YMMV / Road Rules

• Once Original, Now Common: Road Rules was one of the first ever competitive reality series that also put emphasis on "extreme" challenges a good decade before Survivor aired and would later codify many of the tropes now associated with reality TV. Road Rules tried to catch up by adding more of those commonplace tropes (Voted Off the Island, Eat That, etc), but to no avail.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • One of the cast members of the fifth season was Jonathan (then "Jon") Holmes, who would later become notable as a writer and show host for the gaming website Destructoid.
  • David Giuntoli was a cast member of season twelve ("South Pacific") eight years before he played Nick Burkhardt.
  • A 1998 season of "Road Rules: All-Stars" had Real World alum visit the Groundlings improv studio in LA. They worked with Frau Farbissina, Cheryl David, and Stiffler's Mom.
  • Kit Hoover briefly appeared as a contestant on season one before becoming famous as co-host of Access Hollywood.
  • Season 10 ("The Quest") had Blair Herter as a cast member, years before he was known as a G4TV personality and host.
• The Scrappy: The first season had Carlos "Los" Jackson, who was hated for his casual misogyny and his Entitled Bastard tendencies.
• Seasonal Rot: Seasons one and two were good, but seasons three through five were largely forgettable fare. Seasons six and seven, however, revived the show, with season six (Road Rules Down Under) being considered the high point of the series. Then they retooled the show to stick it on a boat with season eight and the show became more "Fear Factor"-esque until it was put out of its misery.

---