Week 1
TJ's Explanataions: I love TJ Lavin as the host, and I think his presence on every single season of the challenge for as long as I remember is underrated in terms of keeping the show on MTV, but this episode was rough on him. The challenge itself seemed pretty straightforward, a bunch of people chained together go up 42 flights of stairs, hand a key to four people to solve a puzzle, then four more people race to get a flag and ring a bell. I didn't rewind to hear what TJ said, but the first time was rough, and it seemed way more complicated than it needed to be. It works, because it's TJ, but I wonder how many times he has to re-explain this to challengers live in person.
Commercials: I don't watch the Real World, so I forget this going into every season, but man, the commercial breaks are rough for the Challenge. Thankfully, they seem much shorter than commercial breaks for other things I watch on TV, mainly sporting events, but it seems like there are commercials every three minutes. A must when it comes to the challenge is a reliable flashback channel or a DVR. The 9 pm start is a bummer, because if it was an hour earlier, that would be prime Brewer flashback time (ed. note: When the Brewers play at 7 pm on Thursday, you will get the flashback opportunity)
Ambulance Rides: I've never been a person who would want to go on a reality show to get famous, as most of the current reality TV stars seem to do. There have always been two shows that interested me though, Big Brother, because I think I could do well at it, and The Challenge, because it looks the most fun out of the competition shows. However, the biggest drawback to The Challenge is the potential ambulance rides in a foreign land. Each season, a few people seem to need to go to the hospital or get medical attention, and that alone would make me nervous. Maybe this makes me a wimp, but that would be the biggest drawback.
Real Sports: The free agents twist is great! The captains picking teams is great! They missed an opportunity though, they should have the challengers playing real sports each week. Perhaps if this season does well, that can be the next twist on the Free Agents Season. Just think about it, when there's eleven on a side, they could play a game of football, 10 could be soccer, five on five basketball, it would be so fun to watch. The elimination rounds are endless, ping pong match, fencing, it could get real weird. There have been complaints that challenges themselves have gotten stale and repetitive, why not go for common sports?
This Season On: Rarely does much happen on the first episode of the season, this year was a nice change of pace with the upset on the women's side. The opening episode usually is most exciting for the "This Season on..." clip. Traditionally it has only shown glimpses of what happens in the first half of the season, but the show is at it's best early on when there are tons of people still on it. A few takeaways, lots of screen time for Portland, as Jordan, Jessica, and Johnny all seemed featured heavily. Toss in Nia and Marlon, and that season could be the new Key West of challenge dominance. Notably absent was Frank, who seems to be the perfect type of person for these type of previews, I was impressed with Frank's performance in the challenge, and although it was short, he brought it to the elimination, but could his absence mean a surprise exit for Frank? Finally, perhaps I saw it incorrectly, but it looks like the inference from the preview was that there is an elimination round where Jordan flips over all the tiles, which leads me to assume he's throwing himself in. If that's the case, I'm guessing he wants to send Bananas home, and I can't wait for that episode.
Should be a good season.
Adam
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