To all those MTV lovers out there who feel lost and alone post-"Laguna" this winter, fear not. Your friends at the network will fill your Monday night "10 Spot" void with equal parts drama and, well, melodrama. It will be served in a halved coconut with a tasty fruit garnish on the beaches of Tabago, and they will call it "The Gauntlet 2."
In the early '90s, who would have imagined that this kind of decadent entertainment could exist? When MTV first presented "The Real World" to its viewers over a decade ago, it helped to launch a reality television phenomenon that was soon joined by the more physically driven MTV show "Road Rules."
Today, some faithful viewers would say that "The Real World" has seen finer days. With almost hackneyed self-discoveries and conflicts about race, sexual orientation, and other social diversities, the show seems to have exhausted its albeit original and exciting concept. After all, there are only so many mind-opening interactions and drunken brawls that can keep us teenagers and twentysomethings entertained.
Or does that give us too much credit?
Many students and alumni in the Tufts community (both openly and secretly) are anticipating the upcoming "Real World: Key West" season, because one of the housemates is a recent Tufts graduate. But if that doesn't hook the most jaded viewer, one cannot help but be down for a "Challenge."
The Real World/Road Rules challenges have provided a creative mix of casts from both MTV shows, and combining physical and mental challenges with cash and prizes has proved a lucrative direction for the network to take their reality series. Talk about your successful spin-offs.
After cycling through a second round of both "Battle of the Sexes" and "The Inferno," MTV now brings its audience "The Gauntlet 2." Taking place on the island of Tabago, "Gauntlet 2" features cast members ranging from 1994's "Real World: San Francisco" season to last year's "Road Rules: X-TREME."
This time around, they are arranged into two teams not by sex, not by reputation, but by experience. The Rookies (with the team color blue) will battle The Veterans (red) for over $300,000 in rewards, and with yet another pro BMX dirt biker (TJ Lavid) serving as host, the rocky path to victory will be lined with axed players along the way.
The newest twist to these elimination challenges is that in "The Gauntlet 2," the players are often competing against their own teammates. There are the regular missions (you know, the standard "climb that tall structure," "jump out of a helicopter," and "use your body to melt that" challenges) that pit Vets against Rookies, riling fierce competition between Red and Blue.
This time, though, each team has a declared captain for each mission, and whichever team loses the mission has to send someone else from their team into the Gauntlet to face the Captain one-on-one. So if you lose the mission, you are guaranteed to lose a player in that round, which adds to the pressure of each challenge.
These tests of endurance, strength and agility aside, let's face it: we generally don't tune in to these "Challenges" to see who is the more skilled Tug-of-War team. What keeps viewers coming back is - as cutie Cameran of "Real World: San Diego" puts it in a "Gauntlet 2: The After Show" teaser - the "constant partying, constant drama." The draw is finding out who is hooking up with whom, who is throwing whose clothes in the pool, and who got a shiner the night before.
With the cast that the producers have lined up, there will be no end to such madness. Even with some of the old standbys taking a break, most notably the absence of girl-crew Veronica, Rachel, and Tina, as well as "Inferno II" pariah Tonya, there will still be cat fighting and bitch slapping galore.
Amongst the Vets causing drama will undoubtedly be snob Beth of "Real World: LA," diva Jisela of "Road Rules 10: The Quest," and brawler Derrick of "Road Rules: X-TREME." Several female members of the latter's original RR cast (namely Jodi, Jillian, Kina and Ibis) will be part of the Rookie crew.
With the long run of both original series, MTV is now at a point where the age difference between some of the "Gauntlet" participants is a worthy angle to create tension. Some members of "Gauntlet 2" have been in several challenges, and some have done none; some have just finished undergrad, and some have been out for years pursuing lives off camera.
The inevitable clash of personalities and preferences (to party,or not to party?) will stir tensions both in the house and on the playing field. And while some viewers might think that MTV is milking it for more than it's worth, others who relish a weekly half hour of mindless entertainment have something to look forward to in "The Gauntlet 2."
