‘The Challenge’ Bosses Tease Iconic Season 40, Share Hopes for ‘Real World: Homecoming’ and ‘Road Rules’ Return and Respond to Cast Treatment Remarks
variety.comEmily Longeretta It’s officially “The Challenge” season. Season 40, “Battle of the Eras,” which makes history as the first-ever season of the MTV hit with all returning players, debuts on MTV Wednesday, August 14, and may be the most intense — and emotional — yet.
For those who have been there since the beginning — “The Challenge” launched as “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998 then changed to “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” the following year — it’s been a surreal journey. “I’m excited to see people like CT, Johnny Bananas and Mark Long.
I’m old school,” says Jon Murray, founder and executive consultant of Bunim-Murray Productions. “You’ve seen how CT has emerged and how he went from being this, sort of, tough guy who could trigger at a moment’s notice to someone who is sometimes the calmest guy in the room.
It’s great to be able to tell those long, evolving stories.” Julie Pizzi, who has worked on “The Challenge” since 2000 and now serves as the president of BMP and 51 Minds Entertainment, recalls looking around on set of Season 40 in Vietnam and noticing, “There was such a sense of something bigger, which doesn’t always happen on a show.
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