r/MtvChallenge • u/Gagenichols03 • 1d ago

QUESTION Best Seasons to watch

Hey all! I’m a relatively new fan (I’ve loved Big Brother for years and tuned in this year for Keanu, I will say) and I was just wondering what should I watch to fully enjoy the experience and see the “defining moments” of the show. I have watched Battle Of The Eras(first full one, probably a bad one to start with😭😂), Vets Vs New Threats and am currently watching Cutthroat 2 live, of course. Any suggestion is appreciated! Little nitpick, if you could add the season number if you refer to it by the subtitle! Thanks so much!

7 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

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9

u/tone_davi2 Anna Leigh Wilson 1d ago

anything you watch next will be better than what you have seen so far... season 19( fresh meat 2) is the start of the golden era imo

2

u/Gagenichols03 1d ago

Noted! I’ve definitely heard that the past couple haven’t been the best but since they’re my first, I haven’t really minded them(except for that fuckass Burger King challenge in 40 😭) so I’m excited to check more!

9

u/Puzzleheaded-Fill205 1d ago edited 1d ago

Season 19 is an excellent place to start, I second the recommendation. Then keep watching from there.

Season 20 was the first cutthroat. It was pretty good.

Season 21 was Rivals. Arguably the greatest season in show history. It raised the bar.

Season 22 was Battle of the Exes. Top tier season.

Skip season 23. This was the first battle of the seasons, and was mostly new cast. This new cast was unusually large and unusually ugly to each other.

Season 24 was Rivals 2. Top tier season.

Season 25 was free agents. Top tier season.

19 through 25 (skipping 23) is the best run of challenge seasons. If you're still into it, I think I would keep going here instead of starting back in the "beginning" in season 10.

26 is exes 2, which is decent.

27 is bloodlines, which is mediocre/skippable.

28 is Rivals 3, which is okay but leaves you feeling gross after watching it.

29 begins the next good era, which I would say goes from 29 to 34, not skipping anything.

35 and later are the modern, very much less awesome seasons. Here's where I would recommend starting back at season 10 and going forward to 18 if you're still loving it and wanting more. Then check out the seasons you skipped, and only then would I continue on to the modern seasons.

EDIT: if you find yourself loving it and wanting even more, while you're watching seasons 29-32, there were three shorter spin-offs you could watch in chronological order. I'll see if I can dig this up for you:

29 Invasion of the Champions
Champs vs Pros
30 Dirty 30
Champs vs Stars 1
31 Vendettas
Champs vs Stars 2
32 Final Reckoning

The spin-offs bleed into the main show in that an injury happens in one of them that sidelines a popular player, and also a different, long time vet is banished from the challenge. (Off screen and not mentioned, I think.) Plus there's a couple iconic scenes definitely worth seeing.

3

u/hiccup1313 Deb Chubb 1d ago

Good list! But don't forget All Stars and World Championship. I would suggest OP watch all of those too.

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Fill205 1d ago

Agreed. Ideally in chronological order with the flagship like I listed for champs vs.

I'm not so sure that I'd recommend the international versions. I felt they got very repetitive running all the same dailies. But the world championship was good.

1

u/Embarrassed-Berry 7h ago

Completely agree. If you can start at 15 thats great too.

8

u/monte53 1d ago

For moments from past seasons that are often still shown or referenced: Cutthroat, Free Agents, War of the Worlds 1+2, and Duel II.

But genuinely, if you have the time, go back on paramount plus and watch all the seasons in order. Last I checked P+ has like every season going back to Season 10 which is Inferno 2, which is far back enough that it’s before Bananas rookie season. You can see how the game and cast has evolved over time.

6

u/Gagenichols03 1d ago

Love the insight! I actually watched Real World Key West because of him lmao. I’ve thought about it and would love to see that evolution, I think that might just be the way to go

3

u/PyrasDaddy 1d ago

Damn, I watched this show turn from wrestling in a circle on the beach into a high quality production

4

u/Bidudestories 15h ago

I remember channel surfing as a 12 year old and coming across a tiny scrappy dude wrestling a beefy dude out of a circle and I was hooked immediately. It was Derrick and Syrus on Gauntlet II.

2

u/Sure_Sheepherder_892 1d ago

The first finals were like campy backyard games.

3

u/Odd-Anteater-6183 1d ago

If you have access to Pluto, they have a dedicated channel for The Challenge. Not all seasons are available but it starts around s10 for me. It’s a continuous loop of the seasons.

2

u/Sportsman180 TJ Lavin 1d ago

Pluto has seasons on demand too.

3

u/Sportsman180 TJ Lavin 1d ago

Are you looking for individually exciting seasons or do you want to pick up the whole lore of the show?

2

u/Gagenichols03 1d ago edited 1d ago

Little bit of both, I can gather most of the lore as I watch but I’d definitely like some Wes lore lmao. I’ve only seen him on 40 where he left on night one and seeing his social media presence, I’m having trouble seeing him as the “villain” of some seasons lmao

4

u/FlakeyFlak 1d ago

If you want Wes lore you gotta start at season 12 and work your way up. IMO watching random individual seasons is NOT the way to go. There's way too much lore that carries over season to season. It's kinda like skipping a season or 2 of Game of Thrones. It's not your average reality show. Too many recurring characters. Seasons 10-18 can be an acquired taste. I usually recommend starting at season 19 and just going up to present.

2

u/Sportsman180 TJ Lavin 1d ago

Honestly, start with season 10 and make your way up. You'll get annoyed with the pre-HD video, but each season only takes about 4 hours to get through and 90% of them are worth it.

3

u/Ithinkitsfake 1d ago

Rivals 1 is my all time favorite.

3

u/jcgray97 1d ago

Free Agents is a good starting point t

2

u/shovelhead34 21h ago

Season 19 through to 28 is the peak of the show.

The War of the Worlds seasons (33 and 34) are also great.

2

u/RevealIll5310 18h ago

All 3 Rivals seasons, both Exes seasons, Free Agents, Total Madness and both WOTW

2

u/FreeTedK CT 13h ago

I got into the flagship back when Challenge USA1 came out and have seen almost every season now. If you want to have context, fresh meat 1 or fresh meat 2 are great ones to start with. If you want to jump right in, Rivals I is an all-time season. After that, exes 1, rivals 2, free agents, so many great seasons in the 10-30 range you can't really go wrong.

1

u/Emily-Seger Emily Bailey 1d ago

Duel 2 was my personal favorite

1

u/ShoulderRegular7830 Jenny West 1d ago

A lot of great options mentioned, I think starting from the beginning is great. I think the first one on Paramount + is the inferno two. If you want to jump ahead, to me, the first fresh meat season is a game changer. So many players that will be a huge part of that generation debut in that season, and it still has some of the old school vets from early on. It’s a good mixture of old and new I feel like. But if you can start back at inferno two, it’s a lot of fun and messy,. I would recommend fresh meat one, if you don’t start from the beginning.

1

u/CritiquetheTechnique 1d ago

I loved war of the worlds, US vs BRITS, that was my first season. Not some over the top drama or quotable moments as other seasons but loved the competition

1

u/R6Major2 Johnny Bananas 1d ago

Rivals 2 and 3 then Bloodlines to start. Great drama and competitors. You will also find a villain to root against the rest of the series. Question is who will be a villain to you?

1

u/Redundantmoth 16h ago

If you just want to watch the show in general, s28 Rivals 3 is a starting point to now. It also puts more context into the awkward UFC elimination. Seasons 33-35 are unavailable due to one cast mate being a piece of shit outside of the show. High seas for those.

If you want to understand the whole Bananas, CT and Cara dynamic start s21 rivals 1. Cara might be annoying as hell this season but you'll see why she can talk if you start here. It's also the start of Bananas prime.

If you know all of that / don't care, skip to dirty s30 dirty 30. That basically puts all the vets from this season into the show and will catch you up on everyone else in the show.

1

u/hmustard87 15h ago

The Duel is the best starting point! And then you can skip Inferno 3, The Ruins, The Island, and Battle of the Seasons 2 (although this one does introduce a lot of key players so maybe watch the first couple of episodes).

1

u/TheUglyGawd 12h ago

I think the best place to start is the duel 1 or fresh meat 1, each introduces key characters and in my opinion starts the real politics and competition that is prominent now

1

u/PepsiPunked 11h ago

20-30 Are the best seasons