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Showing posts with label #DCBlog #MTVTrifecta #AreYouTheOne #AYTO #RealWorld #TheRealWorld #TheChallenge #RealityTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #DCBlog #MTVTrifecta #AreYouTheOne #AYTO #RealWorld #TheRealWorld #TheChallenge #RealityTV. Show all posts
We hope you, the MTV fans, are enjoying what has already been a big Premiere Week, with the returns of Catfish and Wild N' Out to come, and the countdown now on to Season 7 of Are You The One? - Season of Fate. Last night was the premiere of Season 32 of The Challenge: Final Reckoning in South Africa, and we'll look at last night's explosive opening act here in a few days, along with the debut of Season 2 of Floribama Shore. But to tide you over at midweek, something special...
Of the nearly 700 posts DCBLOG has done covering MTV Reality since summer 2013, this site has covered every single episode and big moment of the fifth major pro sport and Jersey Shore's Southern cousins, along with Are You The One, Real World and Ex On The Beach, among others. We've also offered glimpses into the people and stories of this special community and the world through this prism, and unique angles into the most buzzed about programming on a channel as young as you are.
But perhaps, in the five years this site has covered this beat like no one does, no single post has had as quite a big impact on fans like you than the story we did last September when we discovered a unique gem in the YouTube atmosphere. There, we traced last year's New York launch tour by The Challenge XXX cast and one of those who met them, a fan of MTV Reality and summer staple Big Brother, Andres Rodriguez, to when he invited his friends in his hometown of Secaucus, New Jersey to do a web series inspired from what they religiously watched those series. The Caucus Challenge brought those who Andres knew from high school and their fellow friends from all over this New York suburb known to sports fans where NBA and MLB replay decisions go down there, to the backyard of his house for seasons that film for one day. Then, it is edited in just about the same MTV style to then be posted on his YouTube channel weekly, and it has become much bigger than just a local competition. And our post on this show last fall had a strong personal impact on him and those involved in the series, which is now one of our most-viewed posts on here.
After Andres took a break from doing these shows for the tall task that is freshman year in college in Orlando, Florida, this past spring over his Spring Break he returned to doing what does best, and again he sent out an invitation to those who were ready to handle what he has in store next. And if the first several seasons provided a good prelude, then they had no idea of what they had in store for what would come in the always intense game of Deception.
In the past couple years, the headlines and the buzz dominating the news and our social media feeds have been inundated with lots of stories, both good and bad, and those that have united and divided this country. Amidst all of this, a lot of people have been seeking a refuge from all of that, and for those kinds of stories that don't have to do with what's been going in our imperfect world, but those that can inspire, warm your heart and bring a smile to everyone. This is one of them, with a tie to what this site covers on an almost-exclusive basis.
On MTV's Are You The One? Season 6 last year, viewers met Anthony Martin, that suave guy from Inglewood, CA who loves the game he and others of Mexican descent refer to as fútbol -- in fact, this Chivas supporter is in the midst of a 6-game goal streak in his local league. MTV's bio wrote of him that he was living "in two worlds-in-one," and that he's "the party boy who's out all night." Those who watched him in New Orleans saw him be one of the ladies' men that year, and who had to endure getting splashed in his face by Geles at the Mardi Gras house party. But it was what happened after that stunning late comeback to win $1 million that opened everyone's eyes: at the reunion, it was revealed that had begun dating Shannon Duffy from Season 5, which caused friction with some in his cast.
But that's not why we are featuring him in this post... it's for a much different reason: before he came down to the Bayou to join twenty-one others lost in love in NOLA, Anthony was a successful elementary school teacher. But the people he worked with every day were anything but ordinary: working with kids with special needs, and special care and consideration is always given to them more than any other student in their school. The definition of special needs children includes those who have delays in speech, language or cognition; social or emotional disorders, learning differences & disabilities, and those with Autism, Muscular Dystrophy, down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy or any type of behavioral or sensory disorder.
Over the Easter holiday weekend, Anthony got to spend some quality time with of those who fits the category of someone who is extraordinary: Fellow Inglewood resident Julian Roque, nicknamed "Superhero Julian," was born in 2011. But at age 2, he was diagnosed with brain cancer, and his family doctors were told that the tumor detected in his brain stem was so big that it was deemed "surgically impossible to remove" and was given a prognosis of only a few months to live. Almost immediately, the biggest battle Julian had in his short life began against cancer, and he has continued to press on in persevering and enduring the biggest battle of his life. And as his family wrote on their crowd-funding site, "And he did it in a way that it can only be described as something that could only be been done by a superhero with supernatural powers."
Superhero Julian has went through all of the necessary chemotherapy for radiation treatment, as well as two brain surgeries. But, an October visit revealed that his cancer had progressed from a low grade tumor to one that is at grade 4, which meant that the fight has gotten even stronger in the months since, as his family has continued hope that his tumor would stop growing and for his health to not worsen. For someone who has been that free spirit all of his life, the feeling that he would not be going through his easy way of living his life to the fullest has been deep. And his family added, "There is a pain deep in our hearts that never goes away. We can't bear the thought of living life without our Superhero."
The GoFundMe effort launched by his father Rudy in October has been asking for the public's help to aid with paying the medical expenses that can put a huge burden on any family with a young child facing the prospect of their life ending much too soon. But so far it currently stands at over $27,000, well short of the $250,000 goal the family has in mind but more will be needed as the battle rages on... a battle that several times has been tough and tense for Julian's family. A recent GFM update revealed that he was sent to the ER two time for seizures and shortness of breath, and his family has turned their attention to bringing their son to Monterrey, Mexico where children with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG, go to for help. And at the same time, Julian and his family were featured on Univision 34 in L.A. to bring their story to the Southland's large Hispanic community.
On the Monday following Easter, Anthony met Julian and understood that the Superhero was also a fellow soccer fan and player and gave him a gift he will never forget, all as he continues to fight the good fight. He wrote in his Instagram caption:
"Today I had the honor to meet @superherojulian and his amazing family. Julian was diagnosed with brain cancer at the tender age of 2. The tumor was found on his brain stem which is surgically impossible to remove. When Julian was only given months to live, his strength, power, and faith did not allow that to happen and is continuing to fight for his life 4 years later. I then realized that Julian began playing soccer at the age of 4 in a league named AYSO and that's exactly where I began my soccer journey at the exact same age. So today, I gave Julian my first ever trophy that I won when I was 4 and a championship medal because Julian IS a champion! So let's help this superhero get better and donate (link is in my bio). WE LOVE YOU JULIAN ❤️ keep fighting!!!!!" - INSTAGRAM @AnthonyMartin9
Donations are still being accepted on the family's Fight with Superhero Julian page on Go Fund Me at GoFundMe.com, and visit their dedicated Facebook page, Prayers for Superhero Julian.
As we speak to you at the end of this month of March, if you're checking us out from the East Coast, chances are you got snowed in last week. There, a fourth major Nor'easter in a month barreled across the East Coast as Winter Storm Toby caused headaches from D.C. to Boston, with New York City having as much as 3/4th of a foot of snow just as the seasonal calendar turned the page to the season of Spring. This even gave original Are You The One? host Ryan Devlin reason to go outside to celebrate spring and do his own Gene Autry imitation by dancing in the snow in the freezing cold in Kentucky… all while wearing boxers in his Instagram story last Tuesday on that first day of Spring.
For those college kids who've been inching to escape that cold, they've been given reason the course of the past month to do just that by either of two words. One has been of following the teams they follow or despise the most with March Madness, and an NCAA Basketball Tournament that's been anything but ordinary this time around, with teams going down like fall leaves including the first #16 over #1 upset in men's tournament history.
The other is defined by two simple words: Spring Break. There was a time for many years when MTV jettisoned its entire regular programming schedule for one weekend in March, and from Friday afternoon until the wee hours of Monday morning -- 60 hours in total -- gave America reason to binge-watch all of this wildness from Cancun, Florida and South Padre, TX to living rooms and dorm rooms before the term even actually existed.
In previous posts posted on here the past two years -- and a compilation of those that was soft-posted here on Sunday, this site has shared with you the times when alumni and current cast members of the Trifecta of The Challenge, Are You The One?, Real World and soon, Ex on the Beach, have flown down to the warmer climate to partake in all the Spring Break madness, and to keep that MTV tradition alive in the social media age. And now as Easter weekend begins tomorrow, we'd like to share with you some Postcards from Spring Break '18.
This month of March sees two rites of the year's second season take place for college kids across the country: one takes place in 13 arenas and a football stadium where 68 teams will be whittled down in stages to just one, and that team hoists the National Championship trophy at the end of March Madness and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. The other takes place on beaches in the sunbelt in places which are definitely warmer than New York, Chicago and other cities located up north, and where a tough time of studying and doing homework is set aside for them to lose their minds. It is the grand spectacle that is Spring Break, and this week DCBLOG will again join with those from the MTV Trifecta community to experience this annual tradition that MTV first featured over thirty years ago, and something college students look forward to every year.
During our ultra-busy 2017 here, for a few times we delved from primetime and the Trifecta, to the land of daytime. There, we looked at when Nelsongot his start on national TV on a game show hosted by Jerry Springer, fellow AYTO alum (and now star of Go90's My Dead Ex) Ryan Malatybringing his famous Aladdin outfit to Let's Make a Deal, and two other members of the extended family of the love fest, Brandon and Jasmine of Season 2, being spotted in the audience of Dr. Phil. Now, we have our first instance this year of an MTV alum going from a reality ecosystem that airs on basic cable to a broader audience on free-to-air TV but whose viewership consisting mainly of housewives, babysitters and those at home.
On Halloween last year, daytime viewers were left with their jaws dropped when, while wearing a Statue of Liberty costume, energetic talk show host Wendy Williams started to slur her words during her TV talk show, which unlike most shows in her genre is broadcast live. The drawback of shows like hers being beamed out straight from the studio and into living rooms every weekday instead of being edited for later on brings about the simple words of Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong," and anything can happen (ask a recent Mercenary who invaded Vendettas a few weeks ago about that). There, Wendy fainted and collapsed to the ground after going silent and stumbling, and after a commercial break she was back on her feet assuring the audience that she overheated in her costume and that it was no joke.
Because of that bizarre episode that became viral, last month during the heart of the industry's vital February ratings sweeps period, the media icon announced that she would take some extended time off from her show to not only recuperate from that fall on live TV, but also deal with complications from suffering from Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism. This past week after a three-week's hiatus, Wendy returned to our screens offering her show's signature mix of hot topics of tabloid & celeb news, the kind of unfiltered opinions that's made her enemies with some in the entertainment world, and everything else that makes her show one of the icons of daytime TV, continuing a legacy of hot takes she first pioneered on her radio talk show... all part of her media empire.
Ten years ago this summer, Devyn Simone was a KC pageant queen who came to New York to film Real World Brooklyn and to further her budding entertainment career in the biggest city of all. But back then, if you were one of those handful who had her go on a Challenge then those would ask you, "Have had lost your mind?" She joined the many times snake-bitten Sarah Rice, Team MTV's resident ultra-conservative Chet Cannon and dolphin trainer J.D. Ordonez to form Team Brooklyn on Battle of the Seasons II six years ago, and made it all the way to the end... but Devyn's inexperience of being athletic compared to the rest of her team ultimately cost them in the end and finished 3rd.
Being on one Challenge and making it all the way to the end is one thing and an accomplishment to take pride in, but being on two would've made everyone who found out about the cast feel up in arms. But again as luck would have it, Devyn would also make it to the end on Free Agents two years later and in a field of competitors who had trained so hard and earned their way into the final of a season based around individual gameplay. The most likely scenario in many's minds going into that last act in Argentina would've been that she would either quit or get medically evacuated and miss out on the payday that goes to those who complete the two-day final, which was a mix of individual and paired stages like what we saw last year. But while attention was paid to the favorites of Bananas and Laurel, rookie Johnny Portland who also rode luck to the final as well, new veteran Nany and Zach's in his 2nd final, not much focus was given to Devyn, and most expected her to not complete it.
While Johnny Bananas and Laurel would come away the worthy and deserved winners of that final, Johnny and Nany pushing them to the end on Day 2 and Zach infamously flaming out in Day 1, as expected Devyn was struggling and was far back of the leaders having to go it all alone. But in that true spirit that epitomized a person who would pass months after this aired, at no point did Devyn decide to give in and give up. Instead, she plowed along in the snow in the trek up the mountaintop, and when she finally finished well after the rest of the finalists, they were there to cheer her on and greet her when she finally finished. She indeed stole the show and won over the respect of everyone... and that joined an iconic moment of her having to grieve over her wig getting destroyed in a mission earlier in the season, and them holding a funeral in the Uruguayan sunset to say farewell.
Instagram Story @DevynSimone
Besides her role as matchmaker and dating coach alongside Clinton Kelly on TLC's Love at First Swipe, Devyn has become sought after by daytime talk shows to offer the same dating advice she gives to prospective candidates on First Swipe, including talking to Rachel Ray over a year ago. On Wednesday, she went onto Wendy's show as its entertainment insider for some Inside Scoop, and to discuss the prospects of one of Hollywood's long-lasting couples perhaps being headed for Splitsville: Beverly Hills 90210 alum and TV producer's daughter Tori Spelling and her husband of a dozen years, Dean McDermott.
And similar to what's been going down in the Winter Break Hunter Mountain cabin in the first few weeks, the cops were called in just as frequently not to do a welfare check as has been the case with Alessandra and her mom and ensuing the beef between her and JBrew, but trouble for Tori & Dean with domestic violence and police cars outside their home in the Hollywood Hills, which may mean the beginning of this marriage possibly bring brought down in flames.
Who knows if Devyn will return to defend a perfect elimination record or perhaps make it to a 3rd final against the odds. But if there's a natural fit for her, it's her and the camera, whether it's helping out those who want to make a greater impression on landing a date, and providing that kind of scoop from the entertainment world with that always energetic personality that we loved about her on her three MTV shows, and now to a broader audience as well. Next stop perhaps, hosting a Challenge reunion? Stay tuned to see if that happens... it guarantees to be Must See TV.
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On Tuesday, DCBLOG will head into the Strategy Room for an look at where the game stands for the current Challenge season of Vendettas as the field readies themselves for a trip to the heart of Europe for the stretch run, including a rookie looking to follow what Devyn did on her first season of making it into the final. But tomorrow, ExtraTime will venture to Spring Break as Team MTV ventures down south for the biggest college party anywhere that will sure warm things up. See you for that then.
Last weekend, life-changing news was granted to several members of Team MTV, involving either a baby being born, the announcement that a baby is forthcoming, or in one's case - him being the latest in the MTV community to settle down as a newlywed. Two of them are alums of The Challenge, a third was part of the most-recent Real World season, and two more from a revolutionary show of years gone by, but whose influence is seen in its much-more popular spinoff series and a show that debuted last year to great interest in the channel's most-coveted slot.
VINCE
First: the two Challenge alumni with links to the man who's won six of these, and was part of the winning Champs squad that totally dominated Champs vs. Stars. But of course, he had to endure yet another setback on the regular show when Devin joined Wes, Darrell and Derrick K. in those who have beaten Johnny Bananas since he stole his partner's money and being given the dreaded curse by Jemmye. Strangely enough, the man who outsmarted him the last time he went to the final on the regular show was in the same Rivals III final as the one who happens to be his Bloodline.
Just after filming the upcoming Reunion of Vendettas in a New York City shut down by the latest blast of winter, this past weekend Bananas flew down to Florida to partake in the biggest day ever for his cousin. When we watched Battle of the Bloodlines two years ago, Vince Gilatta was a former college football player but whenever you get partnered with the winningest player in Challenge history you're expected to step up your game. What happened in Turkey became something that became a bit hard for us to comprehend in him not being able to live up to what his well-known partner has been able to accomplish. Vince not being able to compete nearly as well as Bananas was a big story to come out of Season 27, and not surprisingly the one who went on to taste victory, Cara Maria & Jamie, beat Bananas & Vince in elimination. Then Vince was paired with Jenna on Rivals III and they went on to the final, finished 2nd to his cousin and Sarah and became witness to that steal.
Before he joined Bananas to offer a consolation prize of a club night on Spring Break with two members of the losing AYTO Season 5 cast in ultimate heartbreaker Tyler and fellow South Floridian Michael, it was a year ago on a weekend's retreat to his state of birth of Ohio that Vince got on one knee, popped out an engagement ring to his girl Sam, got down on one knee and asked the magic question of whether he would want her to be his wife... and she replied, "About Time!" And this weekend, Bananas and family headed down to Florida to see him and her say their "I do's." Then and now, Vince and the new Mrs. Piggy (as he refers to her) received words of congrats from those who competed with him on his two Challenges, from friends and adversaries of his cousin and of course from those who know them best: family & friends.
After such a nice weekend with the Oscars, a big Sunday for golf fans and a lot more, we're into a new week. And before this week's episodes of the MTV series we cover here weekly take to the air, we have this week's WRAP to review last week's premiere of Winter Break: Hunter Mountain and a little Challenge talk before the drama goes down in Spain tomorrow. Last week's first stanza in the Catskill Mountains saw a lot go down in just the first night alone, while Vendettas rolls along with the sweet sixteen still left.
Due to our extensive slate of posts this weekend which began back on Thursday when we had to catch up on the two episodes that took place before last week's, we'll recap not only this week's Challenge but also the past several episodes before that and this coming week's show on here next week. But coming up, a recap of the eventful and fun premiere of Winter Break: Hunter Mountain, plus we'll share a couple photos with you with a few special guests... find out who just ahead.
Before the long, dragged out finale of The Challenge XXX late last year, we shined a light on two of the finalists who competed for $1,000,000. For the man who bested two multiple champions in the final, we focused not on Jordan's prowess en route to his second title, but him playing the role of a rookie policeman on Tyler Perry's If Loving You is Wrong. For the lady who finished behind a beast mode of a competitor and who's widely seen as the least-popular champ ever, we looked at how Tori earned her stripes in the showbiz world not in her two past shows or her stellar rookie season on Dirty 30, but at New York City's biggest events talking to Nelly, Fat Joe and Ja Rule on the red carpet.
Couples from same and separate seasons of their original and on subsequent show are commonplace not only in the ecosystem of The Challenge/Real World bubble and Are You The One, but also other MTV shows (and if a picture taken at a club down so fun last week is an indication, the two Florida-based shows might have a romance in Nilsa from Floribama Shore and dreamy stud Carson from Siesta Key). Jordan and Tori are the latest of these power couples which, if you follow them on SnapChat and Instagram and view their stories, you'll get a good glimpse of what they get to do everyday in that sunbaked SoCal paradise.
Both Jordan and Tori have been in high-profile cast romances, both on-camera and off: After we first saw him on Real World Portland, on The Challenge we have seen Jordan hook up with Sarah in the closet on Rivals II, with Jonna later in that rookie season, and then Laurel on Free Agents. For Tori, we saw her make out with Asaf on AYTO Season 4, then head to the Boom Boom Room with her eventual perfect match Morgan on both that season and on Second Chances. She then got romantic with another AYTO alum in Mike from Devin's Season 3 cast before he cheated on her in Seattle in the Real World Bad Blood house. And there was the mess of her latest relationship bust with Derrick H. from Season 5, for which she faced his fellow castmate Kam last night in elimination.
Shortly after Season 30 wrapped up filming and them making the final together, Jordan and Tori returned stateside and things began to click for the both of them. This was brought into focus on the XXX reunion where supposedly the two got to do their thing, and though the question of them being officially a couple wasn't answered when The Miz asked them about it, what we've seen on social media from them suggests that this is more than a casual friendship… cross-country treks for them, then them in the mercenaries who invaded Vendettas along with the man he beat for in the final Derrick K., and one Tori had issues with on Dirty 30 and then on Champs vs. Stars, Aneesa.
When Dirty 30 entered the business part of the season, Tori's YouTube channel posted the first of three YouTube videos with Jordan being part of it, and all three have music in them. Below are the three tracks featuring these two people who have a lot in common of being very versatile (him as an athlete, actor, model and entrepreneur – her as a musician, model and having done that interview work) and both being very good Challenge competitors and people.
"BUDAPEST"
"WORK"
SONG #3
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GIANNA & HAYDEN and a New Baby
The day after last week's episode of The Challenge Vendettas was February 14th — and of course, it was Valentine's Day. And it was the most appropriate day for the revealing of the newest members of the Team MTV Parents Club, with a couple who met on Are You The One? last year, on the season where Kam, Alicia, Eddie and Tori's most recent ex come to us from.
For the group who infamously lost the money last spring, there is silver lining for the one couple of the Season 5 cast who is still together. Gianna and Hayden met in that mansion in the Dominican Republic, and though they weren't paired in a matchup ceremony they were nonetheless together for most of that season, and they clicked from the moment they met. But they are also one of the many couples who were sent into the small space where hopes and dreams can live or die by laser beams, and returned out of the Truth Booth as non-matches. However, after he began to see Brazilian Carolina in the house -- and eventually become that season's other TB match, in the end his heart was with his fellow Midwesterner. Him stealing $60,000 when he and his perfect match were up for the Choice on Second Chances is indicative of this relationship.
Last week on the biggest day of all in the love department, we saw the biggest thing to happen to Gianna & Hayden: no, not them announcing that they had gotten engaged though that day should be around the corner — but something just as magical. For days leading up to last week, they teased about something that would drop on Valentine's Day, and those wondered what it might be. And there, a photo was posted on both of theirs Instagram accounts to reveal to everyone that they are about to become parents.
She posted on IG @GiannaHammer, "Happy Valentine’s Day! This came as a big surprise to us and am I nervous HELL YEA but I’m super super excited to grow this little bean into a cute lil mini me (or mini Hayden). God has a way of surprising people when they least expect it. Adding another baby to the AYTO fam 🎉, August better come quick! 💜 s/o to my friends and family who gave me the strength and support I needed throughout these last 2.5 months, Hayden was born to be a dad and i can't wait to be a mom and the love and support means everything to me. I love you all and you know who you are 💜💪🏽"
For him, similar words on IG @Hayden.Parker.Weaver: "Happy Valentines Day to my girlfriend, best friend, and MOM of our first child ❤️👶🏽 I cannot wait to go on this exciting (and terrifying) journey with you into a new chapter of our lives and the rest of our family. You’re going to be the best (and hottest) Mom ever. August 2018 cannot get here soon enough. I love you. #August2018 #AugustBaby #BoyOrGirl ?"
Our congrats go out to them as they embark on this new stage in their lives which will reach a crescendo this summer, and check out our ExtraTime from last year when Gianna joined with fellow AYTO alum and Northern Ohio native Ashleigh from Season 1 to become Disney Princesses for a day with YouTube superstar Rachel Levin... we assume that if it's a baby girl, we're sure that she'll dress up like a princess on her first Halloween.
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This week saw something I've not had in a while: for the first time in over a year I missed a deadline to publish episode posts relating to last week's episode of The Challenge Vendettas before last night's episode aired. But it's for a valid excuse: I've been busy spending most of my free time watching the PyeongChang Winter Olympics with a bit more interest than others in my Twitter timeline. We apologize to those of you who didn't get the action, reaction and interaction of Episode 7 up in time.
But need not worry: that will be part of a 'Pulse doubleheader covering that and last night's episode which will be up this weekend starting on Friday. Also, we'll have a Look at MTV's newest series, Winter Break: Hunter Mountain, as four of those who faced off against Bananas and The Challenge establishment on Fear Factor will carry that winter momentum from Korea to New York's Catskill Mountains for lots of drunken debauchery and lots of fun in the snow.
Speaking of #DCGames18, tonight sees Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin and the U.S. Women's Hockey Team go for gold in Asia, plus final runs in the men's freestyle halfpipe and women's snowboarding big air — all with American medal threats. It's just starting over on DCNOW on Twitter @DC408DxNow... see you there right now, and we'll talk to you here this weekend.
And so, we've come to the end of an incredible year - that is, 2017 as far as the year at DCBLOG goes. Twelve months ago and some 80 hours into the new year, we posted the first of 231 posts that we have brought you on this very site... it blows away by a mile the previous record of 140 that this site offered you last year. Needless to say, it is no doubt the best year ever for me as a blogger and this site as a whole as we bring you the last of them just before we ring in the new year.
Outside of a few sports-related posts and a tribute to someone who I was lucky to meet before his untimely death this summer in Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, the lions' share of posts that we have offered you have been of following this site's greatest passion of covering the MTV Trifecta. Sure, there was no Real World season that premiered this year, other than for the season finale of Bad Blood airing just after we rung in 2017... but nonetheless, we were witness to so much exciting television that riveted those like you who were glued to MTV each week all this year.
With two seasons of The Challenge, two seasons of Are You The One?, three spinoff seasons of both those series, and two new shows that took Real World's place and offered something fresh in Stranded with a Million Dollars and Floribama Shore, we were surely entertained by everything that went down in our living rooms and mobiles. We even did one-off reviews of three other shows outside the Trifecta in 90's House, Rory Kramer's Dare to Live, and MTV's breakout hit and a guilty pleasure of sorts: Siesta Key (don't judge me, sometimes a show everyone seems to hate & you're afraid to tell everyone almost becomes just as addictive).
In our twelve months of documenting the MTV Trifecta, we have covered seven full seasons and two which are still ongoing that, when you account for actual episodes, reunions and specials, adds up to exactly 100 hours of television. That's about 71 hours sans commercials or almost three full days of binge watching non-stop if you decide to do all-nighters for two days. And when you factor in all of the posts we have done this year almost each week and almost non-stop, with the exception of a few weeks in June and July, we averaged 1.57 posts a day, or every other day over the past year - even though we usually target our posts towards the time where you're just relaxing in the weekend.
Sure, 2017 didn't have the kind of famous or infamous moment that reached the level of the Bananas steal, but still we have been bare witnesses to some of the year's most-talked about moments that can only take place in the MTV Trifecta. This year began with something new: an 11th couple in the Are You The One? house, making 11 for 11 the new magic number for Season 5. And what happened there with couples who were no matches staying together after the fact and poor gameplay led to the show's most infamous moment ever: them being the first cast to lose the game altogether.
We then went to Thailand where eighteen underdogs who had never won a Challenge title before were given what for a moment appeared to be just a mere cakewalk… only for that to get upstaged by an Invasion of the Champions. What ensued was some really great drama and competition that saw a beast of a competitor experience something she's never had before: go home early, the feeling of playing this game get to their heads, and a couple guys from an old time return one more time. In the end, we had both a Champion and an Underdog satisfy both fan bases in CT winning his second crown, and Ashley M. taking down Camila to become the biggest surprise champion in many years.
Then came the spinoffs: ten pros and ten stars challenging those two and some Challenge big names to answer who is the strongest. Those like Lolo Jones, Justina Valentine and Gus Kenworthy have excelled and stood up to the onslaught of the big names, while the beneficiaries of their efforts are the charities they competed for... and what we saw with Lolo's great gesture and Bananas' friend from Special Olympics reminded us of a bigger thing than this show. And down in Australia, we saw reaffirmation of a growing legend in Devin who won Second Chances with Rashida, and saw a bad end to a perfect match's relationship and greed putting one's true love over his match.
All of those help set the stage of a dramatic second half of the year that saw this site rise to the occasion offering more than half of this year's output from July to December. We came to Colombia for the landmark 30th season of The Challenge, XXX: Dirty 30. MTV really stepped things up in not only having a bold cast of favorites and newbies, but also upping the ante to $1 million... the richest prize purse in Challenge history. They also brought the entire cast of New York for both a big season launch and then at the end of it all for the reunion, which two of my good friends got to become witnesses to. And while it was, yes, a long season by the standards of what we have seen in the past decade and not every episode had the standard challenge/elimination format we're used to, we saw the kind of season that told you why fans like you love this show.
We had twists and turns just about as often as summer fireworks with Purges at the beginning and end, the Redemption House, and the Double Cross that turned things upside down in elimination with a couple XX's. We had dirty gameplay all season long, hookups we did not expect, and a lot of intense competition and eliminations, and also confirmed a theory one had in this show's winningest player seemingly cursing himself after what went down on Rivals III. Unfortunately, the most memorable moment of the season saw what is in all likelihood the start to the unfortunate end to a Challenge career in Camila, and her racist tirade vs. Leroy and her epic meltdown on Champs vs. Stars, saw her win in the final being tarnished a bit. However, the won who won for the guys came back from a few seasons' hiatus and dominated the $1 million final as if he was a seasoned vet, and Jordan not only took the W but also scored, what is in many minds, the rookie of the year in Tori - who herself had a stellar 2017 competitively, though not all things came up rosy because of what happened with her & Derrick H., but she will be back and will be a staple.
And then, there's Are You The One? Season 6. We came to New Orleans a few months ago asking ourselves, "What's next?" after what their direct predecessors did not do in the Caribbean. Another group of 22 singles came there like other casts before them: all with no luck in love and no idea what awaited them. What happened after they moved in was an experience that proved frustrating at times with them not seemingly getting into rhythm in their game, but also tense with the romances that emerged with the Malcolm sweepstakes, Clinton & Uche, and of course Keith & Alexis. The ladder represents how tumultuous a relationship in an AYTO house can get with them being on everyone's mind each week right up to the end, and what later emerged in her proving that love wins in the end as she became the first AYTO castmate to come out. But almost no one except the house expected the biggest surprise of all to take place: the house being tagged as the worst cast ever going on a late surge and setting records in pulling off the series' biggest-ever comeback: 11 for 11 and $1 million.
As for this site, I and DCBLOG have stepped up to the challenge and risen to the occasion to offer all of you what I personally consider to be the gold standard in this industry of covering the MTV reality TV world, and those of you who loyally check out this site regularly share this feeling too. So many times in the past twelve months, I've logged in long hours working late into the night after episodes air and often all day on my off days from work to compile together all the things that make this site so great. Sure, there are all the episode recaps, the analysis, occasional opinions and all else that you'd expect sites like ours to do, and we offer them here. But this site allows you to go beyond those and offer you a distinctively different angle on this MTV world through our lens.
For loyal fans who watch the episodes live each week and the increasing number of you who are cord-cutters, who can't watch episodes of The Challenge or AYTO until they're posted on over-the-top methods and have to go into a social media blackout of sorts until you watch it later... DC SocialPulse has been your savior and has allowed all of you the opportunity to experience or relive the moments that have made everyone talking through the tweets of the casts who saw those 100 episodes go down through the eyes of Twitter. From the AYTO5 loss and the Season 6 comeback to Camila's meltdown, big time moments and all else in between and after, the 'Pulse has brought you a front row seat to all the action, reaction and interaction as the cast, alums and all of us.
And for those of you who wanted more than just episode coverage, ExtraTime has allowed you to go beyond the screen to offer you the stories behind the story through the prism of the shows you love. That's where the gist of much of this site's very best work of the year lies in: the story of a rock band who hung up the mic after 20 years and whose journey began with them getting their big break in an early Challenge season. There's the oral history of The Challenge's biggest rivalry and, despite the spinoff season's unique nature it diminished the glow of having a banana and a ginger in the same room in that intense environment. Who can forget our story on a homemade Challenge by a devoted superfan of the show who met the cast in New York this summer? And there's the portraits we've offered on so many personalities, past and present, that have offered you a different view of them in our unique style of storytelling.
Not everything about this site is perfect and often times it has been frustrating: many times behind the scenes, I've had to reshuffle my blog schedule when those I've wanted to talk to had to blow me off because of things that go beyond my control, posts which were promoted on social media turn out to not see the light of day due to the complexity of the stories which are being covered, and even having to put a fellow Twitter user on blast through subtweets not once, but twice for not promoting this site on their platforms so that this site can be sampled to the largest possible audience it deserves.
But all of this is part of the blood, the sweat, the tears and the hustle that comes with being perhaps the single hardest-working person who covers this MTV world on a week-in, week-out basis as I do. There is perhaps no one blogger in this business who works just as hard as anyone to get out the very best content to all of you out there, all fueled by a love of the shows that, while they air just a couple nights a week, it has now become my biggest passion. And this site regular churns out some of the most unique, insightful and engaging coverage anywhere, and coverage of the highest caliber that has become the calling card of this site. The support you have given to me has more than driven me to exceed and make all of this tiring work seem all worth it in the end.
And while we are not ready to put 2017 to bed just yet with a three-part Reality Debrief to come in this early part of the new year, there is a lot to look forward starting as soon as we all return to work and school in a couple days. Just as soon as we ring in 2018, there is already a new Challenge season coming up with both fan favorites and a bunch of newbies with unresolved issues ready to duke it out in Vendettas. There is the new U.S. adaptation of the British series Ex on the Beach which promises to bring the brand of MTV reality TV we're used to to a new level of crazy. And there's a lot on the plate that's hard to judge at this point as we ready to say farewell to this year, but all points will lead us to another phenomenal year of big moments, bright stars and so much more in offering this regular escape from reality for real life drama found nowhere else. And it will once again be our duty to bring all of that to you each week, and it all begins tomorrow on New Year's Day when we get to introduce the newbies of the new Challenge season and reintroduce a Challenge veteran.
Of all the years that I have had the passions of writing for a living and watching and following the MTV universe which go back well before I launched this site, 2017 has been the most exciting year ever. It's in no small part due to the hundred or so castmates, competitors and hosts who entertained us this year and brought us so many memorable moments, and the support you the fans have showed them and those like you who supported me this year. We offer them nothing but our thanks for the memories they brought us the past twelve months, and the lyrics of the musical epilogue at the end of this bit seems to represent the shared experience they all went through: "I did it all... I saw so many places, The things that I did... I swear I lived." They surely have done exactly that.
It's been our pleasure and our privilege to once again bring you this look at this world of ours from this spot on the World Wide Web. This year has, no doubt, been an unbelievable and incredible ride, and we hope you enjoyed every moment of it... and let's hope that 2018 will be just as good, perhaps even better. And to all of you, thanks for your continued support... and may I, DC Cueva, wish all of you a very safe, peaceful and a Happy New Year. May the coming year bring you the very best ahead.
As this is being posted on this Friday night, we at DCBLOG happen to share not only the same time of week that these posts covering a thing this site calls the MTV Trifecta usually begin as your weekend is just starting, but also something that also shares this philosophy of offering compelling storytelling... that would be of TV newsmagazines. This art form is one I'm fascinated with and watch frequently both on TV and YouTube, which along with Olympic-style "up close and personal" storytelling which was explained here before Dirty 30 began, helped to inspire this site's unique philosophy of going beyond just recapping the episodes and offering an immense blog experience that we offer here. That brings us to this...
The year of 1992 was one of transition at the National Broadcasting Company: The Cosby Show aired its last episode, followed shortly by Johnny Carson hosting his last Tonight Show and Jay Leno taking over afterwards. That summer, Bob Costas began his long run as primetime host of NBC's Olympic coverage, which also also saw NBA players play at the Games for the first time. And earlier that year, NBC News took on the daunting task of entering the final frontier in network news after helping pioneer morning television in Today, and Tim Russert taking over moderator of Meet the Press as it eventually became Sunday morning appointment TV in Washington.
March came the Peacock's 18th attempt to create a successful primetime newsmagazine, Dateline NBC. The network had failed in previous tries to conquer nighttime with Connie Chung, David Brinkley and others, but Dateline was ambitious in pairing beloved longtime Today host Jane Pauley with a former Atlanta waiter turned reporter Stone Phillips. It took time but it was a controversy and negative headlines of all things that brought Dateline to prominence: an exposé on gas tank safety on GM pickup trucks were presumed to have design defects that caused fuel tanks to explode. The story included footage of crash demonstrations involving dramatic explosions using "sparklers" below the car, but NBC did not disclose about the footage that was shown.
Similar to the fallout that later surrounded Brian Williams and Matt Lauer, the results of the ensuing investigation were immense: GM brought NBC to court with a lawsuit that was settled after NBC owned up to its mistake on air. The division's president, producers and reporter involved in the story were ousted, and news executives Neal Shapiro and Andrew Lack were brought in to revive not only the show but the news division. Both felt that newsmagazines were the future of TV, and Dateline expanded to as many as five nights a week in the '90s, pioneering the multi-night franchise that's now standard for network reality series.
For a network that's been through a lot since March 31, 1992, Dateline has become one of the constants of NBC's schedule in the past 25 years. Think, it began during the age of Seinfeld, Fresh Prince and Saved by the Bell and when Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric were anchoring Today, then in the eras of ER, Friends, Will & Grace and The Office, and today in a slate that includes The Voice,This is Us and Jimmy Fallon hosting The Tonight Show.
One of the hooks for many viewers to newsmagazines - and one that's given them reason to stay in Friday night such as these - has been of true crime stories, which after the massive public interest given to the O.J. Simpson trial and the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, has seen stories of murder and mystery of all kinds eventually take prominence over celebrity interviews, investigative reports and features at not only Dateline, but another Friday night staple at ABC's 20/20 and CBS' 48 Hours on Saturdays. If you see the massive interest given to American Horror Story and ESPN's 30 for 30 films giving focus to the O.J. trial, that is proof of how we are all fascinated by high-profile celebrity cases.
Someone who's been part of Dateline almost since the beginning has been Keith Morrison, a Canadian who began his career in the '60s working at both the CBC and CTV, hosting The Journal (the show that aired after the pubcaster's newscast The National moved to primetime in the '80s) at the former and Canada AM (CTV's long-running morning show) at the ladder. In 1986, he headed south of the border to NBC and pulled double duty: Los Angeles correspondent on the national level including covering the Tienanmen Square massacre, and at local level anchored at KNBC alongside Kelly Lange and longtime sports and weather anchors Fred Roggin and Fritz Coleman. But it's his role reporting stories as varied as major national stories and narrating those murder mysteries at Dateline that has created his legend, and perhaps there's no soothing voice of listening to all those bedside tales than that of him like that the grandpa our families all have.
While Rivals III was debuting last year, another TV original - multiple-time Challenger and one who went on that RV on the first season of Road Rules - Mark Long - spotted Morrison on the streets in Los Angeles and captioned on Instagram, "@justinbieber is no longer taking pics with fans....but Keith Morrison is!" Bananas' bloodline Vince commented, "Toss up between him and Morgan Freeman for best speaking voice", and Mark responded, "He is the best!" He definitely is... if only he can narrate some of my DCBLOG stories like he did giving those traffic directions on Waze.
Hello there and welcome to DCBLOG's trek Inside the MTV Trifecta during this busy week for those who love reality TV. The past two nights have seen the start of Dancing with the Stars, the finale of America's Got Talent, and the winner of Big Brother 19 will be chosen at night's end, and we're one week away from the debut of Season 35 of the venerable Survivor. And we have a busy week ourselves here: last night was Episode 10 of The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30, while tonight is the premiere of Are You The One? Season 6 from New Orleans. Of course, we'll be covering both of them for you in our traditional time of over the weekend, but to tide you over we have this bonus edition of ExtraTime to share with you to put you into this mood for this week's posts.
Often in the soon to be 500 posts we've done here and most on some of television's most exciting reality series, DCBLOG has spotlighted some of the people who drive the conversation of the shows that matter more than any other constituency: the fans. We have featured people of the Trifecta fandom like yourselves in the past, where we've featured firsthand looks at the various reunions, an extraordinary fan becoming a lifelong friend of The Challenge's most loved & hated man, and others who have gotten to meet those who entertain us each week and interact with us in between episodes.
This story might be the most unique and dynamic story involving those like you who watch these shows with me and everybody who discuss this ecosystem and interact regularly with its hundreds who've been on our screens since it began 25 years ago this summer. And if you thought that just being a fan who only watches and discusses The Challenge is one thing, then wait until you hear this.
Imagine being a fan of the show you love watching the most out of any other, and thinking of an idea so radical it begins to take the web and social media by storm. That's exactly what's been happening with our subject, where a fan who lives just outside New York City was inspired by what we've seen on the fifth major pro sport and got together some of his friends from high school to compete in their own version of The Challenge.
On this dedicated edition of ExtraTime, we take a look at the wildest and most exciting backyard competition: The Caucus Challenge.
The two guys who represented the original third component of MTV's reality triple crown, Darrell and Shane from Road Rules Campus Crawl fifteen years ago this summer, may have fallen short of making it to The Challenge Invasion final, but it leaves the torch to CT to carry the flag of both the champions and the old school challengers of years past. And if you happen to see who we might see on the next season of this show which is filming right now out of country, this might as well be just the beginning. This offers the segue way to this nostalgic piece of ExtraTime.
This month marks exactly twenty five years since the lineage of the MTV Trifecta began in a loft in SoHo in New York City. There, seven strangers from around the Tri-State area and Alabama came together to create TV history in the first season of The Real World. What we saw with Eric, Heather B., Kevin, Norman, Becky, Julie and Andre helped set the pace for cable's longest-running series and reality TV as we know it. And a quarter of a century later, the show has evolved a bit, but the core elements of what makes MTV original unique in this voyeuristic genre still remain today.
A year later came season 2 of Real World which, after an ode to the originals who paved the way for 31 succeeding seasons and a new TV genre, brought viewers 3,000 miles west to that sun-baked west coast paradise known as Los Angeles. There, a new group was tasked of following up that first class of seven strangers, which would eventually grow to nine once they moved out. That season saw an expanded 20 episode slate compared to Season 1, an RV which would be the motif of Road Rules, and the introduction of that private place of intimacy known as the confessional.
There, we saw the first TV appearance of longtime reality staple Tami Roman, who came to SoCal and established herself as one of the genre's most enduring personalities thanks to her tough, no nonsense personality that set the mold for many others to follow. Her presence was first felt in her fight in the hallway and the bedroom with comedian David Edwards, which saw him become the first castmate to be evicted. And she also dealt with real life herself: on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, Tami decided that she was not ready to become a mom this early in her life, and took the bold move of having an abortion, which was documented on camera in its rawest form. Of course, she has gone on to bigger and better things as star of VH1's Basketball Wives, appeared on Marriage Boot Camp and Celebrity Wife Swap - first as wife to NBA veteran Kenny Anderson and currently as partner to Reggie Youngblood.
Twitter @MTVBeth
Last week, two members of that second class of seven strangers got together back in the city where they became part of this esteemed community, and revisited the same house near Venice Beach where they lived. This brings us back to 1993 when, of course, The Real World was MTV's only reality show and one of a few on TV overall -- Cops and America's Funniest Videos most notable. Of course, Real World was much different back then as it is now, and if you're one who came onto the scene in the past ten years or so, you'll notice things were much simpler back then when you were 20 years younger and in many cases, you weren't even born yet.
First, there's someone who is a would-be Challenge Hall of Famer. Beth Stolarcyak came to us from a Cleveland suburb and was a production assistant and "starving actress" who came, appropriately enough, to Tinseltown to further her resume… she would go to casting calls, took headshots and the like there. Like what happened to Jenny two decades later, Beth also had to endure her own Ex-Plosion moment when both her ex- and new boyfriends came to the house in the same episode and had to cover up that moment when she had sex in the closet. In the longer term, she would make her mark in The Challenge's first decade, taking part in the first one in 1999 and six more after that. She developed a rivalry with fellow RW original Coral, got slapped around by Tina, had her clothes thrown in the pool by Tonya, and having something in common with Mike of RW Bad Blood and AYTO 3 in quitting two MTV shows. And Beth added to her resume when she joined fellow MTV alumni to pose for Playboy Magazine… before she got married after The Gauntlet III and is now a proud mommy in her post-MTV life.
And the person who came along with her was a pioneer himself. Jon Brennan was a 20-year-old from Kentucky who had a career going for himself: he was a country singer, and perhaps the first country artist to appear on MTV. Him moving to, and performing around, the Southland, took place at the same time a man named Garth Brooks had ascended into being the most-popular country artist of his era and kickstarted his genre's rise from a regional happening to a national phenomenon. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, and of course Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, have all made successful crossovers into the mainstream and become even bigger stars than those early pioneers had envisioned. And also, Jon was a virgin, which given his conservative roots was a key storyline that season during a time when romance and hooking up in the Real World house wasn't as commonplace as it is now. These days, he has stayed true to his beliefs as a youth pastor in Birmingham, AL, and whose journeys have also taken him to Uganda as his church has a missionary in that African country.
Twitter @MTVBeth
First, Beth and Jon got to catch up with someone from across the pond. Dominic was the first-ever Real World roommate of non-American origin, having been born in Dublin, Ireland and whose favorite bands were The Beatles and The Rolling Stones - both proud native sons of the British isles. He was the first person cast for the season and became known for his humor, charisma and, yes, that rock star's hair. Before that famous fight with Tami, David found himself at odds with Dom at a bowling night, and with Jon over his music tastes. Dom came to the U.S. to pursue a career in music journalism, which he would eventually do after leaving the house, and expanded his horizons in working in movie journalism including being a film critic for Variety magazine, being a radio show producer, and also a music executive for Disney.
Twitter @MTVBeth
Then another original: Irene came to that house in Venice Beach with no idea of what this TV thing is all about after casting directors sought to put someone in law enforcement in the house in the wake of the L.A. Riots. She was working as an L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy and Marshal well after her MTV days ended, but she knew that her time in the house was fairly limited as she was also anticipating the biggest day of her life. Tami remembered, "We always felt like she was the mom because she was the oldest and because she was getting married." And the roommates joined Irene as she and her husband Tim walked down the aisle and uttered their "I do's" as the two got married and went off on their honeymoon and into becoming a mom to two kids like Beth, and Real World's first lesbian castmate, Beth A., took her place in the house.
We've talked before about how The Real World and the show's production company, Bunim-Murray Productions, have been the first stop for many in the reality TV biz. Also in that photo above, two producers from that second season in LA and have gone on to bigger things production wise in this industry: Dave Albrecht - an associate producer during RW's first few seasons and who's also been on the production teams of The Bachelor franchise and the first season of Big Brother; and veteran reality producer Matt Kunitz - whose first TV job was as a production coordinator in LA, then AP in San Francisco, and in London became coordinating producer right up until the Hawaii season - the first RW season I watched in its entirety. There, Kunitz emerged from behind the fourth wall to give Ruthie the ultimatum of leaving the house for a month to go to alcohol rehab after a bout with drunk driving. He would go on to establish a stellar reality TV resume: executive producer of the original NBC run of new MTV show Fear Factor, ABC's Wipeout, and FOX's Kicking & Screaming... earning the fitting title from the L.A. Times, "king of reality TV."
That year of 1993 in television saw the last episode of Cheers, David Letterman's move from NBC to CBS, Conan O'Brien's late night debut, and the Mickey Mouse Club welcome Britney, JT and Christina. MTV wise, Beavis & Butthead got their own show, Jon Stewart made his talk show debut that year, as did the cult sketch comedy The State. And by our count, many of those in this current generation of Trifecta cast members were either still babies (around age 24-25) or were not around back then to see Jon, Beth and that season.
While the first season in New York 25 years ago this month was, as we coined in our look back at the legendary Las Vegas season last year, the baptism of fire for The Real World - and graduation day was the memorable San Francisco season the next year, RW Los Angeles helped to set the mold for the show's long tenure: some more big time drama that wasn't prevalent much in the Big Apple, the room that become a staple of MTV shows, and memorable personalities: one who would go on to become a Challenge legend, another who became an enduring reality TV personality, a third who helped bring a sense of Nashville to the MTV airwaves for the first time, and a lot more.
Below is the moment Tami and Dom get to meet Jon for the first time during their journey from New York, through the rest of the country to pick up their roommates en route to L.A.
