In which your hostess, teletart, indulgues in shallow conjecture, based entirely on pictures and those snappy little bios on network websites. Because snide shallow conjecture is what reality TV is all about!
I came late as a fan to The Amazing Race. I just didn't understand. I thought - yes, you can laugh at my foolishness now - that it was about teams racing round the world in pursuit of clues and rewards. I'm blushing just typing those words. Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids!
Of course The Amazing Race, or TAR, as I like to call it, is all about the strain and disintegration of relationships. Specifically, the disintegration that happens when there are two of you in a car and in a place you aren't familiar with, and you're both tired and ratty, and only one of you has a map. You know what I'm talking about. I can feel the bile rising from here.
So I wasn't sure how to feel about TAR announcing that Season 8 would be a family edition of the show. While families are the original source of all barely suppressed rage, would they provide as many fireworks as pairs? With three other people to pour the loathing on, instead of just one, would the irritability focus be split? Would their in-car behaviour be less dramatic, thanks to years of practice? Or would they crack under new pressures?
Only time and the 27 September premiere will tell. Until then, let's resort to our old friends: Generalisation Based on Website Info, and Catty Conjecture. Remember, we're not looking for the nicest family on the CBS website - we're looking for the most explosive. That's the mud that reality TV has dragged us into, and I'm going to relish getting dirty...
The Gaghans are a 40-something couple with two children, 9 and 12. They're very glowy and All-American, standing in front of a lovely Connecticut home. The couple runs marathons regularly. The kids are athletic and well traveled. Dad wants TAR to show them the value of working together as a family. So yeah, I'm pretty much already against them.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Excellent job teletart!
I've never caught on with TAR. I interviewed one of the Situation: Comedy writers this week, who mentioned that TAR is the realest of reality shows...
2 - Natalie Davis
TAR rocks. It's educational and the winners tend to be well-adjusted, nice, focused, and hardworking people who actually deserve to win. Of all the reality shows, this one is the best. And yes, that can be seen as damning the show with faint praise, but TAR, unlike most of its kin, really is a worthwhile program.
3 - parker
great post! Makes me quite anxious to start the season.
4 - teletart
Thanks for the comments! I will say that much as I love TAR, it does take longer to get going each season than other reality shows. In the tedious first weeks it seems that you're only watching the endless repetition of one task by different teams. It's better once there have been some eliminations and more tasks can fit into each hour. And once it's goin' - oooooeeeeee!
5 - Rob
Anyway to get in contact with past amazing race members? Particualy Kris and Jon...
6 - Matt
I just want to find the song they used in the final episode of TAR1. I have no way of contacting CBS, and their website is about as helpful as AOL.