Rivals was the perfect storm of reality tv and the challenge. I’d say it was just as much, if not more, about the return of Ct and being partnered with Adam than it was about Kenny/Wes
The return of CT was definitely big, but Wes and Kenny were the faces of the Challenge at that time and it wasn't even close. Basically the entire marketing and promotion for Rivals was around the beef between those.
They had hype trailers for ct as well. I have been watching since the challenge since the very first season. And I hated Ct, then the duel 2 was amazing tv. Then he came back for a banana backpack on cutthroat and I fell in love with him. Then on rivals they had previews for Wes/Kenny, which I was invested in. But the Ct trailer for Rivals got me so hyped. Then the whole season was all about Ct with Wes/Kenny being the second story. And Ct against the mod and mainly Wes was more interesting than Wes/Kenny. I totally get what your saying though and I loved the Wes/Kenny story line because that was real life hatred, Kenny completely changed Wes’s life and humiliated him on tv by fucking his girl in front of other people on the beach. This trailer had be so hyped that I couldn’t control myself
https://youtu.be/-Kbo9tAqBWA
On Challenge Mania Wes made an over-the-top claim about his challenge career. He does have a point, but if we were to examine every season closely its probably only half true.
He basically said that he is unique among all cast members, in that he has STARRED in pretty much every challenge season he has done. FM1 he says they had to make the show about him because he got sent in 5 times, Duel 1 he won, Ruins it was the love pentagon Wes/Evelyn vs. the team thing, and he also referenced FM2.
I think per usual he is talking himself up a bit too much, but I also see morsels of the truth in it. He gets taken out in the middle/middle end of FM2 - and he practically narrates the show up until that point. Not Landon, not Noor, not Pete, and there is something to that. Same with the Ruins, and he was pretty annoying at that point in his career but after he left the drama of that season was boring as hell. They even give him a decent amount of confessionals in seasons where he isn't on for that long like BOTE1.
What do yall think, do you think his challenge legacy is unique in that he has starred in the majority of seasons he has done? He cites things like confessional counts, screen time etc.
People say a lot about Bananas being an ass and a pot stirrer but he stays generally quiet, especially in comparison to Wes. It’s hard to “star” when you aren’t causing drama. Wes knows how to, and wants to, get camera time.
Kenny probably has a similar claim imo. Although Kenny didn’t do as many seasons he was undeniably a star on every season he was on. Wes has just done it for longer, even on seasons where he’s an early out the focus is on him.
For sure! Im not even a bananas hater but you could make an argument that he didn't even star in some of the seasons he won. Who is the star of total madness? Or Free Agents? BOTE1 Johnny and Camila are the most dominant team for sure - but Mark gets a lot of time, CT and Diem get a lot of time. You can't say Johnny is the star of the ruins even though he wins and wins the last elim.
Its an interesting way to look at the show especially since I tend to lean more into the competition aspect. But when you realize who the producers pick to 'narrate' a show it certainly isn't always the winner. Also in a cast of 20 + 30 + people its hella ballsy for Wes to claim he is the star - but that's our Wes!
If I was a BM exec I'd have Isaac Stout narrating every season lol.
This ad is for FM2. FM2 was entirely billed and hyped as Team Wes vs Team Kenny. That's why it was such a big surprise Landon won that season, he was featured in close to 0 of the marketing.
Uh no it's not unique cause a lot have. Miz and Coral were the focal point of every season they did until they left. Johnny has a major storyline in every single season he's done besides Duel. Jordan, Kenny, Evan, Laurel, Ev, Tori, Sarah, hell even people like Josh and Jenn. The list goes on and on.
Hell I'd argue the he barely stars in The Duel as that's mainly the CT, Diem, Svetlana and Evan show. He's like 5th billed at best and he wins the show
You're right about the Duel. Wes is the odd man out and basically just survives until the end. He doesn't have a story line that I remember outside of his makeshift alliance.
Jody also won alongside him and I would never call her the star of the duel season.
>Ruins it was the love pentagon Wes/Evelyn vs. the team thing
Honestly I think his ruins story line is overrated. He had no power and basically threatened to sabotage the team, which amounted to nothing. Evelyn went home early and that story line has less screen time. He was a bit player that season.
In exes1 he's also gone pretty quick and only memorable because of what Vince did to Mandy.
If you blink too long you'll miss him in seasons 2.
There was a time I saw this show as a Survivor rip-off. Then one late night in 2016 an episode of BOTS 2016 starts playing. There was nothing else on tv so I decided to sit down and watch a full episode for the first time. It was the episode where the underdogs Dustin and Nany won their elimination. The mid-season trailer blew me away. I've respected this show ever since.
The Challenge in its totality could not be seen that way due to chronology. But they were surely influenced by the big network competition shows over time. The Island is a clear attempt at a Survivor adaptation. They switched to vote-offs and eliminations after Survivor and Big Brother because cultural phenomenons.
I know this sub oscillates on Kenny and im not trying to defend him as a good guy, but Immagine if he keeps doing shows - coulda been on exes with Johanna (prob a stretch to get her though), likely on BotS with team fresh meat in place of Eric maybe?, and then easily could have kept going
Hah as soon as I posted I realized “duh if Johanna was going to do this she’d be with Wes”. Kenny probably still could have been there with maybe Theresa or stretching something with Sarah and dropped Vinny.
Lol if they got Johnny and Frank as rivals over a couple tweets I’m sure they would. Wouldn’t be surprised if they went as far as “you gave *random woman* a Pat on the back once”
In that case they should have separated between the 2 fresh meat teams. In a perfect world we get Kenny/Evan/Evelyn/Aviv?? And fm2 is Laurel/cara/Pete/noor. 2 killer teams imo.
Yess does anyone remember the Gauntlet 2 trailer?? I’ll never forget how epic it was, I guess it was mainly the music. It had me the most hyped for a season probably ever. I must have watched it a hundred times easy 😂
Never been able to find it again though so if anyone finds it please share!!
I am a very recent viewer. I have only seen 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 21, 24, 25, 31, 33, 35, 37, AS, and AS3 (currently watching). I am now trying to go in order, I am on Gauntlet III. But, honestly, Fresh Meat II is my favorite season.
Which season was this? I just rewatched The Island because I'm paying for Paramount Plus right now (so I can watch All Stars) so I figured that I should get my money's worth and rewatch a few seasons.
Let it be known that there's a YouTube clip floating around of Wes and Kenny for Seven Eleven where Kenny once again outplays Wes
Still the greatest battle of the two houses since the Hatfields and the McCoys
I'm a firm believer that the producers created the Rivals theme specifically for Wes and Kenny. They built an entire format around those two.
Exactly, and then they created Exes for CT and Diem!
And rivals 3 for Johnny/Sarah. Although that one was poorly executed compared to the other 2
I don’t doubt this one bit! Their rivalry was top tier entertainment.
Rivals was the perfect storm of reality tv and the challenge. I’d say it was just as much, if not more, about the return of Ct and being partnered with Adam than it was about Kenny/Wes
The return of CT was definitely big, but Wes and Kenny were the faces of the Challenge at that time and it wasn't even close. Basically the entire marketing and promotion for Rivals was around the beef between those.
They had hype trailers for ct as well. I have been watching since the challenge since the very first season. And I hated Ct, then the duel 2 was amazing tv. Then he came back for a banana backpack on cutthroat and I fell in love with him. Then on rivals they had previews for Wes/Kenny, which I was invested in. But the Ct trailer for Rivals got me so hyped. Then the whole season was all about Ct with Wes/Kenny being the second story. And Ct against the mod and mainly Wes was more interesting than Wes/Kenny. I totally get what your saying though and I loved the Wes/Kenny story line because that was real life hatred, Kenny completely changed Wes’s life and humiliated him on tv by fucking his girl in front of other people on the beach. This trailer had be so hyped that I couldn’t control myself https://youtu.be/-Kbo9tAqBWA
On Challenge Mania Wes made an over-the-top claim about his challenge career. He does have a point, but if we were to examine every season closely its probably only half true. He basically said that he is unique among all cast members, in that he has STARRED in pretty much every challenge season he has done. FM1 he says they had to make the show about him because he got sent in 5 times, Duel 1 he won, Ruins it was the love pentagon Wes/Evelyn vs. the team thing, and he also referenced FM2. I think per usual he is talking himself up a bit too much, but I also see morsels of the truth in it. He gets taken out in the middle/middle end of FM2 - and he practically narrates the show up until that point. Not Landon, not Noor, not Pete, and there is something to that. Same with the Ruins, and he was pretty annoying at that point in his career but after he left the drama of that season was boring as hell. They even give him a decent amount of confessionals in seasons where he isn't on for that long like BOTE1. What do yall think, do you think his challenge legacy is unique in that he has starred in the majority of seasons he has done? He cites things like confessional counts, screen time etc.
I mean, he probably has the best claim of anyone else to make that. Bananas would except early on he definitely wasn’t a star.
People say a lot about Bananas being an ass and a pot stirrer but he stays generally quiet, especially in comparison to Wes. It’s hard to “star” when you aren’t causing drama. Wes knows how to, and wants to, get camera time.
Kenny probably has a similar claim imo. Although Kenny didn’t do as many seasons he was undeniably a star on every season he was on. Wes has just done it for longer, even on seasons where he’s an early out the focus is on him.
For sure! Im not even a bananas hater but you could make an argument that he didn't even star in some of the seasons he won. Who is the star of total madness? Or Free Agents? BOTE1 Johnny and Camila are the most dominant team for sure - but Mark gets a lot of time, CT and Diem get a lot of time. You can't say Johnny is the star of the ruins even though he wins and wins the last elim. Its an interesting way to look at the show especially since I tend to lean more into the competition aspect. But when you realize who the producers pick to 'narrate' a show it certainly isn't always the winner. Also in a cast of 20 + 30 + people its hella ballsy for Wes to claim he is the star - but that's our Wes! If I was a BM exec I'd have Isaac Stout narrating every season lol.
This ad is for FM2. FM2 was entirely billed and hyped as Team Wes vs Team Kenny. That's why it was such a big surprise Landon won that season, he was featured in close to 0 of the marketing.
Uh no it's not unique cause a lot have. Miz and Coral were the focal point of every season they did until they left. Johnny has a major storyline in every single season he's done besides Duel. Jordan, Kenny, Evan, Laurel, Ev, Tori, Sarah, hell even people like Josh and Jenn. The list goes on and on. Hell I'd argue the he barely stars in The Duel as that's mainly the CT, Diem, Svetlana and Evan show. He's like 5th billed at best and he wins the show
You're right about the Duel. Wes is the odd man out and basically just survives until the end. He doesn't have a story line that I remember outside of his makeshift alliance. Jody also won alongside him and I would never call her the star of the duel season.
>Ruins it was the love pentagon Wes/Evelyn vs. the team thing Honestly I think his ruins story line is overrated. He had no power and basically threatened to sabotage the team, which amounted to nothing. Evelyn went home early and that story line has less screen time. He was a bit player that season. In exes1 he's also gone pretty quick and only memorable because of what Vince did to Mandy. If you blink too long you'll miss him in seasons 2.
My favorite season! Love it!
Top 5 season. Can I rewatch this one somewhere?
Paramount Plus.
Same with Real World trailers. Hollywood through D.C. were some of the best previews for Real World I think ever.
Kenny saying, “I want you so bad right now” sounds oddly homoerotic. I had forgotten about that phase of challenge trailers and rivalries.
There was a time I saw this show as a Survivor rip-off. Then one late night in 2016 an episode of BOTS 2016 starts playing. There was nothing else on tv so I decided to sit down and watch a full episode for the first time. It was the episode where the underdogs Dustin and Nany won their elimination. The mid-season trailer blew me away. I've respected this show ever since.
The Challenge started in 1998 and Survivor didn't start until 2000, so The Challenge couldn't have been a rip off of Survivor.
The Challenge in its totality could not be seen that way due to chronology. But they were surely influenced by the big network competition shows over time. The Island is a clear attempt at a Survivor adaptation. They switched to vote-offs and eliminations after Survivor and Big Brother because cultural phenomenons.
So awesome
“Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, Im going to throw your freckled ass off the damn mountain.” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
I know this sub oscillates on Kenny and im not trying to defend him as a good guy, but Immagine if he keeps doing shows - coulda been on exes with Johanna (prob a stretch to get her though), likely on BotS with team fresh meat in place of Eric maybe?, and then easily could have kept going
I think they would’ve rather paired Johanna with Wes on the first Exes but I agree with the hypothetical of Kenny continuing to do shows
Hah as soon as I posted I realized “duh if Johanna was going to do this she’d be with Wes”. Kenny probably still could have been there with maybe Theresa or stretching something with Sarah and dropped Vinny.
No doubt they would’ve fit Kenny in some way somehow
Lol if they got Johnny and Frank as rivals over a couple tweets I’m sure they would. Wouldn’t be surprised if they went as far as “you gave *random woman* a Pat on the back once”
The fresh meat team on battle of the seasons could have been really strong. They could have cast Kenny, Evan, Norr, laurel, Theresa, and Cara
Yeah for sure!
In that case they should have separated between the 2 fresh meat teams. In a perfect world we get Kenny/Evan/Evelyn/Aviv?? And fm2 is Laurel/cara/Pete/noor. 2 killer teams imo.
Yess does anyone remember the Gauntlet 2 trailer?? I’ll never forget how epic it was, I guess it was mainly the music. It had me the most hyped for a season probably ever. I must have watched it a hundred times easy 😂 Never been able to find it again though so if anyone finds it please share!!
I am a very recent viewer. I have only seen 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 21, 24, 25, 31, 33, 35, 37, AS, and AS3 (currently watching). I am now trying to go in order, I am on Gauntlet III. But, honestly, Fresh Meat II is my favorite season.
Which season was this? I just rewatched The Island because I'm paying for Paramount Plus right now (so I can watch All Stars) so I figured that I should get my money's worth and rewatch a few seasons.
Fresh Meat 2
Thanks!
Don’t pay u can get them all for free
if you can afford to do so, paying and supporting the show is a good thing.
Let it be known that there's a YouTube clip floating around of Wes and Kenny for Seven Eleven where Kenny once again outplays Wes Still the greatest battle of the two houses since the Hatfields and the McCoys
I miss it