The Schroeders are much more promising. Their picture alone had me getting excited: the cocky gaze of Dad, the forced smile of Mom, the insincere grin of Daughter, the challenging sulk of Son. The teenagers are Dad's, from a previous marriage. Mom is described as a 'mediator'. You get the feeling that Dad will be yelling a lot. I'm sensing some possible flouncing from Daughter, and some pouting from Son. Bring it on.
The Aiellos are Dad and his three sons-in-law. Excellent. It gets even better when you learn that Dad's favourite movie is The Godfather. The boys look very similar, so the Aiello girls either have shared tastes, or don't like to stray far from family expectations. All of these pieces of information add up to what could be a very promising run.
The Rogers family contains the ubiquitous former pageant contestant (Daughter), this season's must-have for any reality show. Even better, Mom works as a pageant trainer. Everyone comes off sounding brittle, spoiled and competitive, which is of course brilliant for our twisted purposes.
The Blacks are our conveniently-named Family of Colour. Not that I wish to define them in this way, but reality shows will insist on forcing my hand. TAR goes a step further, telling us that the Blacks are the epitome of "dedication and heart" (whereas other families are "competitive and well-traveled"). Mom and Dad are high school teachers; the kids (8 and 11) are into Tae Kwon Do. Nice, grounded, and possibly dull.
The Weavers consist of Mom and three teenagers - two daughters, one son. Dad died in a Speedway accident two years ago. There's little indication of what the family dynamic might be, though they're being cast as Plucky Battlers Working Through Tragedy. An unknown quantity.
The Linz family is one of two sibling teams. Their photo shows four very attractive, bronzed, and athletic 20-somethings, wearing matching neon orange t-shirts, khakis and sunglasses - the key could be those t-shirts. There's something both endearing and creepy about them. It's cute that they wanted to look like a military unit. And it's creepy that they wanted to look like a military unit.
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.