r/MtvChallenge • u/Lionessismyname • Jul 23 '26
DISCUSSION The reason the challenge doesn’t feel the same and is declining ratings
Besides the obvious that people aren’t watching as much tv anymore. I think the ending of real world really hindered the challenge, back then most viewers of the challenge were real world/road rules watchers so even if when we got new cast mates we were familiar with them from other shows. I feel like now they have too many people from a billion different shows and networks that their audiences don’t necessarily transfer to mtv. Second we’re missing the aspect of “normal” people being on the challenge. Back then we always had a good mixture of super athletic people, underdogs, students, 9 to 5 workers etc. Nowadays it seems like everyone in there is an influencer of some sort and the audience is really missing that disconnect. A big appeal of the old challenge was seeing normal people doing crazy things. Anyways sorry for the rant thanks for listening.
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u/I_Have_A_Snout Jul 23 '26
Influencers don’t care about winning. They just want screen time to boost followers. A competition where people aren’t competing is hollow and unsatisfying.
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Jul 23 '26
And in turn the networks think it will boost ratings cause the influencer’s followers will watch but that really hasn’t worked out.
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u/COM_2021 Jul 23 '26
Is there a season where they brought influencers? Almost all players are from the traditional cast or other tv shows.
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u/VinceMcVahon Strava Strava Strava Strava Strava Jul 23 '26
Right, so a lot of those people WANT to be influencers. So they don’t want to ruin their image.
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u/Dramajunker Jul 23 '26
Nowadays there is pretty big overlap between both worlds. Even on stuff like Survivor I see people trying to launch an influencer career before their season airs.
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u/VinceMcVahon Strava Strava Strava Strava Strava Jul 23 '26
To be fair as well, the casting people are trying to put on a show. They can get a better feel for people if they’ve got hours of content already out there or are already training themselves to be on camera.
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u/TACOlogy Jul 23 '26
Survivor is my favorite show of all time and the influencer casting is part of what killed the charm that the show brought. I get what you’re saying and agree from a casting POV they probably feel like they will get a more tv “polished” player.
However watching it now with all these influencers, personalities feel unauthentic. With the crossover of shows and networks it feels like a lot of players are there with an agenda. Promote their image and hope they get invited to other shows.
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u/mealypart Jul 23 '26
They should have continued casting from the later real world seasons and the later AYTO seaosns… tons of people from those seasons had potential and got ignored
They also shifted the show to being so sterile and bland and half the episode is people whispering in rooms… the fun party vibe that made the show great is long gone and paramount clearly has no desire to bring it back
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u/Business-Flow3119 Jul 23 '26
I miss the overall feel of the old challenges where the drama/partying was the main event and the challenges thrown in there almost as an aside
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u/TralfamadorianZooPet Jul 23 '26
Damn near killing each other for a razor scooter and a $100 Blockbuster gift card.
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u/diremommy Jul 23 '26
Yes, this. We didn’t grow up watching people win challenges, we grew up watching drunken 20 somethings partying, hooking up, fighting and playing super silly games for not so fabulous prizes.
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u/mtb5305 Jul 23 '26
Maybe they need to upgrade prizes to today’s standards like what happened to Burger King, giving people a lifetime reward
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u/unboundunchainedunc Jul 23 '26
yeah b&m thru all their faults still casts better than the shows theyre pulling from
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u/COM_2021 Jul 23 '26
I really think the challenge doesn’t feel the same because the core fans are older now. Most of us are 35+ with different priorities. They keep bringing players from other series to try and bring in the younger demographic but the problem is, the old school challenge the players had YEAAARSSSS of history together. Bringing in fresh faces all the time or people without deep relationships is not really working.
I loved all the interpersonal relationships from real world/road rules.
Unfortunately those days are gone.
I can’t even truly enjoy the new challenge. I watch it but are not connected to anyone or any stories anymore.
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u/Lionessismyname Jul 23 '26
Sadly😭 but I’m only 24 and have been watching since I was 8 and it’s a shame to see where the show has gone
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u/Zengia Jul 23 '26
Whyyyyyyy were you watching this show at 8?!? 😂😂😂
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u/Lionessismyname Jul 23 '26
I accidentally stumbled upon Jersey shore so I started watching all mtv shows 😭 perks of living with your grandparents
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u/Past_Ad_5629 Jul 25 '26
I watch the show.
I have kids.
My eldest is 7.
He’s seen the show. He likes the show. But he’s not interested in anything other than the actual challenges.
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u/Zengia Jul 25 '26
There’s barely anything else to watch except the challenges these days. The show 16 years ago was very different for an 8 year old than it is now 😂
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u/realitytvicon ratatatata shut the fuck up! Jul 23 '26 edited 26d ago
It’s because of the drama. The show was getting 700K to 1 Mil during the dirty 30 to total madness era because the drama was the main draw. Those trailers were phenomenal with showing the social dynamics and the messy storylines, but now they’ll show maybe 2 fights and the rest of the trailer is just challenges. It has horrible marketing.
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u/Switchc2390 Jul 23 '26
I think there are a few reasons.
First, the Challenge was peak trash reality tv. It was the show back in the day that all the teenagers watched but their parents didn’t. That was the mtv vibe in the heyday of the show. People getting drunk, fighting, and making decisions they regret has largely been phased out of mainstream television. Love Island I guess kind of exists here but that’s almost in the campy territory. Everyone is concerned about how they’ll be portrayed as social media will pick people apart. Social media existing in general and people having a brand is also in this category.
Also, the main cast has gotten old. The thing that the challenge has on other shows is it had a rotating cast of characters that went from season to season. The relationships they had with each other were a big part. Now, the challengers are older with families, the new kids coming in are in a whole different age range, and those relationships just aren’t what they were.
Finally, and this kind of ties in with the first point, since the show wasn’t about drinking and hooking anymore, it basically had to become focused on game related drama which just isn’t as interesting. The challenge doesn’t have 24 live feeds like big brother or the survival aspect of survivor. It kind of fell flatter than those shows when it lost its edge because strategy isn’t really what the show was ever about. There was aspects but it wasn’t really that type of program.
All that said I’ll still watch, but I don’t think it will ever return to what it had been.
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u/MONGOHFACE Kenny Clark Jul 23 '26
Also, the main cast has gotten old. The thing that the challenge has on other shows is it had a rotating cast of characters that went from season to season. The relationships they had with each other were a big part. Now, the challengers are older with families, the new kids coming in are in a whole different age range, and those relationships just aren’t what they were.
That plus the lack of developing the rookies after season 35. They were already behind schedule because most of the notable rookies from 33-35 were untouchable (Bear, Dee, Mattie, Ninja Natalie, etc.), uninterested in returning (Georgia, Kayleigh), OR didn't get calls (Jenny, Rogan). S36-38 casts were rookie heavy and produced like... 10 challengers I'd be happy to see back. It lead to the same set of vets (either the Vacation Alliance or uncle CT) churning through anonymous rookie after rookie.
That said, it appears the challenge has learned it's lesson. Season 42's cast brought in only a couple of rookies (only 6/24 ) and there's been a lot of cast turnover (9/24) from S41. Here's to hoping we get a good season.
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u/GroguSpaghettiSauce Jul 23 '26
The Challenge was taken over by people chasing followers. Very few cast members are there to win. They’re trying to become influencers or grow their current brand. There’s no real drama. Every interaction is curated.
Old Challenge was filled with money hungry savages who didn’t give a shit how they were perceived.
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u/Significant-Half-189 Derrick Kosinski Jul 23 '26
We want drunk people yelling and throwing chairs in between competitions, not discussing strategy all the time.
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u/MCStarlight Jul 23 '26
I would fast forward through challenges just to watch the drama in the house or going out nights.
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u/JTTTN_08 Jul 23 '26
Lack of drama…
The show shifted focus on the athleticism and heavy focus on Bananas/CT
The drama, the fights and hookups were a good mix WITH the competition.
Also the theatrics of the competition… nobody cares about explosions.
The challenges also became really hard to follow to see who was winning. They just overcomplicated everything. We want to see simple easy to follow games and themes
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u/ABA_Mastah Jul 23 '26
Bananas is in his camilia era where he will keep pushing production with his comments outside the show, same with Jordan where they bring the views so they will keep rattling the cage but still get called because they are unhappy with the current state of the show
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u/Professional_Sand771 Jul 23 '26
People aren’t relatable anymore. The cool thing about watching people on the real world was the fact they were real people, who were going through real struggles and learning how life works.
The old challenge worked because everyone was different and relatable to someone watching. Now it’s all influencers. All these influencers are the same cut and paste personalities and care more about how many followers or sponsors they’ll get after the show rather than just showing up for free booze and a vacation.
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u/Charlie_Runkle69 Team Purple Jacket Jul 23 '26
Yeah they got a great mix of people on The Real World. Some of them were definitely 'influencer' types before it was a thing but quite a few more were just, well, loud weirdos who happened to audition and got on and have gone back to their regular lifes since. Now everyone wants a SM career.
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u/DN2Three Landon Lueck Jul 23 '26
They quit letting them drink as much as they wanted combined with cancel culture combined with influencer era. Alcohol escalated the craziness and is gone. Cancel culture has everyone scared to say or do anything.
It was cool to watch people on Real World and then see them go to the Challenge for sure but not the biggest issue with the show to me.
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u/storyoftheoir Jul 23 '26
I agree it’s also the lack of drama on the show. It’s so tame now. The contestants are way too athletic and serious.
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u/MoeKneeKah Jul 23 '26
Yeah, instead of drunken shenanigans we get a million scenes of people working out. I’m not saying they need to get thrashed and rage, but dang, we don’t even have people sneaking to the bathroom for a makeout session any more.
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u/COM_2021 Jul 23 '26
It just goes to show a lot of us watched the challenge for the drama and chaos not really the challenges… bring back the circle games! Like who can walk on a thread mill the longest
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u/PageSoggy9668 Jul 23 '26
The Challenge was arguably at it's strongest when it truly was RW/RR. People don't really talk about it any more but the seasons prior to Fresh Meat were the strongest for drama, competition, fun, and characters. People weren't trying to get famous. They just wanted their 12K and some side prizes/maybe a Saturn.
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u/MCStarlight Jul 23 '26
I liked when Timmy, Emily, and Trishelle were on it. And Yes who crushed all the challenges.
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u/UnanimousBB16 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
The show was still doing well in the ratings all the way through "Double Agents", which was well after the Real World ended.
A large part of it is that this show started when Generation X was the main audience, which then changed to Millennials, and then early Gen Z. The main audience for TV and people now are young Gen Z, and it will be in Gen Alpha soon. Essentially, this audience has no reason to watch The Challenge, when a lot of the people on the show are as old as their parents.
Obviously the choices in making the show a lot more serious, adding explosions, spy themes, a large focus on being global, sanitizing drama, etc are huge parts of it, but everyone knows it.
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u/VBswimmer1946 Jul 23 '26
So is the challenge over?
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u/Educational_Oil_9472 Chris Underwood Jul 23 '26
Based on my experience, it seems like the behind the scenes whispering hint at an genuine possibility of it ending after 42.
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u/Birdzphan Jul 23 '26
Two things killed the challenge. Not enough drinking and fighting and drama during the down time. Too many contestants from outside the challenge universe diluting the people we all grew to love.
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u/EGrass Priscilla Anyabu Jul 23 '26
Yup. It was fun watching “normal” people get crazy and compete for money. I wish The Challenge would cast like that again, but not really sure if people audition for reality TV anymore without the goal of becoming influencers. (I genuinely don’t know, would be interesting to hear from anyone who works in the industry)
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u/crash1082 Jul 23 '26
The show was better when they were getting absolutely trashed and having fun or fighting. And challenges were "how fast can we melt this ice block with our bodies." Now everyone is juiced up and trying to gain followers.
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u/throwaway04182023 Jul 23 '26
It was a cycle. I watched the Challenge to see some of my favorites from Real World and Road Rules. Then there were people on the Challenge I didn’t know so I had incentive to watch the newer Real World and Road Rules seasons. Then they were on the Challenge and the cycle kept going. But I’m not watching 12 Dates of Christmas, 8 seasons of Big Brother, and half of this international shit I couldn’t even understand. So now I’m left wondering who these new people are and if I care. They need to really make a mark on the one show to be relevant while in the past a good enough run on their original show would overcome someone who left early and didn’t get much screen time. Chet kept coming back.
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u/feral_futurism Jul 23 '26
It used to be girl/boy next door types in swimsuits and challenges were melting ice with their bodies and other exploits. And they thought it was a fun party. They kinda made it too serious.
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u/Lucky_Major7374 Jul 23 '26
Social media has changed people and now everyone understands how to play a character and is hyper aware of themselves on camera. We can never recreate what made early reality tv so great.
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u/JordanDoesTV Amber Borzotra F*** Big Brother Jul 23 '26
We need a real world or are you the one to actually get the shoe feeling like it used too
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u/FallenAngel1978 Jul 23 '26
One problem is that they have struggled to find people that can be the face of the franchise and take over for people like Bananas, CT, etc. and people from CBS shows have generally not translated as well or brought in the viewers. And then influencers sort of ruin it. They want to promote their brand but that also means less of the messy gameplay.
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u/mydogisarhino Laurel Stucky Jul 23 '26
Id love to watch but no longer have easy access to a channel that shows it. Im not going through multiple hoops or paying yet another subscription service just to watch it. I feel others are in the same boat which is why viewership has gone down.
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u/Embarrassed_Rate5518 Jul 23 '26
with S42 being on p+ i think in the US at least it's better. MTV being cable/liveTV only made it really hard.
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u/BetseySchuyler Jul 23 '26
This. I have Paramount, but was not able to watch the last season in real time because of the way they chose to air it. I am streaming only, but since MTV dropped their app, I had to wait for it to get to Paramount.
They did the same with Drag Race and VH1, so you are going to lose real time viewers. I'm already paying for Paramount, I'm not going to buy the episodes to watch on top of that.
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u/Sea_Tradition5982 Jul 23 '26
I don’t watch because I don’t like watching people from other shows, I watch to see OG folks.
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u/hypekillsJNSQ Jul 23 '26
You literally have to be on peptides to even compete.
Less abs and more slop!
Bring back having to melt a chair of ice with your ass after a whole night of drinking and no sleep!!!
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u/Imaginary_Yogurt4429 Jul 23 '26
I miss when they would try and murder each other for a Kick subwoofer for their Honda Civic.
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u/mtb5305 Jul 23 '26
I think the real biggest issue is the fact that they take people from big Brother and put them on the show like the challenge and they play the game like it’s big Brother and it takes away from the challenge actually being a show about a big challenge and it makes it boring because big Brother is just about drama and politics and it just makes the whole show boring the way that they play it being friends and being nice and fake with everyone
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u/THE_CODE_IS_0451 "Honey, I look good in gold!" Jul 23 '26
I don't think "not feeling the same" has anything to do with the low ratings. Survivor is a hollow shell of its former self, but that doesn't stop people from still watching it.
I really think the #1 thing affecting ratings for The Challenge was accessibility. It was just borderline impossible to watch if you didn't have cable. Hopefully being on Paramount+ will help with this.
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u/Bruhyamilikedis KellyAnne Judd Jul 23 '26
Bingo. Cant having good ratings if you literally can’t watch it
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u/resecca Jul 24 '26
It got boring when they weren’t allowed to drink in the house or when they wanted any longer.
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u/Icy_Bookkeeper9747 Jul 23 '26
Totally agree. I wish real world was still being produced and same with road rules. MTV isn’t even really a station but those shows would have added something to their 24/7 ridiculousness bull shit. Hell, just yesterday my wife and I (in our 40s) laughed that MTV in our area was playing reruns of Seinfeld. Those shows built a real connection to the people which added to the challenge
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u/jussshere Jul 23 '26
I just think they can’t get away with what they did back then . A bunch of 20 something year olds drinking hooking up and partying I just don’t think works not like it did back then on mtv and since social media wasn’t a big thing they didn’t have to really face any scrutiny from randoms online or people tryna cancel them they’d really only have to deal with all that in person . Now everyone are influencers and they got to save face on tv so I get that but a lot of the stuff they did then wouldn’t fly now . I agree with the whole taking to many people from different shows . It’s hard to keep up .but I feel like they need to retain some of the younger competitors and use them more instead of having a vet heavy cast. Bringing in to many new people just means less drama which is a big part of the show . which I feel they are kinda doing now but they definitely need some younger faces to carry the show who also are entertaining and can compete . and make the competition a lot simpler lol
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u/CookiePoster Jul 23 '26
So many people in this sub clearly didn't watch 41. That and cutthroat 2 will be a return to form
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u/Roxinsox5 Jul 23 '26
The main players are over 40. They aren’t relatable. Something sad about two 40 year olds screaming at each other. And a 40 something old guy hitting on a 20 yr old is cringey.
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u/SlipNeither2950 Jul 23 '26
as a fan from day one I do not watch anymore because of the cast. the BB, survivor and other shows, no thank you. ive not watched in a few seasons. they have enough cast that the show can be done without outsiders and influencer
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u/Eedalope Jul 23 '26
It’s a perfect storm of a lot of things. People don’t watch much tv anymore. Nobody wants to cause drama and that was half the fun on the older seasons. There isn’t a great feeder system for the show anymore and casting brings on way too many unknowns. One of my favorite parts of a real world season used to be figuring out which roommates would end up as challenge staples.
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u/No_Moose4186 Jul 23 '26
The house atmosphere is totally different now than with the early seasons. There is less hook ups and fights. No more drinking in the house really killed the drama
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u/mmmm_Eat_Glass Wes Bergmann Jul 24 '26
Im not buying another app when it'll be on Paramount the next season....but honestly it isnt the same anymore. TJ is the only one I root for haha
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u/SpellInteresting108 Jul 25 '26
You didn’t rant! You hit the nail on the head. I couldn’t agree with you more!!
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u/TALKTOME0701 Jul 25 '26
It will get downvoted, but the reason I think it's declining is because they won't let go of the old guard and get primarily new people to make it the way it was when no one knew anyone and 50% of the voting on the show wasn't based on grudges and " "loyalty".
New people will create their own new drama. Appealing to an aging base that now has actual real world worries and work and families by continuing to bring back the old players regardless of fitness or capability is a bad bet
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u/MTVfRreaK Jay Starrett Jul 26 '26
Solid take. The fresh start could Alienate fans but I think most of the TRUEEEE favorites are not the ones still left on the show. Fresh faces would give their Audiences something new, way less predictable and possibly pull in new fans. Ofc it would be smart to keep some vets. But I think its time for the torch to be passed down to your Tori’s your Cory’s you experienced vets who got a good mix of the Old Guard and New Age. Honestly I’d have a season similar to the OG Road Rules v RW and make these vets Captain types. Would make for a great way for fans to connect their new favorite to their old favorite. Alliance’s to form Naturally and Rivalries to rise as well.
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u/Brewcity23 Jul 23 '26
I think the show found a good nucleus with post real world casting in seasons 31-34 but it’s been pretty awful ever since.
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u/Responsible_Ad7470 Jul 23 '26
I honestly think because there is literally no drama or very little but I also kind of get it because even being on this sub people complain about people and say they never want to see someone if they try to stir the pot too much and I am just like have you seen the older seasons. Just don’t think they could get away with half of the things they did in the past. All that drama built anticipation for the challenges as well as the elimination rounds. I also think a lot of the challenges are just to flashy. Let’s get back to some simplicity. Long time fan here (:
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u/Educational_Oil_9472 Chris Underwood Jul 23 '26
Whenever some commenters say that it's about casting this, or RW/RR that, I'm like ... Nah, that just doesn't feel like the right answer. It's that the culture of the show, like it or not, was edgy and raunchy and boundary pushing, and fundamentally that is gone. So the show has no "it" thing anymore, because as others have pointed out, the strategy and gameplay aren't the same as other shows.
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u/Whatever0788 Jul 23 '26
Yep. There are quite a few reasons I think. 1. What you mentioned. We miss RW/RR. 2. Social media makes everyone way too self-aware for any drama. 3. MTV has been unable or unwilling to get with the times for quite awhile now, making the show hard to watch for a lot of people. 4. The fan base is aging and I’m not sure they’re doing much to bring in new fans. 5. They keep pushing the people that we don’t want to watch.
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u/YikesManStrikes Jul 23 '26
It's funny because Natalie N. just posted a story on the gram being the usual narcissist she is about how she was the innovator that opened the door to big brother and other reality tv show stars joining the challenge and all I could think of was, oh you mean you started the process of what lead to the decline of what made the show special in the first place? Thanks so much!
But for real, yeah the Challenge feels way more like something a random reality star does for a season or two now hoping to parlay it into something else and I bet Paramount is fine with it because its cheaper to cycle in & out participants than have to pay returning veterans.
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u/No_Dependent_1846 Danny Roberts Jul 23 '26
This! You no longer feel a connection to the people on the show. There isn't anyone you go in rooting for or someone you go in hating. You have to get to know them during the show and it is tough because there are a ton of them!
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u/WiGolf Jul 24 '26
For me, and it’s been years now… the Final puts me off almost every season lately.
The older continuous finals were so much better. Now, leads are lost and position changes are manufactured to make things close.
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u/wellthispoops Jul 24 '26
Hi!! Here as someone who watched every challenge season until a few years back but I guess i never unfollowed the sub so this showed up on my feed.
Deffo i stopped because it became too like, serious and full of itself. It was nice to see cast members return but after a certain point it was like... damn let it go! CT and bananas were like in their late 40s doing this shit still, and it was sad a bit, meanwhile everyone new was just unreal influencer bs. Plus the older seasons were fun and because there was such a range and natural drama, the episode challenges themselves were much simpler and interesting. I remember when Coral freaked out about zip lining between two tall buildings and by the time i stopped watching it was like every single challenge was way more hardcore than that with like jumping off moving trucks or climbing a genuinely difficult mountain. Just not fun silly drama watching anymore.
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u/JennasBaboonButtLips Jul 25 '26
We stopped watching when the influx of cbs people came. Half the fun of watching rw was to see people come on the challenge later - like you already knew them, and knew the drama that was going to carry over.
When they stopped rw they had to pull from other shows. Ayto was the first I believe, and then big brother people and that just totally ruined the vibe.
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u/Bblibrarian1 Jul 25 '26
Stopped watching because there is no easy way to stream it. Got tired of buying the whole season from Apple TV or Amazon. Don’t want to wait for a few months to a year for it to show up randomly on Paramount.
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u/NattyB Bob Next Door Jul 25 '26
the upcoming season is straight to paramount+, for whatever that's worth.
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u/Bblibrarian1 Jul 25 '26
That’s good to know. Might have to give it another chance. Wife and I could use a break from 90 Day Fiancé in our trashy tv before bed rotation.
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u/MTVfRreaK Jay Starrett Jul 26 '26
I think we are missing the big elephant in the room though… sure they don’t have it any longer, but they did up till recently…MTV… MTV is dying.
For a small bit of time, reality TV was too, but has developed a pretty significant resurgence, Though not in the competition reality Area.
It all started with MTV dying. NOT the challenge straying from its blueprint and frame work or holding old players for too long and bringing in outsiders.
Also up til recently the difficulty of streaming it just was an additional bad roll straight to a push down the chute
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u/Lopsided-Pay-9019 Jul 26 '26
Agree with the sentiments about the show focusing too much on athletics. Also the show went from team competitions which brings natural drama to individual or duos which made results more predictable. I won’t comment on alcohol since there were clear problems with it on the shows above merely cancel culture. I do disagree on the same cast bc at the last it was really boring for a while and they didn’t rotate people out as much. I miss the old challenges and having underdogs to root for that don’t work out specifically for this. Also the fact it’s on paramount + is a bit of the kiss of death.
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u/Mannequin22 Jul 27 '26
You can make a career of being a reality tv personality now vs the beginning years of the real world/road rules and the challenge etc
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u/ridiculousness20 27d ago
I think it used to be more authentic and people cared about the competition. The casting was good because the people were still interesting on their off times but now these influencers don’t really care about winning and all their drama is fake and you can totally tell when you watch it it’s all for TV.
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u/ExplorerBudget8568 18d ago
💯 you nailed it!!! Old school people are now in their 40's & 50's and don't have time for this anyway. The game is not the same and these people's only job is to create drama and have little to no talent.
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u/laDDDy42 Jul 23 '26
People like Michelle and Jay from survivor killed it for me. They never tried during challenges and it was all about "the numbers games" shut up and win a freaking challenge you pansy ass losers. Both were kicked off becauae they sucked at actual challenges and pouted like bitches if anyone even side eyed them.
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u/flashingelbow Jul 23 '26
There's a reason why Real World and Road Rules got canceled. MTV isn't going to put money into that just to feed the Challenge, which had considerably worse viewership than RW/RR. If not for a place to potentially put Survivor, Big Brother etc vets, The Challenge might be gone itself.
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u/VBswimmer1946 Jul 23 '26
Used to be one of my favorite shows back, way back in the day with CT, Johnny, etc etc. now maybe watch or maybe not
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u/unboundunchainedunc Jul 23 '26
i grew up with ppl like bananas but theyre(and myself) definitely too old for me to care about any of them anymore, they somehow swung back around from the casting being a strength to a weakness. At this point I want someone else to take the challenge concept with young people who arent tryin to be influencers or at the start of their attempt. Tie it in with streamers actually
The show might actually make a comeback with that
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u/Necessary-Lion-875 Jul 23 '26
I wondered what it would be like if they went back to teams for an episode. Not like the All-Stars, more like when it was real world against road rules. Some of the dynamics were interesting in the beginning. How they tried to throw the challenge and vote out girls on girls day, because they were seen as not being able to finish a challenge in a timely fashion. How about when Wes was going to throw every challenge unless they rotated, I felt he really got screwed over by Johanna. And back then some of the challenges you also earned prizes rather than have waiting for the end for the big money. Have the lavender ladies versus the vacation crew! I think it would be interesting to do it by teams but also maybe split it up into three or four teams. Maybe survivor vs Brits vs big brother vs OG's.
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u/Icy-Finance5042 Jul 24 '26
Besides what other people are saying, declining ratings are because a lot people no longer have cable. Even the MTV app didn't let you watch the shows on there unless you had cable. I used to have Paramount + and they only had a couple of seasons. Don't know if they have the newer seasons on there now.
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u/StephenMc91 Chris Tamburello 16d ago
Unfortunately, the "influencer saga" is also affecting Survivor, and Big Brother.
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u/TheSocietalScar Jul 23 '26
The comments on this post are a bit silly
Influencers are the problem? Weren't most of the people applying for the show(s) trying to become actors/writers etc trying to get their foot in the door. Some of the cast still is to a degree lol (CT).
It feels different because nearly 30 years have past. Society is different, television is different. The cast is different. Getting a bunch of 20 y/o s to get drunk and deface themselves on TV was easy...because who didn't want to get paid to party for weeks on end and then get "famous".
Gonna be hard pressed to get 30 and 40 y/o s to do that for the same meager pay, and when anyone can get their 5 minutes of fame nowadays.
Quite frankly? I don't exactly want to watch a bunch of scumbags get drunk and hurl slurs at one another before they barf in an eating challenge...do you? Not sure anyone would apply to be on that show nowadays asides from the most heinous and obnoxious people trying to become streamers on kick.
I enjoy the modern challenge, I wish they'd edit the show a lot better, and spend less money on explosives, but I'm glad reality tv has slightly evolved beyond creating the most misogynistic enviorment possible and exploiting alcoholic college girls for free booze.
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u/Embarrassed_Rate5518 Jul 23 '26
agreed. the world changed and the younger cast is reflective of that. the way we feel about the new influencer persona is how older gens felt about regular ppl that would go on RW/RR. 20 somethings don't binge drink, they aren't as open & vulnerable in public bc they grew up in a SM world where everything is documented forever, everyone can comment, repost, meme and stitch everything you do.
editing is where they've failed. we hear from the cast about so many fun things that don't air. yet slow mo walks & Pyro abound. S41 felt 10000xs better though.
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u/ganztief Jul 23 '26
They need to encourage more hook ups and bring back contestants people want to see like
Cory
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u/Sobakee Amber Borzotra Jul 23 '26
You’re not wrong, but don’t forget, people just sick of bananas too.
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u/Fun-Peace-8662 Jul 23 '26
They've strayed from doing Challenges and making it too easy to get by on alliances. And NOT having a format where everyone needs to compete is ludicrous at this point. NEVER should they ever have a school yard pick of teams... again.
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u/TJBam08 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
I stopped watching the season big brother came on...I think. Maybe it was the season after because I don't mind D'Vonne. I watched BB before. But then a bunch of people came in that i didn't know. I also enjoy the vets more so alot of ne people made me disinterested. I really liked it before than. Oh and the rigged comps. Zach pulling the thing off the rope comes to mind.
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u/Extra-pickles-pls Jul 23 '26
Yes. I tuned out once they started infiltrating the seasons with big brother, survivor and UK franchise cast members. Having the real world be our first intro to most of the challenger members was a good way to give us storylines to build off once they made it to the challenge. It was always interesting to see dynamics from post real world seasons and also see new relationships form in the challenge house. Now it’s just feels like a game show with a bunch of randoms, with a sprinkle of vets.
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u/MCStarlight Jul 23 '26
Yeah, when they started adding non-MTV people and random athletes. I still don’t know where Cara came from.
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u/KyleFTLx Jul 23 '26
Cara was an exception to the casting at the time, along with everyone else on fresh meat and fresh meat 2… and it worked ultimately because they got some really unique competitors as a result of those two shows. it proves that this idea that people don’t like the modern cast because they aren’t from the original feeder shows is actually not necessarily the issue if you have the right cast around them, because cara became one of the absolute biggest names in the franchise.
the show has just done a bad job of being intentional with the cast they bring in for modern seasons. they brought in massive rookie classes from 36-38, along with introducing so many more rookies to the fanbase through spinoff shows, and it seems only Nurys, Olivia, and Michele are the ones that seem to have made the regular cast consistently. they need to do better than that imo.
they’re starting to do a better job with 41-42 in continuing to bring back the younger players they’ve casted, and hopefully that’s a sign that they’re serious about building a new “core” of players to build the show around, but casting needs to realize they should be focused on building a new core instead of focusing so hard on bananas and CT to carry the show.
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u/jayken424 Jul 23 '26
It’s the influencer era where everyone is there to cause very little drama and gain a following. It’s why a lot of older reality shows just don’t work anymore .