History and culture on 'The Amazing Race'
Dec 16th, 2004, 07:27 AM
#41
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I sure hope that someone at CBS or the production company is reading this feedback. If not, can almost guarantee there won't we an award waiting for them for this AR, nor will there be an audience waiting on the next AR. This episode has the saddest, nastiest, rudest, and foolish group of participants. Each AR has had someone that was distasteful and annoying in one way or another... but, pluuueese! Victoria should shove her fist so far down Jonathan's throat he stops breathing. Let's hope they mess up soon and they're outta there.
Dec 16th, 2004, 07:51 AM
#43
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I can't believe I did it but.......I checked out the Jonathan/Victoria web site..I can't believe I have gone to that level..what a joke he is and Victoria?..well, she's getting exactly what she's asking for. On his site Jonathan reminds me of Jessica in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.."I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way". I think I have to raise my standards, no more visiting web sites like that, ya think? LOL
Dec 16th, 2004, 08:15 AM
#44
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Zeus : I agree with much that you say. The first season was as you've described, which I enjoyed a lot more.
The teams had to make their own way from place to place and the cash they were given at the start of each leg included that with which to buy airline tickets on their own. Teams had to rely on their own smarts to get from country to country and then from place to place and many of them ended up taking very circuitous routes when left to their own devices. (So be it, I say). As a result, they were almost always travelling alone in pairs, never knowing who was ahead or behind them until they reached a pit stop. Also, they ended up being many hours apart, and towards the end of the game, even days apart. I imagine coordinating all this and keeping track of where everyone is as well as heading off to receive some teams at the next pit stop while others had not yet even checked in at the previous one must have been a nightmare for the producers which is why I suspect that they are using the current format. However, I still preferred the original format, and AR1 is still my favourite season with AR5 second.
I think that they should tighten the rules but leave the players to make more of their own decisions.
Dec 16th, 2004, 08:54 AM
#46
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OMG these 2 are sooo pathetic! Maybe me too, for checking out the web links posted here. 
Despite his many, umm... "accomplishments" in the entertainment field, Jonathan still hasn't mastered the basics of spelling and punctuation, and obviously doesn't mind showing off his lack of skill on his website.
And how on earth could IMDB, supposedly a legitimate site, publish that smarmy bio? Yuck. The person who wrote that has little grasp of the mechanics of the English language as well.
Despite his many, umm... "accomplishments" in the entertainment field, Jonathan still hasn't mastered the basics of spelling and punctuation, and obviously doesn't mind showing off his lack of skill on his website.
And how on earth could IMDB, supposedly a legitimate site, publish that smarmy bio? Yuck. The person who wrote that has little grasp of the mechanics of the English language as well.
Dec 16th, 2004, 09:08 AM
#48
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I would suspect the producers and Jonathan to have conspired to create the emotional equivalent of wrestling, except his anger just seems too genuinely reactive and hostile to Victoria.
However, I'm increasingly dubious about the things that happen that seem so accidental that change the outcome -- for example, getting the wrong opening time for the tower (in whichever episode that was in Stockholm). If you think about the false sense of urgency that comes about when contestants race for a plane only to find there's plenty of room for all -- and THEN think about the probability of that many seats being open -- and THEN think how differently other episodes come out when there aren't enough seats -- and THEN notice that the contestants are often directed to a particular ticketing agent --
---well, it suggests things have been engineered, or can be anyway.
So I'm now watching less to see how piggish and embarrassing the contestants can be and more to see where I think the producers might have poked their little fingers into the machinery to create drama or --most often -- change who is ahead, just so "it's a race."
However, I'm increasingly dubious about the things that happen that seem so accidental that change the outcome -- for example, getting the wrong opening time for the tower (in whichever episode that was in Stockholm). If you think about the false sense of urgency that comes about when contestants race for a plane only to find there's plenty of room for all -- and THEN think about the probability of that many seats being open -- and THEN think how differently other episodes come out when there aren't enough seats -- and THEN notice that the contestants are often directed to a particular ticketing agent --
---well, it suggests things have been engineered, or can be anyway.
So I'm now watching less to see how piggish and embarrassing the contestants can be and more to see where I think the producers might have poked their little fingers into the machinery to create drama or --most often -- change who is ahead, just so "it's a race."
Dec 16th, 2004, 12:12 PM
#50
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Taggie: I was about to make the same observations you did, after reading the pathetic dated notesf from Jonathan on the J&V website. Entrepreneur? He isn't even literate. Knew Victoria had been a Playboy bunny--whoopeedo!
What a pair.
What a pair.
Dec 16th, 2004, 12:53 PM
#51
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The teams were never provided funds to pay for their airline tickets, only enough currency for local use on either side of a flight. Flights were always paid for by the producers as consideration had to be made for 3 seats in that the camera-person had to fly/be with them.
Granted some of the detours and escapades have become a bit ridiculous (too many heights, under water stuff, and smelly something or other) - believe it's because they've run out of ideas. At no time in any of the programs did it take more than an overnight for a team to be late... if I recall, it was the two grandmothers in AR2 or AR3 who missed a connection. And as we saw with the hay bale rolling this episode, when teams are out after dark, Phil comes looking for them to advise that they're the "last ones" and have been eliminated.
It sure would be interesting to see some of these teams dropped off somewhere to find their own way to wherever, but we've already seen that most of the teams have no idea where they are even when they are somewhere. Seems many of them are limited with geography, history and cultures - so much for their education.
Granted some of the detours and escapades have become a bit ridiculous (too many heights, under water stuff, and smelly something or other) - believe it's because they've run out of ideas. At no time in any of the programs did it take more than an overnight for a team to be late... if I recall, it was the two grandmothers in AR2 or AR3 who missed a connection. And as we saw with the hay bale rolling this episode, when teams are out after dark, Phil comes looking for them to advise that they're the "last ones" and have been eliminated.
It sure would be interesting to see some of these teams dropped off somewhere to find their own way to wherever, but we've already seen that most of the teams have no idea where they are even when they are somewhere. Seems many of them are limited with geography, history and cultures - so much for their education.
Dec 16th, 2004, 01:34 PM
#53
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Sandi, I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that in AR1 (and AR1 only), that they were given enough cash at the start of each leg to cover airfare as well. Yes, we figured that the camera man and sound man also had to be booked on the same flight and they always were somehow (a seperate credit card perhaps ?). If not that, then maybe it was that they could pick any flight and routing that they chose to get from point A to B instead of having their options pre-selected - and pre-paid - for them as they now do. That certainly wsn't the case in AR1.
Also, in AR1, team Guido who came in 3rd place were still in Alaska doing the detour when the winners had crossed the finish line in New York. I think thats more than a night away. After the task, they opened their next clue envelope and it read that the race was over. Phil obviously couldn't be there to tell them they were eliminated.
Dec 16th, 2004, 03:18 PM
#54
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I think it would be interesting to do a race in which it was more like real travel. At the begining tell the teams that they have to visit certain locations around the world, give them a credit card with a fixed amount of money, some time to plan their route and book their flights. The host could make commentary on the choices made. No silly "roadblocks" or "detours". Yes it would be harder to film but perhaps the teams cold be given a camera to film their own progress and thoughts on the places that they see.
Dec 16th, 2004, 03:46 PM
#55
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Gavin I think some of what you propose would make a good show... BUT it would never, ever work to have the contestants film their own progress and for show producers to rely entirely on their video.
They shoot incredible amounts of footage making these shows - the editing process is a nightmare.
But they need to - if there's no pictures of something, in TV-land that means it just didn't happen. They can't just tell you about some event - they have to be able to show it.
Contestants would forget to film, or they wouldn't get the good stuff and the audio would be dismal (the crews for these shows are top-of-the-line for a reason - working on the fly like that is an enormous challenge). Nobody wants to look at POV shots all the time which is about all you'd get from contestants alone.
But I like your ideas for relying less on gimmicks and more on peoples' ability to plan and execute a trip. With the idiots they've been casting lately can you imagine the disasters that'd occur?
They shoot incredible amounts of footage making these shows - the editing process is a nightmare.
But they need to - if there's no pictures of something, in TV-land that means it just didn't happen. They can't just tell you about some event - they have to be able to show it.
Contestants would forget to film, or they wouldn't get the good stuff and the audio would be dismal (the crews for these shows are top-of-the-line for a reason - working on the fly like that is an enormous challenge). Nobody wants to look at POV shots all the time which is about all you'd get from contestants alone.
But I like your ideas for relying less on gimmicks and more on peoples' ability to plan and execute a trip. With the idiots they've been casting lately can you imagine the disasters that'd occur?
Dec 17th, 2004, 05:00 AM
#56
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taggie / gavin - Can't imagine teams taking their own video. Have you seen what some people come home with on their regular holidays. Disasters and way too many feet, skies; have to be completely edited and then one is left with but 15-minutes of anything worthwhile. The camera/audio is handled by one individual person from production - you know those cameras with those big fuzzy microphones on the front - and they shoot so much other back ground stuff.
Mathieu - sorry by can't recall each and every AR, but if the Guido's were indeed stuck in Alaska - they should have stayed there. Phil could have come back for them in the spring when the ice melted. But even that was indeed the case with the Guidos, the same with the grandmothers - an overnight.
Back to the teams paying for their flights, I don't believe it was explained to the public that the tickets were paid for by the production team - reason it was clearly defined in subsequent shows. Recall, in one AR one of the teams booked Business of First Class seats and they were penalized. Can't be done. Believe a lot of these kinks had to be worked out initially so the rules were clearly understood by the participants and those of us watching.
When putting together a program like this there is a tremendous amount of preproduction work - flight information, availablilty, even ease of getting into airports. Recall how in Senegal, most went to a TA for tickets and those at the airport were allowed in two or three at a time, not all at once. When in Tanzania and the teams had to take light-aircraft from the International airport - only so many teams were permitted per flight - oridinarily there are weight limitations on these flights, so three or four flight choices were available to the teams.
Unless something unexpected happens during this AR that turns around the viewing publics reaction, the production folks better rethink the process of the actual race, but more importantly, the selection of participants. We love the competition, but hold off on those who have temper tantrums - this is an adult show.
Mathieu - sorry by can't recall each and every AR, but if the Guido's were indeed stuck in Alaska - they should have stayed there. Phil could have come back for them in the spring when the ice melted. But even that was indeed the case with the Guidos, the same with the grandmothers - an overnight.
Back to the teams paying for their flights, I don't believe it was explained to the public that the tickets were paid for by the production team - reason it was clearly defined in subsequent shows. Recall, in one AR one of the teams booked Business of First Class seats and they were penalized. Can't be done. Believe a lot of these kinks had to be worked out initially so the rules were clearly understood by the participants and those of us watching.
When putting together a program like this there is a tremendous amount of preproduction work - flight information, availablilty, even ease of getting into airports. Recall how in Senegal, most went to a TA for tickets and those at the airport were allowed in two or three at a time, not all at once. When in Tanzania and the teams had to take light-aircraft from the International airport - only so many teams were permitted per flight - oridinarily there are weight limitations on these flights, so three or four flight choices were available to the teams.
Unless something unexpected happens during this AR that turns around the viewing publics reaction, the production folks better rethink the process of the actual race, but more importantly, the selection of participants. We love the competition, but hold off on those who have temper tantrums - this is an adult show.
Dec 17th, 2004, 07:56 AM
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Let me be a tad more specific about what I suspect re: air travel here.
If it were just a matter of money, all they'd need would be dedicated credit cards to present at the ticket counter of whatever airline.... But what I'm seeing is that (if you look carefully) they often end up in a line for a ticket agent devoted solely to the race contestants. At the very least, that ticket agent has to have been briefed by the producers about what has to happen, esp. re
hotogs, etc. Plenty of opportunities here for tinkering with things (e.g., who sits in the front, who in the back, etc.)
Take a step or two back from that by thinking about how much space is or isn't available -- and I'm thinking the producers HAVE to know well ahead of time exactly how many seats are available and somehow manage to block them out. In cases where there is more than 1 flight or more than 1 itinerary or more than 1 airline involved, it does seem very likely to me that the producers (without necessarily knowing who will show up when at the ticket counter or which airline they'll choose) are able to engineer some built-in cliff-hanging re: connections and arrivals by making sure all contestants CAN'T fly together.
I'll bet someone their Fodor pin that later episodes will have more not-nonstop itineraries for this very reason.
If it were just a matter of money, all they'd need would be dedicated credit cards to present at the ticket counter of whatever airline.... But what I'm seeing is that (if you look carefully) they often end up in a line for a ticket agent devoted solely to the race contestants. At the very least, that ticket agent has to have been briefed by the producers about what has to happen, esp. re
hotogs, etc. Plenty of opportunities here for tinkering with things (e.g., who sits in the front, who in the back, etc.)Take a step or two back from that by thinking about how much space is or isn't available -- and I'm thinking the producers HAVE to know well ahead of time exactly how many seats are available and somehow manage to block them out. In cases where there is more than 1 flight or more than 1 itinerary or more than 1 airline involved, it does seem very likely to me that the producers (without necessarily knowing who will show up when at the ticket counter or which airline they'll choose) are able to engineer some built-in cliff-hanging re: connections and arrivals by making sure all contestants CAN'T fly together.
I'll bet someone their Fodor pin that later episodes will have more not-nonstop itineraries for this very reason.
Dec 17th, 2004, 08:26 AM
#60
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On another AR web site, a poster asked the question " How long does it take to film a season of the Race ?" and another poster provided the following interesting information :
"... I got timelines a fan did with the help of former Racers and it was as follows through TAR5:
TAR1 - 33 days (At least 4 of these were due to unplanned events along the way due to everyone being new at this. One was because of a sickness from something they all ate at a pitstop. There was an 48 hour extra long pitstop in India because of some last minute visa problems with a country ahead (Thailand or China) - those things were better organized on later Races. But there was also a major sandstorm in Tunisia which you just can't control so they build in extra days now to allow for the unexpected)
TAR2 - 29 days
TAR3 - 29 days (one unforeseen shooting delay due to a one day airport strike in Morocco)
TAR4 - 29 days
TAR5 - 30 days
There are probably 3 to 4 "cushion days" now (extended pit stops) to prevent a domino effect by accidental delays. They have to hire local extra crews and adventure companies and get filming permits and add in the airline tickets for the production team (and there are a lot) that are booked well in advance of the Race. If they didn't have those days built in and they got held back with no cushion day to break the fall it would be like a domino effect and everything would have to be re-scheduled all down the line and on the fly as well.
They also are sequestered the better part of the week before they start shooting to go over rules and learn to work with the crews, get last minute shots, do pre-Race interviews etc."
