Anyway, this article (written before MTV's preseason special) was posted on October 5, 2004
It's Challenge time! Thirty-six former members of The Real
World and Road Rules gear up for money and fame. Jason lets you know
what to expect.
Welcome back my friends to this show
that never ends ... at least as long as the sponsor money holds up. Once again,
MTV and Bunim-Murray Productions (BMP) is bringing to you, whether you want it
or not, The Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
The Theme
We're back to an old concept: the Battle
of the Sexes. Some fans might remember the original Sexes season,
which aired in early 2003. I think it's never a good idea. It's not that men
are better than women overall, but the women on these shows never come off
well. Don't believe me?
Battle of the Sexes: While the men's team managed to vote out their lowest
scorers from their ranks with minimal drama, the women didn't stick to that
plan. Emily managed to convince her Inner Circle members to vote out strong females
Rachel and Veronica. Emily eventually left the show after her boyfriend was
voted off the men's team, thus taking away any chance the women's team had of
winning the final mission.
Survivor: The Amazon: The men's tribe (Tambaqui) set up camp with little
difficulty. The female group (Jabaru) struggles in the early going. After a
tribal swap and two councils, the men outnumbered the women 6-4 heading into
the first individual immunity challenge… where Jenna and Heidi volunteered to
take off their clothes for chocolate and peanut butter. In the final episode,
Jenna was the last female standing, but ended up winning the title of Sole
Survivor, much to the chagrin of viewers.
The Apprentice: The all-female Protege group opened with four straight
victories, halving the hapless males of Versacorp. Once the groups mixed, seven
of the next eight candidates that got fired were women. The last lady left, Amy
Henry, failed to impress Donald Trump's executives, and she was subsequently
fired.
The Apprentice: Season Two: Two words: Stacie J. Thanks to one isolated incident with
a Magic 8 Ball, Stacie was targeted by her fellow Apex members. In scapegoating
reminiscent of Road Rules' treatment of Sarah (The Gauntlet) and Katie (The
Inferno), the ladies convinced Trump that Stacie was out of her gourd, and
she was shown the door.
My guess is that the endgame
situation (Gauntlet and Inferno) were deemed obsolete, since
women were shoved in most of the time. Also, both Survivor and The
Apprentice started off with male/female competition this season.
Personally, I think Mark Burnett should be checking for moles within his
company.
The Process
Happily, the inner circles are a
thing of the past. Since MTV.com didn't list the official rules on their web
site, I don't feel right in telling you what I heard. But I will say this: if
the rumors of "leaders and followers" are true, then we might have found
the best elimination process since the Gauntlet. Or it could reek something
fierce. With BMP, it's usually one or the other. The main goal is probably the
same as the first BOTS: each team starts with 18 players. After each
round of competition, both sides lose one member. In the end, each side will
have three members, and they will play for a grand prize.
The Host
Jonny Moseley returns for his third
Challenge. While the one-time moguls gold medalist cannot rate amongst hosts
such as Jeff Probst and Phil Keoghan, Jonny does exude a vacuous charm that
fits just right for this show. Also, Dave Mirra was practically a big-time zero
in the hosting department during Inferno, so Jonny's comeback works for
me.
The Players
Some are old-school, while others
are from the most recent season. Some are rookies at Challenges, while others
are seasoned veterans. Some players I will support and coddle, and some players
will be targets from the first minute. I'll go into detail in future articles,
but I'll give you the names and seasons right now.
Real World Guys: Eric (New York); Mike (Back to New York;
Frank and Steven (Las Vegas); Ace and Adam (Paris); Brad,
Jacquese and Randy (San Diego)
Road Rules Guys: Mark (Season One); Dan (Northern Trail);
Shawn (Semester at Sea); Theo (Maximum Velocity Tour); Shane (Campus
Crawl); Abram and Chris (South Pacific); Derrick and Nick (X-Treme)
Real World Girls: Cynthia (Miami); Genesis (Boston); Ruthie (Hawaii);
Coral (Back to New York); Aneesa and Tonya (Chicago); Arissa (Las
Vegas); Cameran and Robin (San Diego)
Road Rules Girls: Ayanna and Veronica (Semester at Sea); Katie and
Sophia (The Quest); Rachel (Campus Crawl); Tina (South Pacific);
Angela, Ibis and Kina (X-Treme)
What to Expect
I got wind of a few early spoilers,
but I won't ruin them here. Basically, the stuff here is just guessing. Feel
free to rub them in my face in case I screw up.
- Mike will hook up with a girl… again… running his streak to four.
- I'll probably be humming the theme song by the fourth week. I liked Yellowcard's "Miles Apart," and I actually sought out their video for "Way Away," which they played during Wreck & Roll last season.
- Katie will stink things up, then rip into whoever calls her out. Sure, she literally kissed and made up with Veronica on MTV's reality awards show, but do you honestly believe those two will ever be at peace?
- Coral will probably be gone by mid-season, but not before targeting some hapless bozo who needs her special kind of tough love.
- Ruthie and Mark will have a tougher experience this time around. One of them will be gone in the end.
- Theo and Ayanna will make your head hurt in their interviews, but in a good way.
- At least three women will gun for Veronica. Unlike the unholy trinity of Emily, Anne and Christina, I'll be rooting this faction on.
- Once again, Tonya's body will fall apart at the wrong time, and she'll have to go home.
- The final rosters? For the men: Brad (the aggressive newbie), Dan (the end-all be-all Roadie), and Theo (the unquestioned leader). For the women: Ayanna (wild guess), Kina (another wild guess), and Ruthie (keeping her reputation as Superwoman). In the end, the men will once again come out on top.
He
Says/She Says: Battle For The Battle Of The Sexes will air this Monday night, October
4, at 10 p.m. on MTV. The first episode of Battle of the Sexes 2 airs
October 11, also at 10 p.m.
Let's look at those predictions!
- There wasn't evidence of a hookup. Maybe Mike got tired of them after Kendall in The Inferno.
- "Come Out Fighting" was good, but not that great. Hey, at least we had credits back then, even if it was mostly green screen.
- Those two were a nonfactor. Veronica and Rachel were not the heinous hose beasts they were in The Gauntlet. I was shocked by that.
- Coral wound up going the distance. Who else has completed three straight seasons? Has Johnny ever done that?
- Wow, I mostly nailed this one. Ruthie's story was a painful march compared to BOTS1. I don't think Mark had any ordeals beyond his dating life, but he did bow out near the end, allowing his buddy Eric to basically win $60,000. Is it silly that it's 2018, and I still haven't forgiven him for that?
- Theo got his share of awesome lines. Ayanna had the one outburst.
- Were there any alliances? Maybe that's one of the unsaid reasons why BMP went back to endgames . . . lack of scheming.
- Actually, Tonya went further here than her first two stints. Sadly, her mind was stuck in her RW: Chicago days, in the sense where she was erratic as hell.
- Hey, I got a third of that right! Shit, I was too into the idea of Ruthie fulfilling her destiny as a Challenge champion.
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