84-489: The Challenge (originally known as Road Rules: All Stars , followed by Real World/Road Rules Challenge ) is a reality competition show on MTV that is a spin-off of two of the network's reality shows , The Real World and Road Rules . Premiering in 1998, it originally featured alumni from these two shows. Casting for The Challenge has slowly expanded to include contestants who debuted on The Challenge itself, alumni from other MTV franchises including Are You
168-522: A Mormon splinter group), Breaking Amish and Amish Mafia (the Amish ), and Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and its spinoffs ( Romani people ). The Real Housewives franchise offers a window into the lives of social-striving urban and suburban housewives. Many shows focus on wealth and conspicuous consumption , including Platinum Weddings , and My Super Sweet 16 , which documented huge coming of age celebrations thrown by wealthy parents. Conversely,
252-582: A genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s with shows such as The Real World , then achieved prominence in the early 2000s with the success of the series Survivor , Idol , and Big Brother , all of which became global franchises. Reality television shows tend to be interspersed with "confessionals", short interview segments in which cast members reflect on or provide context for
336-580: A nuclear family (filmed in 1971) going through a divorce; unlike many later reality shows, it was more or less documentary in purpose and style. In 1974 a counterpart program, The Family , was made in the UK, following the working-class Wilkins family of Reading . Other forerunners of modern reality television were the 1970s productions of Chuck Barris : The Dating Game , The Newlywed Game , and The Gong Show , all of which featured participants who were eager to sacrifice some of their privacy and dignity in
420-477: A 2003 paper, theorists Elisabeth Klaus and Stephanie Lücke referred to the former category as "docusoaps", which consist of "narrative reality", and the latter category as "reality soaps", which consist of "performative reality". Since 2014, the Primetime Emmy Awards have used a similar classification, with separate awards for " unstructured reality " and " structured reality " programs, as well as
504-454: A Reality or Reality-Competition Program , was added. In 2007, the web series The Next Internet Millionaire appeared; it was a competition show based in part on The Apprentice , and was billed as the world's first Internet reality show. In 2010 the Dutch singing competition show The Voice of Holland , created by John de Mol Jr. , premiered; it added to the singing competition template
588-443: A camera crew on an outdoor adventure , such as hunting , fishing , hiking, scuba diving , rock climbing, wildlife photography, horseback riding, race car driving, and the like, with most of the resulting action and dialogue being unscripted, except for the narration. In the 1966 Direct Cinema film Chelsea Girls , Andy Warhol filmed various acquaintances with no direction given. The Radio Times Guide to Film 2007 said that
672-584: A celebrity going about their everyday life: notable examples include The Anna Nicole Show , The Osbournes , Gene Simmons Family Jewels , Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica , Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Hogan Knows Best . VH1 in the mid-2000s had an entire block of such shows, known as "Celebreality". Shows such as these are often created with the idea of promoting a celebrity product or upcoming project. Some documentary-style shows shed light on rarely seen cultures and lifestyles. One example
756-468: A few seasons, previously unknown contestants. The cast usually contains both "veterans" (or vets) and "rookies". Veterans are thought of as players that have won at least one Challenge season or have appeared on several seasons of the show; Rookies refer to newer players. Many recent alumni come from various reality shows including Survivor , The Amazing Race , Are You the One? , Big Brother , Ex on
840-478: A new version of the series. The movement was titled "We Want OGs." After his idea went viral, he announced a partnership with Bunim/Murray Productions to further develop his project and began gauging interest from potential former cast members. On February 24, 2021, the show was officially announced as The Challenge: All Stars . In February 2022, different series of The Challenge were announced, this included three international adaptations for Australia, Argentina,
924-441: A room in their dwellings where they could record their thoughts on the goings-on of the house, in addition to the standard interviews with producers asking leading questions. Confessionals have been criticized as a "gimmick" of the reality TV genre that has lost its freshness and purpose, and their introduction to more traditional game shows has been derided. The confessional device has been deployed in scripted series parodying
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#17327878386371008-440: A televised competition. The 1976–1980 BBC series The Big Time featured a different amateur in some field (cooking, comedy, football, etc.) trying to succeed professionally in that field, with help from notable experts. The 15-episode series is credited with starting the career of Sheena Easton , who was selected to appear in the episode showing an aspiring pop singer trying to enter the music business. In 1978, Living in
1092-466: A third award for " reality-competition " programs. In many reality television programs, camera shooting and footage editing give the viewer the impression that they are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities; this style of filming is sometimes referred to as fly on the wall , observational documentary or factual television . Story "plots" are often constructed via editing or planned situations, with
1176-687: A top athlete and celebrity, the brutal nature of the murders, and issues of race and class in Los Angeles celebrity culture, the sensational case dominated ratings and the public conversation. Many reality television stars of the 2000s and 2010s have direct or indirect connections to people involved in the case, most notably Kim Kardashian , daughter of defense attorney Robert Kardashian , and several of her relatives and associates. The series Expedition Robinson , created by television producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 in Sweden (and
1260-409: Is a stylistic device used in many reality television shows. It is a type of aside , consisting of cutaways to a close-up shot of one (or occasionally more) cast members talking directly to camera. Confessionals are used to provide narration , exposition , and commentary on ongoing action within the show. In small groups, a confessional may provoke a fellow cast member or reveal something about
1344-542: Is meant to resemble scripted soap operas – in this case, the television series Desperate Housewives and Peyton Place . A notable subset of such series focus on a group of women who are romantically connected to male celebrities; these include Basketball Wives (2010), Love & Hip Hop (2011), Hollywood Exes (2012), Ex-Wives of Rock (2012) and WAGS (2015). Most of these shows have had spin-offs in multiple locations. There are also fly-on-the-wall-style shows directly involving celebrities. Often these show
1428-653: Is shows about people with disabilities or people who have unusual physical circumstances, such as the American series Push Girls and Little People, Big World , and the British programmes Beyond Boundaries , Britain's Missing Top Model , The Undateables and Seven Dwarves . Another example is shows that portray the lives of ethnic or religious minorities. Examples include All-American Muslim ( Lebanese-American Muslims ), Shahs of Sunset (affluent Persian-Americans ), Sister Wives (polygamists from
1512-525: Is still ongoing. The program was structured as a series of interviews with no element of the plot. By virtue of the attention paid to the participants, it effectively turned ordinary people into a type of celebrity, especially after they became adults. The series The American Sportsman , which ran from 1965 to 1986 on ABC in the United States, would typically feature one or more celebrities, and sometimes their family members, being accompanied by
1596-618: The United Kingdom in 1964, the Granada Television documentary Seven Up! broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary 7-year-olds from a broad cross-section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, the filmmaker created a new film documenting the lives of the same individuals during the intervening period. Titled the Up Series , episodes included "7 Plus Seven", "21 Up", etc.; it
1680-650: The 1950s, game shows Beat the Clock and Truth or Consequences involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. Confession was a crime and police show that aired from June 1958 to January 1959, with interviewer Jack Wyatt questioning criminals from assorted backgrounds. The radio series Nightwatch (1951–1955) tape-recorded the daily activities of Culver City, California police officers. The series You Asked for It (1950–1959) incorporated audience involvement by basing episodes around requests sent in by postcard from viewers. First broadcast in
1764-662: The 2018–19 and 2019–20 television seasons. The success of the two franchises has led to other globally-syndicated franchises of reality competitions based around guesswork, such as Game of Talents (which began in Spain in 2019) and The Masked Dancer (which began in the United States in 2020). Specialist skill-based TV competitions became popular during this decade with such programs like The Great British Bake-Off , Lego Masters , The Great British Sewing Bee and Forged in Fire shown. Television development across all genres
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#17327878386371848-469: The 21st century, the series is often considered a prototype of reality television programming. In the early 1940s the young German television station, named after Paul Nipkow had staged a show in which a young couple acted as model Aryans and presented their everyday lives without a script to the camera ( Familienchroniken - Ein Abend mit Hans und Gelli ). Even though it was clearly Nazi propaganda and
1932-518: The Beach , Vanderpump Rules and Love Island . A season's typical multitude of cast members are usually divided up into separate teams or pairs according to a certain criterion, which varies from season to season. The criteria that teams have been arranged by over the show's history have ranged from gender , the contestants' original show, heroic or villainous status, rivals, countries, family members and ex-romantic partners of contestants. Each of
2016-482: The Bounty Hunter , Police Stop! , Traffic Cops , Border Security and Motorway Patrol . Shows set at a specific place of business include American Chopper , Miami Ink and its spinoffs, Bikini Barbershop and Lizard Lick Towing . Shows that show people working in the same non-business location include Airport and Bondi Rescue . Reality TV confessional A confessional
2100-635: The Dutch production company Endemol . Although Dragons' Den originated in Japan , most of its adaptations are based on the British version.) In India, the competition show Indian Idol was the most popular television program for its first six seasons. During the 2000s, several cable networks, including Bravo , A&E , E! , TLC , History , VH1 , and MTV , changed their programming to feature mostly reality television series. In addition, three cable channels were started around that time that were devoted exclusively to reality television: Fox Reality in
2184-403: The One? , Ex on the Beach ( Brazil , UK and US ), Geordie Shore , and from other non-MTV shows and competitions. Starting in 2018, new contestants were chosen outside of MTV network alumni from different networks like CBS and Bravo (American TV network) . The contestants compete against one another in various extreme challenges to avoid elimination. The winners of the final challenge win
2268-475: The Past had amateurs participating in a re-enactment of life in an Iron Age English village. Producer George Schlatter capitalized on the advent of videotape to create Real People , a surprise hit for NBC, and it ran from 1979 to 1984. The success of Real People was quickly copied by ABC with That's Incredible , a stunt show produced by Alan Landsburg and co-hosted by Fran Tarkenton ; CBS's entry into
2352-476: The Stars , and the investment franchise Dragons' Den . Several " reality game shows " from the same period have had even greater success, including Deal or No Deal , Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? , and Weakest Link , with over 50 international adaptions each. (All but four of these franchises, Top Model , Project Runway , The Biggest Loser and Dragons' Den , were created by either British producers or
2436-533: The U.S. and is syndicated in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2001, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences added the reality genre to the Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Reality Program . In 2003, to better differentiate between competition and informational reality programs, a second category, Outstanding Reality-Competition Program , was added. In 2008, a third category, Outstanding Host for
2520-473: The U.S. networks used reality series and other unscripted content (including those delayed from their summer lineups) to fill gaps in their schedules while the production of scripted programming resumed. There have been various attempts to classify reality television shows into different subgenres: Another categorization divides reality television into two types: shows that purport to document real life, and shows that place participants in new circumstances. In
2604-491: The U.S. states of Alaska , Louisiana and Texas , shows about cakes, weddings and pawnbrokers , and shows, usually competition-based, whose title includes the word "Wars". Duck Dynasty (2012–2017), which focused on the Robertson family that founded Duck Commander , in 2013 became the most popular reality series in U.S. cable television history. Its fourth-season premiere was viewed by nearly 12 million viewers in
The Challenge (TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-459: The U.S., which they attributed to "The diminishing returns of cable TV's sea of reality sameness". They noted that a number of networks that featured reality programming, including Bravo and E!, were launching their first scripted shows, and others, including AMC , were abandoning plans to launch further reality programs; though they clarified that the genre as a whole "isn't going anywhere." Ratings and profits from reality TV continued to decline in
2772-403: The UK, as well as The Challenge: USA , another American series which aired on CBS with CBS reality show alumni. All editions of the series aired locally on a Paramount-affiliated network and were available globally to stream on Paramount+ . These four series were followed by The Challenge: World Championship , which features winners and notable players from the international adaptations and
2856-545: The United States, most of which were in rural markets. Its rural audience share ranked in the 30s, an extremely high number for any series, broadcast or cable. Following from the 1900 House format, the BBC produced a series called Back in Time for Tea in which a family would experience tea time for various decades. In 2014, Entertainment Weekly and Variety again noted a stagnation in reality television programs' ratings in
2940-420: The United States, reality television programs suffered a temporary decline in viewership in 2001, leading some entertainment industry columnists to speculate that the genre was a temporary fad that had run its course. Reality shows that suffered from low ratings included The Amazing Race (although the show has since recovered and is in its 32nd edition), Lost (unrelated to the better-known serial drama of
3024-791: The United States, which operated from 2005 to 2010; Global Reality Channel in Canada , which lasted two years from 2010 to 2012; and CBS Reality (formerly known as Reality TV and then Zone Reality) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which has run from 1999 to the present. During the early part of the 2000s, network executives expressed concern that reality-television programming was limited in its appeal for DVD reissue and syndication . But DVDs for reality shows sold briskly; Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County , The Amazing Race , Project Runway , and America's Next Top Model all ranked in
3108-694: The airing of the 19th season , MTV aired a special spring break spin-off of The Challenge filmed at the Playa Suites Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico . The five-episode spin-off was titled Spring Break Challenge and aired from March 22–26, 2010. The season featured seven Challenge alum who coached teams of college-aged friends through various challenges and elimination rounds in an attempt to win $ 50,000 in cash and prizes. Fresh Meat alumnus Evan Starkman and The Real World: Key West alumna Paula Meronek served as broadcasters, with T. J. Lavin as
3192-471: The appearance and structure of soap operas. Such shows often focus on a close-knit group of people and their shifting friendships and romantic relationships. One highly influential such series was the American 2004–2006 series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County , which attempted to specifically mimic the primetime soap opera The O.C. , which had begun airing in 2003. Laguna Beach had a more drama-like feel than any previous reality television show, through
3276-659: The cast consisted of The Real World and Road Rules alumni, and cast who debuted directly on The Challenge , but eventually MTV expanded it to other alumni from other reality shows and networks. The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars (originally known as The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros ) is a special recurring mini-series of The Challenge . In each multi-week event, alumni from The Challenge compete against celebrities to win money for charity. In 2020, Road Rules: USA – The First Adventure alumnus Mark Long started asking his social media followers if they'd be interested in seeing former cast members of The Challenge coming together for
3360-413: The competition and typically share a large cash prize. The Challenge is currently hosted by T. J. Lavin . The series premiered on April 20, 1998. The show was originally titled Road Rules: All Stars , and had notable Real World alumni participated in a Road Rules style road-trip. It was renamed Real World/Road Rules Challenge for the 2nd season , then later abridged to simply The Challenge by
3444-449: The concept of putting strangers together in a limited environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. Nummer 28 also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including extensive use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, which serve as narration. Nummer 28 became
The Challenge (TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-469: The episode's elimination round frequently leads to drama and "dirty" gameplay; this is due to the show's contestants being in charge of who is thrown into elimination rounds. Like, that of The Real World , sporadically throughout the course of each episode, various contestants are seen privately expressing themselves through reality TV confessionals about the events taking place on the show. Some seasons , however, have used entirely different formats from
3612-809: The episodes were certainly affected by censorship , in recent years the show has been presented more frequently as the oldest reality TV show in the world. Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the late 1940s. Queen for a Day (1945–1964) was an early example of reality-based television. The 1946 television game show Cash and Carry sometimes featured contestants performing stunts. Debuting in 1948, Allen Funt 's hidden camera show Candid Camera (based on his previous 1947 radio show, The Candid Microphone ) broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. In 1948, talent search shows, such as Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts , featured amateur competitors and audience voting. In
3696-485: The events being depicted on-screen; this is most commonly seen in American reality television. Competition-based reality shows typically feature the gradual elimination of participants, either by a panel of judges, by the viewership of the show, or by the contestants themselves. Documentaries , television news , sports television , talk shows , and traditional game shows are generally not classified as reality television. Some genres of television programming that predate
3780-576: The favorite or underdog to win. Other criticisms of reality television shows include that they are intended to humiliate or exploit participants; that they make stars out of untalented people unworthy of fame, infamous figures, or both; and that they glamorize vulgarity. Television formats portraying ordinary people in unscripted situations are almost as old as the television medium itself. Producer-host Allen Funt 's Candid Camera , in which unsuspecting people were confronted with funny, unusual situations and filmed with hidden cameras, first aired in 1948. In
3864-493: The film was "to blame for reality television". In 1969, the British rock group the Beatles were filmed for a month during the recording sessions which would become their album Let It Be and released the homonymous film the following year. In 2021, director Peter Jackson created an eight-hour, three-episode television series entitled The Beatles: Get Back . The 12-part 1973 PBS series An American Family showed
3948-711: The filming of The Real World: Boston and Road Rules: Islands , the two casts met while the Real World cast was vacationing in San Juan, Puerto Rico . Producers set up a face-off where both teams would compete for a cash prize. The episode brought in high ratings and this set ideas in motion to produce the spin-off series. The series started airing in April 1998 as Road Rules: All Stars , and featured cast members from five seasons of The Real World . Another face-off called AquaGames , hosted by Kit Hoover and Mark Long ,
4032-688: The format for three years. Following the successful boom of reality television in the new millennium , from shows like Survivor , producers decided to add new elements to the series. 2002's Battle of the Seasons was the first season to depart from the previous six-member structure and brought in a large group of former cast members to compete in one location. The show added in eliminations, with earlier season incorporated voting off by majority, that eventually changed to elimination competitions between cast members. Contestants are various reality television cast members from different television shows. Originally
4116-490: The genre was That's My Line , a series hosted by Bob Barker . The Canadian series Thrill of a Lifetime , a fantasies-fulfilled reality show, originally ran from 1982 to 1988. It was revived from 2001 to 2003. In 1985, underwater cinematographer Al Giddings teamed with former Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly on the NBC series Oceanquest , which chronicled Weatherly's adventures scuba diving in various exotic locales. Weatherly
4200-558: The highly successful Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty are set in poorer rural areas of the Southern United States . Some documentary-style shows portray professionals either going about day-to-day business or performing an entire project over the course of a series. One early example (and the longest running reality show of any genre) is Cops , which debuted in 1989. Other such shows specifically relating to law enforcement include The First 48 , Dog
4284-467: The host. Camila Nakagawa, a contestant of the winning team, went on to appear on future challenges, with her debut season being Cutthroat . Nakagawa is the only player to appear on the main series. The season was won by Team Susie, coached by Road Rules: Down Under alumna Susie Meister. The Challenge: CT's Getting Married is a two-part special revolving around the wedding of Challenge star Chris "CT" Tamburello and Lilianet Solares. MTV released
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#17327878386374368-430: The late 2010s. The South Korean competition show I Can See Your Voice , which premiered in 2015, showed guest judges attempting to guess which of a group of contestants could sing, and which could not, without hearing them sing. The show was successful, and spawned several imitators, most notably King of Mask Singer several months later. King of Mask Singer was a more traditional singing competition show, but with
4452-470: The long-running reality television show franchises in the United States, such as American Idol , Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor , had begun to see declining ratings. However, reality television as a whole remained durable in the U.S., with hundreds of shows across many channels. In 2012, New York Magazine's Vulture blog published a humorous Venn diagram showing popular themes across American reality shows then running, including shows set in
4536-477: The main series of The Challenge competing for a grand prize. On May 22, 2023, following the conclusion of World Championship , CBS announced that a second season of The Challenge: USA would premiere on August 10, 2023. On June 27, 2024, it was announced that a Swedish version of The Challenge would be airing on TV4 starting on August 12, 2024, marking the first series in the franchise to be produced outside of Bunim/Murray Productions . In March 2010, prior to
4620-507: The model for many later series of Big Brother and its clones, and Peter Weir's full-length film The Truman Show . One year later, the same concept was used by MTV in its new series The Real World . Nummer 28 creator Erik Latour has long claimed that The Real World was directly inspired by his show. But the producers of The Real World have said that their direct inspiration was An American Family . According to television commentator Charlie Brooker , this type of reality television
4704-444: The modern sense may have begun with The People's Court , in which litigants gave interviews to the court reporter after arguing their case, in the style of post-game interviews . Judge Judy later dropped the court reporter from these interactions, and had litigants speak directly to camera. Confessionals were also used on MTV 's The Real World , which debuted in 1992. Beginning in its second season in 1993, cast members had
4788-402: The necessary viewers to make it worthwhile. (Even in these cases, it is not always successful: the first ten seasons of Dancing with the Stars were picked up by GSN in 2012 and was run in marathon format, but attracted low viewership and had very poor ratings). Another option is to create documentaries around series, including extended interviews with the participants and outtakes not seen in
4872-479: The opposing teams compete in numerous missions in order to win prizes and advance in the overall game. The format of the competition varies by season. In elimination rounds, contestants or teams compete against one another to determine which one is eliminated from the season. Each season has its own, distinctive elimination round, distinguished from those of other seasons in title, design, and general atmosphere. Determining which two teams or two cast members are sent into
4956-406: The original airings; the syndicated series American Idol Rewind is an example of this strategy. COPS has had huge success in syndication, direct response sales, and DVD. A Fox staple since 1989, COPS has, as of 2013 (when it moved to cable channel Spike ), outlasted all competing scripted police shows. Another series that had wide success is Cheaters , which has been running since 2000 in
5040-468: The other cast members from their reactions. They can also be directed at the audience as an appeal to not vote a cast member off of the program. While confessionals are typically presented as an immediate reaction to events in the show (an illusion enforced by the use of the present tense ), they are generally filmed later, sometimes much later, and often at another location. Cutaway interviews have their origin in documentary filmmaking . Confessionals in
5124-408: The overall viewership tallies for eight consecutive years, from the 2003–2004 to the 2010–2011 television seasons. Another trend was to combine reality TV with a social history angle usually by having contestants taken back to various time periods primarily to see how millennials would cope without modern technology. Examples included The 1900 House , and Bad Lad's Army . In addition to those
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#17327878386375208-699: The reality television boom have been retroactively classified as reality television, including hidden camera shows, talent-search shows, documentary series about ordinary people, high-concept game shows, home improvement shows, and court shows featuring real-life cases and issues. Reality television has faced significant criticism since its rise in popularity. Critics argue that reality television shows do not accurately reflect reality, in ways both implicit (participants being placed in artificial situations), and deceptive (misleading editing, participants being coached on behavior, storylines generated ahead of time, scenes being staged). Some shows have been accused of rigging
5292-416: The results resembling soap operas – hence the terms docusoap and docudrama . Documentary-style programs give viewers a private look into the lives of the subjects. Within documentary-style reality television are several subcategories or variants: Although the term "docusoap" has been used for many documentary-style reality television shows, there have been shows that have deliberately tried to mimic
5376-499: The revamped MasterChef , among others. The 1980s and 1990s were also a time when tabloid talk shows became more popular. Many of these featured the same types of unusual or dysfunctional guests who would later become popular as cast members of reality shows. Reality television became globally popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the successes of the Big Brother and Survivor / Expedition Robinson franchises. In
5460-528: The same name ) and The Mole (which was successful in other countries). But stronghold shows Survivor and American Idol continued to thrive: both topped the U.S. season-average television ratings in the 2000s. Survivor led the ratings in 2001–02 , and Idol has the longest hold on the No. 1 rank in the American television ratings , dominating over all other primetime programs and other television series in
5544-402: The series began using hosts: Eric Nies and Mark Long co-hosted a season, and Jonny Moseley and Dave Mirra hosted various seasons before T. J. Lavin became the show's regular host by the 11th season . Over time, a playful rivalry developed between the cast of Road Rules and The Real World , with the former occasionally attempting to prank the latter while it was in production. During
5628-554: The show's 19th season . Since the fourth season , each season has supplied the show with a unique subtitle , such as Rivals . Each season consists of a format and theme from which the subtitle is derived. The show's current fortieth season, titled Battle of the Eras , premiered on August 14, 2024. The Challenge casts are season-specific as the cast varies from season to season. The casts are made up of contestants originating from one of The Challenge's related TV programs and, in
5712-634: The top DVDs sold on Amazon.com . In the mid-2000s, DVDs of The Simple Life outranked scripted shows such as The O.C. and Desperate Housewives . Syndication, however, has been problematic; shows such as Fear Factor , COPS , and Wife Swap , in which each episode is self-contained, can be rerun fairly easily, but usually only on cable television or during the daytime ( COPS and America's Funniest Home Videos being exceptions). Season-long competitions, such as The Amazing Race , Survivor , and America's Next Top Model generally perform more poorly and usually must be rerun in marathons to draw
5796-409: The trailer and premiere date on November 20, 2018. The two-week special premiered on December 11, 2018, and concluded on December 18, 2018. The Challenge: Untold History is a six-part documentary about The Challenge . It featured over 30 former competitors and several celebrity fans, discussing the show and telling behind the scenes stories. It premiered on September 21, 2022, on MTV. A sneak preview
5880-401: The twist that judges could not see contestants during the initial audition round, and could judge them only by their voice. The show was an instant success, and spawned an entire franchise, The Voice , which has been highly successful, with almost 50 international adaptations. The Tester (2010–2012) was the first reality television show aired over a video game console. By 2012, many of
5964-405: The typical ones: The Island is one Challenge in particular that adopted many features atypical to Real World/Road Rules Challenge , instead taking concepts like that of another reality television game show Survivor ; as another example, the first season ( Road Rules: All Stars ) ironically, only included contestants from The Real World and consisted of a much smaller cast before the show
6048-504: The underlying stories are real. Another highly successful group of soap-opera-style shows is the Real Housewives franchise, which began with The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006 and has since spawned nearly twenty other series, in the U.S. and internationally. The franchise has an older cast and different personal dynamics than that of Laguna Beach and its imitators, as well as lower production values, but similarly
6132-852: The use of higher-quality lighting and cameras, voice-over narration instead of on-screen "confessionals", and slower pacing. Laguna Beach led to several spinoff series, most notably the 2006–2010 series The Hills . It also inspired various other series, including the highly successful British series The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea , and the Australian series Freshwater Blue . Due to their dramatized feel, many of these shows have been accused of being pre-scripted, more so than other reality television shows have. The producers of The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea have admitted to coaching cast members on what to say in order to draw more emotion from each scene, although they insist that
6216-440: The wrinkle that the contestants were celebrities who remained masked until they were removed from the show, adding an element of guesswork to the competition. The two shows both spawned successful international franchises, I Can See Your Voice and Masked Singer , respectively. Masked Singer has been especially popular, with over 50 local adaptations; its American adaptation was the third highest-rated series overall of both
6300-659: Was a series consisting of archeologists and historians running a farm though various historical periods, most notably Victorian Farm . Internationally, a number of shows created in the late 1990s and 2000s have had massive global success. Reality-television franchises created during that time that have had more than 30 international adaptations each include the singing competition franchises Idols , Star Academy and The X Factor , other competition franchises Survivor/Expedition Robinson , Big Brother , The Biggest Loser , Come Dine with Me , Got Talent , Top Model , MasterChef , Project Runway and Dancing with
6384-442: Was an Australian show that depicted a family, similar in concept to An American Family . The 1994–95 O. J. Simpson murder case , during which live network television followed suspect Simpson for 90 minutes being chased by police, has been described as a seminal moment in reality television. Networks interrupted their regular television programming for months for coverage of the trial and related events. Because of Simpson's status as
6468-412: Was between The Real World: Seattle and Road Rules: Down Under and aired as part of those shows later in 1998. After Road Rules: All Stars , producers decided to include former cast members of Road Rules in the series as well. In the next season, two six-member teams were sent around the world in a competition to see which show could best the other in head-to-head competition. The series followed
6552-433: Was completely restructured in its second season. Except for season one, a monetary prize has always been the award for winning the final mission. The series initially used no hosts but instead a former cast member who had been kicked off his or her season, providing assignments as "Mr." or "Ms. Big" ( David "Puck" Rainey , David Edwards , and Gladys Sanabria served this role). After one season without anyone in this role,
6636-401: Was enabled by the advent of computer-based non-linear editing systems for video (such as produced by Avid Technology ) in 1989. These systems made it easy to quickly edit hours of video footage into a usable form, something that had been very difficult to do before (film, which was easy to edit, was too expensive to use in shooting enough hours on a regular basis). Sylvania Waters (1992)
6720-464: Was impacted in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic , which forced many reality competition series to suspend production (and in some cases curtail a competition already in progress, such as Canadian and Malayalam versions of Big Brother ), until such time that production could recommence with appropriate health and safety protocols approved by local authorities. Due to their quicker turnaround times,
6804-501: Was later produced in a large number of other countries as Survivor ), added to the Nummer 28 / Real World template the idea of competition and elimination. Cast members or contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained (these shows are now sometimes called elimination shows). Changing Rooms , a program that began in the UK in 1996, showed couples redecorating each other's houses, and
6888-756: Was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in informational programming. COPS , which first aired in the spring of 1989 on Fox and was developed due to the need for new programming during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike , showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals. It introduced the camcorder look and cinéma vérité feel of much of later reality television. The 1991 television documentary on "typical American high schoolers", Yearbook , focused on seniors attending Glenbard West High School, in Glen Ellyn , Illinois and broadcast prime-time on Fox . The series Nummer 28 , which aired on Dutch television in 1991, originated
6972-458: Was shown during the Unscripted portion of the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards . The Challenge: Home Turf is an eight-part YouTube docuseries which premiered on January 29, 2024. The docuseries focuses on eight cast members visiting their hometown and sharing stories about their career and upbringing. Reality competition#Reality competition or game shows Reality television is
7056-471: Was the first reality show with a self-improvement or makeover theme. The dating reality show Streetmate premiered in the UK in 1998. Originally created by Gabe Sachs as Street Match , it was a flop in the United States. But the show was revamped in the UK by Tiger Aspect Productions and became a cult hit. The production team from the original series later created the popular reality shows Strictly Come Dancing , Location, Location, Location , and
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