow a Real World fan? And welcome to the merriest day of all...

DC Vegas: A Spotlight on the Vloggers

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

A much beloved aspect of normalcy that began to spring back up in the course of the past year has been of taking advantage of spare time to fly or drive to the destination of your choosing outside the place you call home and have been stuck in for most of this time. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to travel to some amazing places: the Philippines, Hawaii, New York, Southern California, and the Reno/Tahoe area. Sure, my travel itinerary is not as broad as what you have, but I don't get that much in the way of vacation time because of various factors that I would rather not elaborate on.... it's not the case for my parents, who have gone to well more places than I have. But for a quarter-century, one place has stood out above all others: Las Vegas.

Since 1994 - and most especially in the past decade & a half, it's become a near-annual tradition for me to emerge out of this shell of doing blog work like this in my Bay Area home and venture out on a 75-minute plane trip (or sometimes a 9-hour drive) to the playground that, if you're at least 21, you can treat as your own adult amusement park -- and lately I've referred to it as my happy place. The thing I refer to by the social media hashtag of #DCVegas has emerged from just the kid in me roaming the Circus Circus midway in that first trip into becoming my own Super Bowl: the biggest thing I look forward to and something I anticipate just as much as the Olympics, music awards shows, or a new season of an MTV reality TV show. It's always a huge deal for me to let my guard down in joining family and cousins for these vacations, and it is always a good time whenever I step foot in Southern Nevada.

The pandemic lockdown last year might've caused a lot of stress for many, but it afforded plenty of time at home to pursue another passion of mine: videography. Not being able to travel opened an opportunity for me to create plenty of escapable and enjoyable content from eight of those Vegas trips for the DC Vegas series on my YouTube channel which number in at over 180 videos. That total can be disputed a bit, as in truth it includes reposted versions of some of those due to having a faster internet speed and affording me the chance to reproduce them in higher definition. Just get a glimpse at the vlogs, and you can understand why I make my videos stand out from your usual Vegas YouTube videos in me taking greater steps to have it be just as nice as anything you see there but visually and sound-wise.

When the opportunity finally presented itself for me to safely travel to Vegas last month - and where conditions were favorable enough to also tackle my first big vacation since this world lost its mind, I will have been well-prepared to once again not only enjoy the experience of this amazing city, but also capturing it (thus defying the adage that "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"), Along with marking a belated birthday for me, a new goal coming into this trip was to also use this city -- the Strip and all -- as a canvas to creating great content for my digital channels, having watched a lot of Vegas-related content on YouTube during the pandemic. That, along with upgrading my technology to a new phone, gimbal and other gadgets since the last trip and gaining lots of experience in the last few years in videography and editing techniques, set the table for me to take my Vegas experience to the next level.

Tomorrow night before you gather either in person or virtually with your family and friends as I will for our holiday meet-up (no need to worry about all that's going on health wise for us, we'd rather save that chatter for another time), yours truly will be offering the perfect Christmas gift in "The Ultimate Escape" -- the DC VEGAS XI vlog series on YouTube. I have been working long and hard the past few weeks putting together an amazing array of videos that will help take your mind off of what's going on right now, and to make this an enjoyable experience that will bring the Vegas feeling into your homes and to your screens. But before the premiere of this year's videos, this blogger would like this opportunity to put a spotlight not on myself... but on those who I've gotten to enjoy watching during this time: the community who vlogs on everything Vegas.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge All-Stars 2 - "Old Tina Can't Come to the Phone"

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We welcome you back on this pre-Christmas Saturday night, and we've just had an enjoyable sports Saturday... one that started with just one match in the English Premier League, but where Tiger Woods returned to action after that horrific accident almost 200 days ago, the Colts take down the Pats and college bowl season has just begun. And now that we've just seen what's gone down with Jake Paul knocking the F out of Tyron Woodley, DCBLOG would like to offer you the appropriate nightcap as we now offer the 'Pulse of MTV's The Challenge -- All-Stars that is.

Last we were in Cancun, a gulf separating two strong alliances was starting to form in the house: Brad, Cohutta, Darrell, Derrick and MJ on one side; Nehemiah, Latterian, Steve, Teck and Melinda on the other. It wasn't apparent when the hilarity that always ensues went down in the annual hybrid of game show & diving fest known as trivia took over, but when Steve and -- of all people -- Casey were the last ones standing they chose to take the season's biggest power move on behalf of the King's Palace. It led to Brad and Derrick getting a rematch to their epic encounter of many years ago and saw the Cutthoat champ take the win, Katie joining him on the flight home after quitting that trivia earlier.

One of the biggest alumni to make their return to this game after not being on All-Stars 1 this winter is Tina, who first made waves as a replacement roadie on Road Rules South Pacific eighteen years ago. She has made plenty of those during this first half of this season, and as we return to Mexico she may figure once again in a week where the daily sees the Stars will be jumping for joy on trampolines. We will also be delving more into an item we shared with you earlier this year involving one of the Stars on here, as the Palace tries to hang onto their power... and a rather familiar moment to reality TV fans makes its way down south to this paradise.

After the break, DCBLOG wraps up this Saturday night with the 'Pulse of Week 5 of The Challenge All-Stars... and could this show be bringing one of its names to the world of food? Find out next.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The $1 Million Finale Part 1

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Hello everyone and welcome -- to many of you, at least -- to winter break at the end of what has been some 2021. If you're one of those who loves wintertime in a TV sense, then we're in for quite the finish to this year in the reality world after the crowning of this year's Survivor winner, the fall's Masked Singer champ, and before Michelle chooses her Prince Charming on The Bachelorette. And this one right here will morph into Santa DC as yours truly has quite an offering of Christmas goodies in the week ahead both here on DCBLOG and over on YouTube, starting here and now as we begin to cover something that began all the way back in the heat of summertime in August.

Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge began just three nights after the cauldron was extinguished in Tokyo and, as it was for the world's best across the Pacific, it's a global competition that brought together reality stars from here in America and ten other overseas countries for $1 million... and plenty has gone down ever since. We fast-forward to when we were last in Croatia, where it was the season's last regular daily challenge and elimination round -- something that we at this site refer to as "semifinal week." And the focus was the last two remaining rookie men: her fellow Romanian Emmanuel and Spaniard Logan... and when they met in the Lair, it was the former who took the win delighting Emy.

In the end, everyone thought that they were safe to head on to the venue of the last act of this drama, but TJ Lavin gave the Romanians, Amanda, CT, Devin, Kaycee, Kyle, Nany, Nelson and Tori another one of those "Teej-bombs." And as we rejoin them here, a double elimination Purge will send two of those players above their marching orders just before the final challenge... and it's what happens in the Lair involving one who doesn't get chosen to go down into the arena that might be cause for concern in the house. And whoever survives the battles of a physical and mental nature will go onto the marathon for the cash, which may shape up to be anyone's game.

After the break -- and on a delayed, backtracked basis, DCBLOG brings you all the action, reaction and interaction of the first part of the finale of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies... and we'll also delve into a possibility for what Season 38 might hold. And welcome to the weekend, Challenge Nation...

DC ExtraTime: Let's Have A Parade with Tai Verdes!

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

When you look over at the long history of MTV Reality television, just about every successful show that's come on in the past three decades have produced some memorable characters. The just-debuted season 2 of The Real World Homecoming on Paramount+ is paying homage to the Los Angeles season of 1993, which gave the reality TV world Tami Roman and introduced us to longtime stalwart of The Challenge, Beth Stolarczyk. It's among the many instances where television's most buzzed-about reality shows have offered us not only endless entertainment, but also a glimpse into the future by introducing those relative unknowns who would later make their mark on pop culture.

This DCBLOG site has covered the past decade of The Challenge and a few seasons of The Real World, but we've also chronicled the entire journey of several series that have come on in our eight years on this beat. Just seeing Amanda, Devin, Nelson and Tori on Spies, Lies & Allies reminds us of where they all began their MTV journey in a similar scenario going for $1 million back then as it is now with each still in the running in Croatia. Six years ago, the first three were part of a legendary cast of one of MTV's two takes on reality dating as it can only offer in Are You The One?, where Season 3 saw the puppet-master put his team on his magic carpet with the help of some plastic red cups and a quarter en route to the money. And this month, Devin's original AYTO season joined the first two on Netflix, along with Season 4 where Tori and Jake Paul's scandalous girlfriend Julia Rose first made waves.

Two years after the Season 3 cast lived out that miracle in Hawaii came a comeback for the ages: the kids of AYTO Season 6 found themselves staring down joining Season 5 in going home broke, but in a game of momentum they got it just before midnight set in on their New Orleans mansion. Just before that moment of the improbable happening where his case lit up all the lights in the tenth & last matchup ceremony that made them $1 million richer, a man from out west was part of the only moment all that autumn 2017 where a room with lasers can turn a house of despair into a house with hopes of the impossible coming true. And who knew that four years later, that one who saw the word "Perfect Match" on the screen would be taking his act to the one event that marks the kick-off to the magical time that is the holiday season... and now, everybody knows who Tai Verdes is.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge All-Stars 2 - "New Divide"

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We bring you back here on this winter's weekend, where across the Atlantic the serious business has begun on MTV's The Challenge and the battle for $1 million is on on Spies, Lies and Allies. But while we'll be covering all of that for you here next week, things are just starting on Season 2 of All-Stars -- and it's as if we have been gifted with an early slice of Christmas.

When we left Mexico last on this page, the house was still reeling from what might be a candidate for biggest Challenge moment of this year: Ayanna helping Leah complete the season's first elimination battle. Just after all that, the Road Rules alum experienced a falling out with Sophia in the midst of this heated game, which saw the players battle both each other and the heat in a game that saw Tina and Darrell take the win and power, and saw the boss lady put in Jodi against Sophia & gave the 2-time champ the win while Cohutta sent Ryan packing for the airport.

As we return to Cancun, there is a clear divide in the house: two strong alliances have formed that's split between Derrick, Brad, Darrell, MJ and Cohutta, and Nehemiah, Laterrian, Teck, Steve and Melinda in the other... and pitting the first names in that chain against each other again as it was back in the spring. It offers the backdrop for what might lie ahead considering past history among that first alliance, which you might not notice much when something that is always anticipated on any season of this show goes down: the always lighthearted & fun daily challenge known as trivia.

After the break, we bring you on a backtracked basis, the 'Pulse of Week 4 of The Challenge: All-Stars... and stick around afterwards for the link that Challenge Nation has to the hottest team in American sports and the man who's considered the GOAT in modern football. Welcome on in...

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - Baby Shower Time!

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Twitter @CodiButts

We've come to the second weekend of December, which means we are halfway to Christmas Day this month -- and if you haven't done your holiday shopping it's pretty much time to get those items on that wish list. We have also reached the next-to-last full week of episode coverage of 2021 Inside MTV Reality, and with all due respect to the show of big interest to us here this week this week the spotlight is on fall wrapping up on Floribama Shore, as a long but entertaining Season 4 wraps up some ten months after it all began in Montana.

The past few months, the Bam have spent their autumn in the college town of Athens, Georgia outside of the University of Georgia... and if their winter & early spring was an eventful trip out west, then their partial homecoming near their Floridian digs has felt a bit normal -- we just miss those famous bar hops. But nothing is more enjoyable in this part of the Shore world then when those families come knocking on the door... and last we were with the Bam the latest instance of family get-togethers as only this bunch know how to do began, and in addition to Codi's, Aimee's and Candace's families coming by, Gus' sister Hannah made her long-awaited visit after the spat she had with Candace earlier this year, and after the playboy dodged a bullet with having two ladies with the same name flirt with him.

Throughout our five years spending time with the Bam, they've gotten to not only do these gatherings, but also celebrate birthdays, the Fourth of July and spring break. And as they are about to welcome something that their Jersey counterparts have done a lot the past dozen years, the focus turns to marking the first of the two biggest things to happen to Nilsa: becoming a mom to her new kid Grey before she says "I do" to Gus 2.0. And as we come back to town, the families are marking the impending arrival of the first Floribama baby with something the youngsters have never experienced before in their adult lives: a baby shower. But, there is also an interesting twist to all of that: not only do they have to try to not get hungover the day before, but also to make sure that it is also an alcohol-free baby shower... and that in itself might be an interesting challenge.

Just ahead, the Floribama Shore Family Reunion continues as DCBLOG and the MTV Reality 'Pulse invites you, yet again, to the Floribama Baby Shower. We know you're not gonna miss this.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Semifinal Week

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We are into the month of December around here and that means, Christmas is in the air wherever you are as well as that magical feeling of winter -- if you're lucky enough to have snow on the ground. For those who follow the world of reality television, we saw an NBA player walk off with the Dancing with the Stars globe, and there's still winners to be determined on Survivor, The Voice and The Bachelorette to come before Santa dishes out his annual set of gifts to kids everywhere. And the same holds true for regular Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge, as Spies, Lies and Allies has officially entered the stretch run and finding out who will have $1 million underneath their trees this holiday season.

If you are curious as we are, the prize money that's on the minds of the players weighs exactly one ton, and last week they got to grasp their hands on those 10,000 one-hundred dollar bills as the Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire cells partook in a heist and a mini-final of sorts to determine who is ready to endure the two days of hell known as the final challenge to any Challenge season. In the end, the team with the most members on its team proved to be the ones most ready to handle that task, as the green team's efficiency offset the smaller sides' fast pace to take back power. And in what turns out to be the next to last solo Lair night of this fall, Emy took down Big T to become just the seventh player in history to win four or more eliminations in one season, and the third to do in her maiden voyage in this game.

Now the focus shifts towards the serious side with that $1 million final looming, and this week the game heads above water one more time as the three teams will sprint across an elevated gauntlet, and the men look to keep their heads down as they try to do whatever they can to not go into what they think will be their last elimination battle. With just Emy left on the women's side, there are two rookie men left including her fellow Romanian compatriot, who also just happens to be the only man who has yet been asked to earn his stripes down in the Lair. If history has it, it may as well come down to a battle between he and the other first-time guy Logan... but TJ may have one more trick up his sleeve.

At this website, for all intents and purposes we have an alternate wording for when we reach the week of the last daily challenge of the regular season: semifinal week. And after the break, DCBLOG brings you the SocialPulse of Week 17 of Spies, Lies & Allies... and thanks for wrapping your weekend with us.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge All-Stars 2 - "Firestarter"

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We bring you back on this first day of December as you are probably getting snuggled up on the first day of "cuffing season" and the start of summer down under in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere -- as we've just witnessed what went down on Spies, Lies & Allies. And if you are anxious for much more related to MTV's The Challenge, then you are counting down to when this week's episode of All-Stars Season 2 will go up on Paramount+.

Due to yours truly spending Thanksgiving with family and relatives and getting back into the groove of the DCBLOG beat after my Vegas trip, we're behind a little in our blog content. But last we left Mexico on here on Cyber Monday, it was elimination week in the All-Stars house as everyone except for power duo Derrick and Jodi were on edge and bracing for a trip to save their lives. But the usual drama that surrounds all of that would take a backseat to what took place in the Arena: after Ayanna won for the women, she helped her opponent Leah complete the task rather than give up. That, along with the one who lost for the men, Derek C., opening up about him losing his sister prior to coming here, was one of the most stirring moments we've ever seen on any Challenge ever.

It's hard to perhaps top what happened there in the first elimination of Season 2 of All-Stars, but as we return to Cancun are still buzzing about that night in the Arena. Just as it was the first time out, the pressures of being in this game for $500,000 is one that can get in the way of things... and that includes long-standing friendships and bad blood that goes back quite a bit in this game of throwbacks. Those things are on the mind of the Stars as they tackle not just a pair of puzzles on top of a pyramid, but also the scorching heat of a Mexican summer that can easily reach into the 90-degree range. And those who don't survive the vote will find themselves playing a game that is familiar if you have a paper and pencil with X's and O's, but done a bit differently.

Join us here after the break as we bring you the 'Pulse of Week 3 of The Challenge: All-Stars 2 before tonight's episode goes up soon, plus the Twitter buzz surrounding the debut of Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles and, of course, Thanksgiving. Thanks for wrapping your Wednesday with us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Riverdance"

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We welcome you to the last month of this year, and as we get into December and the holiday mood around here, this should be quite the grandstand finish we have to 2021 in MTV Reality. And with Cheyenne's Teen Mom mates getting to go on a vacation to ring in the new year and the L.A. premiere of Real World Homecoming, we should be in good company to speed into '22... and one of those is The Challenge, as Spies, Lies & Allies heads towards the finale.

If you were with us back on Thanksgiving, we brought you the SocialPulse of Episode 15 where Amanda found herself on a new team and being discounted by the mysterious disappearance of her ride-or-die Ashley all while Tori had to get used to being on a different team. But after a mission that saw the players go on a three-way collision course, Kyle would be left having to answer some questions after he chose to sabotage his own team and garnering CT's ire in the process, he had to fight his way through elimination which he did, taking down Josh.

For those of us who are loyal to watching every episode of every season including this one even while many's attention has turned to All-Stars, it's good news when we can begin to think about what awaits us soon enough. As we return to Croatia, the lucky many still in this are about to encounter what it's like to grasp onto the one reason why they've came here in the first place: the $1 million that will be dished out to the finalists in a few weeks' time... and an exhausting heist will put them into that money feel as we enter this holiday period. For one agent, she has a lot on her plate: trying to heal two guys' rift while also staring down some rare Challenge history of her own.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Week 16 of Spies, Lies & Allies before what goes down tonight, plus a couple of other antidotes afterwards. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge All-Stars 2 - "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye"

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We welcome you back here as the long Thanksgiving weekend has wound down as we are now well into the first days of the holiday season, and we are all doing our holiday shopping here online on this Cyber Monday. And as you join us here, you're probably thinking about giving someone in your family or a friend of yours a subscription to a streaming television service... it's not a surprise given how we have spent all this time at home. And it's with this in mind that we bring you into one of the big draws in this new world of entertainment: MTV's The Challenge and its special spin-off All-Stars.

Season 1 of All-Stars was a smash success in every way you can look at it, and Season 2 has just kicked off down in the resort town of Cancun, Mexico. The last time MTV came here was when Nany and her Real World Back to Vegas castmates spent their vacation south of the border, and as she is still in the running on the main show week 1 of this season began with everyone getting to enjoy an evening under the sun before the business began the next day with a tough first challenge but also a fun one taking place out by the sea: going for the hoop while also navigating a balance beam over the water. In the end, Derrick and Jodi took top honors as the first power team of this season, continuing from where he left off last season and her solidifying her place as someone to watch for in her return to this world. 

However, it was the manner that most of the rest of the Stars performed that had TJ in a bad mood... so much so, that he decided to make this winter's eliminations a double one just like what we got to see in the earlier part of Spies, Lies & Allies. And as we rejoin matters here, everyone else is on edge as to who among them will face All-Stars 1 alum Nehemiah and one who last competed almost two decades ago, Ayanna of Road Rules Semester at Sea, in the first elimination. But what happens next is perhaps so remarkable, it would make you want to thank your wallet for paying extra for Paramount+ or to have that free month's trial.

After the break, it's the SocialPulse of Week 2 of Season 2 of The Challenge: All-Stars... and thanks for spending part of your Monday with us...

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - It's a Floribama Family Party!

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We bring you back here on this Thanksgiving weekend... and as so many of us are heading on back from our trips across the country and to grandma's house after this four-and-a-half day long weekend to begin the holidays, a time like this has always been to connect with our families... and we hope you all had a chance to hang with them in person and on your screens. And it's with this in mind that we bring you in for the latest happenings in Floribama Shore, and from the Peach House in Athens, GA.

In the past few weeks, the Bam has celebrated the birthdays of the former bromance but without any incident compared to what happened last time, and they have also ventured out of the house and into the woods in Northern Georgia for a camping retreat -- save for Nilsa as she went home to visit her now husband Gus 2.0. And when we last with them, Camp Peach continued on for the rest of them before making their way back home for a backyard Mardi Gras party when Kirk's friends -- including Jasmine from Season 8 of Are You The One? -- made their way there. It also represented a most testy test of temptation for one-time playboy Gus, as he now will try to make sure to stay loyal to his girl when two girls with the same name are courting for his attention.

Partying is what the Bam does best... and they've had ample times to do that in Florida the first three seasons. At the end of that first Floribama summer four years ago, the Bam were joined by members of their families at the original Shore house in Panama City Beach, including Nilsa's late dad. But that little get-together was a quaint one compared to what we had on Season 3 last year, and while we had little idea that it would be one of the few of these we either got to  watch on our couch or experience during that lost 2020, it felt like the party of the century. Well, when Kirk's friends and Jasmine head on back to Atlanta, the families will take over to continue this party mood... and there's a reason for that: it's Nilsa's baby shower, and Gus 1.0's sister Hannah will also make that long-awaited visit.

After the break, DCBLOG and the MTV Reality SocialPulse cordially invite you to the Floribama Shore Family Reunion... and we'll also let you in on what has been an amazing November for two of their cool cousins over in Siesta Key. Welcome on in, friends...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Kyle's Sabotage and Leroy Speaks Out

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Well, welcome along to this Thanksgiving weekend... and in case we haven't spoken as of yet may we wish for you and yours our very best and safe travels during this long holiday to begin the holidays. And for us here, we're glad to be back on the blog beat after taking time off for #DCVegas XI... and after I had such an amazing time in Sin City, we can't wait to share with you all that yours truly got to enjoy during the course of this winter season ahead as you spend quality time with family and friends both in person and virtually.

As far as the beat we cover on here is concerned, the MTV Challenge is getting the juicy part of this year with not one, but two seasons airing at the same time... but before we delve that other Challenge season, there is the matter of what began back in August. Spies, Lies & Allies is deep into its second half, and last we were in Croatia things went sky-high as an ode was paid to one of next year's most-anticipated summer blockbusters in Top Gun: Maverick as the Sapphire team finally put a pause to Emerald's winning streak, and where Amanda won the battle but Big T. also stayed in the game -- the reason for that was for Ashley being sent home for a still yet unexplained reason.

As things now begin to turn towards determining who will be at the start line for the final next month, the one with the freckles is now in some sort of power as her swapping teams at the end of that latest trip to the Lair sees her be the focus of the Emeralds despite losing her top ally in this game. The week's mission pays another ode of sorts, in name only, of an MTV hit of the 2000's in Boom Raiders... but it's what happens with one of the players that may find him on the outs in this male elimination week. And another one who has been in the news a bit in being swapped out previously may find itself a casualty.

After the jump, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Week 15 of The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies... and we'll also have more on the controversy that arose as this episode aired (and while I was roaming Fremont Street). Thanks for joining us...

DC ExtraTime: The Life We Live Goes to O-Town

*** 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

If you have been a regular visitor to DCBLOG the past eight years, then you know that this thing that we call on here "Inside MTV Reality" is more than just covering the episodes both from the traditional and social media standpoint. It also means getting to tell the stories of TV's most-talked about reality shows and the people who star in them -- our contribution to an aspect of the entertainment industry that gave the world the non-scripted genre. And often, we go beyond the screens to cover the whole world at large as viewed through this prism... and in the case of one recurring subject, a fan of these shows who has become big himself, at least to a degree in the vast world that is YouTube.

Back four years ago here in 2017, we first discovered Andres Rodriguez from Secaucus, New Jersey, who invited a few of his friends to meet competitors from MTV's The Challenge when they marked the show's thirtieth season and the first to dish out $1 million in prize money. The real reason we featured him back then was that he was the creator, producer, editor, host and occasional competitor on his own homemade version of his favorite show made especially for YouTube. Ever since, we have chronicled the entire journey of Dre Media as the man at the heart of this operation has continued to provide all of us with plenty of enjoyable content during this time where we all are in need of an escape.

Though we did that original story in connection to Dirty 30, The Caucus Challenge was the reason we featured Dre in the first place: he's done eleven of those since he first started doing those back when he was going to high school. Something that can be called by a five-letter word or an alternative wording starting with a P had something to do with Season 11, Novice Era, being put on hold for over a year... but during this time he has created a spin-off series that brings Dre's unique brand of YouTube reality to a vacation away from home... and this summer saw the latest chapter of The Life We Live.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge All-Stars - The Season 2 Premiere

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We are just ten days out from the start of the 2021 winter holiday season... and for this blogger, this period is already in full gear with my birthday over the weekend and just before the big event of this fall begins for yours truly in a matter of hours. And as we think about how we are going to be doing Thanksgiving in over a week from now, if you follow MTV's The Challenge the merriest time of all has come a bit early thanks to what is going on on that other production of our fifth major pro sport.

Back in April, The Challenge All-Stars began much to our joy with some of the biggest stars of the show you love returning for a new spinoff of the regular show that feels very much like the show we're used to now with old faces. It was part of the second wave of offerings by MTV parent ViacomCBS' entry into the battle for everyone's eyeballs in this new reality of streaming called Paramount+, and it certainly delivered in every which way with those we know bringing us a memorable first go-around that was worth paying the small $5 to watch it all unfold.

This week, it's the much-anticipated sequel to that freshman offering... as Season 2 of All-Stars takes place down in Cancun, Mexico, which has hosted many MTV shows over the years from many weekends of that rite of March known as Spring Break, to a Real World season that three of this season's competitors made their debuts on twelve years ago. They and twenty-one others -- including several returnees from last season and others who return after some twenty years away -- are back to pursue the $500,000 that awaits the winners at season's end. And in this tropical paradise, two power players renew an old rivalry, while host TJ Lavin gets to do what he does best: lay a Teej-bomb on the players.

We know that Mondays aren't always the most anticipated day of the week, but after the break we get you into that upbeat mood as DCBLOG brings you all the action, reaction and interaction of the premiere of Season 2 of The Challenge All-Stars, all as it unfolded on Twitter in and around last Thursday's premiere... specially curated for you to enjoy in its uncensored and raw nature, which includes adult language. Thanks for joining us, Challenge Nation...

DC ExtraTime: Celeb-Exes On The Beach Go Dating in the Caribbean...

 FOLLOW-UP  Angela and Nelson's

 Couples Therapy (October 2019)

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

In where some of DCBLOG's very best work lies, we have uncovered many of the most interesting and fascinating stories involving the people of MTV Reality television. A lot of these posts have covered appearances those who star on shows ranging from The Challenge to the Shore world and beyond make on programs outside of the linear MTV channel itself, along with music videos, movies and even YouTube. But one of the most notable -- perhaps the most infamous, even -- of these appearances in recent years took place on the one form of TV anyone & most especially those who are strapped for cash can receive with a rabbit ears antenna and don't have to pay a single cent for, even in this streaming world.

While we were going about what turned out to be the last full year of the old normal, there was one romance that garnered much attention in this community of D-list celebrities who star on TV's most buzzed about shows in this genre. A guy who began his rise to fame on arguably the most-renowned alumni class of his original show six years ago found his perfect match not on Season 3 of Are You The One, but on MTV's other entry to reality dating goodies when he fell in love with a Season 1 original of the U.S. version of global franchise Ex On The Beach. And in a world where couples in this field come and go as often as clicks of a remote control, so began the kind of relationship that was tailor made for MTV, and perhaps even more as it turned out.

While Season 34 of The Challenge, War of the Worlds 2 was airing in the fall of 2019 as did Season 3 of EOTB, Nelson Thomas and Angela Babicz stole both the show and the buzz from those two shows by coming onto a two-part episode of Dr. Phil to air out their off-and-on relationship with America's favorite psychologist. They first met up in New York two years earlier when they shared a room with four people linked to them by those several degrees of separation in Derrick Henry, Tori Deal, Jordan Wiseley and Cory Wharton, along with many of their fellow Challengers. Our two subjects would later compete alongside those four on a future Challenge... and that's where the twisted story of #Nelgela begins -- one that we never even thought we would do a follow-up on two years later.

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - Yardi Gras Madness

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

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Twitter @GusSmyrnios

We welcome you back on this Sunday Funday and a day after a #DCBDay birthday for this blogger that, compared to other ones, was relatively chill - but for obvious reasons if you happen to follow me socially. But it seems that every day in the Floribama Shore world, it feels like a day like this... we all wish we could one of those every day ourselves.

The Bam have been having it all good when it comes to celebrations, including getting to celebrate the birthdays of both parts of the former bromance: Jeremiah a few weeks ago, and Gus most recently. But last week, the focus shifted from party to getting to do something peaceful -- and something that retailer REI is again pushing to those not interested in Black Friday mall hops: going to camp and to enjoy the great outdoors. Aimee and Codi took on the role of being camp counselors as they led the house on a wellness retreat... but everyone except one took for the journey: as Nilsa decided that it's just best to head home instead, as Camp Peach continues on in the woods.

Two years ago, Season 2 saw the group make their way westward from the Florida Panhandle along I-10 to New Orleans, which is the home to the biggest party in the entire south of Mardi Gras. As the events of what's been going on the past year has prevented the Crescent City from hosting the famous array of floats, beads and all-out madness that shuts down Bourbon Street, also this week the Bam will get into that spirit of green, purple & gold when Kirk's friends from just nearby descend upon the Peach House for a backyard Mardi Gras party -- thus the name, "Yardi Gras." And when those friends come by, the playboy will strive whatever he can to make sure that this doesn't become Temptation House.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Yardi Gras on Floribama Shore for your Sunday... and stick around afterwards because one of those friends may look familiar if you follow all that MTV has to offer -- and the link it has to that one show. Thanks for joining us, kids...