TAR in the Media

chaifan · September 13, 2021

I've said this before, but my solution would be to rent a fleet of RV's and make the trip all self driving. (They're going to have to quarantine for a while wherever they start so use that time for RV driving lessons.) Start in some Scandanavian country and make your way south. OK, maybe charter a private plane 1/2 way through, take them over to Asia and do the same thing (Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand). Skip the last flight home and just make the final leg in whatever the last country visited is. If they want to cover more ground, hire drivers to drive while the racers sleep and turn the keys back over to the racers at a designated spot. Or buy out an entire train car for an overnight train a few times. This would cut out the majority of random local person interaction. Tasks could be done on closed sites with only vaxxed crew/participants.

That said, I think isolating the racers and sound/camera crew is probably the easiest problem to solve. So much more goes into these races, advance prep, crews, locals, etc., and I think that's where the real risk is.

Kelda Feegle · September 14, 2021

22 hours ago, aghst said:

Actually some of the states prevent travel from other states.

For instance, Western Australia, where Perth is located, has low case rates so they don't want visitors from New South Wales, which includes Sydney.

NSW has high case rates.

Overall, Australia has done much much better in terms of total cases, hospitalizations and deaths than US or Europe. But they have restricted travel in/out of Australia and between their states.

It's unlikely they would allow an American TV show to film there until they reached a high percentage of vaccination and they've relaxed travel rules for their own citizens.

Some estimates say the whole country may reach 80% of all eligible people to be fully-vaccinated in November or December.

I'd fly the racers into Cairns, from there they could go to Darwin and Alice Springs, then Broome etc, SA would let them in from WA and then Tassie. I think it would be manageable, not easy, and we have allowed other foreign tv 'personalities' in for filming. If you could fly them out of the country the bubble with Singapore and with Fiji is supposed to be happening soon, the Maldives is open to international travellers and Sri Lanks only requires 3 day quarantine, there are quite a few options. I'd hate to manage the logistics tho LOL

Taeolas · September 16, 2021

The main problem is, the logistics would be a huge nightmare. The Race happens over a month basically, with a lot of preplanning ahead of time. And at the moment, regions are opening and closing their borders with very little notice as case counts rise and fall. My own province here in Canada has been wide open since the end of July, but just this week, we're tightening up the border as of Tuesday, so 5 days notice before things tighten up again.

And more places close with even less notice as the nth wave rises in their region. While running the Race is theoretically possible; if it were to run and succeed, the real million dollar winner should be whoever was in charge of getting all the legs arranged and getting everyone to each place relatively hassle free.

Vermicious Knid · September 28, 2021

Surprised no one posted this yet. Filming with a chartered plane. A plane painted with the TAR logo has been spotted a few times.

Quote

In June, Phil Keoghan told Joyce Eng, “we have a plan that will work in this world that we live in. But the expectation from the network is that we get Season 33 finished and then we roll into more seasons again.”

Is part of that plan using a charter airplane for all travel? The thought of The Amazing Race cast and crew all sharing the same airplane may, at first glance, seem like a major change. But it’s been years since airport intrigue was part of the show; for budgetary and logistical reasons, the production now pre-books flights for many legs.

A chartered plane would eliminate so much friction for the cast and crew, both in terms of health and safety right now, since that’d mean so much less contact with strangers, but also just because filming the race is an incredible logistical challenge even without a global pandemic.

Full article contains some route info, if you don't want to know.

lambertman · November 10, 2021

Somehow, some way, TAR is back. Wednesday January 5 with a 2-hour premiere from 8-10, then 9-10 weekly after that.

(CBS press release just dropped.)

Taeolas · November 10, 2021

The impression I got from the Deadline article is that the season is going to be a continuation of the interrupted season. So they apparently got all the contestants back and were able to keep racing from whereever they stopped.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes in any case. It was probably an unprecedented challenge to pull off; but I suspect people are eager to see the rest of the world again.

Quilt Fairy · December 9, 2021

Just saw an ad for the new season during Survivor!

Haleth · December 10, 2021

Interesting article about how this was accomplished. It does spoil locations though, so read at your own risk.

toodywoody · December 10, 2021

30 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Interesting article about how this was accomplished. It does spoil locations though, so read at your own risk.

Thanks for this. I'm super excited to have TAR back. I've been a fan since season 1. I know this will look different but I'm just excited that it is back and continuing. I'm glad they found a way to make it work.

Quilt Fairy · December 10, 2021

So if

Spoiler

they had 2 teams that couldn't make it back

, how are they going to deal with that, I wonder?

chaifan · December 12, 2021

On 12/10/2021 at 7:07 AM, Haleth said:

Interesting article about how this was accomplished. It does spoil locations though, so read at your own risk.

Doganieri calls the process “a little nerve wracking. We did have testing around the clock… just scheduling the time for the nose swabs and the testing and then people having to only stay in their hotel rooms. So literally, you’re not going out to dinner. The crew on your down day, you’re just staying in your room.”

Well, it's a good thing DeAngelo (season 32) wasn't part of this race. He was so put out by not being able to be a regular tourist during their down time, this would have taken him over the edge!

Thanks for the link to the article! You're right, other than locations it really doesn't have anything I'd consider a spoiler. Great info as to how they pulled this off. I'm really excited for this season.

Luckylyn · December 13, 2021

The Holderness Family announces they are in the race. I was pleasantly surprised because I really enjoy their YouTube channel.

ProfCrash · December 13, 2021

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The Holderness Family announces they are in the race. I was pleasantly surprised because I really enjoy their YouTube channel.

Yeah, I am not so certain this is a good thing for them. This show could destroy their image. We all know how things can get cranky and hard on the show.

Quilt Fairy · December 13, 2021

Ummmm, who are they? Never heard of them.

Luckylyn · December 13, 2021

53 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Ummmm, who are they? Never heard of them.

They have YouTube channels with hilarious videos. https://youtube.com/c/HoldernessFamilyVlogs

https://youtube.com/c/theholdernessfamily

Edited December 13, 2021 by Luckylyn

Haleth · December 13, 2021

They are so funny but I hate stunt casting.

ProfCrash · December 13, 2021

13 minutes ago, Haleth said:

They are so funny but I hate stunt casting.

I like their videos, they tend to make me laugh and they have a huge following. Massive. But if they bicker a lot of have some ugly moments this could really hurt them.

And I am not a huge fan of stunt casting. I get why the Amazing Race does it, they want to try and increase numbers, but it is not my favorite thing.

I can see them doing well on the show. They are in good shape and seem to have a good idea how to communicate with each other. We shall see.

Taeolas · December 13, 2021

We'll see how they do and how they handle the race; basically how long their energy holds up. I'm sure they'll do fine.

And I don't really mind this stunt casting too badly since they are independent entertainers (Youtubers) at the moment, and just one team among the random other teams. If/when the entire race was basically made of "Influencers" (I may have blanked that out but wasn't one of the races set up that way?), I'd get tired of it. Ditto when the race is all "People who were on other CBS/Paramount/MTV reality shows"

chaifan · December 13, 2021

Everything about the Holdernesses (I have no idea how to properly pluralize their name) should annoy the living crap out of me. They're on-screen personalities are just so "on" All. The. Time. They're so damn perky and perfect and have great hair and a perfect house and and...

But I really really like them, I think they're hilarious. I am excited to see them on TAR, and I'm glad they are actual TAR fans. While I don't care if they win, I hope they stick in for a while just for entertainment value. I'm sure we'll see some real moments of them, and I think their YouTube presence can survive pretty much anything. I can't see either of them getting horribly abusive, at each other or locals or whatever, and that's usually the biggest TAR offense for racers.

And I hope they do a recap show - I think they'd be great for recapping, talking about off-screen moments, interviews with other racers, etc. Even with this one video we know more than any article has said about Season 33.

I wonder if TAR would have any control over them doing TAR related parody songs for their normal YouTube channel. I hope not - I think they'll come up with some funny stuff if allowed. Penn impersonating Phil would be a riot.

I don't mind "stunt casting" when the racers are true fans of TAR. That's all I really care about - do you really really really want to be on the race? (Are you listening DeAngelo?) I think seeing "famous" people out of their element can be fun. It just needs to be done in small doses.

I can't put into words how frickin' happy I am to have TAR back. Majorly squee! happy. I am trying soooo hard to stay off the spoiler pages. I peeked at the non-elim one earlier in the fall but am now avoiding that. I've seen the list of countries, and that doesn't bother me, but that's as much as I want to know.

Squee!

Ilovepie · December 13, 2021

10 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The Holderness Family announces they are in the race. I was pleasantly surprised because I really enjoy their YouTube channel.

I love them, but depending on how they behave, I might end up hating them........we shall see.....

If this season produces more self driving legs, I am all for it. I miss the glory days of racers booking their own flights and navigating themselves in their own vehicles. Lots of fun drama and surprise reversals of fortune from those things has been lost in current seasons.

One thing I hope happens no matter what is some rules implemented that eliminate alliances. I feel the alliances destroyed last season and ruined the spirit of the game.

Quilt Fairy · December 13, 2021

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I can't put into words how frickin' happy I am to have TAR back. Majorly squee! happy

Me, too. This seems unbelievable to me. It was less than a month ago I was reading something about Survivor which took my mind to TAR, and I thought, sadly, "We're never going to see TAR ever again." I'm so happy to be proven wrong.

Taeolas · December 13, 2021

A comment about something mentioned in the article...

Spoiler

One post-COVID TAR change that I hope sticks is the chartered plane to take cast and crew from location to location.

Sure it kills the "Airport drama", but that's been declining for a long time now, and it probably makes organizing everything a lot easier when they aren't tied to airline schedules.

chaifan · December 14, 2021

16 hours ago, Taeolas said:

A comment about something mentioned in the article...

Reveal spoiler

One post-COVID TAR change that I hope sticks is the chartered plane to take cast and crew from location to location.

Sure it kills the "Airport drama", but that's been declining for a long time now, and it probably makes organizing everything a lot easier when they aren't tied to airline schedules.

Just as an FYI... this has been stated upthread without a spoiler tag, so it's already fully out there. I personally don't think it qualifies as a "spoiler", as it doesn't reveal anything about eliminations. Maybe a mod can chime in on this...

But I agree with you - this is one change that I would be all in favor of them keeping on a permanent basis.

Vermicious Knid · December 15, 2021

How ‘The Amazing Race 33’ adjusted when 2 teams did not return for the production restart

Quote

“I don’t want to give too much away, but we did figure out how to do it without having more non-eliminations,” co-creator and executive producer Elise Doganieri said Friday during a panel for the show at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “We figured out how to extend a leg, things like that. We were very creative. So you will still have the same energy.”

And they're finally doing what I have wanted them to do for years:

Quote

“We chartered a plane so the contestants wouldn’t be on public transportation or a flight,” Doganieri said. “Because all the cast and crew were together, we actually staggered the release times. So even though they were on the same plane, your check-in time from the leg before counted for the time you would check out the next day, which actually made for a very intense and exciting race because the teams were actually closer together but we did not release them at the same time. We wanted to keep it as fair as we could do during these COVID protocols.”

No more plane bunching.

chaifan · December 15, 2021

Based on the interviews/articles about the changes made, Covid may be the best thing that's happened to TAR. I know Season 32 had an inordinate number of "bunchings" caused by everyone being on the same flight. I can't remember if that was happening in Season 31 or earlier, too, but it really took so much of the RAAACE factor out of it. So if they're going to keep staggered starts based on mat landings, that is a really good thing. I'm not opposed to the occasional HOO bunching, but last season was just ridiculous.

And, I know it's a mixed bag among the TAR fans, but I have no problem with them eliminating most/all of the airport drama going forward.

Lovecat · December 15, 2021

Quote

They’re not running up to Phil and hugging him on the mat.

It would be kind of hilarious if they made the mat bigger, and put those little "Maintain 6' Distance" footprints on it.

aghst · December 15, 2021

Covid is not the best thing to happen to anyone.

Netfoot · December 15, 2021

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

So if they're going to keep staggered starts based on mat landings, that is a really good thing.

They have always staggered starts based on arrival times at the mats. What I've never figured out is why they don't schedule air travel to occur during pit-stops. Eliminates travel-bunching and airport drama.

1 hour ago, aghst said:

Covid is not the best thing to happen to anyone.

I could point out several public personalities and show you wrong, but then I'd get kicked off the forum for using the P-word.

Quilt Fairy · December 16, 2021

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

What I've never figured out is why they don't schedule air travel to occur during pit-stops. Eliminates travel-bunching and airport drama.

That would also eliminate the idea of a "rest period".

chaifan · December 16, 2021

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

They have always staggered starts based on arrival times at the mats.

They've always staggered leaving the pit stop. Last season almost all of those staggered starts were rendered meaningless by everyone ending up on the same flight at the airport.

I'm referring to the article linked above that said they're taking the mat arrival times and staggering once they reach the new destination. In my opinion, they should have been doing this for the last few seasons.

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

What I've never figured out is why they don't schedule air travel to occur during pit-stops.

Because in the past air travel was part of the Raaaccce! So that wouldn't have worked. Now, if they continue using the chartered jet, they could incorporate travel into the pit stops/rest periods. But I suppose both cast and crew would appreciate sleeping in real beds at some point in the race.

5 hours ago, aghst said:

Covid is not the best thing to happen to anyone.

Yes. You're right. Sorry if my earlier comment offended anyone. I think you understand what I was trying to say, but I see it could be seen as insensitive.

Netfoot · December 16, 2021

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

That would also eliminate the idea of a "rest period".

They would only need to extend the pit-stop to include time for travel and a rest period in a hotel. It's been a long time since pit-stops were unfailingly 12 hours!

Haleth · December 16, 2021

Since the race course isn’t around the world (hope that’s not a spoiler) the teams and crew should be able to fit travel and rest into pit stops. It does make sense to stagger starts after arrival at a new location to avoid airplane bunching.

ByaNose · December 24, 2021

With the Survivor shorter shooting day schedule I’m curious to see if there will be a noticeable on air difference minus the private plane?! Watching Survivor I didn’t notice a drastic difference with less days so I’m curious if the earlier legs pre pandemic will look dramatically different post pandemic (which in theory is still going on). I’m just glad it’s back and I’ll take what they serve. I’ll probably bitch and moan about certain things but I did that even before the world change. I don’t want to rush the new year but I can’t waist until January 5th.

Netfoot · December 24, 2021

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

I’m curious to see if there will be a noticeable on air difference minus the private plane?!

I'm more interested to learn what steps have been taken to curb the alliance strategies which have surfaced in the past, and were so pervasive last season that they completely ruined the only television series on the planet I consider must-watch.

ByaNose · December 24, 2021

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I'm more interested to learn what steps have been taken to curb the alliance strategies which have surfaced in the past, and were so pervasive last season that they completely ruined the only television series on the planet I consider must-watch.

You know it’s been so long and life got in the way I had totally forgotten all about that. It was such a big issue and especially the last season with Will and James winning who I didn’t like.

You’d think with all of the teams on a private plane this season it might make it worse but I wonder if they were allowed to talk and mingle or we’re on lockdown. It will be interesting to see on the show and hear about in exit interviews.

Netfoot · December 24, 2021

54 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

It was such a big issue and especially the last season with Will and James winning who I didn’t like.

There have been winning teams in the past that I didn't like. I can live with that. But Will & James were the winning team that I liked the absolute least of all. The "mean girl" attitude the whole way through the race, plus the entrenched alliance just ganging up to bully other teams left a particularly nasty taste in my mouth.

I believe they should have been disqualified from the race for their behaviour, which dragged the most wholesome and lovable reality show on TV down to the level of that shit-show Survivor. Unfortunately, I'm sensible enough to realize that there was nothing Phil or TPTB could do about it, in the absence of specific rules that they could enforce to prevent it.

I told myself I would not watch again, unless certain assurances were given by TPTB that steps had been taken to prevent another travesty like TAR-32. And assurances have been given, although specifics have not. So, I will watch TAR-33. But I won't accept another season like the last. One more like that and that will be it for me.

</RANT>

chaifan · December 26, 2021

On 12/24/2021 at 2:13 AM, Netfoot said:

I'm more interested to learn what steps have been taken to curb the alliance strategies which have surfaced in the past, and were so pervasive last season that they completely ruined the only television series on the planet I consider must-watch.

The producers have already announced that teams will leave the new destinations at the intervals that they arrived at the mat. This will be a huge deterrent to alliance building. If you recall from Season 32 (so, so, so long ago!), all the spoonfed flights led to bunching almost every leg, and that's what really helped the alliance building - everyone was starting even each leg, so it was really easy for teams to group up. So I really think having staggered starts again will help curb the alliance building there was so much of in Season 32. Team #1 isn't going to wait around for Team #5 and lose their lead just to keep an alliance.

One thing I'd like to see is explicit instructions of no helping other teams, at least in the first 3-4 legs. Or task designs where helping is impossible.

The big question is, did the producers hate the alliance building as much as the viewers? If so, it's possible they made tweaks to Season 33 even before we, the viewers, saw Season 32 and voiced our almost universal displeasure at the alliances. They could have made changes when filming resumed this year, as by then they would have had the viewer's reaction to Season 32. I think seeing how the first few legs play out will tell us a lot about how the producers felt about the alliances.

Netfoot · December 26, 2021

33 minutes ago, chaifan said:

everyone was starting even each leg, so it was really easy for teams to group up.

Yes, that would help, but it doesn't actually make alliances impossible, nor pose any penalty for forming one. Let's hope that if this is all they did, it proves sufficient.

Quote

The big question is, did the producers hate the alliance building as much as the viewers?

I seem to recall towards the end of S32, Phil making an attempt to persuade the alliance teams to forget the alliance and rely on their own abilities in the race for the finish. They didn't take his advice, but the fact that he gave it indicates to me that by that stage of the race TPTB were aware how severely the alliance were affecting the race.

Quilt Fairy · December 26, 2021

5 hours ago, chaifan said:

The producers have already announced that teams will leave the new destinations at the intervals that they arrived at the mat. This will be a huge deterrent to alliance building. If you recall from Season 32 (so, so, so long ago!), all the spoonfed flights led to bunching almost every leg, and that's what really helped the alliance building - everyone was starting even each leg, so it was really easy for teams to group up. So I really think having staggered starts again will help curb the alliance building there was so much of in Season 32. Team #1 isn't going to wait around for Team #5 and lose their lead just to keep an alliance.

I will be interested to see how this works out. The race has always had a few pre-determined bunching points so that one team is not a day ahead of the pack, as has happened in the past. And multiple teams at any particular roadblock or detour is more interesting than seeing each team do them by themselves. (And what I mean by that last sentence is from a competition standpoint, not a potential alliance standpoint.)

Netfoot · December 27, 2021

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

multiple teams at any particular roadblock or detour is more interesting than seeing each team do them by themselves.

I'll agree with this.

But as far as alliance-busting by departure of airports at intervals: remember that departure from every pitstop has always been at arrival sequence and interval. Yes, travel bunching can render this meaningless, so spaced airport departure will certainly help. But HOO will be hard to avoid. And there is always the bunching that takes place at each challenge, where some teams arrive early and struggle, so other teams catch up.

I'm not in favour of draconian rules like "No talking under any circumstances!" Nor even simple, short-term alliances to complete a particular task or navigate to a particular destination. It's the series-long hit-squad type of alliance that needs to be prevented from ruining the game! I just hope TPTB have thought of ways to discourage this type of alliance. And ways to terminate one should it, against all odds, be formed despite all discouragement.

I guess we will find out in just 10 days! 😀

Lantern7 · January 3, 2022

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