"Amazing Race 2012" Has a Winner and a Devoted Fan (ME!)

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 Goodness, according to its web site The Amazing Race is now in its 21 season. Why haven't I seen it before?

Which could be considered my endorsement of the show although I'm not at all clear how it works. My daughter explained a "UTURN" to me but I'm not clear on the detour thing and other miniscule matters that seem to be very important.

This season there was a team that was eliminated for losing a passport. I sure understand why these contenders need a passport as they seem to have circled the globe in the most recent series in autumn of 2012.

There sure was an interesting array of contenders, none less fascinating than the winners themselves.

Josh and Brent are life partners and self-describe themselves as "goat farmers".

Heh.

Just what the heck is a goat farmer? Do they farm goats? Do they use goats to farm? Just what do they do with the goats, do not smirk?

The Sri Lankan identical twins were intriguing and I found myself often rooting for them. Alas they didn't make it to the final three but throughout the series they provided entertainment. They each liked to refer to the other as "twinnie" and they called the goat farmers "the gay guys".

I thought for sure the dating duo of Trey and Lexi would win the million bucks but Lexi, God bless she's a cutie pie but she was not up to the task of matching the words "hello" and "goodbye" to the various countries' flags that they'd visited. Sure the challenge could have been solved with a process of elimination but it helped to know a few to keep the combinations and permutations from being overwhelming.

Finally in the top three there were the two Chippendale dancers, James and Jaymes. These two fellows were quite fit and always up to the challenges. I shall always wonder if these guys shouldn't join Josh and Brent on the goat farm.

Whatever the sexual preference or marital status, none of that matters much when these folks race to find a taxi, book an airline flight or struggle to deal with a challenge.

Oh, and those challenges, goodness. Tying up a woman's corset? Plowing straight rows in a field, led by a Clydesdale horse? Fixing a windmill?

On and on went the oddball challenges but watching the contenders deal with them , enjoying the flavor of the host country, was a big -part of the enjoyment of CBS' "The Amazing Race."

We're now permanent fans here in the swamps of Delaware.


Below all posts on this Blog on this subject
.

Amazing Race 2012-It's an Emmy Winner So I Watched It. Thoughts and Predictions.


Amazing Race 2012 Begins to Heat Up With Predictions Possible. So We Made Some.


"Amazing race" airs on Sunday nights, CBS, at 8 pm.


Click here to go to this Blog's main menu and see what other TV series we're covering.

The Final Four Teams Race On: Chippendales, Twins, Goat Farmers and One Ordinary Hetero Couple

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So there were four left before this most recent "Amazing Race" -and there are still four left even though the twins came in last and didn't do their detour task. It was, as the host explained, a "non-elimination" show.

Well that's not the only thing I don't understand about The Amazing Race. I don't understand "U-Turns" and the detour thing confuses me.

At any rate, the remaining four team contenders are an interesting group. I'm still startled by the two self-proclaimed "goat farmers"-Josh and Brent, who are also life partners and who always seem to be losing.

The twins are from Sri Lanka, which means not much except they mention this at least once, often more, during each episode. The two Chippendale James and Jaymes are, well they're Chippendale dancers but I'm not at all sure what their relationship is with each other. Finally there's the heterosexual couple, Lexi and Trey. Not that there's anything wrong with this.

Given the records of these four, it would seem a good bet to go with Lexi and Trey to win this thing. I would laugh out loud should anyone suggest the goat farmers although there is that thing about rooting for the underdog. The twins do well one week than look like amateurs the next. As for James and Jaymes, I can see them coming in second with a shot at first.

But then I thought Romney would win the election in a landslide so take me with a grain of salt.

As I understand it this coming Sunday (12/9/12) will be the final episode but I can't imagine an ending with four contenders still in the thing. This is the first year I have watched this show so I've had many surprises.

I have enjoyed the challenges the teams have had to conquer, this past week they had to be a fake bull or repair a windmill, goodness. I'm not much on the eating of bugs or crappy stuff but Amazing Race contenders manage to conquer the gag reflex.

Tune in for the finale on CBS and come back here for a snarky, happening summary.


Below all posts on this Blog on this subject
.

Amazing Race 2012-It's an Emmy Winner So I Watched It. Thoughts and Predictions.


Amazing Race 2012 Begins to Heat Up With Predictions Possible. So We Made Some.


"Amazing race" airs on Sunday nights, CBS, at 8 pm.


Click here to go to this Blog's main menu and see what other TV series we're covering.

Amazing Race2012 Begins to Heat Up With Predictions Possible. So We Made Some.

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Nominee-Parent of Year

I've watched all the episodes of "Amazing Race" so far and I'm learning about such as roadblocks and detours. So far as I've been able to ascertain roadblocks must be done by ONE of the team while detours offer a choice of challenges to be joined by BOTH members of a team.

There are still some other types of reality show frou-frou featured on the show that I'm still a bit in the dark about, but "Amazing Race"is a fairly simple reality show to understand.  A bunch of contenders use the entire planet as one big scavenger hunt with challenges interspersed throughout, have I got that about right?

Allow me to write out loud as yon reader reads.

There are seven teams now left. They include:

-Josh and Brent-two "life partners" and, I'm not making this up-"Goat farmers". Who on earth raises goats? And for what?

-Natalie and Nadya-identical twins with a Sri Lanka heritage.

-Rob and Kelley-married "monster truckers"

-Trey and Lexi-dating, very young

-James L. and Abba-Professional musician and entertainment lawyer-"friends"

--Abbie and Ryan-Dating divorcees

--Jaymes and James D.-Chippendale dancers-"friends"

Jaymes and James-Chippendale Dancers

The roadblocks and detours have certainly been interesting. I am amazed at how difficult these tasks are. Building a big scale? Sewing some kind of mattress out of fresh cotton? CATCHING RATS???!!!!

On the episode aired 10/28/12 the order of which the teams arrived at the road was as follows: James L. and Abba, Abbie and Ryan, Natalie and Nadiya, Rob and Kelley, Jaymes and James D., Josh and Brent, and Trey and Lexi.

What's really interesting is that the Goat farmers (again, who farms goats?) came in last on this episode but this was not an elimination episode as announced by the show's host.

Josh and Brent-Goat Farmers

Why not?

Shouldn't all episodes have eliminations? Isn't that a big reason why people watch?

But okay, we've got seven teams left and the viewers should by now be into it all.

I wonder how these people eat, where do they sleep, do they have to carry all their worldly goods in their backpacks?

Enquiring minds want to know.

As for who might win this thing, for now, with complete right to change my mind later, I'm thinking those twin girls have the youth, stamina and determination to see it through.

For now, the other contenders fall into a blur in my scheming mind while the twin girls have consistently impressed me with their drive.

Below all posts on this Blog on this subject
.

Amazing Race 2012-It's an Emmy Winner So I Watched It. Thoughts and Predictions.


"Amazing race" airs on Sunday nights, CBS, at 8 pm.

Amazing Race 2012-It's an Emmy Winner So I Watched It. Thoughts and Predictions.

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I love "Amazing Race".

Let me say this again. I love, love, love "Amazing Race".

I have no idea why I've never watched it before.

I only began watching it this year because it won an Emmy.

It comes on at an odd time. It's not that Sunday nights are bad TV nights but everything tends to get mis-timed due to football games and this time of year we've got various playoff baseball games. I live and die by the DVR. Sunday night shows are tough to copy.

Like all reality shows, this one has some unique diversions.

Something called an "express pass" allows the holder to avoid any competition not desired and to walk around it as if having completed the challenge.

A "detour" is a challenge placed in the middle of a "race" that the contenders must compete in to continue on. Detours can only be entered by one contender of the pair.

Which brings us to the series' set up. The competition begins with 11 coupled contenders. Since I'm new to this series perhaps my astonishment over the couples would seem over the top to a seasoned Amazing Race viewer.

Twin Sisters

Goodness there's a set of identical twins, a great pair to enter this contest. There's a homosexual pair of goat farmers and that combination alone stops me cold in the description. There's a pair of Chippendale dancers, a monster trucker and his wife and a rock star and manager.

On each episode the contenders are challenged to find a final spot which will determine the order of their finish for that episode. They are given clues that lead them from one point to the other. These clues to the next destination are not simple commands. Often the first clue will order the contenders to, say, fly to Hong Kong.

Goat Farmers

The contenders must then check airplane flights, times and take-off details. It appears that the contenders are given some sort of money to get to the clue spot. This adds the challenge of getting to the locale within a specific range of funds.

I'm not at all sure about the backpacks. Everybody carries backpacks. I suppose that they must be ready to pick up and go at any time. Thus they must carry clothes and such on their backs so they can move quickly and on command. Still, the backpacks make me smile.

So these people are traveling around the planet, as I figure, flying here, taxi-ing there, running and looking for fortune tellers, engaging in challenges, looking for items in the clue, asking the natives questions, running and panting and eager to get through to the final jaunt which would have them end up in front of the show's host and to hear where they ended up in the contender placement for that episode.

Along the way the contenders can engage in express pass challenges and often have detours that can gum up the works.

In the first episode the contenders had to eat, dear Lord I had to look away-FROG FALLOPIAN TUBES!

And they had to eat every damn one of those things. It was awful to watch. Right there I'd lose that challenge.



Rob and Shiela

Even though I don't think The Amazing Race is for me as any kind of contender, it is something I very much enjoying watching.

I cannot begin to imagine the meticulous planning that goes into the logistics of that show. Bridges and roadways have to be cleared, detour challenges must be dreamed up and the characters participating in the race must be found and given their instructions.

This year the winner of the first challenge would be slotted to win TWO million dollars should they win the 2012 Amazing Race series. If this couple, Abbie and Ryan, do not win, the winning couple will then win ONE million dollars.

For chowing down on frog fallopian tubes, hell yeah, I'd take it.

Come back to this Blog as we'll be covering this series with intrigued eyes. Our commentary will reflect our intrigue.

"Amazing race" airs on Sunday nights, CBS, at 8 pm.

Click here to go to this Blog's main menu and see what other TV series we're covering.