(Photo: James Stack/NBC)
Another group of car enthusiasts won’t get a chance to fulfill their childhood dreams. Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge has been cancelled, so there won’t be a second season of the NBC show. The first season’s 10 episodes finished airing in August.
A competition series, the Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge TV show is hosted by car aficionado Rutledge Wood and inspired by Mattel’s Hot Wheels toy car collection. In each episode, two car superfans enter the Chrome Zone, where they will face off, transforming an ordinary vehicle into the life-sized Hot Wheels of their dreams, inspired by personal stories and pop culture touchstones. The two superfans, working alongside a team of automotive magicians called “The Car Pool,” create their designs in high-tech, decked-out garages. The winner of each episode takes home $25,000 and the chance to get into the season finale competition. In the finale, three lucky finalists transform another car in hopes of winning a legendary prize — an additional $50,000 and the honor of having their design made into an official Hot Wheels die-cast car.
Airing on Monday nights, the first season of Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge averaged a 0.26 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 1.70 million viewers in the live+same day ratings (including DVR playback through 3:00 AM). The show was NBC’s lowest-rated series in viewership last summer.
What do you think? Have you watched the Hot Wheels TV series on NBC? Are you disappointed the competition series was cancelled instead of renewed for a second season?