DC SocialPulse: The Challenge USA - The Most Chaotic Finale Ever?

*** 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

Back in the summertime, we were all feeling a bit curious about how a show that's been on the air longer than any other in the reality competition sub-genre and a longtime cable TV staple could translate its playbook to the one area of the TV world that everyone can get with an antenna? Well, MTV's The Challenge spinoff that it created for CBS this summer has offered us plenty to watch and enjoy as comfort food in between Season 3 of All-Stars and what will be happening in two weeks.

When we left you a few days ago on this site, it was the last episode before the final down in Argentina -- hence, our alternative wording for these weeks as "The Semifinal." Whatever the version of these shows are, it's not officially a modern-day version of this carnival without the players donning a harness and taking off on a moving semi-wheeler to solve a puzzle... and Angela once again killed it to perhaps solidify her status as a favorite on the women's side, while an inspired Ben won on the guys' ladder. But when it came to who they would throw into the arena, it was David and Enzo who went up against each other in the last male elimination... and the elder statesman took care of matters in the latest installment of Balls In.

Now it's all about solidifying the finals field, which will come in one more daily challenge to determine who will be the first couple players to punch their ticket, followed by one more battle under the night lights... and then comes the ultimate final examination. For Alyssa, Angela, Ben, Cayla, Danny, Desi, Domenick, Enzo, Justine, Sarah and Tyson, they came into this thing from totally different shows coming into a totally different game... and right up until now they have proved that they can become worthy competitors. But if you have been watching this show for a long time, then it's when the money is at stake where they really have to prove themselves... and no one -- not them, nor us -- would expect that this last act of this new Challenge would be full of chaos, in every sense of the word.

Join us here after the break as DCBLOG brings you the SocialPulse of what might as well be the Most Chaotic Finale Ever, as The Challenge: USA draws to a grandstand finish.

DC ExtraTime: An MTV Reality Night at the 2022 VMA's

Due to the heavy presence of graphics and video, this post is best experienced on desktops and fast-performing mobile devices.

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

This year of 2022 was branded by yours truly & his secondary Twitter channel DCNOW as "Back to Music Season" -- the first time in three years that we've been able to have a full year of major festivals, summer tours and the usual array of summer songs that dominate the hottest of the four meteorological seasons. It all began, as it usually does on the festival front, in the springtime in March with the first holding since 2019 of the electronic dance music extravaganza that is the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. A month later came the return of the Coachella festival, which saw Harry Styles, The Weeknd and Billie Eilish headline America's highest-profile weekend of live music in the California sun... followed by EDC in Vegas, Bonnaroo in Tennessee, Lollapollooza in Chicago, and countless tours by the biggest artists.

Every year, the traditional and spiritual conclusion to the summer music season has always been the MTV Video Music Awards, which began in 1984 when the channel hired one of the TV industry's most respected executives, Don Ohlmeyer, to produce a sendup of traditional over-the-top award show galas. That night at Radio City Music Hall became well-known for the infamous performance of "Like A Virgin" by the quintessential MTV icon of her time, Madonna... and who two decades later planted a smooch on both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in front of their former Mickey Mouse Club mate Justin Timberlake. It has grown to become one of the biggest nights of the year in the music industry, and it's one of the few times nowadays where the cable channel's original moniker rings true.

Last month marked the thirty-ninth renewal of the VMA's, which took place across the river in Newark, New Jersey... and where the last time the NHL Devils' home arena of the Prudential Center welcomed this summer music gala, the casts of Floribama Shore and Siesta Key walked the red carpet together before they shared the winter 2020 MTV stage. And this time around: no different when it came to those big names who took to the big stage, and those from Team MTV who walked the black carpet.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge USA - Semifinal Week, and Baby Swayleigh

*** 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 again everyone, we have made it to the summer solstice: the official transition from summer to fall on the meteorological calendar... though it is a bit deceiving if you live out in California and Nevada as the endless summer weather continues for quite a bit into October. But this is that time of year that those in TV land look forward to the most: this is fall premiere week & summer finale week in the broadcast TV calendar... and we are in the homestretch drive of this first trip to terrestrial network television of MTV's The Challenge, as The Challenge: USA on CBS reaches its climax.

Last time we covered this all-Eye network version of the MTV show you love, the game was turned upside down again as "The Algorithm" -- the method of mixing up the players into different pairs in the season's first two months -- was put on the sidelines for the rest of the season, which meant the players had to play for themselves the rest of the way. Week 8 saw Angela take on the role of being in power but also had to be the latest to deal with Sarah, while Enzo and Leo fought in the latest edition of Hall Brawl that saw the one with the bald head win arena #2. And Week 9 saw the emergence of the Fab Five - Casha, Cayla, Desi, Justine and Sarah as they tackled a daily in a soccer stadium, and where Desi won & Sarah burned out... but the Sole Survivor came away victorious when she needed it the most.

Whenever we reach that last episode of any Challenge season before the finale challenge, DCBLOG likes to refer to it as "Semifinal Week," and as we return to Argentina the onus is on those competitors who haven't yet won a daily challenge to get the job done. And it's not officially a Challenge in this age without seeing competitors hop onto a moving semi-wheeler and trying to maneuver their way through a runway and a puzzle at top speed to land the last ticket into TJ Lavin's favorite time of any season. And for one ruthless player, they're reserving this last week of the regular season try and put two allies against one another to earn their way to the arena and another timeless classic: Balls In. Whoever wins in the season's last female elimination and this daily challenge will get closer to the $500k.

Join us after the break as DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Semifinal Week on The Challenge USA, and stay with us afterwards as we give you a first glimpse at Baby Swayleigh. Welcome on in, fans...

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge USA - Secret Alliances, a Stadium Search, and Sabotages

*** 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

And so, DCBLOG welcomes you back Inside MTV Reality... and once again our episode coverage of The Challenge: USA has been scaled back a bit this past month & a half. If you haven't known by now, I've spent much of my time away from this site as my family has been mourning our late dad, including a private farewell to him last month. We hope you continue to share our understanding of our situation and that you'll continue to support the blog, but we promise that we'll gradually picking things back up here in the fall, as we have quite the next few months ahead. Now, off we go...

This inaugural season of the fifth major pro sport being on that available to all avenue of network TV has seen this familiar game being played in a whole new manner with a totally new cast... but it is as if it the show that we all know and love. But the last time we were in Argentina (in our calendar, that's August 24th), the house was stung by a stunning blindside that solidified the subject of our last post here, pickleball king Tyson, as an early favorite... but who then had to endure being partnered up with the one who's been cast as this season's villain, Sarah. But the game was rocked by a botched opportunity to two underdogs to make a major power move, and us finally saying farewell to the Algorithm.

With the method of pairing up each challenger in pairs the first seven weeks of this season now done & dusted, from here on out everyone will be playing for themselves... and that's something that's always welcome in Challenge Nation. And in these next two episodes we're covering, the latest Teej-bomb is giving one alliance a chance to take the game by the throat which may come at a cost... and one player is having their eyes on getting a piece of some payback after getting sabotaged. And we're at the spot where if you get to win a daily challenge, you have a spot in the marathon for the cash... why not join us inside the stadium after the break for this installment of The DCBLOG Challenge Pulse as we cover episodes 8 and 9 of The Challenge USA... and we'll let you in on the competitor who made a return trip to their original show last month.

DC ExtraTime: Tyson's Wide World of Pickleball

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

     ESTIMATED READING TIME: 15 MINS.

Tyson's Pickleball Pics Courtesy
Facebook & IG @TysonApostol

As we enter the home stretch of this inaugural season of The Challenge's very first foray into the world of network television after years on MTV and now on Paramount+, it's very much clear that there's one CBS reality alum who's in line to perhaps add more to his legend. It's a story that traces its starting point to when he began as a former cyclist and triathlete just trying to see what it's like to endure an ultimate marathon of stamina in a totally different setting being marooned on a desert island.

This summer on The Challenge: USA, Tyson Apostol has been enjoying a reality TV renaissance in beasting several of the daily challenges to the point that he is the favorite (if not, one of the favorites) to win it all once we get into the serious business of approaching the start line of the final & the big money that awaits just a few weeks from now. For a guy from Utah who spent the early years of his adult life competing in endurance sports before making his national TV debut, Tyson had already proven his competitive worth before going on that boat ride to the first of his four Survivor seasons back in 2009. And it is as if he was made for The Challenge: him getting the attention of the fandom and the establishment including a 7-time champ has made it almost an inevitable prospect that he may be well on his way to joining the MTV show itself.

This has been quite the summer for Tyson, which in addition to what we've seen so far from him on the show has also seen him represent this latest spinoff in throwing out the first pitch on a Major League Baseball diamond. But outside this game, you'll likely find Tyson in a most unlikely place but one that's now become a popular hotspot in 2020's America: a recreational sport that was one that I got to play a bit in his high school days back then, and where he has embraced it to the point that now it has gotten the attention of this sports nation used to having the same old same old, and now is looking to diversify that diet in a simple little game known as pickleball.

DC FORUM: A Labor Day Update...

A Note from The Editor...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

As we enter these last twenty-four hours of the summer period, normally this would be a time for celebration and one more opportunity for those like me to simply enjoy a day like this. There's nothing like a hot day or a cool night outside having some barbecue with family, relatives and friends... just like any of the fifteen weekends that we've had in the 104-day period from when we begin this season on Friday evening of the Memorial Day holiday, right up until the day that brings it all to an end on Labor Day. Unfortunately, that's not been the case this time around in the Cueva household... and if you thought you had the worst summer ever two years ago, then we had ours this year two years later.

Usually, I would be busy breezing along on what I do best: blog posts like these covering MTV reality TV, sports, pop culture and Las Vegas... or the occasional YouTube video. But understandably, DCBLOG activity this summer has been considerably lighter than in the first ten years of this site, and it's for the reason that we, as a family, are continuing to deal with the passing back on July 23rd of my late father, Mariano Cueva... being taken away from us much too soon after battling brain cancer. And dealing with all of what has happened the last 40+ days has taken its toll on us, especially the funeral services that we had for him last week when our entire family gathered to say one final farewell.

All of what's happened the past week for us here is why things have not been quite up to speed as of yet on this site, and also why I've had a little difficulty having to pick things back up mentally from our emotional week back into this thing I love doing. But at least, if you've been seeing my Instagram stories in showing all sorts of viral videos there along with the occasional look-in on my world, I'm keeping my spirits up in that part of the digital world. Still, blog work has always been a place for me to get away from all that's going on this world especially now... and whenever I'm in that element of wanting to provide everyone with "The Escape You Deserve," then we get to offer our finest work.

Tomorrow -- or later today on Labor Day itself depending on where you are at 11 o'clock out here in California, ExtraTime will explore America's fastest growing sport and the link it has to The Challenge: USA... and shortly thereafter our episode coverage will resume. And as we now enter the month of September, expect things to gradually pick back up as we've entered this special time of year to be in the TV fandom. Have a safe Monday to come...

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG