The Challenge (TV series)

Structure

Overview

Theme and format by season title

• Original Real World/Road Rules Challenge : Real World vs. Road Rules groupings, six players per team, no eliminations, missions in number of previous challenges.
• and : On the first Battle of the Seasons, players were separated into teams of Real World and Road Rules, each cast member is paired off with a castmate from their original season. Each mission gave points based on finish. After each mission, the players with the most points cumulative from each team became the "Inner Circle" and voted off whichever pair they wanted. The individual winning pair of each challenge would earn an "additional prize." After five pairs from each team were voted off, the final three Real World teams and final three Road Rules teams would compete against each other in a series of challenges before the final race. The 2012 Battle of the Seasons had a completely different format from the original. Each team consists of two men and two women from select seasons. After each challenge, there is a winning team and a losing team. The losing team is automatically sent to "The Arena," and faces possible elimination. The winning team become the Power Team, and selects one team to battle against the last-place team in the Arena. The teams entering the Arena must select one player of each gender from their own team to compete in the elimination. If the teams entering the Arena cannot decide which players will compete in the elimination, the Power Team chooses for them. The winning pair in the elimination rounds return to their season and stay in the game, while the losing pair is eliminated, reducing their season to two players.
• and : As the title implies, players are divided by gender. Each mission gave points based on finish, either with a partner or individually. After each mission, the players with the most points cumulative from each team became the "Inner Circle" and voted off whoever they wanted to. The winner of each challenge would earn a "lifesaver" which could be given to a member of either team; the recipient of the "lifesaver" would enjoy total immunity from being voted out, which created many interesting situations. No life-shields were used in the second installment. The final three players of each gender would compete against each other in a final race.
• , and : The first Inferno consisted of Team Real World vs. Team Road Rules. The 2nd and 3rd installment consisted of Team Bad Asses vs. Team Good Guys. Teams nominate two of their own players for each elimination round and vote one of the opponents' two nominations into the "Inferno" round. The players going into the "Inferno" then have the opportunity to save themselves from going in by winning a "life saver" in the challenge before the "Inferno."
• , and : The first gauntlet consisted of Team Real World vs. Team Road Rules. The 2nd and 3rd installment consisted of Team Veterans vs. Team Rookies. In the 2nd and 3rd particular installment, "Veterans" are considered players who have participated in a minimum of two challenges, while "Rookies" had either participated in one challenge or none at all. In the first two installments, team captains are assigned on a pre-challenge mission. The losing team's captains would alternate between male and female to go into the "Gauntlet," in which they would face off against someone from their own team as voted by the remaining team members. In the third installment, no team captains are assigned, and the winning team also protects one player from the losing team from being chosen for the Gauntlet, but cannot protect the same player on two consecutive opportunities.
• and : These seasons introduce new people to Challenges without appearing on The Real World or Road Rules. These new players are "drafted" by "alumni" of the opposite gender to create pairings which are the teams for these Challenges. The winning team chooses one team for an elimination round called an "Exile," while the other team is selected by a vote.
• and : Promoted as "every man for himself" as there are no permanent teams. All players compete individually, leading to just one champion of each gender.
• : A challenge with no missions, just elimination rounds where the competitors are put on an island with limited supplies. In each episode, the competitors select three people to go into an elimination round to win safety and a key to the prize money chest at the final challenge. The two non-winning players have a chance to plead their case to all the other competitors at the vote-off, where one player wins a key and the other is eliminated.
• : Two teams of "Challengers" and "Champions" based on whether players have won a previous season's final challenge. Prior to each challenge, each team nominates a group of three players of each gender within the team for elimination; after that challenge, the winning team's nominated group picks the match-ups for the "Ruins," which consist of a male Challenger against a male Champion, and a female Challenger against a female Champion.
• : Teams are not initially set. There is a race in the beginning, and while the top three players are announced, the bottom three are named as captains of the three teams; the three teams are then drafted by the captains. Each challenge involves all three teams; the winning team is safe from the elimination round — the "Gulag," while the losing teams go against each other in the Gulag. Voting is done within one's own team by secret ballot to choose one player of each gender to go into the Gulag.
• , and : The first two installments feature two-player teams of the same gender consist of players who are paired against their "worst enemies," whom they have engaged in bitter feuds, fights and rivalries with in previous Real World and/or Challenge seasons. The challenge winner is safe from elimination – "The Jungle," while the last-place finisher and a non-winning team of the same gender battle it out in "The Jungle." Each challenge alternates between a male and a female Jungle elimination in the first two installments. The third installment features male/female pairs. The third installment also has 3 teams going into the elimination; the losing team, and 2 teams picked by the winning team. At the Jungle, the 2 teams picked for elimination by the winning team go back and forth picking skulls out of a box. There are 3 white skulls and 1 black skull. Whoever picks the black skull, them and their partner go into the Jungle against the last place team, and the other team is safe from the Jungle. Also, in the finale, teammates would go head to head in challenges, whoever finishes first the most in the challenges would decide if they would keep the money they earned for their respective placing, or split it with their partner. If the cast member chose to keep it for themselves, then their teammate would leave empty handed.
• and : Thirteen teams of ex couples compete in a challenge where the winner is safe from elimination and will be known as "The Power Couple," and they are responsible for choosing one team to go into the elimination round called "The Dome," along with the team that came in last-place in the challenge. A twist was added on Battle of the Exes II: Eliminated teams would compete in "Battle of the Ex-iled," which no one in the house knows about. The eliminated team will compete against the last "Ex-ile" winner and the loser would be permanently eliminated. This lasts until only four teams remain in the house, and the last team standing from Ex-ile will go back to the house for two more challenges before the final, which they are eligible for as long as they are not eliminated again.
• : Each challenge is declared as either an individual, pair, or team challenge. For pair and team challenges, names are drawn out of a bag — one of each gender, or more for multi-team or pair challenges — that will be designated as captains. For team challenges, the captains will select players that will be split evenly amongst gender. For pair challenges, the captains will either select players of the opposite gender for challenges that are designated as male/female pairs, or the same gender for challenges that are designated as same-gender pairs. The winning team/pair/players are safe from elimination, and choose one player of each gender for elimination. The remaining non-winning players then participate in "The Draw," where the one player of each gender that draws a "kill card" faces the previously voted players in the elimination round.
• : The season starts with 14 pairs of two, each consisting of a The Real World, The Challenge or Are You The One? alumni and their relatives. The winning pair of the mission sends in one pair to face the losing team of the mission into The Pit, depending on gender. However, after the second elimination, pairs are separated into two teams, each consisting of 12. The losing team has to send one player from the losing team into The Pit, while the winning team has to send another player from the losing team into The Pit. If a player loses in The Pit, that player is not only eliminated, but so is their bloodline. The final five teams reverted to their pairs of two. The Pit consisted of both teammates competing instead of one representative competing for both teams for one elimination, then reverted to one representative for each team for the last elimination.
• : The game started off with 18 Underdogs who get dropped off a boat and onto a beach, where they were living in "The Shelter." They compete individually in challenges, followed by an elimination round. The male and female winners of the challenge would be safe from elimination, and earn their ticket to "The Oasis" — the season house. The last-place male and female finishers automatically went straight into elimination for the first challenge. In the second challenge, the challenge winners will choose a player of the opposite gender to go into the elimination. The rest of the house then voted in who goes against them for the first and second challenge. The males voted for the females, and vice versa. For the third challenge, and the last chance to earn a ticket to the Oasis, the winners will be safe from elimination, and the two remaining players of each gender will compete. In the elimination, each gender will compete. The winners of the elimination round would return to the game, and earn a ticket to The Oasis. The losers of the elimination round go home. Players could not go into The Oasis until every ticket has been earned. Players who earned their ticket to the Oasis will be exempt from elimination and will not compete in challenges until the Champions enter the game. Beginning with the fourth challenge, ss the season twist, eight Champions of past seasons of the show will enter the game, and the Underdogs will form a team against them. Each challenge will be designated for an Underdog or a Champion elimination — entitled "The Fortress." The winning team will earn $10,000 in their team bank account. The best performing guy and girl of the team designated for the Fortress will then choose one guy and one girl to go into the elimination. The rest of the house will then vote in the players who will go against them. The winners return to the game, and the losers go home.
• : The cast is composed of contestants who have acted dirty on a past season or show. Similar to Free Agents, each challenge is either an individual, teams, or pairs challenge. The winning individual, pair, or teams would than nominate 1 player from each gender to go into the Presidio. The remaining non-winning players then participate in "The Double Cross Draw" where the one player of each gender that draws "The Double Cross" chooses a player from their own gender, who also participated in the draw, to join the previously nominated player into the Presidio to face elimination. In a twist, the eliminated players are sent into the Redemption House to compete for a spot back into the game.
• : Each challenger in this season has at least one "vendetta" with someone in the game. Similar to both Free Agents and Dirty 30, each challenge is either an individual, teams or pairs challenge. Each competitor has their own individual bank accounts. The top three winners from each challenge, no matter the gender, form the "Troika". The loser of the challenge automatically goes into elimination. Depending on whether it's a male or female elimination, the Troika nominates three players to go into "The Ring". Later, the three nominees sit with the Troika in "The Inquisition," to give their case as to why they should stay in the game and why one of the other nominees should go in. In The Ring, the Troika votes for one of the three players from The Inquisition to go against the last place finisher in the challenge. The winner of The Ring stays in the game as also receives a grenade. The winner chooses between three grenades, each grenade earning them a special power to change the game. For example, at the end of the first elimination, Nelson took the Money Grab grenade, which allowed him to take $5,000 from another competitor.
• : This season is the final season of the revenge "Trilogy" that began with Dirty 30. The season puts competitors into pairs with vendettas from their prior seasons, and they must work together as partners. The team that wins the daily challenge receives immunity and the "Power Vote", which allows them to cast their vote twice for one team. Similar to Cutthroat, voting is done anonymously. In a season twist, the teams that voted the team into the Armageddon are revealed, and the team that is voted into the Armageddon may then call out any team that voted for them as their opponent. The winner of the Armageddon returns to the game, while the loser is sent into the Redemption House. The "Double Cross" is used in the Redemption House, with whoever pulling the Double Cross having the power to choose one of the other teams as their opponent, while eliminating the other teams from the game for good. In another season twist, two "Mercenaries" teams will arrive at points midway through the season, and will have the opportunity to win their way into the game via an elimination.
• : For the first ten episodes, cast members competed in male/female pairs. Each team was composed of an alumni player paired with a prospect of the opposite sex. Prospects pick their alumni partner in the order that was determined based on their rank in the "Impending Dune" mission. Each team will then compete in numerous challenges followed by elimination rounds known as "The Killing Floor". The top three teams of each challenge will form "The Tribunal", where they will nominate three teams to possibly face elimination in "The Killing Floor". Nominated teams face "The Tribunal" and plead their case as to why they should not be sent into elimination. At "The Killing Floor," each person in "The Tribunal" will vote individually for one out of three nominated teams to go into elimination. The team that is voted in, can call out any team that is not safe to face in elimination. The winners of the elimination will stay in the game and hold the Relic, which grants them safety from the next elimination. The losers are eliminated from the game. During the 10th episode of the season, host T.J. Lavin revealed that the rest of the competition will be an individual game. The rules of the season remain the same, but the cast members no longer have to work with their alumni or prospect partner.
• : Players are divided into two teams based on their respective home country. Four 'Reinforcements' also arrived following the first challenge not yet designated a team, the team who won the opening challenge would have their choice of two reinforcements to join their team while the remaining two would join the other team. Each episode, teams would compete in a Main Match where the winning team would elect a speaker. The speaker then selects one male and one female from their respective team to form the tribunal. Following the Main Match, the losing team must nominate one player of the designated gender to compete in a Death Match known as the 'Proving Ground'. The tribunal observes the nominations and is able to interrogate the nominated player of the losing team – usually asking for potential opponents in the Proving Ground. At 'The Proving Ground', the tribunal individually votes for a second player to enter the Proving Ground and compete against the nominee. The second player may come from either team. The two players then must face each other in the Proving Ground challenge where the losing player is eliminated from the game. The winning player is allowed to remain in the game and given the opportunity to become a 'turncoat' and swap teams. Once a player swaps teams they may not swap back.
• : Players compete in either individual, pair or team challenges, with the winning team forming a tribunal. Players not in the tribunal participate in nominations. Each contestant individually votes for one player of the designated gender into elimination. The player who receives the most votes will participate in the elimination round. Following nominations, the tribunal select three players of the designated gender to interrogate. One of these three chosen interrogated competitors will be selected for possible elimination. At the "Purgatory," the tribunal is asked to individually vote for the second player to participate in the elimination. From Episode 2 onward, a tribunal member of the designated gender may volunteer for elimination, instead of voting for an interrogated competitor. The player selected by nomination participates in an elimination round against the player selected by the tribunal, or the volunteer from the tribunal. The loser is eliminated while the winner receives a "Red Skull" and remains in the game. The coveted Red Skull—a twist that was introduced after the first elimination—is required in order to participate in the Final Challenge and can only be earned by winning in a Purgatory elimination round.

  Hosts

TV show's conception

External episodes

''The Challenge'' lingo

Veterans and rookies

Alliance

Specials

''Spring Break Challenge''

''The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars''

''The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros'' (season 1)

''The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars'' (season 2)

''The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars'' (season 3)

''The Challenge: CT's Getting Married''

Seasons

5 Timers Club

Cast members

''Challenge'' records

Players with the most final challenge prize money

Locations