Season 1 Thoughts

[Kromm]

I admired certain aspects of TAR Canada Season 1 and hated others.

For one thing, the host was just plain bad.  I suspect its a matter of taste though--tons of native Canadians apparently loved the job he did, but many others talking about this (on other boards) thought he sounded like a cross between Terrence (from Terrence and Philip) and one of the cartoon Chipmunks.  It wasn't even the tone of his voice as much as how fast he spoke his lines.  

The cinematography was great.  It was well shot and lived up to the franchise on that account.

The challenges ranged between pretty good, down to fairly lame.  But that's not essentially any different than on the Mothership TAR, except they have the occasional corker that's really excellent and I don't know if any of the TARCAN challenges reached that level.

The casting was okay.  A few people who were cast simply because they were characters, true, but that's always in the TAR bag.  

The big debate by the season end was if the show really benefited by staying in Canada, and even more if that mode could be carried out through multiple seasons.  It seemed okay for one season, but I suspect the show will feel bigger and more engaging if they change this.  True, it was great to see lots of unseen areas of Canada, and that should continue.  Ideally the show would split the two--have a certain part of the race in Canada, and a certain part outside.  Since it won't really be able to be "a race around the world" though, that tagline needs to stay off.  I truly do think a lot of TAR is lost if you don't have the aspects of dealing with people you don't share a language with, people in another land blowing you off or overly fascinated by these crazy North Americans running around, slow cab races based seemingly randomly on which driver gives a shit, airport and travel agent shenanigans, and all of the other "Stranger in a Strange Land" aspects.  You don't need to make TAR Canada identical to the US version, but really its going to get boring eventually all in Canada.  

[Jer2002]

I loved that it was all in Canada. But then, I'm not Candian and have never been to Canada so... They certainly did a better job staying in one country than TAR:Family Edition did.

Edited March 29, 2014 by Jer2002

[HistoryGirl]

I had the ABSOLUTE PLEASURE of meeting Jon Montgomery at the Canadian Screen Awards fanzone.  He (along with Peter Brown from Big Brother Canada) was truly amazing to talk to.  He brought his gold medal (said it was his "hook" to get people to talk to him, IMO I think hosting TAR is a hook on its own) and let people wear it (because he wanted to get all of Canada's prints on it).  In my conversation with him I mentioned that I thought that TAR:C was better than TAR:US.  I said that either it was because it was Canada or because of the show's contestants, I just found it superior in some way.  He thanked me and said that he hopes this next season "that [he would] be better."  So I suspect that he found his own performance cringe worthy.  

I think he's learned from his mistakes in S1 and that we'll see a different host in S2.  Even Phil was pretty green around the edges in S1 of TAR.

If you ever have the chance to meet Jon, TAKE IT.  He's so cool and very extroverted.  

Edited March 30, 2014 by HistoryGirl

[Kromm]

So I suspect that he found his own performance cringe worthy.  

I think he's learned from his mistakes in S1 and that we'll see a different host in S2.  Even Phil was pretty green around the edges in S1 of TAR.

If you ever have the chance to meet Jon, TAKE IT.  He's so cool and very extroverted.  

I think this is one of the cases where its better to be honest--I mean when someone seems to have noticed the problem themselves.  If I were meeting the man I'd simply say.. "I think you can do it, just... slow down."  I know a host is given lines to speak, marks to hit, and timing, but its a sign not only of his own nervousness, but also shoddy work by the director shooting the stuff if they don't rework the words he has to speak to ALLOW him to speak slower and more distinctly to fit the timing they need.  So because of that it's certainly FAR from just his own fault.

[shok]

I had the ABSOLUTE PLEASURE of meeting Jon Montgomery at the Canadian Screen Awards fanzone.

If you ever have the chance to meet Jon, TAKE IT.  He's so cool and very extroverted.  

 

Jon is a real character and has charisma out the wazoo. He's also very good looking. Thank goodness he'll be back for Season 2 because it just wouldn't be TARC without him. (And I don't think he talks too fast. The first couple of shows he did but you could see him improving [in a job he'd never done before] episode by episode and by the end, he was terrific.)

[Rusun]

At least he's neither Arisa Cox nor Grant Bowler. ^_^

[yeswedo]

Question for season one watchers - I was in Vancouver last August on vacation and we did a day trip to Victoria. From the bus to Butchart Gardens I thought I saw TAR route markers. I didn't know that there was a Canadian version until after I returned home and I never saw the show. Did an episode take place in Victoria?

 

And second question, did the show air in the US? 

[legaleagle53]

I can answer the second question.  The show never aired in the US.  Those of us who watched it in the US did so via YouTube.

[Canada]

I'm still offended that the Tims won it.  After being last multiple times, they did not deserve it.  And to act like they'd done so well all along, like they were a strong team, was such bullcrap!!

[Snarkette]

Hated the Tims, loved Jet & Dave, wanted the brothers to win, was astonished the sisters made it so far. Perhaps due to the luck of the brain dead?

[JustAlison]

 

Jon is a real character and has charisma out the wazoo. He's also very good looking. Thank goodness he'll be back for Season 2 because it just wouldn't be TARC without him.

THIS. Jon Montgomery is the poster boy for what it means to be Canadian. I absolutely love him hosting this show, and hope his contract goes on ad infinitum. I have zero issue with the rate at which he speaks, or the tonality of his voice,  and in fact, did not even notice until someone here mentioned it. I went back and watched a couple of clips from last season, and nope-still not noticing it. 

[Taeolas]

Question for season one watchers - I was in Vancouver last August on vacation and we did a day trip to Victoria. From the bus to Butchart Gardens I thought I saw TAR route markers. I didn't know that there was a Canadian version until after I returned home and I never saw the show. Did an episode take place in Victoria?

 

And second question, did the show air in the US? 

 

As for the first question, the first season didn't have a leg in Victoria that I can remember. But Season 2's first season went to Victoria. I don't know Victoria's geography to know if it was a TAR.ca location or not.

[Jac]

I just flew to Canada and binge watched s1 and I really enjoyed it. 

 

I didn't mind that they stayed in Canada at all, but I can see the issues that may arise in sustaining the single country premise across multiple seasons.

 

I found it interesting that they had no bilingual Francophones in s1, something which I note they have changed in s2. I also like the approach that is taken towards disability and ethnicity in the Canadian version. It is less of a 'plot point' and more of just something that is.

 

The challenges were pretty good, nothing outstanding but still fun.

 

I have no problem with the Tims winning at all, they weren't terminally useless like some teams can be (except for the zoo challenge), I think they were more unlucky than anything.

[Rusun]

I just flew to Canada and binge watched s1 and I really enjoyed it. 

 

I didn't mind that they stayed in Canada at all, but I can see the issues that may arise in sustaining the single country premise across multiple seasons.

 

I found it interesting that they had no bilingual Francophones in s1, something which I note they have changed in s2. I also like the approach that is taken towards disability and ethnicity in the Canadian version. It is less of a 'plot point' and more of just something that is.

 

The challenges were pretty good, nothing outstanding but still fun.

 

I have no problem with the Tims winning at all, they weren't terminally useless like some teams can be (except for the zoo challenge), I think they were more unlucky than anything.

 

Glad to hear that you made great use of your time!

 

It was amusing to hear all the comparisons to Family Edition considering that TAR8 went to Central America and Canada rather than remain within the borders.

 

TARUS really does need to approach handicaps and ancestries a la Canada.

 

Respectfully disagree with the challenges being fine, if not exceptional: TAR Canada 1 was easily one of the most physically grueling across all the franchises, with Alberta/Saskatchewan/Nunavut forming a trifecta of exhausting challenge(s).

 

Senior and Junior's victory is indeed well deserved, though their edit is a bit curious: their gamebot move of removing BodyBreak from the race got heavily whitewashed - you might even say overlooked on purpose - during the second W-Turn in NS, almost as though the winners had to be protected from too much negativity.