The Challenge is a reality competition television show that was created by MTV Studios. It is considered a franchise and is currently broadcasting its 39th season which is called “The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion.” Out of all the current reality shows, The Challenge is by far the most physical and competitive. To win The Challenge players are put to the test to compete on extremely athletic challenges testing their willpower.
Players need to be athletic to participate and most of them have experience in either the military or sports competition. The show starts with between 25-50 players, and they slowly start to eliminate players from the show. Depending on the year and season, they might split up the players into different types of teams. One season might have just two players per team and other seasons will have multiple players per team.
The Challenge started in 1998 and was originally known as “Road Rules: All Stars.” It premiered on MTV and took stars from their other reality shows like “The Real World” and “Road Rules.” The current host of the show is T.J. Lavin.He is the one who explains the challenges and puts the players into their teams. The show constantly has twists and turns where the host will mix up the teams when you don’t expect it.
Players can end up being kicked out or switching teams, which makes the social part of the game very interesting. Even though you are competing against each other, you need to keep on good terms in case you end up on their team. You might be wrestling and fighting with a player in one competition but then the next show you might need to be teammates.
At first, they only took players from MTV reality shows, but now they take players from all different reality shows. For instance, now they take players from shows like “Survivor,” “Amazing Race,” “Love Island” and “Big Brother.” The Challenge will hand pick the best contestants from these shows, players with the best personalities and athletic ability, which makes the show much more interesting. During the 39 seasons they have continued to mix things up by using different formats and changing the rules. Since they are constantly changing, it makes each season interesting and unique. In some seasons, there may be one winner and in other season multiple players can win.
The Challenge is the best reality show because they have so many exciting and different competitions and games. For example, the trivia challenge is when they put players in difficult places and make them answer trivia questions. If they get the answer wrong, they might plummet them into the water or drop them from long heights into a net. One season, a player, Jordan Wiseley, beat everyone else and he only has one hand. Other challenges are when they must shoot basketballs in the air while running long distances or climb at high heights while answering questions.
I believe The Challenge has the most to offer out of any reality show. I find the challenges very entertaining because they test mind and body at the same time. Since the players are tested on both the physical and mental abilities, they tend to pick players that are athletic and intelligent. The show also tends to bring back repeating players with the most charisma, which makes it interesting because you know their history and their relationship with the other contestants.
