Infamous challenges included eating horse rectum , transferring dead rats by mouth, and consuming "maggoty cheese" .
Introduced four duos competing as teams, a format that eventually became the series' standard.
Included "All-Female," "All Gross Stunts," and a Christmas-themed episode.
The season pushed boundaries with both physical and "gross-out" challenges.
Contestants performed high-stakes maneuvers such as being suspended beneath helicopters, traversing a 350-foot tightrope over a dam, and driving cars into pools.
In the season premiere, contestants had to stand for two minutes while covered by over 200,000 honeybees. Cultural Impact and Controversies