S34.E01: Many Firsts but Don't be Last

[PurpleTentacle]

1 hour ago, Lucas Rowan said:

A Fern is a TAR term referring to a local who helps a team or individual racer with directions, sometimes even going along with them.  It's named after a local who helped TAR2 team Oswald & Danny find their way when they were in one country (though I forget which one).  Her name was Fern.

I always heard it defined as specifically a local who comes with you a significant part of the leg to help you out. As far as I know that isn't allowed anymore. Which I think is sad. It wasn't possible anyway if you had to take taxies or self drive, since all the spots in the cars are reserved for racers and crew. So why not allow it on the rare legs with public transportation, if the local is willing?

[Skooma]

2 hours ago, Lucas Rowan said:

A Fern is a TAR term referring to a local who helps a team or individual racer with directions, sometimes even going along with them.  It's named after a local who helped TAR2 team Oswald & Danny find their way when they were in one country (though I forget which one).  Her name was Fern.

It was actually in Bangkok during the famous "Confusion Now or Confusion Later" detour where she helped Oswald & Danny find where to buy a special small, paper car and where to burn it as an offering to the ancestors.  That was shown in contrast to Blake lost and frantically running around burning his paper cars in all the wrong places.

She was a really sweet young lady (high school maybe) wearing a school uniform anyway and she skipped class to help them such is the Way of the Cha and their polite and peacefully interactions with locals.

And her name was indeed Fern.

And yes, TAR2 was my favorite season of all time (followed closely by, in no special order, TAR1, TAR3 and TAR5 all 4 of which I have on DVD's).  Believe me I don't have that kind of TAR memory for later seasons at all.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Skooma

[PurpleTentacle]

In the Rob has a Podcast exit interview Aastha and Nina said that the leg was about 3 hours long for them (so less for all the other teams).

So it's very unlikely that any rush hour was hit. The little traffic we saw already hinted at that, but I think with that short of a duration it's basically confirmed.

[Fukui San]

1 hour ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I always heard it defined as specifically a local who comes with you a significant part of the leg to help you out. As far as I know that isn't allowed anymore. Which I think is sad. It wasn't possible anyway if you had to take taxies or self drive, since all the spots in the cars are reserved for racers and crew. So why not allow it on the rare legs with public transportation, if the local is willing?

Because Boston Rob and Amber were so famous they got Ferns on 3 or 4 legs and the rule changed after their first season. 

[dizzyd]

On 9/22/2022 at 11:24 AM, DEL901 said:

You need to watch the documentary Three Identical Strangers about identical triplets who find each other by accident.  Turns out a New York adoption agency was part of a psychological experiment where they separated identical twins and triplets, didn’t tell the families about the other child/children, then assessed them for years after the adoptions as a part of experiments comparing nature vs nurture.

Wtf, is this for real or fiction?!?! That’s like a dystopian storyline! Sorry, not episode related, but I had to ask. 

[Notabug]

28 minutes ago, dizzyd said:

Wtf, is this for real or fiction?!?! That’s like a dystopian storyline! Sorry, not episode related, but I had to ask. 

It's for real, the documentary is excellent, and appalling.  Unfortunately, one of the triplets committed suicide and the others have had their own mental health and legal struggles.

The psychologic study in which they were participants was eventually abandoned and nothing was published.

https://nypost.com/2018/06/23/these-triplets-were-separated-at-birth-for-a-twisted-psych-study/

[bankerchick]

Too many dancers/dance instructors/cheerleaders and to the rainbow hair lady, keep your hands on the freaking wheel while driving!!!  Also, 'you have each won twenty five...... hundred dollars.'  Am I the only one who thought Phil was going to say thousand?

It's been several years since I've actually cared about a season but I still tune in every week hoping to find the thrill again.

[Hera]

Finally caught this episode. I liked the scramble and wouldn't object if it occurred in every leg (I doubt that it will, though). Yes, it's hard to know where teams are relative to one another, but I've found recent seasons had the problem anyway, since the producers stopped showing times for when people arrived at and left tasks.

On 9/22/2022 at 4:13 PM, KeithJ said:

Question about the non-elimination legs.  Maybe I'm misremembering but sometimes hasn't Phil just handed the teams a clue on the mat and they continued racing?  Technically it wasn't a pit stop so maybe we'll see a couple of those this season instead of non-eliminations?

Yes, I imagine that we'll have a couple of super-legs or episodes that end with teams being told to keep racing. As a viewer, I don't register these any differently from non-elimination legs, though I'm sure it makes a big difference to the racers. It'll be interesting to have a season without any non-elimination legs. There have been a few teams who were rescued by NELs who went on to win the race, and while I don't look down on those wins exactly, I think there is something nice about the guarantee that whoever wins this season will have done so by never coming in last.

As for the teams, I like Linton and Sharik (father/daughter team from Jamaica) and Emily and Molly (the twins). I'm with everyone who finds Rich and Dom (the motivational speakers) hard to take, but I think they're going to be hard to watch because they lack competence on the race and crying after a task on the first leg doesn't bode well for Dom keeping it together in later legs. But they don't seem like malicious people who will treat other teams or each other poorly.

[PurpleTentacle]

10 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Because Boston Rob and Amber were so famous they got Ferns on 3 or 4 legs and the rule changed after their first season. 

Imo a bit of an overreaction. Also easier fix: Don't cast famous people.

[aradia22]

Quote

In the Rob has a Podcast exit interview Aastha and Nina said that the leg was about 3 hours long for them (so less for all the other teams).

The amount of frustration for tasks (and navigation) that took less than 3 hours doesn't bode well for some of the teams.

[30 Helens]

I get why some viewers would rather not see contestants with an existing fan base (TikTokers, reality show retreads, etc), but if the show is going to do that— and you know they are— you couldn’t do better than Derek and Claire. They are both sweethearts with great personalities. I actually forgot they were doing this season, so was pleasantly surprised to see them.

I guess not many of these people are used to hand tools. When using something like a saw, you have to let the tool do the work. They were pushing and pulling when they should have been guiding. It’s a miracle no one got injured.

Football coach’s glowing white teeth scared the shit out of me. They were all I could see when he was on screen. 

[ML89]

I don’t have a problem with cellphones because even with turn by turn, it’s possible to get lost if you miss the turn or you misjudge the highway exit or can’t read the sign. Plus not everything is available via Google or Siri (and as an iPhone user, hand me an Android phone and it would probably be in little plastic shards in short order when I couldn’t figure out how to use it).  
 

Really the only people who drove me nuts this leg were the motivational speakers -like several others, I had long hair and was just driven nuts by her hair all over the place and not tied back. And practicing her mantra in the middle of traffic. 
 

I also hate it being on so late. It’s such a perfect family hour show. 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, 30 Helens said:

When using something like a saw, you have to let the tool do the work. They were pushing and pulling when they should have been guiding.

They were pushing and pulling together. The way to use a saw like that is to have one pull the saw towards them self while the other does not push. Then the action is reversed.

If you try to push the saw to help your partner you can (and several times they did) buckle the saw. The blade is strong in tension but not in compression. If you buckle the saw too badly, it will kink. Then you will catch hell to get it through the wood! The best your partner can do while you are pulling is hold the weight of the saw up slightly so the teeth don't dig too deep.

[Cotypubby]

That was terrible.

The Scramble is the worst idea I have ever seen them do on this show. Worse than the Intersection, worse than the Head-to-Head, hell it’s even worse than the Family Edition. As a viewer, it was impossible to keep track of where any teams were and who was ahead or last, which removed any drama. Because of that it didn’t even seem like a race, it was, well, just a messy scramble. Which is not entertaining to watch.

I hope they didn’t implement that to try and stop alliances from forming like what happened on season 32 and that it was a one-time thing that will be gone next week. They didn’t even have a Detour for crying out loud! I want the drama of choosing one task over another and wondering if you picked the right one, and working hard to pass another team. I was so looking forward to the new season but this just wasn’t fun to watch.

ETA: (If they ever allowed them to carry cellphones that would kill the show for good. Why even bother at that point, just charter them from task to task. What an awful idea.)

Edited September 25, 2022 by Cotypubby

[SVNBob]

2 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

They didn’t even have a Detour for crying out loud!

If it helps, think of it as a Detour, but everyone got U-Turned.

Edited September 25, 2022 by SVNBob

[Skooma]

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

That was terrible.

The Scramble is the worst idea I have ever seen them do on this show. Worse than the Intersection, worse than the Head-to-Head, hell it’s even worse than the Family Edition. As a viewer, it was impossible to keep track of where any teams were and who was ahead or last, which removed any drama. Because of that it didn’t even seem like a race, it was, well, just a messy scramble. Which is not entertaining to watch.  ...

I agree with you they should never ever let the teams carry their own cell phones.  But I honestly don't think this leg was terrible since it was basically what SVNBob said.

10 hours ago, SVNBob said:

If it helps, think of it as a Detour, but everyone got U-Turned.

Yes, it was just that.  Both tasks -- Saws and Haybales -- are very typical of Detour tasks and Iceblock was an official Roadblock complete with the traditional red Roadblock clue clearly shown and only one team member being able to do it.

So there really wasn't much difference than any other leg except for the numbers involved since each team had to do all three tasks instead of the Detour splitting up the teams into two choices.

The confusion was in the numbers of teams both having to do both tasks and starting with 12 teams instead of the latter season's 10 teams.

Honestly I didn't find it any more confusing than the older years of 11 or 12 team starts with extra mini tasks and/or fast forwards thrown in.  Like kiss Fat Maria, carry heavy carcass of meat through the street, find FF clue at bottom of Victoria Falls etc etc.   What to speak of keeping track of which teams were on that earlier flight that actually landed later and so forth.

This leg didn't have any of this sort of thing.  Just what amounted to two typical Detour tasks but that both had to be done and a regular traditional Roadblock. 

I never sweated the first leg in any race because it is always really confusing and I just sit back and enjoy the chaos.  Time to learn the teams better after the herd starts thinning.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Skooma

[PurpleTentacle]

16 hours ago, Netfoot said:

They were pushing and pulling together. The way to use a saw like that is to have one pull the saw towards them self while the other does not push. Then the action is reversed.

The people who had really big problems seemed to apply a lot of downward preassure, which is a big nono with saws. That will make it extremely hard to move the saw, which then led the other person to push, since one person pulling didn't work well. Which then led to all the problems you described.

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

The Scramble is the worst idea I have ever seen them do on this show. Worse than the Intersection, worse than the Head-to-Head, hell it’s even worse than the Family Edition. As a viewer, it was impossible to keep track of where any teams were and who was ahead or last, which removed any drama. Because of that it didn’t even seem like a race, it was, well, just a messy scramble. Which is not entertaining to watch.

I hope they didn’t implement that to try and stop alliances from forming like what happened on season 32 and that it was a one-time thing that will be gone next week. They didn’t even have a Detour for crying out loud!

My theory is that they designed this as a normal leg, with pretty easy, contained tasks because covid, then noticed that with two tasks being part of the detour it would have come out as a 2 hour leg and so decided to make the teams do all the tasks, to stretch it out at least a little.

Why scramble teams? Because if everybody showed up at the keg obstacle course at the same time it would have been a problem. Plus trying something new isn't a bad idea. But I think the impetus was that the leg would have been too short.

[OlderThanDirt]

17 hours ago, ML89 said:

I also hate it being on so late. It’s such a perfect family hour show. 

It is a great family show,  but our family records it to skip the commercials so the actual broadcast time isn't much of an issue. The kids love watching it when they get home from school. 

[dgpolo]

43 minutes ago, Lucas Rowan said:

6 hours ago, Skooma said:

Like kiss Fat Maria, carry heavy carcass of meat through the street, find FF clue at bottom of Victoria Falls etc etc.

Did you mean something else here?  Because I remember nothing like this on the show!😋

I think the FF was on a bridge next to the Falls not the bottom but other than that they all happened. You don't remember Charla lugging that beef around?

[bunnyface]

Wasn't Fat Maria a tree in Brazil or somewhere they had to kiss?

[Skooma]

3 hours ago, Lucas Rowan said:

Did you mean something else here?  Because I remember nothing like this on the show!😋

What Bunnyface said above.  Fat Maria was a very old tree with a very fat trunk on an island off of Rio on Leg 1 of Season 2.

2 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I think the FF was on a bridge next to the Falls not the bottom but other than that they all happened. You don't remember Charla lugging that beef around?

The higher bridge contained the "clue" about where to go to gain the FF.  But to gain it both Rob & Brennan and older couple Dave & Margaretta had to descend from the high bridge on trails heading steeply downward to a place called The Boiling Pot.  A guide had to help Margretta over some large rocks near the bottom I remember.  And they were all soaked from the mist from the Falls by the time they got there.  Doesn't mean there wasn't a lower, second bridge somewhere down there but I honestly don't remember seeing one if there was one. 

Again my memory is only really good for TAR1, TAR2, TAR3 and TAR5 which are my favorites and the only ones I have on DVD's so have watched more than a few times.  I will definitely need memory help on other seasons.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Skooma

[dgpolo]

11 hours ago, Skooma said:

Again my memory is only really good for TAR1, TAR2, TAR3 and TAR5 which are my favorites and the only ones I have on DVD's

Prime Video is now charging for all seasons of TAR! Still don't really remember the 'boiling pot' but haven't seen it in a while.

I saw one mask when someone put their stuff on the hood of a car for a minute. Didn't see any others with masks, but then I'm not always looking at the screen.

I think TAR always tries to keep some 'drama' at the mat so maybe you're not sure of the order so I don't think the scramble made anything worse in figuring out the order. It doesn't really matter anyway until they hit the mat and even then they could be told they did something wrong and be penalized or have to go back for something.

[proserpina65]

On 9/21/2022 at 11:17 PM, QuantumMechanic said:

The keg roll was fun but the other two were just dumb, especially Smash. Boring to watch and no meaningful effect on order.

Seems to me the log sawing definitely had an effect on order.

On 9/22/2022 at 2:30 AM, Skooma said:

I don't know any names yet other than DerekX and Claire.  Liked how well they did.  Also I like the short guy and his taller wife, Team Jamaica, the military bros and the lost and found twins. 

Those were the teams I liked the best in the first episode.  I was prepared to hate the Big Brother team on principle, but they were non-annoying, non-whiny and quite competent, so I'm willing to see how things go.

On 9/22/2022 at 2:30 AM, Skooma said:

When they showed the team out first standing around forever at the starting line getting super exact directions and over plotting stuff I think we all knew it was for a reason they spent so much air time on that.  Either they would be brilliant and finish first or they would be first out. 

Yep, I figured getting so overly detailed right away was going to be their downfall and it was.  I found them a bit too intense but didn't hate them either.

Not really hating anyone yet, although the motivational speakers are on borrowed time.  Well, she is, anyway.

[proserpina65]

On 9/22/2022 at 3:54 PM, Skooma said:

Well the YouTube winners last season were genuine good guys and both awesome and funny and one of my favorite teams ever. 

I loathed them, so personally I'd glad there are not specifically social media pairs cast this time.  I don't mind the former cheerleaders and the dancers at the moment, but we'll see.  And I don't put them in the same category as mactors, but mileage varies, obviously.

On 9/22/2022 at 6:59 PM, Fukui San said:

Football fans have seen him be in much worse shape than he was here, that is true. 

I appreciate that he specifically lost weight for the Race so he was trying to get into better shape.  I know how hard that is when you get older.

On 9/22/2022 at 8:50 PM, seacliffsal said:

I was amazed with how many teams did not know how to saw wood (I use a saw for trimming my trees), so I actually enjoyed watching that challenge.

My best friend and I have always used a bow saw to cut our Xmas trees.  That experience might've helped with those crosscut saws, but maybe not.  Those trees never rolled back and forth while we were cutting them.

On 9/23/2022 at 11:09 AM, aghst said:

I just think it's weirdly anachronistic, not reflective of how people travel.

For instance, do people still type on mechanical typewriters?

Or people who might carry cassettes instead of playing music on their phones.

Or people who still have CRT TVs and change channels on the dial rather than by remote.

These are quaint, performative gestures but outlier behavior, like the Amish who use horses and cart as transportation -- which causes some of their children to escape as soon as they can.

Yes, to all of those.  I actually LIKE that they can't use smart phones.  I don't want the race to necessarily be reflective of how people travel now; I want navigation to be a challenge.

On 9/23/2022 at 11:56 AM, aghst said:

What's the difference if they Google on some onlooker's phone vs. on their own?

It's the difference between getting directions you either have to write down or remember and having each and every step of the journey spoon-fed to you turn by turn.

Plus, if they have their own phones, they can look up other information rather than figuring it out on their own.

On 9/23/2022 at 12:02 PM, aghst said:

Fact of the matter is, millions of people use GPS every day or in their travels.

That's fine and dandy, but this is a freaking race, not a travelogue.  It's not about how people travel.

[proserpina65]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:14 PM, PurpleTentacle said:

Imo that was part of the fun.

Imo it brought out nastiest in many of the teams and I did not find that fun to watch.  Not in every team, but in enough of them to be unpleasant.

On 9/23/2022 at 10:14 PM, PurpleTentacle said:

Not allowed to ask anybody but Alexa, not allowed to read external maps, not allowed to use the phone manually.

That would be a freaking nightmare and the least possible entertaining Alexa commercial ever.

On 9/25/2022 at 1:25 AM, Cotypubby said:

I hope they didn’t implement that to try and stop alliances from forming like what happened on season 32 and that it was a one-time thing that will be gone next week.

I rather liked it for the first leg.  I wouldn't mind if it showed up once or twice later, too, but not on every leg.

[tinkerbell]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

.  I was prepared to hate the Big Brother team on principle, but they were non-annoying, non-whiny and quite competent, so I'm willing to see how things go.

They were non-annoying and non-whiny on Big Brother.  Actually, they were among the nicest people I've seen on that show. they didn't have a "showmance" on the show. Their relationship didn't start until they were eliminated and in the jury house. They actually seem pretty fun and normal. 

[proserpina65]

4 minutes ago, tinkerbell said:

They were non-annoying and non-whiny on Big Brother.  Actually, they were among the nicest people I've seen on that show. they didn't have a "showmance" on the show. Their relationship didn't start until they were eliminated and in the jury house. They actually seem pretty fun and normal. 

I was picturing the second coming of Rachel and was quite glad to discover I was wrong.

[Tango64]

44 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

That would be a freaking nightmare and the least possible entertaining Alexa commercial ever.

Yeah, if Alexa gave them bad advice it would be a disaster for Amazon. Reminds me of when they were in Sweden and one task was to put together a piece of furniture from Ikea, in the Ikea store. When they announced the task, I immediately thought, "Are they trying to emphasize how hard and tedious it is to put together Ikea furniture? Ikea paid for this, or at least approved it???"

[proserpina65]

7 minutes ago, Tango64 said:

Yeah, if Alexa gave them bad advice it would be a disaster for Amazon. Reminds me of when they were in Sweden and one task was to put together a piece of furniture from Ikea, in the Ikea store. When they announced the task, I immediately thought, "Are they trying to emphasize how hard and tedious it is to put together Ikea furniture? Ikea paid for this, or at least approved it???"

I loved that task!  It's the one task on AR I absolutely would've totally rocked!

[PurpleTentacle]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

That would be a freaking nightmare and the least possible entertaining Alexa commercial ever.

For one leg that would be hilarious, seeing racers struggle with Alexa. I think it would be the most possible entertaining Alexa commercial ever. Just not a good Alexa commercial. Which is why daddy Baezos will likely never do it. Just saying, if he did it, it would be funny af.

[proserpina65]

2 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

For one leg that would be hilarious, seeing racers struggle with Alexa. I think it would be the most possible entertaining Alexa commercial ever. Just not a good Alexa commercial. Which is why daddy Baezos will likely never do it. Just saying, if he did it, it would be funny af.

I don't agree that it would be hilarious at all.

[PurpleTentacle]

Just now, proserpina65 said:

I don't agree that it would be hilarious at all.

I guess then we have different tastes, because I'm sure it would be.

[proserpina65]

32 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I guess then we have different tastes, because I'm sure it would be.

To each, their own.  That's what makes life interesting. 🙂

[Ilovepie]

On 9/22/2022 at 8:04 AM, Tango64 said:

Good to see Kevin Hart and his wife competing. They seem like a nice couple. 

Ha ha ha! Glad I wasn't the only one who thought that! My husband and I laughed when he made the crack about going high/low ;-p

I love the idea of the scramble - no-one knows where they are until they hit the mat, but man, that was a lot of teams to keep track of, and I at the beginning when I don't know all of them, it's really confusing - scramble indeed!

I also liked starting in a foreign country and self driving right off the bat! Good start!!!!

[Miss chi chi]

I did not like this new format. At all.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, Miss chi chi said:

I did not like this new format. At all.

What parts bother you?  Starting in a foreign country?  No non-elimination legs?  The Scramble?  All of these?

Not trying to convince you otherwise or anything, I'm just curious.

[Hanahope]

I was wondering why they were starting in Germany (because then its not a 'race around the world' if you don't start in the US, but you finish there), but I had forgotten about the Amazing charter plane, so it makes sense.  why have them "race" to the chartered plane?  Looks like airport drama is a truly thing of the past (along with the express/fast pass/fast forward).  but that's ok because we get to see more of the country and tasks.

the scramble was an interesting idea and a good twist, imo.  i'm not sure i would like this at all times, but now and again is a decent idea.  

all non-elimination definitely makes it more risky.  no more hoping for the NEI leg, don't ever be last!  I'm ok with this.  and it does not mean there won't be "double" legs.  i didn't mind the speed bump, it was so much better than taking away all their money and make them beg in the old days.  but i can see that its just as well to not have the extra task.

Its a shame that for all their 'preparation' on getting detailed directions, that team came in last.  either they spent way too much time getting directions that others didn't need as much, or they didn't follow them very well.  maybe they already knew their directional weakness and tried to mitigate it as much as possible, but it still did not help.  it did not appear that they spent significantly more time on the tasks than other teams, even with the extra rolling.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Derek and Claire from BB.  They were very decent people on the show and i had heard they got together.  nice to see they are still together (they attended the recent BB finale and other after appearances).  I hope they continue to do well.

I don't have as much of a read on the rest yet.  I agree that i'm surprised the lady with the very long hair doesn't have it tied/pulled back.  maybe when its styled the way it is, it doesn't quite get in the way as much.  i've had very long hair before and it was always in the way unless i had it in a braid.  

[Leeds]

On 9/27/2022 at 2:00 PM, Hanahope said:

all non-elimination definitely makes it more risky.  no more hoping for the NEI leg, don't ever be last!  I'm ok with this.  and it does not mean there won't be "double" legs.  i didn't mind the speed bump, it was so much better than taking away all their money and make them beg in the old days.  but i can see that its just as well to not have the extra task.

How could it be "all non-elimination" legs?  That way all the teams that started would be in the finale.  Am I just being dense (wouldn't surprise me)?

[eel21788]

3 hours ago, Leeds said:

How could it be "all non-elimination" legs?  That way all the teams that started would be in the finale.  Am I just being dense (wouldn't surprise me)?

One team gets eliminated at the end of each leg. In this season, that will happen every leg.

In the past, there have been times (called non-elimination legs) when the last team to arrive at the mat has been spared and allowed to continue to race.

[Netfoot]

4 hours ago, eel21788 said:

One team gets eliminated at the end of each leg. In this season, that will happen every leg.

In the past, there have been times (called non-elimination legs) when the last team to arrive at the mat has been spared and allowed to continue to race.

Yes, but "all non-elimination legs" means "no elimination legs" and without any eliminations, all racers would be in the race for the final mat.

The OP mis-spoke, is all. 

[AncientNewbie]

Finally caught up...

I enjoyed it. With 12 teams, there wasn't much chance of me keeping a running scoresheet in my head, so I didn't mind the Scramble. It gave us teams being forced to think and navigate on the first leg, which I've found a bit too lacking sometimes in the "go here, then go here..." version of clues...

Here's to hoping Derek X next appears on Survivor instead of Love Island to complete his CBS reality tour. Or I guess maybe that one moved to Peacock so they're safe. 

[limecoke]

I love this show. Watched from season one. The changes seem ok for now but it’s all a bit all over the place. Anyway, no one annoys me yet but I am heartily sick of CBS casting professional reality show contestants. Are there not enough people applying? 

[Dobian]

Phil: No non-elimination legs and we start the race already in Europe!

Translation: We're cutting your episodes this season, Phil

[killer.noona]

On 10/6/2022 at 5:31 PM, limecoke said:

I love this show. Watched from season one. The changes seem ok for now but it’s all a bit all over the place. Anyway, no one annoys me yet but I am heartily sick of CBS casting professional reality show contestants. Are there not enough people applying? 

Do they still have the dumb rule that a team can only apply once?

I wish the first leg was NEL. It would give the racers more time to get their feet wet and not be such a shitty ending for the first team eliminated.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, killer.noona said:

I wish the first leg was NEL. It would give the racers more time to get their feet wet and not be such a shitty ending for the first team eliminated.

It's been suggested that if a leg is scheduled to have three NEL (say) then they should be the first three legs of the race. That way, racers get a chance to find their feet and we viewers get to know them better, before the eliminations begin. 

On the face of it I don't find the idea objectionable. But if you only start eliminating teams at the end of leg #4, then all teams will be running those four legs. This will probably result in an increase of race production costs and a reduction of airtime received by each team. 

Every elimination means less airline travel, less camera/sound crew, less rental cars, etc, to pay for. Also fewer racers to be edited in to the same number of minutes per episode.

A compromise is always a possibility.  But I suspect production have their reasons for doing it the way they do. Whether I agree with those reasons is neither here nor there.