The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons - Discussion (Spoilers)

[QUOTE=Nostalgic;310509]Oh please.... True but to us cheap is cheap end of story. The same if this was a realistic sport.[/QUOTE] Us? Who is "us?" We've been down this road before. It's not even a non-realistic sport. It's nothing more than a reality TV show constrained with the rules contained in a set of Federal Regulations collectively called "The Game Show Act." You can try to dress up the concept, but it remains what it is.

When people see the season, I don't think they'll consider anything "cheap" about the play. In fact, I'd say the teams still in it toward the end are more deserving than most of the recent seasons.

It must be getting close to the end of filming right? They've been gone over five weeks.

So it's full teams of cancun San deigo and Brooklyn left and then Alton and trishelle?

[QUOTE=icubaby;310532]So it's full teams of cancun San deigo and Brooklyn left and then Alton and trishelle?[/QUOTE] ...maybe? Unless some have already been eliminated that we don't know about yet.

[QUOTE=thisismyuser;310530]It must be getting close to the end of filming right? They've been gone over five weeks.[/QUOTE] Given the delay at the beginning to await the arrival of the replacement FM team, the probability that this challenge was planned to be just slightly longer than average for logistical reasons, and the rate at which cast appears to have been eliminated, it's likely some are missing from the official spoiler list. I doubt we'll be asking this question again in 10 days.

[QUOTE=TSPKM2;310537]...maybe? Unless some have already been eliminated that we don't know about yet.[/QUOTE] Since the show normally films in 6 weeks, the probability that half of them are still there 5 weeks in is highly unlikely IMO to the point of being even absurd to consider. There are clearly teams that have been eliminated that have not been publicly confirmed.

[QUOTE=V1man;310548]Given the delay at the beginning to await the arrival of the replacement FM team, the probability that this challenge was planned to be just slightly longer than average for logistical reasons, and the rate at which cast appears to have been eliminated, it's likely some are missing from the official spoiler list. I doubt we'll be asking this question again in 10 days.[/QUOTE] Well the problem with that would be if someone got eliminated and waited until the finalists went back onto Twitter and such to pop up again. Plus, I know of one person on the cast who on a past challenge was off of social media for months after being eliminated but wasn't anywhere near the finals so you never know.

[QUOTE=Nightwolf;310556]Well the problem with that would be if someone got eliminated and waited until the finalists went back onto Twitter and such to pop up again. Plus, I know of one person on the cast who on a past challenge was off of social media for months after being eliminated but wasn't anywhere near the finals so you never know.[/QUOTE] I don't understand your first sentence. The cast, minus St Thomas, is not posting on social media (except for mistakes). It is an open question whether or not Team Sydney is affected by the ban since they, with the exception on Dunbar's recent book promotion, have been silent. The remainder of the cast have been silent, and will remain so at least until the date they were given by production. At that point, I fully expect that close friends of cast members and cast member families who know the details will begin to tell others. It happens every season. Details will come out.

Really loving that Cancun and San Diego are still there (as far as we know). I, as well as most people, predicted that San Diego would be a tough team as Zach and Frank are big and athletic, and Sam and Ashley are athletic as well. If it's pairs, I can see myself rooting for both of the pairs. But Cancun, as I predicted in the beginning, seems to be doing very well. If the entire cast is still there, I am not surprised at all and I'm really excited to see this. Can't wait to see Jonna, Cj and Jasmine too. As someone else said,, I wouldn't be surprised if Jonna was one of the leaders this challenge. Still very curious about the format. I don't think its another pairs challenge though. I can see one of two options: Each challenge is season based and its season against season, all four members working to win immunity. For eliminations, winning foursome is immune, worst performing season automatically up for elimination and have to nominate their own pair. The other pair is either decided by the winning season, or the winning season could choose any season they want and the rest of the cast gets to vote the pair to go in from that chosen team. That is my second way of seeing it, but I don't see this as an entire pairs competition, only the eliminations.

[QUOTE=Morris1721;310584] Each challenge is season based and its season against season, all four members working to win immunity. For eliminations, winning foursome is immune, worst performing season automatically up for elimination and have to nominate their own pair. The other pair is either decided by the winning season, or the winning season could choose any season they want and the rest of the cast gets to vote the pair to go in from that chosen team. That is my second way of seeing it, but I don't see this as an entire pairs competition, only the eliminations.[/QUOTE] Doesnt work if only 1 pair goes home, then you have 7 teams of 4 and only 1 team of 2..the voting process and the mission process would be thrown off. I think it's 1 of 3 ways: 1) 8 teams of 4, with 2 pairs in each team. 1 team of pairs takes on anoter team of pairs (i.e. Wes/Lacey vs. Brandon/Cara Maria & Danny/Melinda vs. Eric/Camila) the 2 winning pairs stay and form the new team of 4. 2) 2 team of 8 pairs, vote off style (2 teams eliminated) like original Battle of the Seasons. Or elimintion style (1 team eliminated) like every other team challenge. 3) 16 pairs of 2, 1 pair leaves each elimination.

[QUOTE=TSPKM2;310587]Doesnt work if only 1 pair goes home, then you have 7 teams of 4 and only 1 team of 2..the voting process and the mission process would be thrown off. .[/QUOTE] What does it matter if the voting and missions are off? There doesn't have to be even teams to have them compete especially if they are timed challenges. Teams of pairs could easily compete against a team of 2. Not sure why the voting process would be off either, just less votes and some people are at a disadvantage cause they lost their teammates. Example: team Cancun wins the challenge that day, whether its as a team of four or as a pair (Jasmine and Cj win as a pair so they are safe, and so are Jonna and Derek). Cancun is immune while Austin, who got last in the mission (again either as a team of four or because Danny and Lacey performed worst, so all four Austin members are up for elimination). Austin deliberates and nominates Wes and Lacey as the pair going in. Now either: -The rest of the house votes a season to compete against Austin, and that teams nominated a pair of their own Or -Cancun chooses a team to go in, and either that season votes on who's gonna represent them, or the rest of house chooses who's gonna represent that season. Then the season continues and the same way, except one team has to compete as a pair now, and they now have 2 less votes, its basically the same as Cut Throat, I see no issues with them doing it this way.

So we can pretty much assume the eliminations won't be 4x4 right? That's a good thing or else they would be sucky as the eliminations on the spring break challenge. As someone who watches the Challenge regularly, but not the Real World, I am not thinking I will like this change too much. I think there's not enough of the regulars. I'm glad to see Alton back for his athleticism, and bringing Trishelle and KellyAnne back will certainly bring some *** appeal, but other than that I find the cast to be unappealing.

[QUOTE=gbp02;310650]So we can pretty much assume the eliminations won't be 4x4 right? That's a good thing or else they would be sucky as the eliminations on the spring break challenge. As someone who watches the Challenge regularly, but not the Real World, I am not thinking I will like this change too much. I think there's not enough of the regulars. I'm glad to see Alton back for his athleticism, and bringing Trishelle and KellyAnne back will certainly bring some *** appeal, but other than that I find the cast to be unappealing.[/QUOTE] Kelly Anne is not back (on this challenge).

Interesting to see Preston is back to tweeting. I wonder if the bans are slowly being lifted...

[QUOTE=V1man;310660]Kelly Anne is not back.[/QUOTE] When I first read your comment I thought you meant she wasn't back in the US. Wishful thinking...

Preston tweeting and I think Nany changed her twitter profile pic. Maybe the ban has lifted.

Sorry if this sounds dumb but I'm asking in case I missed this: do we know why the Sydney cast was kicked off or if they were ever even on the show? Where they even flown to the destination or was it a thing similar to the Adam/Nanny situation?

[QUOTE=thisismyuser;310673]Preston tweeting and I think Nany changed her twitter profile pic. Maybe the ban has lifted.[/QUOTE] [url=http://vevmo.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=14096][img]http://vevmo.com/imagehosting/1174ffabf18190a2.jpg[/img][/url] I don't believe the social media ban has been lifted. There appear to me to be several possibilities... 1. Preston's judgment became impaired. It was a weekend; sometime s*** happens. 2. He stopped caring about direction from the producers. (Perhaps he already cashed his check and decided he was too small a fish for them to come after) 3. BMP actually did something else really intelligent and has given people different end dates for the ban in order to not make it appear obvious. (If not, feel free to use this idea next time, MTV/BMP.) 4. BMP adjusted the original date (because the challenge is not yet over). [This doesn't appear to be the case, since the other cast are publicly known to have returned who are social media addicts didn't immediately begin appearing on twitter, formspring, facebook, pinterest, etc.] 5. Make up you own reasons... They will probably be as good or better than the possibilities occurring to me a 5 am.

[QUOTE=Blue123;310676]Sorry if this sounds dumb but I'm asking in case I missed this: do we know why the Sydney cast was kicked off or if they were ever even on the show? Where they even flown to the destination or was it a thing similar to the Adam/Nanny situation?[/QUOTE] It's not like "Adam/Nanny." Hear are my thoughts, for what they're worth to anyone. Beyond it not being "Adam/Nany," I think you have to read this thread (selectively), have paid careful attention to the timeline of changes to the official spoiler thread, and then applied knowledge of the way challenge production normally works with the first few days given to pre-production necessities like shooting of the show opening sequence and still photos for MTV.com. That leads me to the conclusion that Sydney departed the US followed in a very few days by the FM team. Given the lead time production would need to secure one or more replacements from the other Sydney cast, and failing that, deploy an FM team that maybe was on a "standby" of sorts, it seems most logical to me that some decision about Sydney's fate was made while they were in flight to Turkey or shortly after their arrival. It's possible that BMP began shooting the opening sequence with or without Sydney, or that they simply awaited the start of any shooting until the FMers arrived. Obviously the cast who have returned are not talking, so no one knows for sure. It's possible that we will see Sydney's removal in episode one, or, that via editing, they won't appear as part of the challenge cast at all. Whatever the case may be, I hope the Sydney people were compensated for their trouble. Their silence upon their return suggests to me they were.

Has Alton been eliminated. Who is still there?

[QUOTE=danw34;310770]Has Alton been eliminated. Who is still there?[/QUOTE] See the official spoiler thread: [URL="http://vevmo.com/f266/the-challenge-summer-2012-spoilers-6942/index2.html#post310459"]http://vevmo.com/f266/the-challenge-summer-2012-spoilers-6942/index2.html#post310459[/URL] There is the possibility that the list is incomplete if there is no open source information or logical deduction based on open source info on those not named as having been eliminated.

[QUOTE=V1man;310679]It's not like "Adam/Nanny." Hear are my thoughts, for what they're worth to anyone. Beyond it not being "Adam/Nany," I think you have to read this thread (selectively), have paid careful attention to the timeline of changes to the official spoiler thread, and then applied knowledge of the way challenge production normally works with the first few days given to pre-production necessities like shooting of the show opening sequence and still photos for MTV.com. That leads me to the conclusion that Sydney departed the US followed in a very few days by the FM team. Given the lead time production would need to secure one or more replacements from the other Sydney cast, and failing that, deploy an FM team that maybe was on a "standby" of sorts, it seems most logical to me that some decision about Sydney's fate was made while they were in flight to Turkey or shortly after their arrival. It's possible that BMP began shooting the opening sequence with or without Sydney, or that they simply awaited the start of any shooting until the FMers arrived. Obviously the cast who have returned are not talking, so no one knows for sure. It's possible that we will see Sydney's removal in episode one, or, that via editing, they won't appear as part of the challenge cast at all. Whatever the case may be, I hope the Sydney people were compensated for their trouble. Their silence upon their return suggests to me they were.[/QUOTE] Interesting read, V1. I just hope this doesn't throw them off from coming back should the challenge be renewed. I was looking forward to most of them.

[QUOTE=Nostalgic;310778]Interesting read, V1. I just hope this doesn't throw them off from coming back should the challenge be renewed. I was looking forward to most of them.[/QUOTE] I rarely do this, but I'm going to offer a completely unsupported opinion below, in bold. [B]Thanks to HIPAA [/B](Google it if you must know), we will probably never know why someone was ineligible to be on the challenge and there was no gender appropriate replacement for that person leading to the entire Sydney team returning to the US. Assuming that the disqualifying reason is not a permanently disqualifying situation, I see no reason that person could not return on a future challenge (Winter, 2013). The other three certainly can return.

Does anyone know when this show will air?

[QUOTE=V1man;310783]I rarely do this, but I'm going to offer a completely unsupported opinion below, in bold. [B]Thanks to HIPAA [/B](Google it if you must know), we will probably never know why someone was ineligible to be on the challenge and there was no gender appropriate replacement for that person leading to the entire Sydney team returning to the US. Assuming that the disqualifying reason is not a permanently disqualifying situation, I see no reason that person could not return on a future challenge (Winter, 2013). The other three certainly can return.[/QUOTE] Are you saying that it was a medical reason that got the team booted, or is that part of the "unsupported opinion" too. I think whatever the case is, we will eventually find out just because there are some cast members who have no qualms talking about other cast members personal business whether they would want them to or not (coming usually in the form of a snarky comment).

[QUOTE=FishHooks;310808]Are you saying that it was a medical reason that got the team booted, or is that part of the "unsupported opinion" too. I think whatever the case is, we will eventually find out just because there are some cast members who have no qualms talking about other cast members personal business whether they would want them to or not (coming usually in the form of a snarky comment).[/QUOTE] [B]Since the HIPAA reference is clearly to a medical situation, yes, it is my opinion, completely unsupported by evidence.[/B] I certainly hope no cast member talks, or even knows the actual reason, if it is HIPAA related. Any cast member who did reveal the medical diagnosis of another person could him or herself be violating Federal Law, and, since he or she would have been in the employ of BMP at the time of said comments, BMP could also perhaps be in violation of the law. If a couple of cast members had been right in their comments about another cast member in the past, I believe they could also have been charged with a HIPAA violation. Fortunately, they were wrong, which could have subjected them to a civil charge of slander.

Are we saying someone has an STD? lol I'm so confused.

[QUOTE=V1man;310830][B]Since the HIPAA reference is clearly to a medical situation, yes, it is my opinion, completely unsupported by evidence.[/B] I certainly hope no cast member talks, or even knows the actual reason, if it is HIPAA related. Any cast member who did reveal the medical diagnosis of another person could him or herself be violating Federal Law, and, since he or she would have been in the employ of BMP at the time of said comments, BMP could also perhaps be in violation of the law. If a couple of cast members had been right in their comments about another cast member in the past, I believe they could also have been charged with a HIPAA violation. Fortunately, they were wrong, which could have subjected them to a civil charge of slander.[/QUOTE] The "in the employee of" part might still be up in the air and BMP certainly reveals medical info on TV before--Dustin's knee, Aneesa's lip, Shavon's bazookas, etc. If it were on camera, I think they are okay. IMO suing under HIPAA for someone repeating what you told them would be along the lines of suing because you are Jonathan Chiquita and the world clearly treasures you as such.