Battle of the Network Reality Stars
Battle of the Network Reality Stars is an American television series that aired on the Bravo cable network from August 17 until September 21, 2005. Based on the popular 1970s and 1980s television competition Battle of the Network Stars, the show consisted of thirty-three competitors from several different reality television shows. Some of the better known contestants include Adam Mesh, from the Average Joe TV series, Richard Hatch, Survivor winner, Sue Hawk, Ryan Starr and Nikki McKibbin of American Idol fame, Evan Marriott, of Joe Millionaire fame, and Will Kirby, winner of Big Brother season 2. Chip and Kim McAllister, winners of The Amazing Race 5, also participated. Veteran NBC sportscaster Mike Adamle hosted the show and featured reality reporters Trishelle Cannatella, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, and Bob Guiney. Austin Scarlett of Project Runway made fashion commentary in several episodes.
Teams
The competitors, as divided by team :Contestant | Show | Finish |
Richard Hatch | ' and ' | Lost in Final Challenge |
Ryan Starr | American Idol | Lost in Final Challenge |
Valerie Penso | Temptation Island | Lost in Final Challenge |
Burton Roberts | ' | Lost in Final Challenge |
Mike "The Miz" Mizanin | Lost in Final Challenge | |
Heidi Bressler | The Apprentice | Moves to Dark Blue Team Episode 1 Lost in Final Challenge |
Bradford Cohen | The Apprentice | Voted Out Episode 4 Returned as Underdog Episode 4 |
Mirna Hindoyan | The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars | Voted Out Episode 4 Returned as Underdog Episode 4 |
Charla Faddoul | The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars | Moves to Red Team Episode 1 |
Contestant | Show | Finish |
Matt Gould | Joe Schmo Show | Eliminated Episode 6 |
Sue Hawk | ' and ' | Eliminated Episode 6 |
Will Kirby | Big Brother 2 and All-Stars | Eliminated Episode 6 |
Chip McAllister | The Amazing Race 5 | Eliminated Episode 6 |
Kim McAllister | The Amazing Race 5 | Eliminated Episode 6 |
Theo Vonkurnatowski | ' | Eliminated Episode 6 |
Nikki McKibbin | American Idol | Voted Out Episode 4 Returned as Underdog Episode 4 |
Brian Worth | Average Joe: Hawaii | Voted Out Episode 4 Returned as Underdog Episode 4 |
Contestant | Show | Finish |
Will Wikle | Big Brother 5 | Eliminated Episode 5 |
Coral Smith | Eliminated Episode 5 | |
Evan Marriott | Joe Millionaire | Eliminated Episode 5 |
Melissa Howard | ' | Eliminated Episode 5 |
Gervase Peterson | ' | Moves to Red Team Episode 2 Eliminated Episode 5 |
Tina "Tina Fabulous" Panas | The Bachelor | Moves to Red Team Episode 2 Eliminated Episode 5 |
Adam Mesh | Average Joe and Adam Returns | Voted Out Episode 4 Returned as Underdog Episode 4 |
Rachel Love Fraser | The Swan | Voted Out Episode 4 Returned as Underdog Episode 4 |
Duncan Nutter | Showbiz Moms & Dads | Volunteered to Leave Episode 2 |
Charla Faddoul | The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars | Joins Red Team Episode 1 Volunteered to Leave Episode 2 |
Heidi Bressler | The Apprentice | Moves to Dark Blue Team Episode 1 |
Contestant | Show | Finish |
Mike "Mike Boogie" Malin | Big Brother 2 and All Stars | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Brittany Brower | America's Next Top Model, Cycle 4 | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Jonathan Baker | The Amazing Race 6 | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Victoria Fuller | The Amazing Race 6 | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Wendy Pepper | Project Runway | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Chris Russo | The Apprentice | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Jerri Manthey | ' and ' | Eliminated Episode 3 |
David Daskal | Average Joe 2 | Eliminated Episode 3 |
Gervase Peterson | Survivor: Borneo | Moves to Red Team Episode 2 |
Tina "Tina Fabulous" Panas | The Bachelor | Moves to Red Team Episode 2 |
Episode summary
Episode 1
- Obstacle Course – Teams Red and Light Blue advanced to the finals – winner Team Red
- Dunk Tank – Team Green wins with 9 points, followed by Teams Blue and Light Blue with 6, and Team Red with 1
- Jousting – Team Light Blue wins
- Eliminated – Teams Green, Red and Dark Blue are forced to vote off one member each. Kim and Heidi volunteer to leave due to physical weakness, and Charla is voted out.
- Twist – Instead of leaving, they are forced to move to a new team based on the number they choose. Charla goes to Team Red, Kim stays at Team Green, Heidi moves to Team Dark Blue.
Episode 2
- Simon Says – Team Light Blue is eliminated first, followed by Team Red; Nikki of Team Green and Richard of Team Dark Blue are the final 2 – Richard wins
- Dodgeball – Teams Red and Green advance to the finals; Team Green wins
- Swimming Relay – Team Dark Blue wins, Team Light Blue second, Team Green third, Team Red last
- Eliminated – Team Red has the lowest score of the day and must axe two players. Charla, who had volunteered to swim and then had to be replaced by Melissa at the last minute, agrees to leave; Duncan Nutter also volunteers to leave.
- Twist – As the highest-scoring team of the day, Dark Blue get to choose which two players from another team will join Red. They pick Gervase and Tina Fabulous.
- New arrivals – David Daskal and Jerri Manthey replace Gervase and Tina for Light Blue. Light Blue was horrified that they had lost a great athlete and a solid competitor in exchange for unathletic David and unimpressive Jerri.
Episode 3
- Football – Green 2) Dark Blue 3) Red 4) Light Blue
- Soapbox Derby – Red 35.80, Dark Blue 34.66, Light Blue 44.58, Green 34.42 – Green wins
- Relay Race – 1) Team Dark Blue 2) Team Red 3) Team Green 4) Team Light Blue
- Twist The team with the lowest amount of overall points for that day was to have been eliminated. Instead, a member of the third place team had to face off against a member of the lowest-ranking team, and the loser's team would be eliminated. Team Red were allowed to choose first, and chose Gervase. Team Light Blue had to choose a member of the same gender, and chose Chris, in spite of his having a broken foot. Jonathan wanted to run the race but the team had tuned him out and preferred to take their chances with someone who wasn't 100% physically.
- Eliminated Gervase handily beat Chris, and Light Team Blue was eliminated. Jonathan complained about weight differences between the teams, got into an argument with wife Victoria, and was dubbed "the biggest mouth in America" by the announcer.
Episode 4
- Twist – Each team had to vote out one male and female member. Team Green voted out Nikki and Brian. Team Red voted out Adam, and Rachel volunteered to leave. Team Dark Blue voted out Bradford and Mirna. Adam, Mirna and Nikki were shocked, as they were strong competitors, but their teams disliked their personalities. Bradford was well liked by his team but was voted out because Dark Blue had two of the strongest competitors in Mike "The Miz" and Burton Roberts. Mirna was presumably voted out because the team member she was most similar to athletically, Heidi, was better-liked by the team leaders than herself.
- Twist 2 – At the start of the day's first event, Bradford, Mirna, Rachel, Adam, Brian and Nikki arrived as "Team Underdog" to compete against the three teams that voted them out.
- Water Polo – Team Underdog defeated Team Red. Team Green defeated Team Dark Blue. In the final match, Team Green won. In the consolation match, Team Dark Blue beat Team Red to make third place.
- Mechanical Bull Riding – Team Dark Blue won, followed by Team Green, Team Underdog, and Team Red. Coral sprained her thumb and had to stay out of the next event.
- Multilegged Race – Team Dark Blue won, followed by Team Green, Team Underdog, and Team Red.
- Eliminated – Team Red were eliminated. Evan said afterwards he preferred losing without Adam to winning with him.
Episode 5
- Roller Skate Derby – Team Dark Blue won, Team Green trailed for much of the race, but a poor performance by Team Underdog's Brian Worth allowed Green to come in second place. Underdog was third.
- Super High Jump – Team Dark Blue won, Team Underdog narrowly won second place and Team Green, increasingly marred by tension between Theo and Chip, came in third.
- Kayak Relay Race – Team Dark Blue won, Team Underdog won second and Green came in third. Dark Blue advanced to the final round and left Green and Underdog to determine which team would be eliminated next.
Finale
- Tug of War – Although Team Green had the advantage in physical strength, Bradford of Team Underdog had researched tug-of-war the night before the competition and his team managed to use strategy to defeat Green, who were rattled by angry outbursts from Theo and Sue. Team Green were eliminated.
- The final competition to determinate the winner of Battle of the Network Reality Stars was divided into four parts:
Reunion
Alumni from other reality series also participated in the reunion. They were:
Heather, Dat Phan, Erin, Cindy, Brennan, Gary, Norm, Jason, Ivana Ma, Pamela, Jay London, Ryan C. Benson, Tara, Mark, Reichen Lehmkuhl, Michael Tarshi, Kyra Sundance and dog Chelsea, Brandon Kindle and his partner Ryan Pacchiano and their dog Liberace, Angela Dodson, and Kara Saun.
Discussions included their current careers, how they were treated after their respective series aired, Omarosa's disclosure that being a villain is the best way to garner money and public notoriety, and an update on various feuds from other series.