The Challenge: Casting Old Favorites

Brettworld18;36561 wrote:
Im always wondering why doesnt BMP diversify their casts more. We see the same people who have lost the last challenge and come back or people who do 4-5 consequence challenges (paula, robin, johnny, kenny etc)

This question in my mind has a simple answer. The prime viewership for a Real World/Road Rules Challenge has only been "enjoying" MTV for the last 3-4 years (MAX.) The channel is for teenagers who were watching Barney & Friends instead of The Quest back in 2001. As much as many of us want our favorite network of yesteryear to cater to the older crowd, they'll continue to leave that to Vh1. The viewers today don't know who the characters were from the old shows and don't care. They think The Real World Austin is the greatest season ever, Johnny is the best looking male cast member ever (ZOMG EVAH!) and when Eric Nies showed up at the reunion show they thought it was a marketing stunt for ABC's Cavemen... The casts of old have passed their shelf lives. We might see a player here and there return, but never the past generational players en masse. It is a use it or lose it mentality and if you have not kept a public face (like Mark Long for instance) you are of no value to the show unless you have been a continuing cast member on recent challenges or are a recognizable brand (Beth, Coral.) As for Fresh Meat, I am not sure why some of the cast members who want to return have not been asked. They must not have lit it up in BMP's eyes when they had the chance...

Thanks Bacchus for taking the time to answer my question, I really appreciate it. Well you can say im one of the few teens who want to see some old faces return, but what would i know im only 18 lol. I kinda understand now becuase Ive been watching real world since the vegas season, which i thought was one of the best ever, and ive watched road rules since season 10 and the challenges since battle of the sexes. I remembered I used to sneak behind my parents to watch the real world, and the challenges when it first began, so my generation pretty much is the overall percentage who tunes in to these shows. But im happy with the cast, this challenge has pretty much a good cast and some suprising returns (mark, ruthie landon) so i am looking forward to seeing this one.

If they still own the rights to some of those seasons (and I believe they do), they could have mini marathons to introduce those people to this new generation. But hey, RW and RR are not America's Next Top Model or other shows they like to do marathons of, nor are they The Hills or the flavor of the month reality shows.

Well I think it would be great to bring old faces back... I think it would please old fans and new fans... if the new fans don't know who they are then it will be exciting for them to see new faces, who has actually been through the experience. I know they asked a few old cast members for G3 but they declined. But there are some road rulers who haven't seen a challenge, like Msadda or Catherine from MVT. MTV's fan base varies, So to make the younger generations happy put have some newer people, and to make older generations happy put in some older people. I also think, like I said above, the new generation might actually like to see "old" timers, because to them they are new! and hey who usually brings the most drama? Tina, veronica, CT, Katie, Coral, Emily, Puck, James... who is usually funny or the comedic relief? old timers- Jake, Antoine, Christina, Sharon, Kelley, Lindsay... Thinking about it, I actually think it will help the challenge's ratings a lot! and a lot of teens also know the old cast members... Brettworld is not the only 18 year old who wants to see old timers back! Bring back the old school

Shimbo;36576 wrote:
Brettworld is not the only 18 year old who wants to see old timers back! Bring back the old school

That is a super fan mentality (which is why were are all here talking about it) and not the status quo. If they were to rebroadcast old challenges, they'd get half the ratings (or less) of whatever trash TV they could have shown in a given time slot. They can barely get ratings for first run Challenges and and it is not like the DVD's of older seasons are flying off the shelves. I know "we" - as in vevmo readers - would love to see older seasons of The Real World and Road Rules. The problem is your average 15 year old girl would prefer to watch the same episode of Sweet 16 Exiled or The Hills over and over and over and over... If there was a ratings gold mine in replaying old seasons of our favorite reality shows - MTV would be doing it.

Bacchus;36580 wrote:
The problem is your average 15 year old girl would prefer to watch the same episode of Sweet 16 Exiled or The Hills over and over and over and over

Just what the heck is the world coming too? :girl_mad:

But you dont think the younger crowd would appreciate seeing new people even if they are older? I am sorry i am not gay, but mark long still looks pretty good and i am sure 15 year old girls are drooling over him... and for guys... i am sure you know bacchus, regardless her age if she is good looking we are tuned in!

Shimbo;36588 wrote:
But you dont think the younger crowd would appreciate seeing new people even if they are older? I am sorry i am not gay, but mark long still looks pretty good and i am sure 15 year old girls are drooling over him... and for guys... i am sure you know bacchus, regardless her age if she is good looking we are tuned in!

Unfortunately, I really think Bacchus is right. Kids these days are more willing to watch the Kenny's and the Banana's of the group and less Mark, Timmy, etc.

i completely understand, but its always good to have "new players" its almost like freshmeat all over again! the people who never saw them would learn to love them or love to hate them... alot of the road rulers arent much older then some of the fresh meaters (27 etc..)

Shimbo;36591 wrote:
alot of the road rulers arent much older then some of the fresh meaters (27 etc..)

And perhaps busy with lives and families.....that would be my main assumption as to why we don't see many of them.

Shimbo;36588 wrote:
But you dont think the younger crowd would appreciate seeing new people even if they are older? I am sorry i am not gay, but mark long still looks pretty good and i am sure 15 year old girls are drooling over him... and for guys... i am sure you know bacchus, regardless her age if she is good looking we are tuned in!

I agree that they all still look great and are not really that old. The problem is the series itself is almost always on the verge of cancellation and if BMP/MTV is going to put together a cast they are going to choose people who are well known amongst their target audience and not bring in people that the majority their viewers do not know. Like I said (and I think is the strongest piece of evidence here) ---- Real World Austin won best season ever! I don't think anyone who has seen them all would even put that season the top 10. It just goes to show what the current viewership perceives as good and why production has slated the challenge spinoff to reflect the popularity of the newer casts as older viewers defect to VH1, Bravo et al. Edit: Even if they wanted to do a Fresh Meat scenario like you allude to with older cast members, they'd want people that they could use for the next five challenges (fresh and young) and not aging cast members that might do one more and then be done. Your arguments are great and I agree to some extent, but the reality is it is never going to happen. There will not be an "old people" challenge on MTV.

Well never count out beth-asoraus she will be on with a wheel chair :) I guess we are true MTVer's... I know Kendell was dying to be on thge Island and she was an alternate, and she is beautiful... well Bacchus you saw my Myspace page you know i love the shows regardless! and some old timers :)

Shimbo;36597 wrote:
I guess we are true MTVer's... I know Kendell was dying to be on thge Island and she was an alternate, and she is beautiful...

Kendell is a doll and I'd love to see her on a future challenge, but her chance to get on The Island didn't pan out and the chances of her doing a future show are even smaller...

well Bacchus you saw my Myspace page you know i love the shows regardless! and some old timers

I am all about the old timers, although in running vevmo I do get to talk to a lot of newer cast members and they are not so bad. ;)

I totally agree that what Bacchus said is the reason that BMP/MTV doesn't get inexperienced older cast members from the past to do the show. But I at least which they would pick an older cast member or two who wants to do a challenge when they have a couple of slots left to fill on a large challenge. Look at what happened when they put Susie back on TV after all those years. And Jo - she only lasted two episodes, but it was dramatic nonetheless. And I'd rather have someone from RR Maximum Velocity Tour filling up a slot than a Fresh Meat person who doesn't really contribute anything or a ton of people from the latest RW season.

Bacchus;36599 wrote:
I am all about the old timers, although in running vevmo I do get to talk to a lot of newer cast members and they are not so bad. ;)

well you see i am friends with a lot of newbies also :) some rock my socks haha!!! i just miss the old ones... They use to play old road rules on CBS on saturday nights at 3am... I watched everyone i missed. I didnt start watching till new orleans and the Maximum Velocity Tour- but i caught up on the older ones

Shimbo;36597 wrote:
...beth-asoraus..)

Is your will current?

Look the older castmembers have moved on with their lives. They're NOT coming back to the challenges and everyone is just going to have to deal with that.

Debut Album;55813 wrote:
Look the older castmembers have moved on with their lives. They're NOT coming back to the challenges and everyone is just going to have to deal with that.

Anything is possible. Some older cast members may resurface. Look at the cast of The Duel II. There were a couple of older people there.

Insider;55815 wrote:
Anything is possible. Some older cast members may resurface. Look at the cast of The Duel II. There were a couple of older people there.

Yeah but we're not going to get old school people in large droves though.

Debut Album;55817 wrote:
Yeah but we're not going to get old school people in large droves though.

Well we really can't expect too. People move on with their lives.

RMD1;55818 wrote:
Well we really can't expect too. People move on with their lives.

Yeah that was my point.

Debut Album;55946 wrote:
Yeah that was my point.

And I was explaining why we weren't going to see them!

RMD1;55954 wrote:
And I was explaining why we weren't going to see them!

Which is what I stated in my first post.

If you only knew my friends..if you only knew.....T.I says this verse that whenever I hear it makes me think about this topic.. "See its a catch 22 either you lose or you lose, thats the way the games structured for real people to suffer" ... it is wat it is tho..Good topic and good insight on this thread.

Don't be messin' with my NB! :D

Debut Album;55817 wrote:
Yeah but we're not going to get old school people in large droves though.

I didn't mean to imply we would. Did I miss something? Is this thread about casting large quantities of old favorites?

My BF loves his show 'Road to Redemptiom'.

OtherPplsDrama;56004 wrote:
Don't be messin' with my NB! :D

Exactly ;)

NickBrownRW20;55977 wrote:
If you only knew my friends..if you only knew.....T.I says this verse that whenever I hear it makes me think about this topic.. "See its a catch 22 either you lose or you lose, thats the way the games structured for real people to suffer" ... it is wat it is tho..Good topic and good insight on this thread.

Oh wow I didn't know you posted here. Hello.