8. MTV's The Real World/Road Rules Challenge
An MTV reality show, the Real World/Road Rules Challenge (now only Real World) give us a chance to reconnect with past season veterans and our new favorite Real Worlders. While most of the show is comprised of Real World style footage, mainly contestants getting belligerent and throwing punches, the rest consists of mindless endurance tests. Everything from melting blocks of ice with nothing but their bathing suit clad bodies to wagering on how many stuffed grape leaves they can eat, this show delivers on the torture trifecta: physical, emotional, and mental. Divided into teams (either by season, veteran status, or other), contestants must work together to come out on top. The team that fails is sent into the elimination ring where they must elect one or more teammates to go up against the winning teams selection of elimination ring sacrifice, which is any of the other teams who survived that days challenge. As always, the team that loses in the elimination ring must pack their bags and leave while the victors live to fight another day. What makes this show torture is not only watching contestants try and consistently fail at the days challenges, but also watching how quick contestants are to blame each other for their group performance. On top of verbally eating the runt of their assigned litter, the first episode of every challenge usually consists of immediate pacts among certain teams and deciding which group is undeserving of competition at all. Seeing all of the wolves sink their teeth into an underestimated brother is pretty disheartening, knowing that we humans would rather plot extermination over working harder to be on top. As always, adding copious amounts of alcohol and sexually addicted twenty-somethings will always end in emotional turmoil. What makes this show entertaining is the sense of familiarity. I have only watched maybe three full seasons of the hit reality show The Real World, but I have no problem recognizing the contestants that are seduced onto this show by the lump sum prize money. The stereotypical characters remain through the entertainment worlds overcompensation of new and interesting people, which makes audiences happy. Why ruin a good thing, right? The drama, hook-ups, practical jokes, and ostracizing make the one hour an episode worth wasting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLSHmgNOoMg