Hello and Happy November!

I’m currently freezing my ass off in -15 Celsius weather, on a work trip in Edmonton. I have a long day tomorrow, working 8:30 to 4 and then immediately hopping on an overnight flight back home, arriving at 1:30 am and still going into work the next day.

But DAMMIT, this is important! It’s the tenth and therefore last entry into my series on casting archetypes found on MTV’s The Challenge, along with similar shows like Survivor and Big Brother! If you’ve been living under a rock, the previous nine are:

Today’s is similar to the last two, in that they are more funny categories for Challengers as opposed to casting roles production aims to fill. Sue me.

Today I am discussing the Unhinged but Competent people we’ve seen on The Challenge. They are good competitors, at least physically, and found success as a result. But at the same time, they have a screw loose, or a chip on their shoulder, or are just generally unstable or wacky in some way. Typically, you need a good head on your shoulders to succeed on the show, since it’s an all-around game (mental, physical, strategic, political) and only the strong survive. But these people have proved you can excel even while being slightly unhinged.

Let’s hop to it.

Unhinged but Competent