After getting home really late last night, I absolutely did not intend to watch the entire 2 hour premiere of The Amazing Race. But dammit if that show doesn’t suck me in from the first BOMP of the opening theme, and since I couldn’t turn it off, here are a few, brief, quick first impressions:
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This was actually the least exciting beginning of a race so far. Every previous season, the producers managed to get the audience adrenaline pumping and seamlessly flow into the opening credits with the drums and the chanting and the excitement … not this time. There was a weird stutter or something as we faded from an empty subway track to the title sequence. Luckily, this was the only disappointment of the evening.
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Reality shows often have those grating personalities who you either love to hate or are actually so annoying you just hate them and want them gone. In fact, one of those types even one the third edition of TAR. Her name is Flo, and she’s the luckiest woman alive because her partner Zach managed to win this race basically on his own; she was utterly useless. But it took all of five minutes to realize that this edition of TAR has by far the most annoying person to ever run the race, and possibly the most grating — and dare I say evil? — contestant yet: Jonathan. How the hell his wife Victoria puts up with him is beyond me. He’s not even entertainingly annoying. He’s just plain terrible, and hopefully he’ll get Philiminated (TM Miss Alli and TWoP – I encourage you to read her weekly brilliant recaps) really, really, REALLY soon. Yes, he’s worse than Flo; he’s even worse than Wil, and for those who have followed TAR, that’s saying something.
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In fact, this looks like the most annoying cast ever to populate this show, but in most cases that’s a good thing. There will be plenty of eye-rolling watching this version of TAR.
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This may also be the “prettiest” TAR cast so far. It seems that every other team is composed of models.
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Damn, do I want to go to Iceland. That is one cool-looking country. Not to mention, everyone seems drunk all the time. What could be better?
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I was kind of happy with the first elimination. I won’t give it away to those who haven’t seen the episode yet and/or plan to watch or record it on Saturday (don’t forget — 8 PM this Saturday rebroadcast), but the team that comes in last had some good moments and clever lines, but overall their schtick was going to get tired really fast.
I’m sure I could think of more, and I specifically decided not to get all detailed this time. Check out TWoP’s recaplet and read the recap when it’s posted. They’ll enhance your enjoyment of the show, even though it definitely needs no help. TAR remains the best of all reality shows, and it fact, it’s one of the best series on TV, period.
Out of Focus 