Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race

Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race
Season Information
Season No.	1
No. of Episodes	26
No. of Contestants	36 (18 teams)
Premiere date
Canada	January 4, 2016
United States	September 7, 2015
Production
Creators	Tom McGillis Jennifer Pertsch
Developers	Fresh TV Inc. Elliott Animation Cartoon Network
Directors	Keith Oliver Chad Hicks

Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race is the first spin-off series of Total Drama.

Overview

The brochure described the show as follows:

Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, an action-filled, outrageous buddy comedy in which eighteen pairs of unforgettable characters are put to the mental, physical and emotional test in a frantic race around the world.

Each new leg of the race features an adventure to a new country where teams will face off against BRUTAL challenges, baffling local customs and competing teams as they frantically race to the next Chill Zone on their way to the ultimate Finish Line. They will all push themselves to the limit but only one team will win the Race and the prize of $1,000,000!

Episodes

For more information about this section, visit: Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race/Episode guide

Cast

All of the contestants and the host of the spin-off.

Eighteen pairs of two contestants plus the host of the show, Don.

Voice actor	Role	Episode count
Terry McGurrin	Don	26/26 episodes
Evany Rosen	MacArthur	26/26 episodes
Nicole Stamp	Sanders	26/26 episodes
Scott McCord	Jacques	26/26 episodes
Julie Lemieux	Josee	26/26 episodes
Stacey DePass	Emma	26/26 episodes
Stephanie Anne Mills	Kitty	26/26 episodes
Kristin Fairlie	Carrie	25/26 episodes
Jeff Geddis	Devin	25/26 episodes
Scott McCord	Brody	24/26 episodes
Dan Petronijevic	Geoff	24/26 episodes
Joseph Motiki	Ryan	24/26 episodes
Nicki Burke	Stephanie	24/26 episodes
Stacey DePass	Crimson	21/26 episodes
Carter Hayden	Ennui	21/26 episodes
Carter Hayden	Noah	19/26 episodes
Scott McCord	Owen	19/26 episodes
Neil Crone	Dwayne	17/26 episodes
Jacob Ewaniuk	Junior	17/26 episodes
Carter Hayden	Spud	15/26 episodes
Darren Frost	Chet	15/26 episodes
Carlos Díaz	Lorenzo/Rock	15/26 episodes
Lyon Smith	Jay/Mickey	12/26 episodes
Julie Lemieux	Kelly	10/26 episodes
Bryn McAuley	Taylor	10/26 episodes
Ashley Botting	Jen	8/26 episodes
Jeff Geddis	Tom	8/26 episodes
Emilie-Claire Barlow	Laurie	7/26 episodes
Katie Griffin	Miles	7/26 episodes
Emilie-Claire Barlow	Ellody	5/26 episodes
Katie Griffin	Mary	5/26 episodes
David Huband	Gerry	4/26 episodes
Adrian Truss	Pete	4/26 episodes
Clé Bennett	Leonard	3/26 episodes
Nicki Burke	Tammy	3/26 episodes

• Anne Maria, Blaineley, Ezekiel (although on a missing poster), and Chris all made cameo appearances in the final episode.
• Jasmine, Max, Rodney, Samey, Scarlett, and Topher show up in "Little Bull on the Prairie" in a clip from "I Love You, I Love You Knots" (Total Drama: Pahkitew Island).

Elimination

For more information about this section, visit: Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race/Elimination table

The process of elimination in this show is different compared to Total Drama: instead of being eliminated by a vote, the eliminations in The Ridonculous Race are automatic, as they are simply decided by whichever team is the last to reach the Chill Zone in each leg of the race. Some episodes may be non-elimination rounds, but it is never announced until after the final team has arrived. Only one team (Carrie & Devin) is eliminated in an irregular manner, despite not coming in last, when one of their members sustained injuries that were too serious to allow them to continue.

Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race elimination order

Contestant/team		Status	Rank
	Leonard & Tammy LARPers	1st eliminated in "None Down, Eighteen to Go—Part 2"	18th
	Pete & Gerry Tennis Rivals	2nd eliminated in "French is an Eiffel Language"	17th
	Ellody & Mary Geniuses	3rd eliminated in "Mediterranean Homesick Blues"	16th
	Laurie & Miles Vegans	4th eliminated in "Brazilian Pain Forest"	15th
	Tom & Jen Fashion Bloggers	5th eliminated in "A Tisket, a Casket, I'm Gonna Blow a Gasket"	14th
	Kelly & Taylor Mother & Daughter	6th eliminated in "Hello and Dubai"	13th
	Jay & Mickey Adversity Twins	7th eliminated in "I Love Ridonc & Roll"	12th
	Lorenzo & Chet Stepbrothers	8th eliminated in "Down and Outback"	11th
	Rock & Spud Rockers	9th eliminated in "Down and Outback"	10th
	Dwayne & Junior Father & Son	10th eliminated in "Little Bull on the Prairie"	9th
	Owen & Noah Reality TV Pros	11th eliminated in "Got Venom"	8th
	Ennui & Crimson Goths	12th eliminated in "El Bunny Supremo"	7th
	Brody & Geoff Surfer Dudes	13th eliminated in "Ca-Noodling"	N/A[a]
	Stephanie & Ryan Daters→Haters	12th eliminated in "Darjeel With It"	6th
	Devin & Carrie Best Friends	Evacuated[a] in "Last Tango in Buenos Aires"	5th
	Kitty & Emma Sisters	13th eliminated in "Bahamarama"	4th
	Josee & Jacques Ice Dancers	14th eliminated in "A Million Ways to Lose a Million Dollars"	3rd
	Brody & Geoff Surfer Dudes	Winners/runners-up in "A Million Ways to Lose a Million Dollars"	1st/2nd
	MacArthur & Sanders Police Cadets

Notes

^a After the Best Friends (Devin & Carrie) were medically evacuated, the Surfer Dudes (Brody & Geoff) returned to the game to replace them.

Locations

For more information about this section, visit: Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race/List of locations

Production

The show's first promo, featuring Don.

Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race was announced by Fresh TV via the Fresh TV Blog on July 1, 2014, as the first official spin-off entry for Total Drama. On October 1 of the same year, the first official character design and host of the series; Don is revealed along with the official show logo. On December 30, the first two competitors are revealed; Carrie and Devin alongside the amount of episodes (26). For the Valentine's Day on February 14, Ryan and Stephanie were revealed as The Daters to celebrate the Valentine's Day.

Fresh TV additionally revealed that the show will be formatted in terms of elimination to its base program, The Amazing Race, with the contestants competing in, and being eliminated in, pairs of two as opposed to individually. They also confirmed that a small selection of contestants from Total Drama will be competing in the series.

The Cake Entertainment page for Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race is created on June 9, 2015. Its promo image showed five new members of the cast, the old design of the host, and three returning Total Drama cast members; Owen, Noah, and Geoff. Fresh TV gradually revealed the remaining teams as well as the locations over the summer. On September 4, 2015, Cartoon Network released the first six episodes on their website. The show began premiering in the United States on September 7, 2015, with the airdate being confirmed via The Futon Critic on August 24.

Availability

Netflix

The series was added to Netflix in November 2016. Despite being a separate series, it's shown to be listed under Total Drama as the seventh season, under the name "Total Drama: The Ridonculous Race." The Netflix copies are sped up to PAL format (phase alternating line), rather than the Teletoon/Cartoon Network copies, which are in NTSC format. In November 2020, Netflix's global rights to the show were set to expire, resulting in it no longer being available on the platform. Netflix later confirmed that the show would be staying on for a little longer. But unfortunately, in February 2021, all seasons of Total Drama, including Ridonculous Race, were removed from Netflix in some regions, though it remained available in the United States and Canada until the US version and post-Action seasons were removed in February of 2024.

BBC iPlayer

The series was added to BBC iPlayer in April 2022.

Trivia

• While Total Drama is based on Survivor, The Ridonculous Race is based on The Amazing Race. Thus, many of the gameplay elements and rules of the show mirror those of The Amazing Race.
  • In addition to this, the main logo and title for The Ridonculous Race is also similar to that of The Amazing Race.
• There are no female contestants from the main series that are competing in the race. The four Total Drama contestants who are in the race are all male.
  • In addition, none of the contestants from Total Drama: Revenge of the Island are competing in the race. However, one particular contestant appears in one episode.
• Unlike Total Drama (with the exception of Blaineley), the contestants of The Ridonculous Race are of varying age.
• Counting Total Drama, this marks the second instance where a female contestant wins a season in Canada. As of "Magma Cum Laude," only four female contestants have won a season of Total Drama in Canada.
  • This also marks the fourth instance where the United States and Canada share different winners. For instance, the Police Cadets win in Canada while the Surfer Dudes win in the United States.
• Like The Amazing Race, teams will often talk about their time on the show during a montage of their moments after they are eliminated.
• Unlike Total Drama, there are several eating challenges, as well as water-themed challenges.
• The first four teams to be eliminated are coincidentally the final four teams to be introduced in "None Down, Eighteen to Go—Part 1." Had the Rockers been eliminated instead of Mother & Daughter, it would've been the first and final six teams.
• Both teams with one of the members voiced by Emilie-Claire Barlow and Katie Griffin are eliminated back to back.
• Both teams with one member voiced by Carlos Diaz are eliminated in the same episode.
• The last two teams with one member voiced by Carter Hayden are eliminated back-to-back.
• Two characters voiced by Scott McCord reach the finale.
• Counting Total Drama, this is the first time in the franchise where any contestant who returns after being previously eliminated goes on to become a finalist.
• This is the first series in the franchise to not air on Teletoon, instead airing on the Canadian version of Cartoon Network.
• Counting Total Drama, this is the first time in the franchise that Geoff places higher than Owen.
• Counting the Surfers' ending as well as Total Drama, this is the only time where all of the contestants had at some point been eliminated.
• Bridgette is mentioned by Geoff in several episodes, being at Australia for a surfing competition. Ironically, when the race visits said country in two episodes, she did not make any sort of appearance.
• This is the first Total Drama series in the franchise to not have Christian Potenza as part of the voice cast.
• This is the first instalment in the franchise since Total Drama World Tour in which the season contains 26 episodes.
• Counting Total Drama, this marks the second instance in the franchise where a contestant places the same ranking as they did in their previous season. In this case, Owen placed eighth in both Total Drama World Tour and The Ridonculous Race.
  • The first time was in Total Drama All-Stars, where Lindsay placed fourteenth twice.
• This is the second instance in the franchise where a former Killer Bass makes it to the finale, with the first time being Duncan in Total Drama Action.
• The Stepbrothers, LARPers, Tennis Rivals, Father & Son, Mother & Daughter, Fashion Bloggers, Adversity Twins, Geniuses, Reality TV Pros, and Vegans are the only teams that never got 1st place.
• This is the latest installment in the franchise to feature multiple endings. As of the reboot, only one ending was ever created.

Gallery

• Season
• Promotional material

Don introduces the contestants and explains the rules of the race.

The LARPers try (and fail) to use magic to win, making them lose in Morocco.

The Reality TV Pros are the first team to receive a penalty.

The Reality TV Pros and The Tennis Rivals appear to tie in Paris, but Gerry's foot is out of bounds sealing their loss.

The Geniuses take too long to build their sandcastle and never make it to Iceland, leading to their elimination.

In order to stay in the game, the Vegans are forced to eat meat for the first time.

The Adversity Twins and the Sisters attempt to form a temporary alliance.

After receiving a 30-minute time penalty, the Vegans fail to reach the Chill Zone in time and are eliminated.

After a short lived dispute, the Fashion Bloggers are too slow to surpass the Daters and lose the Race.

Josee discovers a new good-luck charm despite a native's warning.

The Daters break-up.

Taylor and Kelly choose to shop in the Dubai mall instead of finishing the race, and thus are eliminated.

The Rockers are the last to reach the Great Wall of China but survives for another episode.

The Goths have their true faces revealed after a sauna challenge.

Emma sabotages Mickey's performance which causes the Adversity Twins' elimination.

The Ice Dancers return the lava rock to Hawaii, ending their curse.

While the Stepbrothers finally end their long standing rivalry...

...another rivalry greatly intensifies.

The Stepbrothers...

...and Rockers are eliminated in the first double elimination round of the race.

Noah becomes heartbroken after being dumped by Emma.

Though his clumsiness leads to their elimination, Dwayne and Junior leave with a strong emotional bond.

Stephanie uses the Boomerang on her own partner.

Noah and Emma share their first kiss after he and Owen are eliminated from the race.

Kitty and MacArthur get into a rivalry in the dune buggies challenge.

Ennui's pet rabbit Loki threatens the Ice Dancers, after they cause the eliminations of its owners.

The "Axis of Evil" is formed.

Geoff and Brody leave the game after letting The Best Friends finish before them.

MacArthur carries Sanders to the ambulance after causing her fall.

The Haters become the Daters again...

...but lose the Race.

Moments after they become a couple, the Best Friends leave the Race after Devin is too injured to continue.

The Surfer Dudes are brought back into the race, to replace The Best Friends.

The Sisters share a hug after they are eliminated.

The Ice Dancers are finally eliminated during the midway point of the finale.

The Surfer Dudes beat the Cadets to the final Chill Zone and win in their ending.

The Police Cadets beat the Surfer Dudes to the final Chill Zone and win in their ending.

Don signs off the first season of The Ridonculous Race.

An alternate logo.

The teams and their names.

Premise of the show.

Three episodes' descriptions.

Full lineup of Don, a flight attendant, and the contestants.

A teaser featuring The Reality Pros, Geoff, and Junior, as well as early designs of Brody, Don, Dwayne, and the Goths.