TAR Suggestion Box

[Nijntje]

Now that we know what next season is all about, can we balance it out with a season with only family members? (Not family edition). I'd like a season that has no married or dating couples. Instead, every team would have to be parent/child, siblings, or cousins.

[TheRabbi]

If the show needs gimmicks for its themes now, I'd be absolutely ok with them copying a former Survivor season and doing a Fans vs. Favorites.  5 or 6 winning teams (or 2nd or 3rd place teams such as Colin and Christie, Rob and Amber, Misti and Jim, etc that were dominant but didn't win) vs 5 or 6 teams of high-level fans.  It surely would be a hell of a lot better than the the theme we're going to get in February.

[goldeneye]

Now we've had a double elimination before (Season 19) - how about start the race with more teams (15 to 20), but make it with more multiple eliminations (yes, triple-eliminations or even quadruple-eliminations!) and multiple speed bumps (last 2 to 4 teams in a non-elimination leg will need to run the speed bump).

 

Add a twist to the U-turn and make it a multiple U-turn (up it to a triple or quadruple U-turn) - a roulette U-turn - basically, if one elects to use the roulette U-turn, put your team as the team who is using the U-turn first and then activate the roulette - programming would be required so that the roulette doesn't land on the own team or a team already U-turned at the same U-turn (if said U-turn is a double (or multiple U-turn)).

[DB in CMH]

I like the show as it is now. The nadir for me was the non-elimination strip, which had teams begging for money. Nothing could possibly be worse than that. Some improvements I do like:

 

• 4 teams in the final episode
• Phil showing up at at least one of the detours/roadblocks while the teams race through. It gives the show more of a "live" feel.
• I like the speed bump post non-elimination. It's better than the alternatives.

 

That said, I would like better casting. They should look at who they casted in seasons 1-5 to see why they were unique. It's been a long time since they've had a team like The Bowling Moms, or Charla and Mirna (they're irreplaceable, and a good reason why TAR did not get cancelled way back when). I know that we assume they cast for ratings, but none of their casting has shown any bump in the ratings, so go back to what you did so well before.

 

Now we've had a double elimination before (Season 19) - how about start the race with more teams (15 to 20), but make it with more multiple eliminations (yes, triple-eliminations or even quadruple-eliminations!) and multiple speed bumps (last 2 to 4 teams in a non-elimination leg will need to run the speed bump).

 

 

While I like that idea in theory, it's really hard to follow 11 teams in the first few episodes - I can't imagine there being more. It's not like Survivor where you can show people hanging out together or not focus on a castmate - TAR is more individualistic, and they all have to get some screen time. Budgeting is also a concern - I think that would be the primary factor why not.

Edited May 9, 2015 by DB in CMH

[absolutelyido]

Although I didn't really like the 'blind date' aspect this season, I think it was interesting to see people who don't know each other racing together. I think it would be interesting if they had couples all ready to go on the starting line, and then at the last minute switched it up so you didn't race with your spouse, friend or sibling you thought you were going to race with, but were paired with someone from a different team. They couldn't have couples switch partners or the 4 would just work together, but do something like the following:

 

If the original couples were: Couple A (members A1 & A2), couple B (members B1 & B2), couple C (members C1 & C2), etc. Just before the race, they tell A1 they will be racing with B1, A2 will be racing with C1, B2 will be racing with D1, C2 will be racing with D2, etc.

[Fukui San]

There was a kids' reality show a few years back called "Endurance" which matched together kids (13-16 I think?) who were strangers into boy/girl teams of two. The first challenge of the season would match them together due to merit, in some way. I remember a game in which a ball was launched into the crowd of kids, and that the first boy and first girl to grab a ball became team #1, the second ones became team #2, etc. until 7 teams were formed. I think there were a few leftover kids who were eliminated right then and there. If they ever have to have teams of strangers on TAR, I think this sort of match by undergoing a challenge would be more palatable. Some sort of geography or needle in the haystack starting challenge, and the first two to complete it become team #1, etc.

 

Of course, I'd prefer a normal season to that. 

[Lingo]

For some reason I started playing around on Google Maps this evening, and wondered what the longest possible direct automobile route Google Maps can plan for you (e.g. directly from City A to City B, with no pre-set intermediate destinations).  I came up with a route that goes from L'Algulhas, South Africa, to Magadan, Russia.  It's a 337-hour drive (14 days) and 14,869 miles (23,929 km).  Now, can you imagine a season of the Amazing Race in which they had to take that route, exclusively by car? This is purely fantasy, of course. That particular route would be too dangerous -- for anyone really, and Americans in particular (it goes straight through Iraq and Iran, among other places). But a really long car trip through many exotic foreign countries (this route has at least 17) could be an interesting diversion from a typical TAR season, even if it didn't go all the way around the world.

 

Or how about from the tip of Alaska to Tierra del Fuego? Google Maps won't plan that one directly, apparently because not only does it refuse to to plan a trip that crosses a Colombian border, but also because apparently no roads exist between Colombia and Panama (!). But you can Google Map out routes from Homer, AK to Yaviza, Panama; from Necocli to Ipiales in Colombia; and from Tulcan, Ecuador to Punta Arenas, Chile.  Adding those together produces a trip of 265 hours (11 days) and 13,423 miles (21,602 km).

 

Or if you could somehow get a car from Magadan, Russia to Homer, AK (or from Puntas Arenas, Chile to L'Algulhas, SA), you could do a season with both!

[ozlsn]

TAR Australia vs. New Zealand was a total failure, so... not going to happen.

 

 

I think the major reason TAR Aus v NZ failed was not because of a fundamental problem with the idea but the way it was implemented in an Aus v NZ context. The biggest problem was that Australia and NZ are too similar to create any real tension based on cultural difference. A US v Canada version could work though because there are subtle but fundamental cultural differences that could really play into the way the race is played and create genuine tension.

 

I didn't think NZ vs Aust was a total failure, but it wasn't the best season ever.  I actually probably would have liked it if they hadn't tried so hard to ram the "look! Aussies vs Kiwis!  Ooh!" down our throats Every. Single. Time.  Also starting the race with "Racers ready?  Set?  Now let's all stop and do a tug-o-war..." really killed the suspense the first episode.  If they'd just run it as a race without some of the national competition bullshit I probably would have liked it better (also if that Melbourne team had gone out earlier and if some of the casting had been a bit different.  As pretty much always then.)

 

I've been thinking about how the Express Pass and now the Save end up going to strong teams that really don't need them. I  think it would be interesting if every team got an Express Pass right out of the gate, one get out jail free card to use when they wished. That would bring in some of the strategy that used to be involved with the Fast Forwards back in the olden days.

 

I really like this idea, especially seeing as they appear to have finally killed off the FF after neutering it badly.

 

I really like this idea.  However, a big part of the drama of the Race is seeing a team struggle with a hard task (especially if they choose the wrong person to do a roadblock).  Also, what if several teams still have their Express Pass on the last leg they can play it? It could drain a lot of the drama out of the episode.  Maybe they should have a rule that only one team is allowed to skip any particular task.

 

Agree that only one EP should be able to be used per leg, which would also contribute to the strategy side.  Do we switch Detours, or keep struggling or burn the EP now... could be interesting.  I wouldn't mind the Save being the first leg reward, but only if the conditions include that once it's played, it's played regardless of whether it was an NEL or not.  That was very poorly thought out in S25.

 

I would love a rule that the racers are not allowed to use or even touch a computer, smartphone, tablet, etc. They can ask locals for help, and the locals can look things up for them, but they cannot use any of these devices themselves.

One team in a cab using, I assume, the driver's phone to give the driver directions, bugged me. I liked it better when they had to rely on luck that they find a driver who knew the location.

 

I think the problem is that smartphones have become so ubiquitous that it's impossible to avoid them really. 

 

One thing I would like them to do with the product placement car leg is have to put in GPS co-ordinates to get directions.  And then have to follow the map with the labelsand directions in Chinese or some other language.  I think that would be awesome somewhere like Singapore or Japan for example. 

 

As to finishing cities... I'd kind of like them to do a penultimate leg somewhere that gives more options for returning to the US.   If they do have to go through LA or NY then maybe have them arrive in the middle of the night/extremely early and have things they can do which are still open?  The stadium challenge from the end of this season could have been done at night for example. 

 

As to returning teams... no one out of the season that Dave and Connor won.  Worst season ever for me, was excited for the first couple of minutes with the brass band and then all the teams came out and it was all meh. 

 

If they did do another All Star I'd like the first say 5 legs to be on the 12 hour pitstop basis and then maybe have a few extended pitstops.  Yeah I know it's an OH&S issue for the crew, but I'd like to see how some of these later season teams cope with the conditions that Flo was under. ;-)

Edited June 6, 2015 by ozlsn

[lianau]

Agree that only one EP should be able to be used per leg, which would also contribute to the strategy side.  Do we switch Detours, or keep struggling or burn the EP now... could be interesting.  I wouldn't mind the Save being the first leg reward, but only if the conditions include that once it's played, it's played regardless of whether it was an NEL or not.  That was very poorly thought out in S25.

 

And the Save has to be played before Phil tells a  team their placement .

[Lantern7]

In regards to the Double U-Turn . ..  I have two suggestions:

1. If a team is U-Turned, they must complete the second task before being allowed to come back and potentially doing the same to another team.

2. Once the U-Turn is used the first time, the second team cannot put up the team that activated the first U-Turn.

I'm not a fan of Brodie & Kurt, and I'm okay with Burnie & Ashley's tactics, but I feel the Frisbee Bros got a little hosed.

[possibilities]

I've noticed there have been a lot fewer needle in haystack type tasks lately. I think this is good, but it does show how those tasks added a lot of drama and a bit of a wildcard element to the proceedings. I think they need to also add more tasks that require some kind of endurance. Everyone is completing the tasks very quickly, with little skill or challenge or variability on the part of the teams. There are more footraces, but it's because no one is really taking much time on any task, it's all stuff almost anyone can basically do with just a small margin of variability. Long drives with self-navigation, or tasks that inherently require a lot of time and a bit of strategy (even just counting 100 items accurately or putting together an actually difficult puzzle), are where the order gets shuffled, and teams with different skill sets have a chance to actually demonstrate their chops. I feel like there is not much other than just showing up and powering through that's happening anymore, and it's making everything more boring.

[Hera]

I've been watching some of the older seasons and I really miss some of the strategy that comes from arranging flights and think the most recent season could have used more self-navigation. Also count me in as someone who likes the tasks that require some thought—or physical skills other than "be able to carry heavy things". I love the final Roadblock from Season 12 and wish they'd have more things that involve and logical element. I also feel like there are good challenge opportunities in countries where the language isn't written using Latin script—make them sort books in a library or find the sign for the town they're in. These things can turn into needle-in-the-haystack challenges for some teams, but will reward teams who actually do engage with the local language and culture.

[Fukui San]

A story on Pokemon Go which noted that one of the refreshing things about it is that it brought gamers out of isolation into the real world got me to thinking: What other game is interactive with the real world?  Why, Amazing Race, of course! 

So, I predict/suggest that there will be an augmented reality Amazing Race Game APP with courses laid out in different cities. It tells you how much money you need to have, and if you need a car. You get a clue at a certain time which tells you to go to the next checkpoint. Once at the checkpoint it tells you what you have to do, etc.  The activities have to be either public or cleared with the businessowner in advance.

Eventually you get sent to the finish line, where you get Phil checking you in overlaid over the camera image in augmented reality instead of a Pokemon, telling you how you did. 

Imagine having that as a vacation option? Clearing a day out of your four day New York trip to do an Amazing Race adventure? If real TAR doesn't make it someone should make a knockoff.

[Hera]

Urban Adventure Quest is a bit like that, minus the augmented reality part. I'm sure there is a lot of scope for more like it, though.

[Kanaloa]

Seeing as Big Brother 19 will air exclusively on CBS All-Access, TAR 29 should as well.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Kanaloa

[Lantern7]

The structure of U-Turns this season is bugging me. I posted "rules" for that on Facebook, and I'd like to share.

1. The U-Turn (henceforth known as "UT") shall be regarded as a necessary evil by viewers. Without it, CBS would have one more reason to dump the series  and double down on Big Brother and/or Undercover Boss.

2. The UT shall be positioned after the Detour, not before. Roadblocks would also work; I'm surprised the producers haven't thought of that.

3. Once a team performs a UT, that team is forbidden to do that for the remainder of the season. Violations shall be met with penalties.

3a. I would allow leeway on Blind UT, since nobody is supposed to know who performs it. Wink, wink.

3b. I don't think the potential loophole for teams with an Express Pass should be closed.

4. In a Double UT, the team that performs the first UT cannot be "Turned" by another team in order to block other teams.

4a. Once again, I'm willing to make things less strict on a Blind UT.

5. Once a team has been Turned, they must perform the other Detour task. Once they return to the Route Marker, they can commit a UT if the option is still open.

[Lamb18]

I think a double Roadblock would be interesting. Both members of the team have to complete the Roadblock, but do it consecutively, not both at the same time. I actually would like this better than the U-Turn because I think the double Roadblocked team would have a better chance of not being last and there would be more suspense about who's last to the mat.

[Ducky]

17 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

I think a double Roadblock would be interesting. Both members of the team have to complete the Roadblock, but do it consecutively, not both at the same time. I actually would like this better than the U-Turn because I think the double Roadblocked team would have a better chance of not being last and there would be more suspense about who's last to the mat.

 

I think they actually did something similar to this a while ago. It was a team who had to do a speedbump then went to the roadblock and found that they BOTH had to do it and not at the same time.  I'm racking my brains at who it was- was a all male team- that much I remember.

 

Aha.. Tanner & Josh of TAR 27 but the TAR Wiki says this:

Josh also had to complete the roadblock to complete his Speed Bump. However Josh's performance is considered to be a Speed Bump task, not a Roadblock task

[Fukui San]

OK, putting my ideas on this thread instead of the redundant "Fix the Show" topic. I don't think the show needs to be "fixed" as much as it just needs to be "refreshed".

The winner of each leg gets the option of two different prizes. Some are out of game prizes (Money, a trip for two to Jamaica, etc.) and some are in-game advantages.  Some of the in-game advantages are clear, like the Express Pass that lets you skip a task, extra money to spend during the race, a chartered plane for the next leg, or a phone that lets you call for help once. Some of the in-game advantages are not clear, objects that may be useful in future tasks. In the case of this last season, it could be that dragon key that took so long to find in a task in an early leg, or two little rockets that could be used to substitute for the two of the big rockets they had to carry around in Norway. All of these advantages are hidden, so teams do not know what advantages other teams might have after a while.

Coming in last in an NEL means you lose whatever in game advantages you've accumulated.

No more intentional U-Turns. Now the U-Turn becomes a checkpoint you reach after the Detour.  Every team has to take a tag that either says "Proceed" or "U-Turn". There are two "U-Turn" tags on the board, so two teams have to do both Detours. However, the first team to take a U-Turn and finish gets a prize as described above, so it's possible a frontrunning team might opt to take a U-Turn to get an extra something. Most of the time I would expect the two last place teams to have to do the U-Turn for a duel to stay in the game, but if you're way ahead you might chance it. We lose the boring hemming and hawing about the morality of U-Turning someone.

The Fast Forward. It's not within their budget to do a Fast Forward on each leg like they did in the first few seasons, but they could have more teams use it. Set up three legs with Fast Forwards. In the first of these, have the three teams able to use the Fast Forward (the first three teams to finish the Fast Forward). In the next FF leg, have two teams able to use it, but no team can do the Fast Forward twice.  By the time the third FF leg comes around there may be only a few teams who are FF eligible. Have only one team able to do the Fast Forward on that leg. In each case we may still see fights on which team gets to get that last FF.  We get possible races to the finish for first place on the early legs. We have some teams deciding early on to forego the FF in order to save it for later. 

As for the Final Leg...  not sure how to fix the most common complaints about it.  Final legs certainly seem less dynamic as there are only three teams running it, so less chance of comebacks and place switching.  The final leg this time around seemed boring, but I think it's because one team got ahead and stayed ahead. Scott and Brooke could have not figured out the racing tasks. They could have gotten stuck on the puzzle. They could have traveled to the three postcards slower than the other teams. But they were better. It happens. Even in great seasons there sometimes isn't any suspense in the finale. Season 5 Chip and Kim found a better flight to Dallas and the rest was a formality. Sometimes there isn't a fix.

[Lantern7]

I'd reset the U-Turn to the original place . . . you do the Detour, you earn the right to screw a team. A U-Turned team cannot do the same to another unless they complete both tasks. And a team can only pull a U-Turn once.

[Fukui San]

I've just never felt that the ability to choose to hinder another team just because you happen to be ahead at some point in time is neither a) fair, b) good game design, or c) terribly interesting to watch. 

If it has to be in the game, it should be an advantage won somehow, like by finishing first in a previous leg.

[NutMeg]

On 6/5/2017 at 11:23 AM, Fukui San said:

OK, putting my ideas on this thread instead of the redundant "Fix the Show" topic. I don't think the show needs to be "fixed" as much as it just needs to be "refreshed".

The winner of each leg gets the option of two different prizes. Some are out of game prizes (Money, a trip for two to Jamaica, etc.) and some are in-game advantages.  Some of the in-game advantages are clear, like the Express Pass that lets you skip a task, extra money to spend during the race, a chartered plane for the next leg, or a phone that lets you call for help once. Some of the in-game advantages are not clear, objects that may be useful in future tasks. In the case of this last season, it could be that dragon key that took so long to find in a task in an early leg, or two little rockets that could be used to substitute for the two of the big rockets they had to carry around in Norway. All of these advantages are hidden, so teams do not know what advantages other teams might have after a while.

Coming in last in an NEL means you lose whatever in game advantages you've accumulated.

No more intentional U-Turns. Now the U-Turn becomes a checkpoint you reach after the Detour.  Every team has to take a tag that either says "Proceed" or "U-Turn". There are two "U-Turn" tags on the board, so two teams have to do both Detours. However, the first team to take a U-Turn and finish gets a prize as described above, so it's possible a frontrunning team might opt to take a U-Turn to get an extra something. Most of the time I would expect the two last place teams to have to do the U-Turn for a duel to stay in the game, but if you're way ahead you might chance it. We lose the boring hemming and hawing about the morality of U-Turning someone.

The Fast Forward. It's not within their budget to do a Fast Forward on each leg like they did in the first few seasons, but they could have more teams use it. Set up three legs with Fast Forwards. In the first of these, have the three teams able to use the Fast Forward (the first three teams to finish the Fast Forward). In the next FF leg, have two teams able to use it, but no team can do the Fast Forward twice.  By the time the third FF leg comes around there may be only a few teams who are FF eligible. Have only one team able to do the Fast Forward on that leg. In each case we may still see fights on which team gets to get that last FF.  We get possible races to the finish for first place on the early legs. We have some teams deciding early on to forego the FF in order to save it for later. 

As for the Final Leg...  not sure how to fix the most common complaints about it.  Final legs certainly seem less dynamic as there are only three teams running it, so less chance of comebacks and place switching.  The final leg this time around seemed boring, but I think it's because one team got ahead and stayed ahead. Scott and Brooke could have not figured out the racing tasks. They could have gotten stuck on the puzzle. They could have traveled to the three postcards slower than the other teams. But they were better. It happens. Even in great seasons there sometimes isn't any suspense in the finale. Season 5 Chip and Kim found a better flight to Dallas and the rest was a formality. Sometimes there isn't a fix.

Sorry, I had no idea this thread existed before creating the "redundant" Fix the Show thread.

I do however thing the show needs to be "fixed" because it's been haemorrhaging viewers (even long time ones) and risks being cancelled.

"Fix the show" was a wink to Survivor, a show that doesn't *need* to be fixed, much less refreshed, but could do with a few tweaks.

[hincandenza]

I've been watching season 27 on Hulu right now, and expressed in one of the episode threads my continued frustration with racers who don't seem to even know basic facts about these countries they whiz through.  I casually suggested that it would be neat if some roadblocks or challenges could have a sort of "educational express pass" added in the information packet, where knowing some basic to medium trivia about the country you're in for that leg could give you an in-game benefit.  I'm picturing a smaller envelope inside the main packet which has the difficulty and benefit/penalty printed on the outside with a lightly sealed question/answer card inside.  The team decides on camera if they want to open the envelope and try, then answers a couple of multiple choice questions to determine the effect.

I think it could work in one of several ways.  At the challenge, the ability to correctly answer the 2 questions would give you some advantage such as lessening the requirements to complete this task.  For example, if you're supposed to pick and carry 100 pounds of peppers in whatever is the local manner, then getting the questions right might mean you only have to do 50 pounds (but the bigger the bonus, the harder the questions).   The EEP could be balanced with restrictions on how often it can be used by a team, or include a penalty for getting questions wrong.  In the penalty case, it might be that once you announce you're trying the quiz, then 2 right removes 50 pounds, 1 right just keeps it at 100 pounds- but makes you wait two minutes before starting- and 0 right actually adds 50 pounds to the task.  At roadblocks, you could have the person not performing the task be the only one who can answer, causing hot tempers and drama if they end up cursing their partner with more work

I think it would add an interesting wrinkle.  Picture this: Team Gamma is at the back of the pack when they arrive at the final challenge before the pit stop, only to see a close competitor- Team Delta- already there with a modest pile of say 30 pounds of peppers so far.  Inside their yellow packet is the smaller EEP envelop marked "Hard" and with a benefit/penalty amount listed at +/- 50 pounds.  Gamma now has a choice to make: it would seem at first that trying to answer the questions is the obvious decision, and they'll just hope it's either something they read up on the flight or just happen to know.  After all, they're in real danger of going home, but if they get both right they leapfrog the other team and potentially avoid elimination.  But it's a risk, since if they get both wrong, they just pushed themselves almost impossibly behind; depending on the team, Gamma might think they can make up the 30 pound difference and finish first simply through hard work.  

Further complicating things is that Gamma doesn't know if Delta tried the EEP challenge when arrived however much earlier than Team Gamma.  This could mean Delta already has a target of 150 pounds and Gamma trying to answer the questions would risk giving up their built-in lead.  Or it could mean Delta got them both right, is nearly completed with their smaller 50 pound target, and risking the questions are the only possibility of Gamma beating Delta to the pit stop.

 

Plus, and best of all, it would often lead to that most delicious of indulgences when watching any competitive reality TV show: getting to laugh at and mock people dumber than yourself.  Ha ha, how did these morons not know that?!?  :)

Edited June 10, 2017 by hincandenza

[hincandenza]

On 5/1/2016 at 9:38 PM, possibilities said:

I've noticed there have been a lot fewer needle in haystack type tasks lately. I think this is good, but it does show how those tasks added a lot of drama and a bit of a wildcard element to the proceedings. I think they need to also add more tasks that require some kind of endurance. Everyone is completing the tasks very quickly, with little skill or challenge or variability on the part of the teams. There are more footraces, but it's because no one is really taking much time on any task, it's all stuff almost anyone can basically do with just a small margin of variability. Long drives with self-navigation, or tasks that inherently require a lot of time and a bit of strategy (even just counting 100 items accurately or putting together an actually difficult puzzle), are where the order gets shuffled, and teams with different skill sets have a chance to actually demonstrate their chops. I feel like there is not much other than just showing up and powering through that's happening anymore, and it's making everything more boring.

I agree, especially with the bolded part. As I mentioned just a short while ago in the "Fix the show" thread, it's tiresome when watching this show to see the teams basically stay in the same order because neither the travel distances (and self-navigation) nor the challenges themselves allow for much separation.  Whether the task takes 15 minutes or two hours, too often the tasks are such that the teams won't really diverge in how long it takes to complete.  Better challenges and longer travel distances could make for more shuffling.

 

Since I've been binge-watching a lot of seasons recently, one thing I thought of that would be kind of interesting to me is a "Split Leg" design.  In a typical leg, there is a starting clue (S), then a Roadblock (R), the detours (D1, D2), and usually some intermediary task before a clue (T) somewhere along the way, and finally a Pit Stop (P).  Basically, it's a couple of challenges as a team and a challenge for just one team member, with a possible third challenge if the team is U-turned.  

What if the teams could essentially do these three tasks in any order after S, like you'd have "Checkpoint 1", "Checkpoint 2", and "Checkpoint 3" envelopes in the initial leg packet, and these places are scattered about the city (I'm torn as to whether the three envelopes would have a hint/clue to the location on the outside, so teams could try to plan their route ahead of time, or if you just make the three locations fairly equidistant and you open the envelopes blind).  You pick one, open the envelope, and head there to do the task, and upon completing the task receive one fragment of a cryptic clue as a reward (thus, the local at the challenge doesn't have to know what order you are doing the tasks).  Once you collect all three checkpoint fragments, you can combine the fragments and figure out the Pit Stop location.  The result is the teams scatter initially, and almost immediately have no idea who else is where- and when they pass/meet other teams along the leg or at checkpoints, they won't know if those teams are further along or further behind since any of the other tasks could be really short or really long.  

You could even still include the U-Turn in this leg by making the U-Turn mat location somewhere in the middle of the checkpoint "triangle", but like this: once you have completed at least 2 of your tasks, you can head to the U-Turn spot and either defer or place a U-Turn; as before, once a team has been to the U-Turn mat, they can continue racing with no risk of having to do both halves of the detour.  Given the split leg design, you now have absolutely no idea if the team you U-Turn is still even behind you- and a team doesn't have to even do the Detour part to get to the U-Turn mat (which adds to the delicious confusion, if the three challenges are of different lengths). 

 

I like that it would make the race itself opaque to the racers while the Amazing Editors could help us follow along without getting confused by showing the checkpoint checkmarks next to the racers' names.  It would make the racers have to really think through U-Turns and task choices/navigation, and potentially make wildly shuffled race placement a regular thing.  Just food for thought! :)

[illdoc]

When they come to a "Roadblock", I'd like it to indicate how many each one has done. That is, if Joe & Jim reach the roadblock, next to the "Joe & Jim currently in 1st place" it should have "Joe 3 Jim 2", so we have some idea how many each has done. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it seems like one person in the pair is doing all the roadblocks (even if logically I know that's not true since there is now a limit).

[hincandenza]

4 hours ago, illdoc said:

When they come to a "Roadblock", I'd like it to indicate how many each one has done. That is, if Joe & Jim reach the roadblock, next to the "Joe & Jim currently in 1st place" it should have "Joe 3 Jim 2", so we have some idea how many each has done. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it seems like one person in the pair is doing all the roadblocks (even if logically I know that's not true since there is now a limit).

I agree; I'd even add that as an extra for online content they could include not only the deleted scenes they toss up, but a detailed breakdown of the leg as a Gantt chart (i.e., see how much time each team spend getting to, and then completing, tasks).  It'd appeal to the 3-5% of TAR viewers who are of the nerdy data-hungry persuasion.  I get that during the episode, they edit/elide things to present a certain amount of drama/tension (especially how nearly every episode ends with the "last two teams racing to find the Pit Stop", even when astute viewers can already tell team B is waaaay behind and can't possibly catch up).  But it'd be really neat to see how the leg actually played out, including where the last place team basically lost because of ~10 minutes drive in the wrong direction, or taking 20 minutes longer on the Roadblock than anyone else, etc.

[kingshearte]

Ooh, I like that idea. We basically learn the time differentials between most of the teams arriving at the mat, based on their leaving time on the next leg, but they don't always show all of them, and we never get how far behind the eliminated team was. I would love a chart like that. Maybe they think it would take away some of that sense that everyone's always neck and neck, but surely they know that we know it's not always like that, so this really wouldn't be spoiling anything. I think it would be fascinating, actually.

I also like your idea of a leg that doesn't need to be done in the same order for everyone. In addition to making things more shuffly with less obvious placements, it could also help reduce some of the time spent waiting in lines when all teams end up at a turn-based challenge at more or less the same time.

[Lantern7]

So . . . the Twist from TARC. What's it called? "Le Twist" or "Twist, Eh?" I can see the appeal, but if it gets pressed into TAR for the long run, things would need to change. Bear in mind that I just saw this tonight for the first time, and I'm probably "Chicken Littling" about this.

1. Cutoff for the front-runners. Say . . . you finish in the top three, you don't have to race for your life.
2. If you have to wait a certain amount of time for another team to arrive (fifteen minutes? Thirty?), Phil checks you in.
3. Set the twist within a certain time frame. Maybe have teams do it within an hour's time. Last team left has to wait a predetermined amount of time before Phil checks them in.
4. Maybe put it in the middle of the leg. A local doing commentary in English would suffice, right? Not like we need Phil channeling Probst.

Any other ideas?

[Lantern7]

One more idea: if you wind up waiting for an extended period (like Goat Gals last week), you should get an advantage when the contest begins. From what I heard, the Firefighters kept the Goats waiting for three hours. I know that the ladies probably would've imploded over time, but that ending for them didn't seem right.

[Lantern7]

2 hours ago, Geenee said:

The Face-Off was TARCAN's name for the Head-to-Head.

Oh, I thought the official term was a French word, either from TARCAN or wherever that got started. "Face-Off" sounds good . . . though given that hockey isn't as big in the US as it is in Canada (which is not a disparaging jumping-off point, I swear), "Head-to-Head" works. I stand by my ideas to tweak it, especially if those get planted at the end of a leg.

[TheRabbi]

Either way, TAR Canada can keep it. Not a good twist. No reason to crib wholesale from Canada.

[meep.meep]

I have zero problem with asking people competing on a race, to compete in a race.  Sounds just like what they signed up to do.  I was never a big fan of people commenting about how they should just "Raaaaaaace!" but how is this any different?

 

I just wish they'd have a 5 season moratorium on any contestants from other reality programming.  Sick of Big Brothers.  Rob and Amber got their millions of tries.  Enough already.

[Hera]

One thing I've liked about Season 30 (as I catch up on it) is that there seems to be a lot more self-navigation than there has been in recent seasons, which I appreciate. I loved the Product Placement gnome zip line challenge in Tangier because while being fast (and having the stamina to run for the duration of the task) was an advantage, so was having a good sense of direction and quickly developing a mental map of the area.

In general, I wish we could see more of teams having to organize travel from place to place using mass transit: figuring out schedules for trains, buses, ferries, and flights and booking their own tickets. I'd also love to see them have to interact with public transport in the cities they visit during the leg. I suspect that this is probably too challenging for the people who design the legs, since they don't get to decide the timetables, which can mean unintended bunches, or that a team that is slightly behind the pack gets screwed because the transport they need has stopped running for the day. Furthermore, filming on buses, metros, and trains is probably challenging for the camera operators as well. Hence, we're stuck with cabs and teams driving themselves.

It also doesn't seem like money is much of a factor anymore. While I don't miss watching teams beg for money (especially in countries with high rates of poverty), I do wish it mattered. I'd like to see teams have to work out if—for example—they can afford to take a cab to the Pit Stop, or if they have to run/get a bus instead and risk a team that finished behind them getting in front of them. Plus, further to the above, there could be a lot of interesting strategy that goes with it—for instance, would it be worth blowing more than half of the leg's allowance on a train that gets you to the city where the next clue is, when there's a (cheaper) bus that also gets you there, but arrives an hour later (but maybe also stops closer to the area where the clue is)? If you take the former, you risk not having enough money to get around efficiently later on, but if you take the latter, you risk letting other teams get ahead of you.

tl;dr, I think there's a lot of untapped potential in forcing teams to use local transport infrastructure to get from place to place during legs (and having to budget strategically for it), but the logistics of it are probably too complicated from a production standpoint for this to happen.