The Amazing Race - Still the Best of its Genre: But the Itinerary's Not as Amazing as it Once Was
I love The Amazing Race, though reality shows reduce work for me and my entertainment colleagues. It's far more special than a recycled talent contest like American Idol (think Major Bowes, Ted Mack's Amateur Hour or Star Search) or a program like Survivor featuring repetitive stunts and ad nausea confabs as to whom will be backstabbed that week. That's why it's won the Reality Show Emmy six years in a row.
It's a show I'd love to do with my pal, charismatic German TV Star Andreas Stenschke (take a look at him), whose personality would clash with mine. However, program rules exclude anyone without a U.S. Passport, a lame restriction since Europeans are permitted to travel to countries Americans are prohibited from entering. Andreas and I would've had great fun and provided the show with lots of terrific segments.
I say this up front for fair disclosure, because I submit, with no sour grapes intended, The Amazing Race ain't what it used to be and doesn't accomplish nearly as much as it did in the first few seasons.
In the most recent race, Season 14 won by Tammy and Victor on May 10, the show visited eight foreign countries, didn't travel in as diversified a fashion, and wherever the teams wound up they stayed in the immediate region a lot longer than in earlier years.
The teams started in the USA and went to Switzerland for the entire episode. Day 2 was in nearby Munich where they stayed in the Bavaria area, ending up in Salzburg only an hour and a half away.
Day 3, back to Munich to catch a flight to Romania, a couple of countries over for the entire episode. Day 4 to Siberia -- finally a long distance -- where the show spent that leg and Day 5 in two Siberian cities. Then to India for Day 6 entirely in the Jaipur area.
Day 7, to Phuket in Thailand before heading to Bangkok for all of Episode 8.
Day 9, to Guilin, China for the entire show and then Days 10 and 11 were all spent in Beijing, where in the second of two episodes there were only three route markers before the pit stop.
Finally, the three teams remaining flew on the same plane from Beijing to Maui, where they responded to just three tasks, all locally based before crossing the Finish Line on the same island. My heart went out to Margie and Luke, who'd accomplished so much considering the extra challenges of a team communicating in sign language, as Luke is totally deaf.
Luke was ahead in the final Roadblock and was almost completed before the other two teams arrived, but became stymied at the end, allowing Victor to accomplish the task and head for the win with Tammy at the Finish Line. Had this happened after several elements, involving more traveling over greater distances and a trip back to the mainland as in other seasons, I wouldn't have been as bothered. Was it dramatic and good television? Yes. Fascinating to watch during the last moments? Absolutely. But one had the sense it was more of a sprint than the marathon the show is supposed to be.
Now, I'm not saying the teams didn't cover a lot of ground overall, but consider the difference between this season and Season Three.
The teams visited eleven countries, going from Los Angeles to Mexico City, (4 stops), and then traveled 90 minutes to Amacuzac. Day 2 was back to Mexico City to travel 800 miles by bus to Cancun.
Day 3, to London, then on to Cambridge and then up to Aberdeen, Scotland, all in the same show.
Day 4 they flew to Portugal and then 3 hours by train to Lisbon.
Are you getting my drift -- that it was maybe a little more involved?
Day 5, Cascais, Spain to take a ferry to Tangier in Morocco. After Tangier, they were off to Fez, 128 miles away.
Day 6, they traveled 143 miles from Fez to Casablanca, then 137 miles to Marrakesh to complete four tasks, including the pit stop.
Day 7, Marrakesh by air to Munich, before a train to Innsbruck (couple of hours), then an hour or so to Fussen, Germany.
Day 8, an hour to Friedrichshaven and 45-minute ferry to Romanshorn, Switzerland. From there to Rheinfall and then ninety minutes to Zurich. Later, an hour's drive to Lucerne and then three hours to Grindenwald and the pit stop.
Day 9 to nearby Kandersteg, then two hours to Montreux.
Day 10, an hour from Montreux to Geneva and then to Kuala Lumpur. In the same episode, three stops in that city and then seven or so hours by train to Singapore for three stops.
Day 11 from Singapore by air to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for four tasks.
Day 12 by rail to Hue (17-20-hour ride). Then, three hours from Hue to Da Nang, then half an hour to Hoi An for two stops.
Day 13 (two hour series final) back to Danang, and then by train to Hanoi (15 hours). From there to Honolulu, and then to Kauai and back to the mainland in Seattle to meet host Phil Keoghan and the other contestants at the Finish Line.
In Season Two, from the USA to Brazil, then South Africa, to Namibia, to Thailand, to China, to Australia, to New Zealand, to Hawaii all before returning to the mainland Finish Line in San Francisco. Clearly more traveling than in recent seasons.
Being on the go constantly made it more interesting, because a team arrived somewhere and, after finding a clue, would travel long distances within the same country to find the next one. Now, teams pretty much stay in the Arrival City, travel to the outlying areas and then back to the city to complete the episode.
The clue markers are too close, and the slightest misstep makes it almost impossible to catch up. In past years, because of the necessity of driving or taking a train or a plane to another locale within the same episode, any number of things might befall the players. A mistaken choice of aircraft or the delay of one, the inability to catch the right train or bus, some bad driving directions, the breakdown of a car or an idiot cab driver.
These days, navigating a locality and/or the stupid cab driver are the most common ways to screw up. Because tasks are scheduled in anticipation of air travel to the next location, almost everyone has the chance to catch up at the beginning of an episode. This makes sense, because if it became a runaway no one would continue to watch.
In addition, fast forwards, allowing a team to complete a challenge and go directly to the pit stop, are not worth what they once were and rarely save more than one or two tasks, which are usually near the pit stop. In years past, the pit stop was sometimes thousands of miles away, and the fast forward team arrived much sooner. Events in the next show prevented a team from getting unreasonably far ahead.
They also rarely have teams consisting of two strapping guys in their twenties or thirties, probably because such pairings were the winners three times in the first four seasons.
Summing up, in its current form The Amazing Race provides fewer decision-making opportunities and clocks less mileage in each episode, thus diminishing the potential for bad luck affecting the teams. What's the reason? Smaller budgets from CBS? I can't imagine what else. Plus, the season finale is an hour instead of two hours as in the past. All this said, it's still the best of the breed, but I'd sure like The Amazing Race to be as amazing as it once was.
Michael Russnow's website is www.ramproductionsinternational.com.
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I agree that this year's edition didn't live up to the standards set by some of the earlier seasons. However it's still a fine show and one of the few times I sit down to watch television (except for baseball games ).
I think my all time favorite year was when the the young hippie couple won. Rooted for them from the begining and I thought it was hilarious when the other contestants got upset because they didn't think they were intense enough. They were the only couple that kept their cool through the entire race , never once sniping at each other.
I always wondered how they smuggled their bud through customs going from country to country though :)
I'm also a fan of "The Amazing Race", and I think that part of the reason for shorter distances and fewer countries in this season is indeed economic. The other part, I suspect, might be safety reasons. In past seasons, the teams have traveled to areas that have since become less safe to travel in for reasons that can be best summed up as "political upheaval". For example, Sri Lanka used to on "The Amazing Race" itinerary--not any more.
As for this season's contestants, I liked Margie and Luke up until they U-turned a team who were so far behind to start with that there was no way that they could catch up. Their ongoing nasty comments about Jen and Kisha did nothing to raise my opinion of them, either. Until they were eliminated, I was rooting for Mel and Mike, the father/son team, who never had a nasty word to say about anyone or anything! Glad that Victor and Tammy won--Tammy, please use part of your share of the money for some assertiveness training!
the amazing race screwed up when it used China for so many of the challenges
KNOWING IN ADVANCE THAT ONE OF THE TEAMS SPOKE FLUENT CHINESE--
THAT SEEMS A SET UP TO ME.
that team did not win it fair and square
i loved this show from inception but it has lost it.
also, i am weary of the focus on the disabled team for each season
if they didn't want to do it they would not be there...
With regret, I agree. I liked the pair but the advantage they had just seemed too obvious to be ignored.
I was really hoping for Mel and Mike to go all the way. I admired Mel when he was the ONLY one to take the chance and hang-glide down that hill when the teams were in Switzerland (if I remember correctly). And for him to do that at 68??? That was beautiful.
I was happy with Tammy and Victor winning though. I like the fact that their speaking Chinese (Mandarin) didn't always give them the edge. Tammy and Victor were more "book-smart" than "street-smart". So some of the situations within the various Asian countries didn't neccessarily work out the way they (and others) may have thought. I think that humbled them somewhat.
I've loved "THE AMAZING RACE" since its first season. But yeah. The thrilling has decreased a bit. I did like the new variation on the "U-TURN" in which the team placing the "u-turn" on another team had to put their photo up. That made attitudes a bit more competitive.
I wanted Margie and Luke to win, but was fine with Tammy and Victor. As long as it wasn't the "ugly American" girl screaming at cab drivers. She was tough to take.
But yes, the final episode in particular, seemed anticlimactic. I was hoping for a 2-hour episode, where they really covered a lot of ground, and were exhausted before coming to the final challenge. It seemed like it came up so quickly.
Great show though. Makes me want to travel.
I was happy with any of the final three winning. BUT, I wonder if they spent as much time in China as it seemed. Since the bro and sis had a spoke the Mandarin, I think they had a HUGE advantage. But I liked them. Their relationship really grew during the run of the show.
See Michael Russnow's Profile
There was a technical problem and my piece was briefly duplicated, resulting in one comment going unpublished:
This is from Nij
I agree that earlier seasons/episodes of the Amazing Race was more diversified travel-wise. But I think even tv network shows are also now penny pinching, hence they had to cut short on the countries/continents they visit. I was also expecting that they'd visit a South or Central American, but I thought politically speaking and the drug wars picking up they skipped the whole continent altogether. So Season 14 was a bit sanitized.
This will be a better show when it is done interactively on google earth instead of in reality...offering interesting geographical and anthropological information along the way while not expending quite the effort, or making a nice trip into a competition.
As for this being reality program...what reality is it where people travel frantically all over the world and come away with the idea that it's all about doing it as quickly as possible in order to win some junk.
You've obviously missed the point of the term "reality show". It's really happening, not scripted. It's real people, not actors. And if you call $1 million junk, I'd like to see your paycheck!
I agree that the Race has become a less amazing. What I love is that, regardless of behavior, the eliminations are due to crossing the mat last, not because of bitchy backstabbing and a panel of 'judges.'
I disagree with EdinNJ: I think Margie has been protecting Luke far too long. Luke was all set to move on from The Incident but Margie was the one who kept bringing it up to him. I also think Margie is a good person and a great mother but again, I think she's too smothering and protective. She was usually the first to say, "I'll take this challenge." She needs to let her son fly on his own.
I think there's a stress to the race that's not made clear or spoken of. We watch the Race over two months. They do it in a couple of weeks. The don't eat or sleep well and are constantly on the go. It's rare that any team makes it the entire race without losing it. It can and has been done, but it's rare.
Then there's the editing. They edit it just like any show, to make it that much more exciting. So we, the viewers don't get the whole story.
And to Mr Russnow? Yeah you...
I watched the vid of your friend and only have one thing to say about that: I fully support lifting the passport rule to allow you two to race. Oh yeah. You'd be dubbed Team Pretty.
I agree that the show, while still good, is not as exciting as it once was, due to the shorter distances and fewer countries. Having said that, though, I am completely satisfied at Luke's demise. Despite his disability, which I commend him for overcoming to finish third, he proves conclusively that you can be disabled and be a jerk. His and his mother's behavior towards Jen and Kisha over some perceived insult in the heat of the race was terrible. Him getting pushy and her acting all hurt and angry made them very unlikeable, and probably contributed to a kharmic conclusion.
i agree, he was a complete mamma's boy- rude and unacceptable behavior- and it was weird...
i know other deaf folks who sign and would have left him in the dust
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