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PremiereWatch '07: 'The Amazing Race'
How does that old cliched bumper sticker go? Your worst day fishing is better than your best day working? Well, I've never been a fishing guy myself, but I can say with certainty that your worst day watching The Amazing Race is better than your best day watching Viva Laughlin.
Sunday (Nov. 4) night's premiere of the 12th installment of CBS' Emmy-winning juggernaut wasn't really the best The Amazing Race has to offer. The locations weren't so exotic, the challenges weren't so thrilling and I'm not sure if I've necessarily found more than one or two teams to root for and two or three teams to root against. But darned if it isn't nice to have The Amazing Race back where it belongs.
[I'm sorry to say that the last reader to arrive at the conclusion that this recap contains spoilers will be eliminated from the Race.]
Titled "Donkeys Have Souls Too," the premiere revisited that ever-popular Amazing Race theme of divine retribution or, put even more simply, karma. There's a school of thought -- not one I subscribe to, incidentally -- that more than brains, brawn or speed, The Amazing Race rewards the contestants who compete the right way and punishes the contestants who lie, cheat or deceitfully cut corners.
If you're a student of the Karma School, Ari and Staella were the first team eliminated on Amazing Race 12 because they stole a taxi cab reserved by another team at an Irish airport, so everything that followed was a fruit of that poisoned tree. Of course, if you believe that, you probably also believe that something ill must have befallen the Irish cabbie, who couldn't be bothered to actually ask the names of his charges to check against his reservation chart.
My own feelings about karma when it comes to The Amazing Race are summed up like this: The last installment, the All-Stars edition, was won by Eric and Danielle, two players who weren't the smartest, strongest, quickest or most honest. They didn't win by skill *or* karma, but rather by the force that truly fuels The Amazing Race -- pure chaos or entropy. Ari and Staella were eliminated not because they broke a mirror and spilled a salt shaker but because they got a donkey that wouldn't move and they didn't know how to make it move (threatening to cut the donkey up and eat him probably didn't help). That they were annoying and made one shady decision had little to do with it. While Staella had the potential to be hot, I'm not going to miss Ari's Mario Cantone-lite shtick.
Since I have a lot of little observations, but very few grand themes to discuss, let's go to bullet-points early.
Thoughts on this week's episode:
What'd you think of the first episode? Any favorite teams? Any teams you're looking forward to rooting against?
Just for the record, Daniel, there was no detour, unless I REALLY spaced out.
The lack of objectionable qualities makes for a premiere that covered (at the very least) a wide range of different tasks: the "cool" bike ride, the "karma" donkey task, and a lot of physical running/biking. It made for at least a nice range of activities to see what breaks who (Answer: Nathan/Jennifer broken by running and donkeys, Lorena and Jason by driving, Stealla/Ari by Donkeys, etc.)
Myles | Nov 4, 2007 9:13:17 PM | #Myles- Nope. You didn't space out. I spaced out in my recap...
I think I'll fix that now...
-Daniel
Daniel | Nov 4, 2007 10:18:21 PM | #Another season of tuning in at 8 0'clock to watch Amazing Race (on the east coast) only to find out you are in the middle of 60 minutes. Because of Football. Would it kill them to start the game a little earlier. I truly don't know how CBS's Sunday night shows stand for it! I noticed Without a Trace has moved itself out of Sunday's "very very late show contention. It has got to affect the ratings. If my DVR fails on Sundays I'm screwed. It is a big pain in the butt... And I wish more people would complain. I haven't seen the show yet to comment on it... just had to vent to someone!
Jim from NJ | Nov 5, 2007 6:02:59 AM | #A bit of a blase opener, found a couple of teams to like a couple to dislike. Once again too many dating couples out to test their relationship. Sooooo glad Ari and Staella went early...so annoying.
Really happy to have the Race back.
I liked the Asian father/daughter team, he had some funny comments and TK and his partner probably the best so far.
The DOnkey stuff was laugh out loud funny. When that one donkey kept braying my little dogs head shot stright up and they were glued to the TV. That cracked my wife and I up. And I'm glad that team got eliminated and almost wish both teams that had donkey troubles did. I didn't see much redeaming from either.
Shanna is Ryan Seacreast"s girl friend. He can pay for her million dollar shopping sprees.
And the donkey test, was cleverer than it seemed because donkey's don't tolerate as*es very well.
| Nov 5, 2007 9:26:38 AM | #so glad to have AR back. the father/daughter team is probably my favorite so far. his singing while on the bike cracked me up....
...but nothing compared to how much i laughed during the donkey segment. GREAT TV.
I wonder how long the other teams will refer to Kynt and Vyxen as "the freaks". I hope that after getting to know them a bit that won't be the name they use to refer to them.
steph | Nov 5, 2007 11:20:13 AM | #I strongly suspect bleeding-heart PC viewers are a lot more bothered by Kynyty and Vyxysyny being called "freaks" than they are. After all, their entire being is wrapped up in being freaks. It defines them. It's what they are. And if you go through life and the worst thing you're ever called is "freak," you've lived a happy life indeed.
Tego Livi | Nov 5, 2007 12:14:14 PM | #The fact that someone would name herself "Vixen" is lame enough; the fact she spells it "Vyxsin" elevates it to unintentional self-parody. Happily for her, she found an equally insecure, attention starved companion (can you call him a "boyfriend"?) who also rebels against authority by spelling his own name with a "y". How alarmingly subversive.
Chris | Nov 5, 2007 12:32:41 PM | #I think the brother/sister team Azaria and Hendekea are a little too close for comfort. I missed their introduction so when I saw them later, it seemed to me they were one of the dating couples.
Freaks will be interesting in other countries. I really don't think the name "freaks" bothers them but I think they would embrace it.
Kyent? His running was the funniest thing - actually it reminded me of er . . . prancing, thus you have Prancer and Vixen!!
PCrest | Nov 5, 2007 1:23:07 PM | #I am a fan of all things subversive (hence the screen name I use on this site), but still...of all the Goths I've known, met, had sex with, etc...not a one of them had anything kind to say about the color pink. For the two faux-goths (I refuse to honor them by capitalizing their version of it) on this season's AR, I have only to say this...Marilyn Manson wants to physically abuse you during his next world tour. As for the rest of the field, I don't feel much love for anyone just yet, as they all seem too collectively dull to say much about. The lesbian ministers (and oh, don't they make my own minister father just chew iron bars and spit out nails) just seem along for the ride, the Asian father/daughter team seem straight out of central casting (with all the stereotypes regarding that pairing firmly in place), the black siblings--the brother, in particular--seem too high-strung to be worthwhile, and the rest are little better than watching a casting call for the remake of Gilligan's Island. True, this is just week one, and I'm sure things will get better, as they always do on AR, but still...this is the only season (even during the family version) where I've felt pretty much yawn-y about the whole group. And as for the late-running football, I have only this to say: as long as folks continue to watch it and continue to accept the overrun that inevitably happens, nothing much will change. CBS knows that people have been putting up with this crap since the Heidi incident, and they're not about to change tune now that folks have gotten used to the song. Things in network TV are so slow that they often seem to be crawling in reverse, so I doubt you'll see the Sunday shows starting on time as long as people just watch the programs and go, "Eh."
Dark Disciple | Nov 5, 2007 2:03:57 PM | #Football & Tivo Season Passes do not get along at all. So I only got to see the first 1/2 of AR last night. What aggravates me the most is that CBS doesn't show AR full episodes online. Couldn't they at least have an online version for the thousands of dvr owning AR fans?
Austin | Nov 5, 2007 4:26:43 PM | #So good to have the Race back on the air! Part of what makes this Reality show so worth watching is not having the public vote on the outcomes. It is what it is. And as Daniel points out, that's often decided by Chaos.
Why oh why have they never had a reunion show? I'd love to reminisce and compare the past shows.
Anyway, my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed this season's opener. We thought the challenges were different and fun, and the locale was great. Everyone is pretty much on the same plane; we're looking forward to seeing which duo ultimately breaks out of the pack. Yay, Race!
DD, I wondered about Goths and pink myself. Don't think K & V are as weid as they'd probably like to think they are and think they are amusing enough to have around for at least a few segments.
The donkeys were wonderful especially the one that brayed his opinion so clearly. Though Daniel is right that chaos/chance plays a big part in TAR, I don't think the donkey results were entirely random. Donkeys are ever so much cleverer than horses and respond to the way they are treated. Annoying, rude people get unresponsive donkeys.
meggins | Nov 6, 2007 12:37:44 PM | #
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