I have never seen the original "Challenge" but I was drawn to the "Challenge: USA" spin-off mainly because of the participation of several "Survivor" players. The show seems to be a chaotic blend of social, strategic, and physical elements from other game / reality shows such as "Survivor" (duh), "Big Brother", and "Fear Factor". To be honest, strategically it doesn't measure up to "Survivor" and the challenges, although enjoyable, are not as outrageous as those of "Fear Factor", but the show is fun anyway, and because soooooo many factors go into lasting long and ultimately winning, from skills to social play to pre-game bonds to just pure luck, it is very unpredictable. There are also some clever editing tricks. Beware that it does spoil many previous "Challenge" seasons, though, so if you want to get into that show from the beginning, this is not a good starting point by any means; if you are more of a "Survivor" fan looking to expand your horizons, it is. 7/10.
