After 33 seasons, it’s hard to believe MTV’s “The Challenge” has such a low profile from an industry perspective. Following this year’s well-received “The Challenge: War of the Worlds,” the Viacom network is trying to change that by making a run at the Emmy for Reality-Competition Series. It’s a tough category to break into, but they’ve got a chance.
The season featured contestants from other reality shows or reality-competition shows from all over the world including “The Bachelor Canada,” “Big Brother,” “Big Brother Celebrity UK,” “Survivor,” “Love Island,” “The Bachelorette,” “American Ninja Warrior” and “The Real World,” among others. Notably, in an era of declining ratings, “The Challenge: War of the Worlds” was up significantly from the previous season, “Final Reckoning” which aired last year.
As noted, the Reality-Competition race is, um, challenging. A majority of the nominees have made the cut for years (or decades) and “American Ninja Warrior” and last year’s Emmy winner, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” are the “newcomers” with just three and two years of nominations respectfully. In theory, “Ninja” could miss the cut, but “The Challenge” would have to fight off FOX’s massive hit, “The Masked Singer” for the final slot. The series is also vying for Casting and Cinematography nominations, both of which are possible.
With Emmy voting underway, MTV has provided The Playlist with an exclusive featurette featuring never before seen casting videos of some of “War of the Worlds” major players. Check out in the embedded video below.
You can watch full episodes of “The Challenge: War of the Worlds” on MTV.com.