Road Rules is a reality show developed as a sister show of MTV's The Real World. The series ran for 14 seasons, from July 19, 1995 to May 9, 2007.
The series followed five to six strangers between the ages of 18 and 24, stripped of their money and restricted to a life in an RV, traveling from location to location. The strangers were guided by a set of clues and missions to complete at each location. It was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001.
The series was a pioneer in travel/adventure/reward reality television (together with Mark Burnett's Eco-Challenge productions). Road Rules was created by Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim of Bunim/Murray Productions. After Bunim died of cancer in early 2004, the show went into hiatus for three years.
The idea of Road Rules came to mind when Real World castmates Jon Brennan, Tami Akbar and Dominic Griffin traveled in an RV across the United States to get to their The Real World: Los Angeles house in the first two episodes of the second season. Bunim-Murray began working on the show soon after the third season of The Real World, and finally debuted in 1995.
The show generated a spin-off series, also broadcast by MTV, known as The Challenge (originally known as Road Rules: All Stars before being renamed Real World/Road Rules Challenge after both its precursors), which is still in production. The spin-off series is mostly cast-contestant dependent on both Road Rules and The Real World as it combines contestants from various seasons of both precursors. The Challenge has surpassed both Road Rules and The Real World.
In 2021, it was announced that a revamped version of Road Rules would air on Paramount+. However, this never materialized.
Contents
Seasons
An asterisk (*) indicates the cast member was voted off the show or lost a season 14 face-off and did not make it to the end. A caret (^) indicates the cast member was required to leave the show.
Show's evolution
The series began with a simple format, closely mirroring its parent show The Real World. The concept was simple, abandon five strangers on the road, take away their money, have them drive around in an RV completing missions and doing odd jobs for money, and if they lasted to the end of the trip, they would win a "handsome reward". It was touted as The Real World on an RV, but as the show progressed, several changes were made to the show for various reasons, mostly having to do with causing excitement and raising sagging ratings.
Europe (Season 3)
In its third season, producers of the show took production to the next level by deciding to move the show from the United States to Europe. While the first two seasons were not themed according to the series' location, the third season introduced the subtitle into the concept which would usually strand the Roadies in different locations around the world.
Islands (Season 4)
For the first time, the RV was completely abandoned for a short time in favor of an alternate mode of transportation. The cast traveled in and around the Caribbean islands and for a short time traveled on a catamaran. This season also competed against the Boston season of The Real World in San Juan, Puerto Rico, planting the seeds for the Real World/Road Rules Challenge and future face-offs.
Northern Trail (Season 5)
Changing the dynamic of the cast in hopes of creating more drama by including more people in the RV, an additional cast member was included, changing the number of cast members from five to six.
Semester at Sea (Season 8)
Enticed by the idea of sailing around the world, producers put the cast on the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea educational program. For the first time in any season, in order for the cast to get their handsome reward, the cast needed to complete coursework aboard the ship. Prior to this, cast members only needed to get to the end of the trip, and would not be penalized for refusing to do a mission.
Maximum Velocity Tour (Season 9)
Due to an exaggerated trend of sagging ratings, some say due to the Semester at Sea season, the show underwent a major re-tooling. The Maximum Velocity Tour represents when the series transitioned from a documentary-style reality show to an entertainment reality show. The show was brought back to the US and given a "game show" format. At the helm of a trip was a fictional character named the "Road Master" completed. After the cast would complete a mission, they would have points added to the group pool for the end prize and if they failed to complete a mission, they would lose the money.
The Quest (Season 10)
Producers continued to re-tool the show. This time, if the cast members lost two missions, they would have to vote out a cast member. Any additional mission lost after that, another cast member would be voted off. Also, instead of adding money to a group pool, the cast competed each mission for a "key" to the handsome reward. The "keys" were placed in the RV on a large board where each "key" represented a virtue the cast learned in that mission. For this season, the "key" would be represented as part of a crest. If the cast lost a mission, they would not receive the "key" until they voted off a cast member. Jisela Delgado was the first cast member to be voted off in the series. Katie Doyle was the first replacement in the series. The series remained largely unchanged after this season, although each subsequent series had its own variation on the rules of the game.
Viewers' Revenge (Season 14)
After the series' 13th season, MTV decided not to renew the series, giving the official status of "on hiatus" for four years before being officially cancelled. In March 2005, Bunim-Murray Productions pitched the idea of an interactive format to the show in which viewers at home would be a part of the series, and running the series in real time in order for the viewers at home to have a say in the competition; nothing came of this concept.
Road Rules face-offs
Setting up the idea for The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, the face-offs have come to be an instrumental part of each season. The current cast competes either with a current The Real World cast who would be filming their series parallel to theirs or a former Road Rules cast, if Real World was ever out of its production season. The first official face-off, between the Islands and Boston casts gained such high ratings, that a spin-off series was begun, the ever-popular Challenges, and a pattern in most seasons where the cast would compete against another cast for a separate prize.
First Adventure - No face-off during this season. Although cast member Mark initially appeared on the Real World: San Francisco season as one of three possible replacements for ousted housemate, Puck. The housemates chose Jo over Mark.
Second Adventure vs. Real World: Miami - The Road Rules cast posed as house cleaners and stole the Miami's cast eight-ball. They did so successfully. Timmy fooled Miami's Dan and Cynthia who were obviously suspicious of the unannounced cleaning crew.
Europe - No face-off.
Islands vs. Real World: Boston - The casts competed in a series of competitions in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Prior to each event, two random people from the Boston cast were required to sit out in order for the number of people on each team to be even. The first event was to get each teammate through a web of wires. Each teammate had to pass through a different hole and could not touch the sides. The second event was to get each teammate from one platform to another using only a piece of wood that was not long enough to bridge the gap. The third event was to have all 5 teammates balance on a wooden cube at the same time. The fourth event was to have each teammate climb a wooden wall, and the final event was a tug of war. The Real World Boston won the first three events, and the Road Rules Islands cast won the final two. Syrus, while competing in the second mission, injured his shin attempting to jump from one platform to the other without using the board. The Islands crew, who desperately needed money at that time asked the Boston cast to split their winnings. The Boston cast declined to do so. They also played paintball with a team of former Road Rulers from different seasons at the beginning of their season. (Los/Christian/Devin/Effie/Michelle with special guest Timmy as a referee) The previous Road Rulers won two of the three contests, leaving the Road Rules Islands cast with only $400.
