MTV's The Challenge is one of the longest-running and most popular reality TV competitions in history, and it shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, with the addition of The Challenge: All Stars on Paramount+, The Challenge is only growing more popular with audiences and earning more fans every day.
The series has undergone a lot of transformations over the course of its 36 seasons, and naturally, some seasons of the show are more popular and well-liked than others. So with that in mind, what are the most popular seasons of the show, according to their IMDb rating average?
Free Agents - 8.2 Season Average
The Challenge likes to change up the format of the game for each season, and one of the fan-favorite game styles that has yet to be repeated is Free Agents.
The concept is simple, as each player is out for themselves, and many of the rules and caveats in Free Agents essentially negates a lot of the strategies that players have come up with to manipulate the game in prior seasons.
Gauntlet II - 8.3 Season Average
This season of The Challenge is one of the few older Challenges that actually has a full season's worth of IMDb ratings, likely thanks to it's addition to a few different streaming services.
And although it's far simpler than the Challenges of the contemporary era, The Gauntlet II is an oldie but a goodie, and if any current fans are looking for a season that perfectly embodies the old-school Challenge, this is the perfect one to binge.
Rivals - 8.5 Season Average
It should come as no shock that Rivals is one of the top-rated seasons in the show's history, as it is typically one of the most iconic formats and individual seasons in Challenge history.
The very first Rivals stood out from the crowd in comparison to Rivals II and III as well, because when this format originated for the show, the rivalries that made up these pairings were very serious and went far deeper than the social media beef that seems to fuel so many rivalries today.
Vendettas - 8.5 Season Average
To be totally honest, Vendettas largely feels like a Rivals season masquerading as a new format. However, it's also hard to criticize the fact that they repeated a concept that has obviously worked very well for the series before, and pairing up contestants who dislike each other always brings the drama along with the competition.
Vendettas works for this exact reason, it keeps the game competition high while creating the inter-player intensity that fans love.
Battle of the Exes - 8.6 Season Average
One of the most unique elements of The Challenge is that the same players often come back for multiple seasons of the series. This is how deep friendships and rivalries are formed between the players, but unsurprisingly, it also leads to a lot of romance between contestants.
Thus, Battle of the Exes seems like a natural concept for the series to explore, and obviously the results of the idea were fantastic to watch.
Dirty 30 - 8.7 Season Average
When The Challenge hit the impressive benchmark of its 30th season, as expected, the series wanted to celebrate in a big way.
The show brought back some of its most iconic contestants of all time, and while there were a few big names that unfortunately went home very early in the game, Dirty 30 put its players through the wringer and offered up some of the best entertainment in the show's history.
Double Agents - 8.7 Season Average (So Far)
Double Agents is the season of The Challenge that is currently on air, but unless things change drastically in the next few episodes, it's still poised to be one of the highest-rated seasons in the show's history.
But that should come as no surprise to fans of the series, as the reactions from viewers have been overwhelmingly positive, and the spy-themed format that allows for a constant shift of teams and alliances is a great change-up from standard Challenge fare.
Total Madness - 8.8 Season Average
Although having one steady setup for an entire season, whether it be players playing in pairs, on teams, or as individuals can be fun, it seems like fans of The Challenge tend to gravitate towards seasons where things are constantly changing.
Total Madness likely owes its success to a few things. Firstly that the configurations of teams and players were always in flux, and also because of the red skull twist that requires players to go into elimination in order to be able to run the final.
Cutthroat - 8.8 Season Average
Big team seasons have clearly fallen out of favor in the most recent seasons of The Challenge, however, the high rating of Cutthroat seems to demonstrate that under the right circumstances, fans love watching the challengers compete in teams.
Cutthroat was unique because it was a three-team format instead of the traditional two teams going head to head, and of course, it's best remembered for the moment where CT turned Johnny Bananas into his own personal backpack, arguably the most iconic moment in Challenge history.
Fresh Meat II - 9.2 Season Average
Although The Challenge has had many beloved seasons, the most popular one among fans (at least those who bother to rate episodes of the series on IMDb) love Fresh Meat II the most.
It's not hard to see why either, as this season introduced some of the most iconic players of all time like Cara Maria, Laurel, and Theresa, and was very heavy on the interpersonal drama as two huge alliances went head to head for nearly the entire season.