Battle of the Network Reality Stars is an American television series that aired on the Bravo cable network from August 17 until September 21, 2005. Based on the popular 1970s and 1980s television competition Battle of the Network Stars, the show consisted of thirty-three competitors from several different reality television shows. Some of the better known contestants include Adam Mesh, from the Average Joe TV series, Richard Hatch, Survivor winner, Sue Hawk, (the Survivor player who gave the infamous "snakes and rats" speech) Ryan Starr and Nikki McKibbin of American Idol fame, Evan Marriott, of Joe Millionaire fame, and Will Kirby, winner of Big Brother season 2. Chip and Kim McAllister, winners of The Amazing Race 5, also participated. Veteran NBC sportscaster Mike Adamle hosted the show and featured reality reporters Trishelle Cannatella (The Real World: Las Vegas), Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth (The Apprentice – season 1), and Bob Guiney (The Bachelor – season 4). Austin Scarlett of Project Runway made fashion commentary in several episodes.
Teams The competitors, as divided by team (per first episode structure):
+ Dark Blue Contestant Show Finish Richard Hatch Survivor: Borneo and All-Stars Lost in final challenge Ryan Starr American Idol Lost in final challenge Valerie Penso Temptation Island Lost in final challenge Burton Roberts Survivor: Pearl Islands Lost in final challenge Mike "The Miz" Mizanin The Real World: Back to New York Lost in final challenge Heidi Bressler The Apprentice Moves to Dark Blue Team episode 1Lost in final challenge Bradford Cohen The Apprentice Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4 Mirna Hindoyan The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4 Charla Faddoul The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars Moves to Red Team episode 1
+ Green Contestant Show Finish Matt Gould Joe Schmo Show Eliminated episode 6 Sue Hawk Survivor: Borneo and All-Stars Eliminated episode 6 Will Kirby Big Brother 2 Eliminated episode 6 Chip McAllister The Amazing Race 5 Eliminated episode 6 Kim McAllister The Amazing Race 5 Eliminated episode 6 Theo Vonkurnatowski Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour Eliminated episode 6 Nikki McKibbin American Idol Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4 Brian Worth Average Joe: Hawaii Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4
+ Red Contestant Show Finish Will Wikle Big Brother 5 Eliminated episode 5 Coral Smith The Real World: Back to New York Eliminated episode 5 Evan Marriott Joe Millionaire Eliminated episode 5 Melissa Howard The Real World: New Orleans Eliminated episode 5 Gervase Peterson Survivor: Borneo Moves to Red Team episode 2 Eliminated episode 5 Tina "Tina Fabulous" Panas The Bachelor Moves to Red Team episode 2 Eliminated episode 5 Adam Mesh Average Joe and Adam Returns Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4 Rachel Love Fraser The Swan Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4 Duncan Nutter Showbiz Moms & Dads Volunteered to Leave episode 2 Charla Faddoul The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars Joins Red Team episode 1 Volunteered to Leave episode 2 Heidi Bressler The Apprentice (American season 1) Moves to Dark Blue Team episode 1
+ Light Blue Contestant Show Finish Mike "Mike Boogie" Malin Big Brother 2 Eliminated episode 3 Brittany Brower America's Next Top Model, Cycle 4 Eliminated episode 3 Jonathan Baker The Amazing Race 6 Eliminated episode 3 Victoria Fuller The Amazing Race 6 Eliminated episode 3 Wendy Pepper Project Runway Eliminated episode 3 Chris Russo The Apprentice Eliminated episode 3 Jerri Manthey Survivor: The Australian Outback and All Stars Eliminated episode 3 David Daskal Average Joe 2 Eliminated episode 3Gervase Peterson Survivor: Borneo Moves to Red Team episode 2Tina "Tina Fabulous" Panas The Bachelor (season 3) Moves to Red Team episode 2
The Underdogs Contestant Show Finish Adam Mesh Average Joe and Adam Returns Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4Won final challenge Rachel Love Fraser The Swan Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4Won final challenge Bradford Cohen The Apprentice Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4Won final challenge Mirna Hindoyan The Amazing Race 5 and All Stars Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4Won final challenge Nikki McKibbin American Idol Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4Won final challenge Brian Worth Average Joe: Hawaii Voted out episode 4Returned as underdog episode 4Won final challenge
Episode summary
Episode 1 Obstacle Course – Teams Red and Light Blue advanced to the finals – winner Team Red Dunk Tank – Team Green wins with 9 points, followed by Teams Blue and Light Blue with 6, and Team Red with 1 Jousting – Team Light Blue wins (Jonathan beats Bradford to win the final point) Eliminated – Teams Green, Red and Dark Blue are forced to vote off one member each. Kim and Heidi volunteer to leave due to physical weakness, and Charla is voted out. Twist – Instead of leaving, they are forced to move to a new team based on the number they choose. Charla goes to Team Red, Kim stays at Team Green, Heidi moves to Team Dark Blue.
Episode 2 Simon Says (conducted by professional Simon Says caller Steve Max and refereed by Jimmie Walker of Good Times fame) – Team Light Blue is eliminated first, followed by Team Red; Nikki of Team Green and Richard of Team Dark Blue are the final 2 – Richard wins Dodgeball – Teams Red and Green advance to the finals; Team Green wins Swimming Relay (introduced by Darva Conger of Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?) – Team Dark Blue wins, Team Light Blue second, Team Green third, Team Red last Eliminated – Team Red has the lowest score of the day and must axe two players. Charla, who had volunteered to swim and then had to be replaced by Melissa at the last minute, agrees to leave; Duncan Nutter also volunteers to leave. Twist – As the highest-scoring team of the day, Dark Blue get to choose which two players from another team will join Red. They pick Gervase (the leader of Light Blue) and Tina Fabulous (the "spirit" of Light Blue). New arrivals – David Daskal (Average Joe – season 2) and Jerri Manthey (Survivor – Outback/All-Stars) replace Gervase and Tina for Light Blue. Light Blue was horrified that they had lost a great athlete (Gervase) and a solid competitor (Tina) in exchange for unathletic David and unimpressive Jerri.
Episode 3 Football – (guest referee William Katt) Team Dark Blue beats Team Light Blue, thanks mostly to David Daskal's putrid play; Team Green beats Team Red. Team Red beats Team Light Blue in consolation round. Team Green beats Team Dark Blue in the finals. 1) Green 2) Dark Blue 3) Red 4) Light Blue Soapbox Derby – Red (Gervase) 35.80, Dark Blue (Burton) 34.66, Light Blue (Jonathan) 44.58 (he fell off the soapbox and lost what little respect the team had for him), Green (Theo) 34.42 – Green wins Relay Race – 1) Team Dark Blue 2) Team Red 3) Team Green 4) Team Light Blue Twist The team with the lowest number of overall points for that day was to have been eliminated. Instead, a member of the third place team had to face off against a member of the lowest-ranking team, and the loser's team would be eliminated. Team Red (the third place team) were allowed to choose first, and chose Gervase. Team Light Blue (the last place team) had to choose a member of the same gender, and chose Chris, in spite of his having a broken foot. Jonathan wanted to run the race but the team had tuned him out and preferred to take their chances with someone who wasn't 100% physically. Eliminated Gervase handily beat Chris, and Light Team Blue (Jerri, David, Jonathan, Victoria, Wendy, Chris, Brittany, Mike Boogie) was eliminated. Jonathan complained about weight differences between the teams, got into an argument with wife Victoria, and was dubbed "the biggest mouth in America" by the announcer.
Episode 4 Twist – Each team had to vote out one male and female member. Team Green voted out Nikki and Brian. Team Red voted out Adam, and Rachel volunteered to leave. Team Dark Blue voted out Bradford and Mirna. Adam, Mirna and Nikki were shocked, as they were strong competitors, but their teams disliked their personalities. Bradford was well liked by his team but was voted out because Dark Blue had two of the strongest competitors in Mike "The Miz" and Burton Roberts. Mirna was presumably voted out because the team member she was most similar to athletically, Heidi, was better-liked by the team leaders than herself. Twist 2 – At the start of the day's first event, Bradford, Mirna, Rachel, Adam, Brian and Nikki arrived as "Team Underdog" to compete against the three teams that voted them out. Water Polo – Team Underdog defeated Team Red. Team Green defeated Team Dark Blue. In the final match, Team Green won. In the consolation match, Team Dark Blue beat Team Red to make third place. Mechanical Bull Riding (guest referee Ted Lange of The Love Boat fame) – Team Dark Blue won, followed by Team Green, Team Underdog, and Team Red. Coral sprained her thumb and had to stay out of the next event. Multilegged Race – Team Dark Blue won, followed by Team Green, Team Underdog, and Team Red. Eliminated – Team Red (Will Wikle, Tina, Gervase, Coral, Melissa, Evan) were eliminated. Evan said afterwards he preferred losing without Adam to winning with him.
Episode 5 Roller Skate Derby (guest referee Loretta Swit of MASH fame) – Team Dark Blue won, Team Green trailed for much of the race, but a poor performance by Team Underdog's Brian Worth allowed Green to come in second place. Underdog was third. Super High Jump – Team Dark Blue won, Team Underdog narrowly won second place and Team Green, increasingly marred by tension between Theo and Chip, came in third. Kayak Relay Race – Team Dark Blue won, Team Underdog won second and Green came in third. Dark Blue advanced to the final round and left Green and Underdog to determine which team would be eliminated next.
Finale Tug of War – Although Team Green had the advantage in physical strength, Bradford of Team Underdog had researched tug-of-war the night before the competition and his team managed to use strategy to defeat Green, who were rattled by angry outbursts from Theo and Sue. Team Green (Kim, Chip, Will, Matt, Sue, Theo) were eliminated. The final competition to determinate the winner of Battle of the Network Reality Stars was divided into four parts: Horse – Each player on each team had to sink one basketball into the hoop. The first team to sink each basket spelled out B-A-T-T-L-E and advanced to the next round. After some brief difficulty for Burton, Dark Blue won while Underdog were left with four more baskets to sink. Rachel and Bradford had some problems but the team soon advanced. Golf – Each player had to make a putt, with each succeeding player being forced to stand at a greater distance than the previous player. The first team to make all six putts spells out B-A-T-T-L-E and moves on to the next round. Dark Blue finished first while Brian and then Adam still struggled to sink their putts. Reality Results Board – Both teams had to remember which team placed where in every single one of the 40 challenges over the course of the series. Dark Blue started first, but since Underdog was made up of people who had once played on the Red, Green and Dark Blue teams, they finished first.