It’s been a very weird decade for Challenge fans, but it’s been a period with ups and downs. We’ve seen six seasons of the main series, five All Stars seasons, and numerous spinoff attempts.
While some of these efforts have proven to be successful, others have fizzled into the background, and these are some of the initiatives the Challenge tried that have nearly been forgotten by this point.
Home Turf
After the Challenge: Battle for a New Champion the show released a docuseries on YouTube following the day-to-day lives of fan favorite competitors. Home Turf is a fun watch if you care about these people, but the episodes didn’t draw in a lot of viewers. There’s nothing wrong with this show, and they’re nice ways to learn more about competitors, but they’re definitely not necessary to watch.
Franchising
You likely remember the USA, UK, Australian, and Argentinian spinoffs, but the Challenge wanted more countries to adopt the show. It makes sense in some regards because reality TV is a global phenomenon. Many nations have buckets of pseudo celebrities looking for their second chance, but only one country took the bait: Sweden. The Challenge Sverige is not really affiliated with the US version, but it does have similar branding and formatting. However, you’re going to have to learn Swedish if you want to understand this show, because it’s not available in the US or in English.
The Challenge Workout
MTV must have really wanted Rachel to return to the show, because they gave her a YouTube workout series that filmed twice. This was a good opportunity for the champion to show off her skill set — she’s been a trainer (with online classes) since before the pandemic. However, it was an odd fit for Challenge viewers. We like to sit on our asses and watch the show, not get up and move. Don’t get me wrong, the home workouts are totally fine, but they’re not something that home viewers were demanding.
The Challenge Book
Did you know the Challenge has a book? In 2022, the show promoted “Sydney Bucksbaum’s book “How to Win at The Challenge and Life.” It got a decent amount of promo when it was first announced, but it quickly fell into the background. It’s a fun read for Challenge lovers and you can still buy it (and it’s discounted), but it felt like MTV had moved on from this concept long before the book was formally released.
Movie Promos
In 2020, the Challenge placed many of its seasons on Paramount+. This meant MTV was in cahoots with Paramount, and The Challenge was used for cross promotion. On Ride or Dies, Antonio Banderas promoted Puss in Boots: The Last Wish before a challenge and Gladiator II inspired a challenge on Battle of the Eras. We also saw cast members from Ride or Dies in a promo for Smile. While cross advertisement isn’t anything new, these Challenge collabs seemingly came out of nowhere and some of them feel super forced.
Stop Being Polite 
i really enjoyed the Home Turf series, but i wish it kept running! At a time when seasons felt like they featured more newcomers than regulars, the Home Turf series could have helped audiences get more familiar with them. Instead, it seemed to end too early, and only really focused on a handful of players who are already quite familiar to seasoned viewers.
I also appreciate the Workout series; if only because i could really use it, and the familiar faces are a bonus.
i hope show producers don’t stop trying new things, and i especially hope we get more behind-the-scenes stuff like Home Turf (and Shit They Should’ve Shown!).
I think the wierdest was Wedding for CT (and Corey).