S34.E12: The Only Leg That Matters

[chaifan]

If Molly & Emily really were just 15-20 minutes behind Derek & Claire, then there's a pretty good chance they were done in by bad navigation.  It's hard to tell how much time they lost by the missed parking and then going the wrong direction to the guitar challenge.  But I can't see how combined it was less than 15 minutes.   So for all the talk of the knee/leg, it didn't seem that that was their proverbial Achilles's heel (sorry, couldn't resist).  Of course, it could be they only bled 5-10 minutes on the navigation and the leg slowed them down the rest of the time.  Only they know at this point.

4 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Between that and Michelle making the bridge climb harder than necessary and apparently having some kind of brain freeze up at the top, I think L/M hit an exhaustion-related mental wall at the worst possible time.

To be fair, if you didn't have climbing experience I don't think most people would have assumed to stand upright and walk it while pulling yourself up with the rope.  That also takes a lot of upper body strength, which again, tends to favor men over women.  Claire & Derek took a risk by keeping the last 1/2 of the roadblocks for Derek, but it paid off. 

I'll admit it... I wasn't as enamored of this finale as it seems everyone else was.  I liked that they went to Nashville, it's a cool city.  I liked the general theme of the first 3 challenges, but there really wasn't much room for changing up the order, or at least by a significant amount.  Yes, Emily & Molly finished the whiskey task first, but with a pretty simple task and only a case or two to fill, there really wasn't a chance that any team would screw up so much to be more than a few minutes behind.  Same with the guitars - getting directions from the locals was easy.  It really was more of a strength and endurance test than anything.  The bridge challenge could have caused a big gap, but really only if someone freaked out at heights and froze.   If there had been a more complicated label process on the whiskey, or if they were given a very rudimentary map and not allowed to ask directions, I think those tasks would have been better and we could have seen the order change a bit more.  In the end, the only thing that really changed the order of things was Molly & Emily's poor navigation.  Yes, that's part of the Race, but it shouldn't be the only challenging thing about it.

And I thought the final challenge was a great challenge for the Racers - both memory and skill involved.  But, I thought it was a lousy challenge for the viewers.  Due to the speed of the task, it was impossible for me to follow along and realize what mistakes they were making.   OK, the orchestra was great for the viewers.  I loved that aspect. 

But I really liked this season.  As everyone else has said, a great group of racers, and an end bunch where you could cheer on every team. 

For future races, count me in on those who really want the return of start times based on arrival time at the mat.  If they are concerned about production problems caused by far trailing teams, they could simply establish a rule that there will be a maximum time between first and last teams of ### hours/minutes.  

And, as I already said, they could cut down on the getting directions from locals by providing really simple maps that require some navigation skill.  Maybe have landmarks only, not street names, things like that.  I'm guessing there was a "no Fern" rule in place in Nashville, otherwise there would have been a load of tourists offering to carry the guitars and lead them around. 

[GenerationX]

I don't believe casting is as critical to the Race as it is to other reality shows.  The Race features the coolest locations (shot by the most Amazing camera crew) and mixes it with interesting tasks, game locals, and Phil.  The cast is secondary.  Survivor and Big Brother need big personalities to make their seasons' worthwhile.  The Amazing Race works regardless of casting.

Derek and Claire earned their win, though I'm still floored that two people as boring to watch as they are have been cast in 2 or 3 reality shows now.  It's a shame Luis and Michelle didn't win, but they didn't earn it.

I never tire of the Amazing Race theme.  What an incredibly pleasant surprise to see how it was woven into the brilliant final task.  Looking forward to next season!

[chaifan]

13 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

I don't believe casting is as critical to the Race as it is to other reality shows.  The Race features the coolest locations (shot by the most Amazing camera crew) and mixes it with interesting tasks, game locals, and Phil.  The cast is secondary.  Survivor and Big Brother need big personalities to make their seasons' worthwhile.  The Amazing Race works regardless of casting.

Eh, I can't really agree with you on this.  There have been some horrible casting choices.  Rachel from BB is the #1 example.  I have never wanted so much to reach through the screen and punch someone in the face.  Everyone I know felt the same way.  And they cast her twice.  Her second season was the only one that I intentionally spoiled myself on.  I read spoilers to find out when they were eliminated, so I could know when I would enjoy the episodes again.  In that case, The Amazing Race worked despite casting. 

I think the majority of TAR viewers don't want high drama racers.  We don't want bickering couples.  We learned a few seasons ago that plotting/scheming teams don't make a good Race.  Casting is important.

[Dobian]

That was sort of anticlimactic.  I figured the BB team would win early on when the other two teams kept making mistakes.  Derek and Claire are nice and all, but I never rooted for them.  I never root for teams made up of players from the other CBS reality shows.  For me, they've had their 15 minutes so move on already.  But CBS has this weird idea that more people will watch because they recognize players from their other shows.  I'm not interested in people who do reality shows for a living.

The final challenge didn't play well for me, pardon the pun.  Other memory challenges were very easy to follow and you could see right away if the teams were getting things in the right order or not.  On this one, I just saw a blur of images when they stepped on the keys and couldn't tell if they had the note order right or not. Then when they were messing up I didn't know if it was because they had the notes wrong or were just messing up or going too slow.  I also kind of figured, if they knew they were going for the theme song, why did they even need the images?  Just work out the melody.  Not only that, when they eventually got it right I couldn't make out the Amazing Race theme.  I heard some random notes followed by, "Correct!"  Eh okay.

Grand Ole Opry was one of the great Amazing Race finish locations.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Dobian

[xcrayon2215x]

Derek and Claire deserved to win, the final challenge was pretty cool. Emily and Molly made it further than I thought they would.

[Netfoot]

25 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Rachel from BB is the #1 example.  I have never wanted so much to reach through the screen and punch someone in the face.

Which is why, despite liking Derek & Claire and rooting for their win, I want TPTB to stop casting people from that horrible show BB.

[North of Eden]

While I didn't want the winners we got based on Claire's inner harpiness on display of late its not only a victory for her and Derek but for karma. It proved they can be actual winners when they don't have the deck stacked hopelessly against them by a secret alliance.

Speaking of Claire she had a sour puss face on during the confessionals that convinced me they had lost. Not sure what was up with that.

If the twins could have pulled it off it would have been a win for the ages but they did damn good and I hope second place pays well.

Can't help it...still like Michelle...she just seems like a decent person, warm and friendly. There's nothing there not to like.

Aubrey's reactions at the arrivals endeared her too me. Loved her enthusiam.

Last note...I've seen every season of TAR but I have zero memory of whoever those women were at the guitar shop.

[Netfoot]

56 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Speaking of Claire she had a sour puss face on during the confessionals that convinced me they had lost. Not sure what was up with that.

Perhaps she was told not to telegraph their win and took them seriously?

[Ms Blue Jay]

5 hours ago, I Want My MBTV said:

So this was Derek's 3rd 'reality' show?  I don't get it.  I didn't have anything against him or Claire but I also didn't find either of the particularly interesting (though I'd take not interesting over obnoxious) - I'm really surprised he'd get cast on all these shows.  The only one I watch is TAR but I thought BB especially cast 'personalities'.  

First of all, Asian contestants on BB are pretty rare, so it's exciting for a lot of people that Derek was even cast.  Then, he was in second place for America's Favourite Player.  People seem to really enjoy his personality.

5 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

It’s kind of interesting that other reality shows (BB, Survivor) tend to feed into TAR, but it doesn’t go the other way. I wonder why that is?

Natalie and Nadiya went from TAR to Survivor.

Mike White went from TAR to Survivor.

Caleb Reynolds went from Big Brother to Survivor.

[30 Helens]

5 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Natalie and Nadiya went from TAR to Survivor.

Mike White went from TAR to Survivor.

Ah yes, I forgot all about the Twinnniiies!  Funny how they were so irritating on this show, yet I really liked Natalie on Survivor. Maybe it was because Nadiya went out right away— they have to be separated to be tolerable?

And while I admit I forgot that Mike White was on TAR, he wasn’t cast on Survivor because he was a TAR alum. 

My point was, TAR pulls cast members from the other shows much more often than they pull from TAR. I just wonder why that is. Is TAR that much lower rated, and therefore more in need of casting familiar faces?

[SVNBob]

On 12/7/2022 at 9:02 PM, mojoween said:

Were Rex and Friend not at the finish?

Apparently not.

But an eagle-eyed Redditor spotted something.  In some of the pre-Race publicity photos and videos, and on the starting line (I checked this), Rex was wearing a hat for Tootsie's, one of the locations for the guitar drop-offs in this final leg.

[PurpleTentacle]

11 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Number Two: They keep saying things like "We have to stay on the race so we can get to know each other after 34 years!" So, wait. When the race is over, do they just wave goodbye and never see one another ever again? Aren't they even going to exchange numbers? It's bullshit. They will continue to "get to know each other" for the rest of their lives. They don't need to be on TAR for that to happen. So please! Shaddup!

I mean I get it. They don't live close to each other. So realistically how often can they see each other? And then at least one of them has kids, so even if you go on a vacation together, your time catching up is very limited.

On the other hand, they said the best time to get to know one another was during the pitstops and we know that teams who get philiminated are sequestered till the end of the race. So they would have had even more time to catch up, if they were eliminated early.

9 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Were they under some restriction not to say anything? or sing? It was really odd that they were there and didn't actually say anything and it was actually one of the teams that sang their signature 'song'. It was also nice that they were recognized, among the many things I hated about the family edition was the fact that only one person on one team recognized Kevin and Drew (who did a lot of talking)

Maybe TAR didn't want to pay for them saying something. If you are just in background you are an extra and get payed accordingly. As soon as you talk you are an actor in the episode and are entitled to a lot more money.

5 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

First of all, Asian contestants on BB are pretty rare, so it's exciting for a lot of people that Derek was even cast. 

But what does that have to do with TAR? We had 5 asians this season alone.

Edited December 9, 2022 by PurpleTentacle

[cowgirlwen]

10 hours ago, Dobian said:

Grand Ole Opry was one of the great Amazing Race finish locations.

Well, technically, the Ryman Auditorium hasn't been the location of the Grand Ole Opry since 1969, when it moved to Opryland.  (It was the original GOO, so you still get partial credit.)  😉

Loved the Nashville finale location.  I've been there a couple of times, and it was fun to see the familiar locations and have some sense of distance between them.  I've also been to the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, TN.  Definitely an interesting and fun tourist stop!

[AncientNewbie]

I'm losing all my TWoPpy snark in my old age, apparently, because I enjoyed this and would have been okay with any of the last three pulling out a win. The challenges seemed good, even if they didn't shake the order up a lot (but that might have been partly on Derek and his speed.) 

I'm ready for a return to a "regular" season but I was very content with this ep and the season as a whole...I really am getting soft. 

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, eel21788 said:

There was too much of that. They should have been required to figure it out on their own for a real test of traveling skills. Isn't that what this show should be about?

They've always been allowed to ask bystanders for directions.  And the very first AR featured Rob and Brennan borrowing someone's cell phone, primitive as it was back then.

20 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

also there is basically no language barrier.

Some legs they found plenty of people who spoke English, but others, not so much.

14 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I think climbing the Sydney Harbor bridge was scarier than this one. Not to mention rappelling face first down a skyscraper or -my vote for worst- inching along a ledge on the side of one of the Alps from one window to another. 

Yeah, those were all nightmare-inducing for me.

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, chaifan said:

For future races, count me in on those who really want the return of start times based on arrival time at the mat.  If they are concerned about production problems caused by far trailing teams, they could simply establish a rule that there will be a maximum time between first and last teams of ### hours/minutes.  

The easing of Covid restrictions worldwide will probably end the leaving in groups thing or at least limit its use.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Per Derek he had a nosebleed just as they hit the mat

Yeah you could see it on re-watch, although when they cut to close-ups his nose was clean. The editing was strange; it almost seemed as if they cleaned him up and re-shot some of the close-ups.

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Now TPTB. Can we please have an end to packing the race with ex-BB competitors? D&C may have been good people who were able to win me over, but they are the exception that only proves the rule.

I agree, but I doubt the show will heed our requests. They see these teams as having built-in fanbases and hope they will bring in audience numbers. It's the same reason they keep casting social media personalities (which we were fortunately spared from, for the most part, this season).

Quote

It was great to see Caroline & Jennifer put in a cameo appearance. 

I had no recollection of them whatsoever. Even after Googling them I barely remember them. They were one of those interchangeable blonde teams whose stated strategy was to flirt with the guys.

Quote

So this was Derek's 3rd 'reality' show?  I don't get it.  I didn't have anything against him or Claire but I also didn't find either of the particularly interesting

It's interesting how Derek in particular came across on this show versus Big Brother. He is a pretty low-key personality and fairly quiet and shy. But he can be rather endearing and is a genuinely nice person - as is Claire. 

Quote

BB casts a mix of personalities. Not all of them are awful. Not even the majority are awful. 

Hard disagree. Most of 'em are awful. 😁

Quote

It’s kind of interesting that other reality shows (BB, Survivor) tend to feed into TAR, but it doesn’t go the other way. I wonder why that is?

Well, the "Twinnies" started off on Amazing Race and wound up on Survivor, so it has worked the other way around.

[mbluecpa]

13 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Perhaps she was told not to telegraph their win and took them seriously?

I thought this for sure from the talking heads segments as well, in fact I early on assumed it was Luis and Michelle who’d won based on those.  L/M were so genuinely excited at the finish, which obviously carried over.

As others have noted, it was great to have a season where I didn’t dislike any team.  I was prepared to not like Derek and Claire given the BB connection but they were certainly likable and clearly competent racers.  It also seems like the racers bonded more than usual: besides the handful of times teams collaborated on tasks (grrr), they all seemed to have a real camaraderie, maybe a derivative of sharing the Amazing Jet between racing legs.

I suspect most, if not all, of the eliminated teams must have decoy-raced in Nashville as that was one of the most public final legs I can recall.  I also think there were more than nine guitars at the Gibson place to start (though Emily and Molly said they got the last three).  

[DEL901]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Well, the "Twinnies" started off on Amazing Race and wound up on Survivor, so it has worked the other way around.

One of the Twinnies also went on The Challenge which is on MTV.   And on The Challenge: USA, they had folks from Surviver, Big Brother, Love Island and TAR.   One of the Flight Attendants from last season made it to the Finale.  

Edited December 9, 2022 by DEL901

[dgpolo]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Quote

It was great to see Caroline & Jennifer put in a cameo appearance. 

I had no recollection of them whatsoever. Even after Googling them I barely remember them. They were one of those interchangeable blonde teams whose stated strategy was to flirt with the guys.

The thing I remember most was Jennifer being a granddaughter of John Wayne and unexpectedly doing well in a couple shooting challenges.

34 minutes ago, mbluecpa said:

 I also think there were more than nine guitars at the Gibson place to start (though Emily and Molly said they got the last three).  

I missed the explanation for the guitars but there was one close up of a guitar in a case and it made me think that they had to put certain guitars in certain cases and take certain ones to each nightclub, but either that wasn't so or no one messed it up so it didn't matter.

[aradia22]

I watched the episode Wednesday night but it was late so I didn't respond here. 

Loved seeing Emily and Molly's quiet, efficient competence at the bottle task but it was yet another waste of time that barely created separation between the teams. I feel like they're making a lot of their ages but they're only 36, they just have gray hairs. 

The theme song piano task was a cool one. I appreciated that it was a tough memory task (with misdirects mixed in) along with a physical challenge to hit the piano keys in the right order within 11 seconds.

I don't know if it was happening multiple times or they were just replaying the same soundbite but I thought it was cute how Emily and Molly would say "oh my God" perfectly in sync. I'm fine with the Derek and Clare win but as they were racing towards the finish, I realized how much I wanted Emily and Molly to somehow manage a win. 

Any reason the football coach team wasn't at the finish line? I think that was the only team missing.

[One Imaginary Girl]

I wouldn't have minded if any of the teams from the whole season won (though I think a couple of people eliminated fairly early might have grated over time if their stays were longer), but the quick recap of the season at the beginning of the finale made me feel glad for Claire that the ordeal of that tightrope walk in Ronda paid off.  I have terrible fear of heights, too, so no way could I have ever done that.  Now she should feel like she could do anything with that under her belt.

[GenerationX]

17 hours ago, chaifan said:

Eh, I can't really agree with you on this.  There have been some horrible casting choices.  Rachel from BB is the #1 example.  I have never wanted so much to reach through the screen and punch someone in the face.  Everyone I know felt the same way.  And they cast her twice.  Her second season was the only one that I intentionally spoiled myself on.  I read spoilers to find out when they were eliminated, so I could know when I would enjoy the episodes again.  In that case, The Amazing Race worked despite casting. 

I think the majority of TAR viewers don't want high drama racers.  We don't want bickering couples.  We learned a few seasons ago that plotting/scheming teams don't make a good Race.  Casting is important.

I think we have more common ground here.  I don't particularly like bickering couples, and I hated Rachel with a passion ("Waaaahhhh, the Amazing Race is supposed to be fun and good!")  But I still enjoy watching the race, whether it's filled with annoying twits or dullards.  Survivor, on the other hand, isn't that entertaining without some scheming personality types.  Casting can make The Amazing Race more or less enjoyable to a certain degree, but I still believe casting is a distant second to the basic framework of the production and the skills of the team behind it.

[lilysmom]

I, like so many others, would have been happy to see any of the final 3 win. I do feel emotional about the twins' story. Can't even imagine the odds of this happening. (Well maybe more likely today due to the DNA services available.) Also, the twins did not edit the final cut that we saw. The editors were the ones who decided to keep putting the "knee hurts" comments in. Can't blame the twins. She was in pain, but she kept going. 

In my heart, I was rooting for Claire mostly. Just thinking back to to the yodeling roadblock (or maybe it was a detour, I honestly don't know the difference!) when she just kept trying and trying and trying, and was still awful, but kept going and finally succeeded. That put a tender spot in my heart for her. and whenever she struggled, the "I will do this" attitude just kept coming through.

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I agree, but I doubt the show will heed our requests. They see these teams as having built-in fanbases and hope they will bring in audience numbers. It's the same reason they keep casting social media personalities (which we were fortunately spared from, for the most part, this season).

It worked on me.  I have never watched TAR before and I only watched it because Derek was on.  I enjoyed the season but I don't know if I'd watch the show again, though... 

2 hours ago, DEL901 said:

One of the Twinkie’s also went on The Challenge which is on MTV.   And on The Challenge: USA, they had folks from Surviver, Big Brother, Love Island and TAR.   One of the Flight Attendants from last season made it to the Finale.  

Yes, that's true.  I had never watched The Challenge before but of course I had to tune in when I found out contestants from THREE DIFFERENT shows that I love were going to be on.  I really, really don't like TJ (LOL) but I was happy to watch the season because of that.  Great cast.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I think we have more common ground here.  I don't particularly like bickering couples, and I hated Rachel with a passion ("Waaaahhhh, the Amazing Race is supposed to be fun and good!")  But I still enjoy watching the race, whether it's filled with annoying twits or dullards.  Survivor, on the other hand, isn't that entertaining without some scheming personality types.  Casting can make The Amazing Race more or less enjoyable to a certain degree, but I still believe casting is a distant second to the basic framework of the production and the skills of the team behind it.

I've stopped watching a few seasons midway through because I just did not care who won. I don't see any point in watching if I don't have at least a minor stake in it. There's no suspense that way. Scenery isn't enough for me. I had to stop and think of what other BB team won because I didn't watch the whole season when Cody and whats-her-name won.

So casting is definitely a must, just as much as in Survivor (which has a rather blah cast this year). For me, anyway. TAR had a great cast this year, the only team I didn't like was the motivational speakers.

[aradia22]

Quote

One minor quibble, though, Phil, sweetie.  Nashville was not the birthplace of bluegrass music.

They have been putting questionable "facts" in his scripts all season.

Reading the thread, I was reminded of the guitar task. Trying to break through a crowd of unmasked, slow-walking tourists (while carrying something heavy) is my nightmare. 

Quote

I get it, that with COVID restrictions we can't have the really spectacular destinations and tasks we used to, but I'm really tired of "safe" Europe.

Honestly, they're probably less safe in some US states. Aside from the countries that have banned US travelers, I hope they can go to some different locations next season.

Quote

The correct sequence would apparently play the theme song of the show, though that was difficult to tell from their understandably spastic efforts.

Even hearing Derek and Claire's correct playthrough, I don't think it sounded too much like the theme. I think it's fair that they didn't make the piano so melodic and you really needed to guess the clues to put everything in the right order. 

Quote

And, as I already said, they could cut down on the getting directions from locals by providing really simple maps that require some navigation skill. 

There have been many times (usually when they're on foot) where I wish they had a simple map. Make it a navigation task rather than a "who can find a friendly, helpful stranger first" task.

Quote

I think the majority of TAR viewers don't want high drama racers.  We don't want bickering couples. 

The blind dating season was way too much chaos. If they want to pair up strangers (which I still think is a bad idea) at least let it be race superfans and not poorly matched couples. My dream is a season of super tough challenges and highly competent racers, but I know I was in the minority of people who loved Marcus and Michael.

[PurpleTentacle]

7 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Some legs they found plenty of people who spoke English, but others, not so much.

This season there wasn't a problem once.

Last season there was a bit in rural greece, but that was about it.

Nothing compared to Asia and Africa.

[Cotypubby]

On the piano challenge, I don't think it was the piano itself that played the Amazing Race theme. Just that once they pressed the keys in the correct order in time, the live orchestra would begin playing the theme. Otherwise wouldn't they have to hit some of the same keys multiple times? That wouldn't work with each image being different. And how would the theme only be 11 notes?

Edited December 10, 2022 by Cotypubby

[aghst]

I don't think they built a giant piano keyboard or 3 giant piano keyboards that actually activated the note and the image.

Probably someone in a control center was watching which keys they stopped on and turn on the images and the notes.

[ApprenticeFan]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:41 AM, chaifan said:

For future races, count me in on those who really want the return of start times based on arrival time at the mat.  If they are concerned about production problems caused by far trailing teams, they could simply establish a rule that there will be a maximum time between first and last teams of ### hours/minutes.  

At least they will return for season 36 as easing of worldwide COVID restrictions will end leaving the groups as it will be back to standard departure times that it had done pre-COVID. The 35th season has already finished filming and will not air until January 2024. The 36th season is scheduled to film in February 2024.

8 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Nothing compared to Asia and Africa.

Jordan is the only Asian country visited in this season being part of the Middle East. The rest of the Asia hasn't visited since season 32 as several Asian countries hadn't yet to open international borders to western tourists at the time.

On 12/8/2022 at 11:02 AM, mojoween said:

Were Rex and Friend not at the finish?

Because one of them got struck by COVID and they couldn't be there.

Edited December 10, 2022 by ApprenticeFan

[aghst]

But if they open it up again and teams come down positive with covid, will they get automatically eliminated?

With bad luck they could lose 2 or 3 teams in 2 consecutive legs or maybe even one leg.

That would cause havoc with the shooting schedule.

[PurpleTentacle]

10 hours ago, aghst said:

I don't think they built a giant piano keyboard or 3 giant piano keyboards that actually activated the note and the image.

Probably someone in a control center was watching which keys they stopped on and turn on the images and the notes.

Those giant pianos do just exist and there has to be a way to take an output. Newer ones probably just have an USB Port you can connect to a computer. So I doubt anybody in a control room was frantically trying to hit the corresponding buttons to the keys the racers were hitting, when you can just make that fully automatic very easily.

9 hours ago, ApprenticeFan said:

At least they will return for season 36 as easing of worldwide COVID restrictions will end leaving the groups as it will be back to standard departure times that it had done pre-COVID. The 35th season has already finished filming and will not air until January 2024. The 36th season is scheduled to film in February 2024.

Do you have a source for 35 not airing until 2024 and 36 only being filmed in 2024? The things I've heard so far were quite different.

9 hours ago, ApprenticeFan said:

Jordan is the only Asian country visited in this season being part of the Middle East. The rest of the Asia hasn't visited since season 32 as several Asian countries hadn't yet to open international borders to western tourists at the time.

I know. What's your point?

8 hours ago, aghst said:

But if they open it up again and teams come down positive with covid, will they get automatically eliminated?

I guess depends if there are still covid restrictions in the countries they are traveling to. Where I live all quarantine protocols were lifted and now you just have to wear an FFP2 mask if you are infected.

If you are sufficiently vaccinated and not elderly, covid should at worst be a nasty cold and they aren't usually kicking out teams for having a cold.

[ApprenticeFan]

1 hour ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Do you have a source for 35 not airing until 2024 and 36 only being filmed in 2024? The things I've heard so far were quite different.

CBS has already announced its midseason schedule last month and TAR is not there.

[PurpleTentacle]

1 minute ago, ApprenticeFan said:

CBS has already announced its midseason schedule last month and TAR is not there.

That doesn't necessarily mean 2024 though. It could just mean fall of 2023, which is what I would expect.

[chaifan]

12 hours ago, ApprenticeFan said:

Because one of them got struck by COVID and they couldn't be there.

Source? 

If one of them had Covid, why couldn't the other one be there?  If they were both in sequesterville, and one had covid, wouldn't the rest of the cast be exposed, too?

[QuantumMechanic]

On 12/8/2022 at 3:00 PM, eel21788 said:

There was too much of that. They should have been required to figure it out on their own for a real test of traveling skills. Isn't that what this show should be about?

Yeah.  I actually found the finale pretty boring because of that.  "Oooh, carry three guitars down the street"  Yawwwwwwwwn.  

When I become Race Czar :). one thing that's gonna happen is there will be a 2hr penalty for each time a team asks a bystander to look something up on their phone or to borrow their phone..

15 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

On the piano challenge, I don't think it was the piano itself that played the Amazing Race theme. Just that once they pressed the keys in the correct order in time, the live orchestra would begin playing the theme. Otherwise wouldn't they have to hit some of the same keys multiple times? That wouldn't work with each image being different. And how would the theme only be 11 notes?

I was confused by that as well and eventually came to your conclusion.

Because when Phil first said what the task was we were thinking "if someone plays piano and has a good ear they can just do the task without worrying about the images!"

So doing what they actually did prevented that.

Edited December 10, 2022 by QuantumMechanic

[ApprenticeFan]

9 hours ago, chaifan said:

Source? 

If one of them had Covid, why couldn't the other one be there?  If they were both in sequesterville, and one had covid, wouldn't the rest of the cast be exposed, too?

It's from Tim's Instagram. Either he or Rex got COVID and missed the finish line to reunite with the other eliminated racers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl7YvA2OrUC/

Edited December 11, 2022 by ApprenticeFan

[eel21788]

7 hours ago, QuantumMechanic said:

 When I become Race Czar :). one thing that's gonna happen is there will be a 2hr penalty for each time a team asks a bystander to look something up on their phone or to borrow their phone..

I also want a penalty for teams pairing up and doing the tasks together or even offering helpful hints.

[blackwing]

Derek and Claire were among my least favourite teams of the season.  Still not buying them as a real couple, I think it's all for show so that they can continue to gain fame as reality show contestants.  I find her a little intense, I find him a little toolish and doormatty.  Of course they are going to buy an apartment in L.A., the better to continue to appear on more reality shows.

That said, I do think they worked hard this leg and their win was deserved.  Especially as Emily and Molly once again had navigation problems, and Luis and Michelle faltered due to Michelle's performance on the bridge.

The final task was well designed but I am heartened to see that others were confused by it as well.  I could have sworn that Phil said it would play the TAR theme and I'm thinking, just go on the piano and play the notes.  But the explanation that the theme would play if the sequence was correct makes a lot more sense.  I'd be curious to understand how long the task took.  Because presumably there were maybe at least 40 keys, does that mean there were 40 pictures?

On 12/8/2022 at 7:41 PM, chaifan said:

I'll admit it... I wasn't as enamored of this finale as it seems everyone else was.  I liked that they went to Nashville, it's a cool city.  I liked the general theme of the first 3 challenges, but there really wasn't much room for changing up the order, or at least by a significant amount.  Yes, Emily & Molly finished the whiskey task first, but with a pretty simple task and only a case or two to fill, there really wasn't a chance that any team would screw up so much to be more than a few minutes behind.  Same with the guitars - getting directions from the locals was easy.  It really was more of a strength and endurance test than anything.  The bridge challenge could have caused a big gap, but really only if someone freaked out at heights and froze.   If there had been a more complicated label process on the whiskey, or if they were given a very rudimentary map and not allowed to ask directions, I think those tasks would have been better and we could have seen the order change a bit more.  In the end, the only thing that really changed the order of things was Molly & Emily's poor navigation.  Yes, that's part of the Race, but it shouldn't be the only challenging thing about it.

And I thought the final challenge was a great challenge for the Racers - both memory and skill involved.  But, I thought it was a lousy challenge for the viewers.  Due to the speed of the task, it was impossible for me to follow along and realize what mistakes they were making.   OK, the orchestra was great for the viewers.  I loved that aspect. 

I agree with you completely.  The final challenge was difficult for viewers to follow.  The identification of the correct photos went by too quickly, we couldn't tell which keys went with which photos, what they were doing wrong, and above all, the final "song" was tuneless.

The rest of the tasks were completely boring to watch.  Putting labels on bottles?  Zzzzzz.  Climbing up a bridge?  OK, physical and cool.  But not that interesting.  Would have been more interesting if there was some other task to do along the way, or pieces to collect, or something.

Delivering guitars?  I dislike all "deliver three things to three locations" or "pick up three things from three locations" tasks on TAR because it is utterly boring to watch.  They never give us an overhead map so we have no sense of where these places are, how far apart they are, where each team is relative to others.  For this particular task, it seemed like all three did them in the same order, so it was pretty linear.

I also feel like the places where the race designers were hoping someone would fail (getting the guitar pick from the case at the top of the bridge, taking the wrong kinds of guitars) were just complete busts.

If it were me, I would ban all use of technology.  It is thoroughly uninteresting to watch someone borrow someone's phone and look up directions.  I would like them to either be given maps, or have to solve puzzles to get clues/directions.  It's completely anticlimactic to just watch some helpful bystander give directions.  Or how about doing what people used to have to do in the olden days?  Call places to ask for directions.  

On 12/9/2022 at 6:42 PM, aghst said:

I don't think they built a giant piano keyboard or 3 giant piano keyboards that actually activated the note and the image.

Probably someone in a control center was watching which keys they stopped on and turn on the images and the notes.

I think it was a functioning keyboard... at least once somebody said they stepped on two keys at the same time and the wrong picture came up.  No way someone in a control center would have been able to determine whether two keys were actually stepped on or not.

On 12/9/2022 at 10:26 AM, iMonrey said:

I had no recollection of [Caroline and Jennifer] whatsoever. Even after Googling them I barely remember them. They were one of those interchangeable blonde teams whose stated strategy was to flirt with the guys.

I remember this team although I don't know if I would have been able to pick them out.  I'm assuming since they are country singers that they live in Nashville.  I definitely remember them singing "we're gonna win the Amazing Race" during the segment after the final three has been set and each team talks about anticipation for the last leg.  I absolutely loved that Michelle sang it back to them.  I wish they could have been singing or talking instead of just slowly strumming a guitar.  Don't know if it was because the show didn't want to pay them to speak, or what, but it was odd just having them sitting there.

The show has definitely had cameos from past contestants on the show before.  Like Kevin and Drew from TAR Classic (Season 1).  And another time when the racers went to Chicago, they had Ernie (the packhorse one of Ernie and Cindy the Shrew) in the rooftop stands handing out a clue or a hot dog or something.

I echo everyone's comments that I hope things are back to normal enough in the world that for the next edition, teams can book their own flights and that they can go to countries other than those in Europe.  Would love to get back to seeing more legs in Africa and Asia and South America.

[Lamb18]

On 12/8/2022 at 11:22 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

First of all, Asian contestants on BB are pretty rare, so it's exciting for a lot of people that Derek was even cast.  Then, he was in second place for America's Favourite Player.  People seem to really enjoy his personality.

Natalie and Nadiya went from TAR to Survivor.

Mike White went from TAR to Survivor.

Caleb Reynolds went from Big Brother to Survivor.

Also Jeff(?) and Jackie from the TAR strangers season went on to BB.

On 12/8/2022 at 11:41 PM, 30 Helens said:

Ah yes, I forgot all about the Twinnniiies!  Funny how they were so irritating on this show, yet I really liked Natalie on Survivor. Maybe it was because Nadiya went out right away— they have to be separated to be tolerable?

And while I admit I forgot that Mike White was on TAR, he wasn’t cast on Survivor because he was a TAR alum. 

My point was, TAR pulls cast members from the other shows much more often than they pull from TAR. I just wonder why that is. Is TAR that much lower rated, and therefore more in need of casting familiar faces?

Mike White was on Survivor. I'm sure I didn't imagine a whole season.

He also is quarterback for the NY Jets. (JK!)

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

On 12/9/2022 at 12:41 AM, 30 Helens said:

Ah yes, I forgot all about the Twinnniiies!  Funny how they were so irritating on this show, yet I really liked Natalie on Survivor. Maybe it was because Nadiya went out right away— they have to be separated to be tolerable?

And while I admit I forgot that Mike White was on TAR, he wasn’t cast on Survivor because he was a TAR alum. 

My point was, TAR pulls cast members from the other shows much more often than they pull from TAR. I just wonder why that is. Is TAR that much lower rated, and therefore more in need of casting familiar faces?

Mike White was on Survivor. I'm sure I didn't imagine a whole season.

He also is quarterback for the NY Jets. (JK!)

I think 30 Helens meant that Mike White was cast on Survivor, but he was cast because of his Hollywood writing/producing career, which pre-dated his time on TAR, not for being a TAR alum.

[30 Helens]

3 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I think 30 Helens meant that Mike White was cast on Survivor, but he was cast because of his Hollywood writing/producing career, which pre-dated his time on TAR, not for being a TAR alum.

Yes, thank you.

[Netfoot]

Just remembered something and don't think anyone mentioned it: Derek's fake proposal to Claire at the mat.

I knew without a moment's hesitation that it was a joke, and apparently, so did Claire herself. She said "I packed the bags and there was no ring in there!" Or words to that effect. I thought the entire jest was funny enough to laugh out loud. Taking the mickey out of all those previous on-the-mat proposals. (I couldn't think of a worse thing to do than to ambush your SO in a hugely public place (TV Land) with a surprise proposal. You're just begging for a slap-down!)

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

Also Jeff(?) and Jackie from the TAR strangers season went on to BB.

Mike White was on Survivor. I'm sure I didn't imagine a whole season.

He also is quarterback for the NY Jets. (JK!)

Thank you!  I knew I was forgetting people, because while I know Survivor, I do not know TAR alumni.

[PurpleTentacle]

Just watched Derek's and Claire's podcast.

Apparently this wasn't supposed to be a night leg, but they had to push back filming, because this was the hottest day on record in Nashville, ever.

That surprised me a lot. With the tasks, like delivering guitars to night clubs, this seemed made to be a night leg. I guess this was a happy coincidence then.

[Leeds]

On 12/8/2022 at 11:44 AM, PurpleTentacle said:

I have to live here, I don't need it on the race.

Yes sure, there is some beautiful landscape, but culturally it is way too close to america and also there is basically no language barrier. I want those racers to struggle and I want to see stuff I can't see with a few hours drive.

As Gordon Ramsay would say, "Wow, just wow!"

[PurpleTentacle]

On 12/16/2022 at 2:05 PM, Leeds said:

As Gordon Ramsay would say, "Wow, just wow!"

Because everybody loved the family edition, when the race didn't leave the US.

[Leeds]

On 12/10/2022 at 8:02 AM, QuantumMechanic said:

When I become Race Czar :). one thing that's gonna happen is there will be a 2hr penalty for each time a team asks a bystander to look something up on their phone or to borrow their phone..

On 12/10/2022 at 4:01 PM, eel21788 said:

I also want a penalty for teams pairing up and doing the tasks together or even offering helpful hints.

I know it's been asked before, but why oh why have they dumbed down the show so much since its fabulous beginnings?  (And I'm not talking pandemic restrictions here.)

[Fretful]

On 12/10/2022 at 4:01 PM, eel21788 said:

I also want a penalty for teams pairing up and doing the tasks together or even offering helpful hints.

This is nothing new. In season 3  Oh Brother and the Wondertwins had a "share information" alliance from almost the beginning.  It made it interesting to see their strengths play out, and it's one of the reasons that elimination was such a toughie.  And who can forget the ill-fated twin hunt from that season.  Good times.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Fretful