“What is The Challenge?” asks the show’s winningest competitor, Johnny Bananas, in a teaser trailer for a documentary series focused on the reality TV competition show.
The Challenge Untold History will examine how the popular series made reality TV history and led to the creation of other competitive shows.
In a quick teaser trailer that @thechallenge unveiled on their official Instagram on Wednesday, fans got to briefly see and hear from some of the cast members who participated in MTV’s longtime show.
Among them are former finalists, Challenge winners, and even some individuals who weren’t involved in the show but are fans.
That includes a surprising appearance from reality TV star icon and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian, who may be among the show’s superfans.
Here are more details about the upcoming documentary series coming to MTV.
The Challenge Untold History teaser trailer arrives
MTV will release a three-part documentary series about The Challenge, beginning on September 21. Over its three weeks on MTV, The Challenge Untold History will give fans more insight into the show’s creation and evolvement over the years.
In the documentary series, some of the show’s most iconic cast members, including finalists and winners, will be under the spotlight to give their thoughts about the popular show they helped create.
In the recently-revealed teaser trailer (below), viewers can check out some quick sound bites from cast members Johnny Devenanzio, Aneesa Ferreira, Tori Deal, and Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, as well as show host TJ Lavin.
“The Challenge is a dysfunctional competitive sleepover camp,” Aneesa says in a soundbite over highlight clips of the cast partying in the house.
Jonathan Murray, a co-founder of Bunin/Murray Productions with Mary-Ellis Bunim, is amongst those responsible for bringing The Challenge to viewers’ screens and will appear in the documentary series.
“We said, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if Real World kids met up with Road Rules kids?'” The Challenge, Real World, and Road Rules co-creator says in the trailer.
Some of the iconic moments that flash on the screen during the video include Diem Brown pulling off her wig to reveal a bald look and Chris “CT” Tamburello walking with Johnny Bananas attached to him like a backpack during their elimination battle.
“I was obsessed,” Kim K says in part of the trailer, suggesting maybe she was a fan of the MTV show before her arrival on reality TV.
The 41-year-old Kim K never appeared in any seasons of The Challenge but became involved in reality TV years after the show’s first season.
The first season of The Challenge, called Road Rules: All Stars, premiered in June 1998 on MTV with Real World stars Jon Brennan, Eric Nies, and Cynthia Roberts among the five-person cast.
Kim’s show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, premiered in 2007, ran through 2021 on E!, and led to several spinoff series. Kim, her family, friends, and significant others returned for The Kardashians on Hulu this past year.
Documentary series first look arrived at MTV event
Monsters and Critics previously reported about The Challenge documentary series and some of the individuals expected to appear.
Some of the other cast members that fans will see and hear from include Mark Long, Wes Bergmann, Paulie Calafiore, Darrell Taylor, and Kam Williams.
Along with Kim K, Super Bowl champion and reunion host Vernon Davis will be featured, along with former Champs vs. Pros competitor and Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis. Fans may see other surprise appearances along the way.
A sneak peek of the documentary series arrived during this past June’s MTV Movie & TV Awards with CT Tamburello on stage to unveil the first-look footage. CT also appeared in the video (below) with Challenge fan accounts re-sharing the clip.
The Challenge led to spinoffs, MTV’s Season 38 on the way
The Challenge Untold History documentary series premiere arrives a week after one of the newest Challenge spinoffs has wrapped up its finale.
The Challenge: USA premiered on CBS this past July with only cast members from the CBS reality shows Amazing Race, Big Brother, Love Island, and Survivor competing in a version of MTV’s competition show.
The winners of The Challenge: USA go on to compete in a global tournament on Paramount Plus, likely to arrive later this year. It’ll also feature winners from three other shows: The Challenge: Argentina, The Challenge: Australia, and The Challenge: UK.
Before The Challenge: USA even hit CBS, another spinoff arrived on Paramount Plus last year called The Challenge: All Stars. It features some of the all-time greats from MTV’s show and former cast members who were returning to reality TV after years away.
The Challenge: All Stars had three seasons arrive on the Paramount Plus streaming platform, with episodes available on demand. The most recent season, All Stars 3, featured only former finalists part of the cast, making for a stacked lineup that included many former champions.
As of this writing, it’s unknown if a fourth season of The Challenge: All Stars will happen, but many fans are likely hoping to see it continue.
At the very least, the main MTV show seems far from over, as Season 38 of The Challenge wrapped up filming several weeks ago. There may even be a teaser for the upcoming season during the three-part documentary series airing on MTV.
The Challenge Untold History premieres Wednesday, September 21 at 8/7c on MTV. The Challenge Season 38 is TBA for MTV.