DC SocialPulse: The Challenge USA - Sabotages, Bumper Cars and Surprises

*** 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 Inside MTV Reality @ DCBLOG, and again we thank those of you who continue to support this site while also being mindful of the present situation of the blogger. Yesterday (Aug. 23rd) marked one month since the passing of my dad, and this weekend private funeral services will take place as my whole family will all gather to say a final farewell. We hope you share our understanding in that blog content that usually goes out here in a timely manner is being temporarily scaled back to allow for me to spend as much quality family time as possible... but as we draw nearer to the fall TV season, our regular blog coverage will soon return full-blast with all the quality content you come to expect. Now, onward with the business at hand...

This summer in Challenge Nation has belonged to one show -- The Challenge's first trip into the world of network TV in The Challenge: USA has certainly been quite the inaugural season of this spinoff. Last time we were in Argentina (and in this site's calendar, ten days ago), the game started to get a bit more mouth-watering... and it's not officially a Challenge until TJ Lavin becomes a quizmaster as he unleashed his annual game of trivia to the CBS alumni. There, Alyssa served up that cold dish known as revenge at the last man standing of The Cookout in Xavier... and then Tyson laid claim to being odds-on favorite in this season by slaying a swimming daily and setting up an arena that sent Cinco to the showers and shockwaves throughout the Argentinian compound.

The Sole Survivor/master of a first pitch fastball might have an easy time with this game thanks to how he's been beasting these dailies, but after pulling off that blindside he will now to maneuver through those bumps in the road -- and that includes what he has to deal with in the next two episodes we're covering: a partner who is less than 100% and one who might not be the best partner for him despite their common show link. Tyson and co. will all have to get through two challenges above the water and then having to drive with blindfolds on as sabotage, choices and surprises, along with another Teej-bomb dominate Weeks 6 & 7... and we'll have it all covered on here next on the DCBLOG Challenge Pulse before Episode 8 airs in just a few hours from now. And welcome to VMA Week, kiddies...

DC ExtraTime: Asaf The Ninja Warrior

 FOLLOW-UP  From Summer '17:

 "The Many Sides of Asaf"

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BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Courtesy: Elizabeth Morris/NBCUniversal

Seven years ago at this time in the summer of 2015, a young man traveled all the way from the Middle East out to Los Angeles to pursue the most ambitious of any American dream: making it big in the entertainment world. It's a journey that has taken Asaf Goren from the stage of perennial FOX summer staple So You Think You Can Dance to a slew of reality television shows both here in the U.S. and back home in his native Israel, all while achieving a resume both on television and in other forms of this industry of arts & entertainment that would sure make his family proud.

A year after making the Top 16 on SYTYCD, Asaf went onto Season 4 of MTV's Are You The One?... and later on, he flew back to the homeland to compete on a celebrity season of Big Brother Israel and came away with the top prize. Two years ago, Asaf competed on The Challenge: Total Madness and was in and out of Europe in one week... and if you have a good enough knowledge of this whole MTV Reality world -- even including shows you might not watch, then he also went on a date with Teen Mom's bad girl Farrah Abraham. And those are just reality shows: he also appeared in a Britney Spears music video, walked a runway at New York Fashion Week, and collaborated with 80's icon Boy George.

Just a few weeks ago came the latest addition to that amazing CV that Asaf has put together over these past seven years: trying his luck on a show that one fellow and reviled Challenger has mastered. But when a show like one that airs outside the Paramount Global ecosystem features that same kind of high-flying action but with a different kind of game and setting than what we're used to, then the transition from being an all-around reality star into a "Ninja" was a smooth one for this jack of all trades.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge USA - A Mid-Summer's Double Shot

*** 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

Welcome back Inside MTV Reality at DCBLOG, and we appreciate all of you who continue to support this site and this blogger. Understandably this been a tough time for yours truly as, outside this world, my family and I have continued to deal with the death of my dad a few weeks ago... and that's the main reason why things have been off in terms of getting these posts out to all of you as promptly as possible. As you'd expect, this tremendous loss has been a bigger deal to me than anything else... and it's been tough to try and get back into the right frame of mind of doing what I love doing in covering these passions for all of you out there. But my papa would've encouraged me to just "go for the gold" and rage on... so with that in mind, let's proceed with all this and continue onward on here.

We are a few weeks into this new iteration of The Challenge: USA as the show makes its debut on network television this summer, and things have been going good so far in bringing this show we love to the CBS network. And last we were in Argentina, things were picking up stream in Week 3... and the house was dealing with one-third of The Cookout getting eliminated in Kyland and Tiffany losing in the arena. Their loss put into focus who is and isn't being faithful to each other in this totally new game, while The Algorithm's way of randomly coupling the players every week has made for some interesting teams -- one of whom showed the flaw of lack of chemistry. In that case, James & Tasha were shown the door by Dom & Cashay after volunteering himself in, and Angela & Kyland ascended to power team after surviving a puzzle challenge that, for a while, we thought we were watching Wheel of Fortune.

A serendipity to what has happened to me is that this time around we have not one, but two episodes to feature in this post... and whenever we get to the midseason's point in any iteration of the fifth major pro sport, then things are starting to get a bit juicy. First, it's not a Challenge without the one time where anyone can win -- and all you have to do is try to survive TJ Lavin becoming an Alex Trebek... that means, trivia is on offer in Week 4. And what happens there might bring back a vendetta from just a year ago at this time into trying to get the ultimate revenge, just as what happened with Hunter sending home Ashley on War of the Worlds after that $1 million Final Reckoning betrayal.

And in Hour #2 of this -- and Week 5 officially, the focus turns to a difficult water-based challenge that may become an ultimate test of who might survive what is always a most challenging task for anyone on this game of tackling the water. Once again, the minds of everyone in the compound is on something big: whispers around the room suggest that a mighty alliance might be on the outs, just as one of the players going into this new venture may just stamp themselves as the odds-on favorite to take home the big money at summer's end. And we'll have that all covered here next on this midseason double shot of the DCBLOG Challenge Pulse... and again, welcome back.

DC ExtraTime: MTV Royalty Takes Over Miami Swim Week

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

The state of Florida: it is many things to many of us -- starting with the joke that the shape of the state itself looks almost like a private part. To some, it's that state whose tropical climate this time of year sees a scorching hot sun, high temperatures and humidity, and an always present risk for severe weather headlined by it being located in hurricane alley. To others, it's that state with a rather different approach when it comes to politics that's made it both a laughingstock and a haven in this divisive America... just the actions of its governor and a notable resident of a district in Palm Beach will suffice.

But Florida is also a place that's become a capital in two worlds: some of reality television's most buzzworthy series have the backdrop of the Sunshine State, from The Real Housewives franchise on Bravo & Peacock, to Miami being part of the community of VH1's Love & Hip Hop. And Miami has become a rapidly growing destination in the fashion world, and nowhere is it prevalent than in the Fashion District in the Wynwood neighborhood, where major clothing retailers and distributors are located in the area, along with a slew of fashion agencies located all around Greater Miami.

Following the Memorial Day weekend, South Florida welcomed back the fashion industry for the first time in twenty-four months when Miami Fashion Week took place in early June. And before the eyes of the industry in this multi-billion-dollar business turn to the major shows in New York and Europe, earlier this month the big wigs again returned for a couple notable fashion shows taking place just before the major autumn shows -- and where the focus turned to everyone's favorite kind of clothing in this part of the country: the swimwear. And there, we find three leading ladies in MTV Reality land get to strut their stuff on the runway, and in one's case, follow in the lead of an all-time queen in this world.