CBS Made a Terrible Mistake Canceling The Challenge USA After Stellar Season 2

CBS made a critical error canceling The Challenge USA spinoff, which merged the reality TV worlds of CBS and MTV.

Season 2 further expanded upon this, as some of The Challenge’s most memorable and entertaining stars entered the fray, immediately battling to survive amongst CBS personalities.

Despite having the likes of Johnny Bananas, Wes Bergmann, and Amanda Garcia mixed in with stars from Amazing Race, Big Brother, and Survivor, USA ended after that second season.

The Challenge USA needed to continue, as we believe there was much more life left in this spinoff concept that fans would’ve loved to see.

USA 2 Pitted The Challenge’s Heavy Hitters vs CBS Stars

While Season 1 featured only CBS reality TV stars, The Challenge USA Season 2 brought in six MTV OGs: Bananas, Amanda, Wes, Cory Wharton, Tori Deal, and Jonna Mannion.

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Their jet ski rides to meet the CBS stars on a dock were immediately memorable and set the stage for an entertaining season, including good and bad reunions between former rivals.

Those are just six individuals from MTV’s lengthy roster of characters, and the crew of CBS reality TV stars also featured several who’ve competed on The Challenge.

We got additional personalities like Survivor’s Michele Fitzgerald and Michaela Bradshaw, as well as Big Brother stars Josh Martinez, Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat, and Paulie Calafiore.

The Challenge USA Season 2 Brought The Challenge Drama

Several CBS stars also returned from the first USA season, notably Big Brother’s Alyssa Lopez, who clashed with several MTV OGs looking to take control of the game.

Survivor stars teamed up, and Bananas often points out that this was a strategically more difficult season due to MTV being outnumbered.

That CBS vs. MTV dynamic, combined with throwing an entertaining wildcard into the mix like Amanda, brought the sort of drama missing from the first season that fans enjoy.

The devil herself came in guns blazing, aiming at her two biggest targets: Tori and Michele, spotlighting a small but mighty example of what The Challenge can bring.

The Challenge USA Attracted Many More Viewers

The biggest reason canceling The Challenge USA spinoff seems like a mistake was due to losing eyeballs and potential fans.

Evidence suggests that recent installments of The Challenge failed to capture viewers like before, as Season 40, aka Battle of the Eras, had 570,000 viewers watching its finale when it aired on MTV.

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Meanwhile, CBS’s USA 2 had 1.76 million viewers at most and 1.41 million for its lowest-viewed episode, showing the network’s capability.

And that’s likely not just diehard fans of The Challenge watching, but also fans of the CBS reality TV shows who may have never watched The Challenge.

We Lost an Excellent Addition to The Challenge Franchise

CBS provided the perfect home to showcase The Challenge in all its glory, in an abbreviated format, which some reality TV fans may prefer consuming.

More seasons could have added potential cast members for the main show and more viewers to the fanbase, so it’s a shame this spinoff option was discontinued so soon.

Sadly, fans only got a tease of what could’ve become something great for many more seasons.

Do you think The Challenge USA was cut short too soon, and if it returned, what would you like to see from the spinoff?

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