S30.E01: You're a Champion? Prove it!

[UncleChuck]

Interesting that after all these seasons, TAR has given up some of the secrecy about the race.  They used to start in remote sections of obscure parks, or in some stadium that could be closed to the public, and there were never any spectators to watch the proceedings.  Now they film the start (with all of the backstage preparation and retakes) with an audience.

[dgpolo]

2 minutes ago, kris4n6 said:

Honestly, as soon as they were introduced I immediately rolled my eyes and hoped they'd go, but the blonde's bitchy personality really solidified it for me. They can go any time.

I agree, I can't imagine this will be good advertising for their business. Shouldn't they be more zen?

[muffkins]

I liked the singing a lot, wish we could have heard more.  Although, we did get to hear it over the end credits.  The blonde goat yoga woman is incredibly defensive and mean.  The other one seems a bit weepy, but her "friend" is a bitch.  I like the classical music guys, just because of their job.  No one really stands out except the bitchy goat yoga woman.  May need another show or two before I can remember who they all are, and who goes with who.  But it was a good start to the season.

[LittleIggy]

The people who had to drink the cod liver oil got the short end of the stick!

[Quilt Fairy]

I loved that they had 2 actual route marker tasks that had to be completed just to get the next clue. 

Is this the first time they haven't divided up the teams onto 2-3 different flights for the first leg? 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Quilt Fairy
grammar is our friend

[GaT]

I don't know why, but except for the end, I didn't find the episode interesting at all. Maybe because there were so many teams & they aren't familiar yet, hoepfully future episodes will interest me more.

[AfterwardsTV]

Boxing Ring team didn't even get screentime despite the elimination

We didn't lose much though, I really don't see how that qualifies as a profession

[millennium]

This show's continued recruitment of semi-celebrity teams at the expense of ordinary people leaves me disinterested from the word "go."   Whatever happened to the parent-child teams?   The middle-aged racers?   The husbands and wives?   The college buddies?   The longtime friends?   The mom teams?   I'm sick and tired of watching people who have already had their 15 minutes get another bite at the apple, whether they're former athletes, youtube stars, Big Brother winners or whatever.   There are a few "almost ordinary" teams this season, but none that remind me of the show's heyday.   Not to mention that most of the competitors are conspicuously youthful.   The Amazing Race, not so amazing anymore. 

[piequinn35]

Good cast this season!

Who I like: Team Yale, team violin, team chomp, team racers, team ski, and team slam dunk

The rest are there to lose sp. team bb! ?

PS: Evan and Ms. Iceland are pretty! ?

[millennium]

1 hour ago, UncleChuck said:

Interesting that after all these seasons, TAR has given up some of the secrecy about the race.  They used to start in remote sections of obscure parks, or in some stadium that could be closed to the public, and there were never any spectators to watch the proceedings.  Now they film the start (with all of the backstage preparation and retakes) with an audience.

Liked it better before.

[Lantern7]

4 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

Speaking of other BB->TAR teams I forgot to mention I dislike the 'eating' team because of the green sparkle outfits that reminded me of Brendon and Rachel. Also do I need to mention... face paint??

The outfits were overkill and indefensible.Tim's "war paint" was basically his gimmick in eating competitions . . . his nickname was "Eater X." Hey, I only saw him one day a year, and that paint made him the only Racer I recognized at WSP. Somebody had to tell me the identity of his partner, whose face didn't make as big an impression upon me. I'm not into Big Brother, so I don't know who Cody & Jessica are.

1 hour ago, muffkins said:

I liked the singing a lot, wish we could have heard more.  Although, we did get to hear it over the end credits.

"HUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM. HUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM." Actually, it was pretty nice.

31 minutes ago, AfterwardsTV said:

Boxing Ring team didn't even get screentime despite the elimination

We didn't lose much though, I really don't see how that qualifies as a profession

I think their "Champion" thing was being models. Or something. I'm sure that they're nice, but the first time we had a leg in Iceland, we lost two nice guys in Avi & Joe.

19 minutes ago, millennium said:

This show's continued recruitment of semi-celebrity teams at the expense of ordinary people leaves me disinterested from the word "go."   Whatever happened to the parent-child teams?   The middle-aged racers?   The husbands and wives?   The college buddies?   The longtime friends?   The mom teams?   I'm sick and tired of watching people who have already had their 15 minutes get another bite at the apple, whether they're former athletes, youtube stars, Big Brother winners or whatever.   There are a few "almost ordinary" teams this season, but none that remind me of the show's heyday.   Not to mention that most of the competitors are conspicuously youthful.   The Amazing Race, not so amazing anymore. 

I don't quite feel that way, though I get the sentiment. Big Brother houseguests getting plugged into TAR always irritates me. Ditto with Survivor. It's hysterical that nobody from either show won on TAR, but a Racer (Natalie Anderson) won Survivor. I'd like to think there's a good mix of applicants and recruits. Aside from BB, who would recognize those people? I only know about Joey and Tim because I watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every July 4. And Cedric said he's watched the whole series, though his actions at the Roadblock kinda contradict that. Also, you have to remember that we are on the cusp of Celebrity Big Brother, and I feel that is gonna be so sad.

ETA: Thoughts on Phil in the credits? It's a little weird, even if we won't see those again. The only major series that I can remember having hosts spotlighted were Real World/Road Rules Challenge (including BMX biker Dave Mirra passing players by during the credits of The Inferno) and The Mole (with *dreamy sigh* Anderson Cooper explaining the show's core concept).

Edited January 4, 2018 by Lantern7

[millennium]

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

 

I don't quite feel that way, though I get the sentiment. Big Brother houseguests getting plugged into TAR always irritates me. Ditto with Survivor. It's hysterical that nobody from either show won on TAR, but a Racer (Natalie Anderson) won Survivor. I'd like to think there's a good mix of applicants and recruits. Aside from BB, who would recognize those people? I only know about Joey and Tim because I watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every July 4. And Cedric said he's watched the whole series, though his actions at the Roadblock kinda contradict that. Also, you have to remember that we are on the cusp of Celebrity Big Brother, and I feel that is gonna be so sad.

 

Here's the crux of my complaint, aside from my personal preference of watching average folks: it's apparently no longer enough to just want to race.   Now you need a resume that includes evidence of prior superlative achievement -- debating champions, skiing champions, pro basketball players, Big Brother winners, petite models, etc.   The average joe no longer stands a chance of running the Amazing Race. 

[ProfCrash]

5 hours ago, millennium said:

This show's continued recruitment of semi-celebrity teams at the expense of ordinary people leaves me disinterested from the word "go."   Whatever happened to the parent-child teams?   The middle-aged racers?   The husbands and wives?   The college buddies?   The longtime friends?   The mom teams?   I'm sick and tired of watching people who have already had their 15 minutes get another bite at the apple, whether they're former athletes, youtube stars, Big Brother winners or whatever.   There are a few "almost ordinary" teams this season, but none that remind me of the show's heyday.   Not to mention that most of the competitors are conspicuously youthful.   The Amazing Race, not so amazing anymore. 

The teams come with fan bases that might watch the show. The viewership has been declining so they are looking for folks who are interested in racing, will make for good tv, and might provide some new viewers. I might prefer total unknowns but if it is between minor celebs or at least really well known people in a specific niche market and no show, I choose niche market. The only team that I know anything about is Team Big Brother. Cody and Jessica were just on the show so I know who they are and what happened in the season. I do not follow competitive eating, car racing of any sort, debate, boxing, yoga or the like so these are all knew teams to me. The other benefit is that most of the teams are going to have some strong skills sets and experience with travel so they should not be teams that crap out because they are not race ready.

I enjoyed the episode. I do wish it was longer and I want to know what was in the bags they were carrying. They were all wearing a purple hat with writing on it, so I am assuming they got some swag at the Roadblock. I love that Cody rocked it while so many other teams struggled with it. I think he is highly underestimated. He keeps his cool under pressure and used to having to focus in really shitty conditions, boot camp and fighting in a war will do that for you. I liked that Cody owned up to being the reason why they did not finish first. I suspect it won't take long for Cody to remember the lessons learned on Big Brother, listen to Jessica. She has good ideas and knows what she is talking about.

I want team Yoga gone. I did have to explain to my husband that goat yoga was a real thing, I have mocked it quite frequently since having read a couple of articles about it. I am sure the goats are cute, I like seeing them when I take my son to the petting zoo. I don't need goats peeing on me when I am trying to relax but whatever, the silly thing has taken off and people are making good money on it. More power too them. But the one woman is really, really awful. Seriously awful.

I think Team Yale will do pretty well on the race. They are smart, understand research, and understand how to act under pressure. They look to be in ok shape but there is no clue on how athletic they are and it is hard to make a guess when so many of the people in the race are legit athletes. That said, research skills don't help you when riding in a buggy through puddles and he missed out on the accent mark. He is not the only one but it was a bit more surprising for him because I would have thought that he had seen accent marks in plenty of places.

Not sure about the other teams. They look like a good group of folks are competitive but understand that competition is not something that is bad or mean.

[TheRabbi]

6 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I loved that they had 2 actual route marker tasks that had to be completed just to get the next clue. 

Is this the first time they haven't divided up the teams onto 2-3 different flights for the first leg? 

I was following one of the spoiler sites when the race started. There were 2 flights, but I believe one of them was delayed which made the arrival times pretty close, so they chose to just edit it out. I could be foggy on a few of the details.

 

Edit: just checked the spoiler site (RFF). The 2 flights landed 10 minutes apart, 614 and 624 am, after the first flight was delayed.

Edited January 4, 2018 by TheRabbi

[green]

10 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Not sorry to see the Ring Girls go.

 

Yes the "Pink Models Teams" by any other name has always been the team I rooted to go out first.  (Though they were second this season after Cody).

10 hours ago, NeverLate said:

I wish I knew names. What was in the white bags they all carried?

I assume they were from some other challenge they edited out of the episode since they all had them.  They often edit out some things in the first episode unless they get CBS to give them a 90 minute or 2 hour premiere which they haven't gotten in some time.

But of course I am going to pretend instead that it was a shout-out to "Woman Shopping in Field" from Season 6's visit in Iceland where one team (Bolo the wrestler?) asked directions from a middle-aged, well dressed lady wearing dress shoes standing in a muddy, empty field in the middle of nowhere with plastic shopping bags in hand.  That weird mystery lady ended up being photo-shopped into about a hundred TAR photos posted on online sites in the years that followed including the cast of Season 11"s All Stars.

9 hours ago, mauras said:

I could watch footage from Iceland all day long...

 

Well I did since they were re-showing the "Vikings" episode first broadcast last week opposite of TAR, I'd click over during commercials to see Floki leading the first settlers to Iceland to land and start walking along the black volcanic ash coast by the big cliffs.  And the hour following TAR the new "Vikings" episode had Floki getting them to the giant crater in the mountains where the hot springs and geyser are. 

Several weeks back when Floki was the first Viking to discover Iceland he had Norse gods visions at the waterfall the Racers ended up at this TAR episode.  All the Racers got were standard clues though they did get a quick glimpse of a raven -- so important to Vikings in general and Ragnar Lothbrok specifically -- in the capital.  I just wish Queen Lagertha was handing out clues about the black death etc at that challenge instead and it would have been perfect.  ("Vikings" has got to be the best historic drama they have ever made and all the Icelandic scenery -- tons of it -- this season is just icing on the cake.  Writing, acting, production values are all top drawer).

8 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

The NBA guy cheated. But the thing he cheated about wasn't what they got penalized for.

 

He didn't cheat.  He actually solved the puzzle for the other team which was dumb but not cheating.  Then he went back to see why his solution still didn't work for him. 

And it is perfectly legal for people performing Roadblocks to help each other out.  They do it all the time. Tons of times through the past seasons.  Actually pretty rare, especially when there are a lot of teams still in the Race, not to have this going on.   It is their partners that can't help them is the only rule.

8 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I was prepared to hate Cody/Jessica but they were actually... not terrible this time?

I assume the fix is in to edit out all of Cody's anti-gay and especially his anti-transgender comments he sprinkled the live feeds of BB with all the time thus couldn't be edited away.  They are storylining him here as the former marine and his "Juliet" and his bigoted nature will be hidden as much as possible like it was from the edited, non-live, BB shows themselves. 

TAR has no live steaming so he is totally protected from himself.  His cutting off Jessica's suggestions and dominating his female partner is also his m.o. and glad they lost 1st and the Greek vacation because of it at least.

7 hours ago, UncleChuck said:

Interesting that after all these seasons, TAR has given up some of the secrecy about the race.  They used to start in remote sections of obscure parks, or in some stadium that could be closed to the public, and there were never any spectators to watch the proceedings.  Now they film the start (with all of the backstage preparation and retakes) with an audience.

There are some sites, and one in particular, that have full time fans spoiling the Race so I think they gave up trying to hide the start this time because the start is always the first to be posted on that site and they always have fans there taking pictures of the teams both at starting lines and especially at the departure airports.   Just an understanding of how it is impossible to hide the start ever again so why not celebrate it instead.

6 hours ago, millennium said:

This show's continued recruitment of semi-celebrity teams at the expense of ordinary people leaves me disinterested from the word "go."   Whatever happened to the parent-child teams?   The middle-aged racers?   The husbands and wives?   The college buddies?   The longtime friends?   The mom teams?   I'm sick and tired of watching people who have already had their 15 minutes get another bite at the apple, whether they're former athletes, youtube stars, Big Brother winners or whatever.   There are a few "almost ordinary" teams this season, but none that remind me of the show's heyday.   Not to mention that most of the competitors are conspicuously youthful.   The Amazing Race, not so amazing anymore. 

Totally agree.  I miss the older teams and the parent-kid teams.  I miss normal people on the Race.  The twin brother firemen are about the only "normal" team on this Race so I have no hope they will survive for long.  I was hoping the goat yoga women would be at least semi-normal and fun but they are off to a bad start.  At least they beat out the freaking endless female model team representative for this season.

Edited January 4, 2018 by green

[ProfCrash]

Quote

I assume the fix is in to edit out all of Cody's anti-gay and especially his anti-transgender comments he sprinkled the live feeds of BB with all the time thus couldn't be edited away.  They are storylining him here as the former marine and his "Juliet" and his bigoted nature will be hidden as much as possible like it was from the edited, non-live, BB shows themselves. 

TAR has no live steaming so he is totally protected from himself.  His cutting off Jessica's suggestions and dominating his female partner is also his m.o. and glad they lost 1st and the Greek vacation because of it at least.

Cody made a few bad comments and Jessica very quickly told him to shut up. Jessica also informed Cody that she has friends who are gay and Transgender and if he was going to be hanging out with her, he needed to change his mind and do it real fast.  He continues to be with Jessica so I am assuming that he has learned to either keep his opinions to himself or maybe, just maybe, he has grown as a human being. Or maybe he made a few distasteful comments that he thought were funny only to learn real fast that they were not funny and stopped making stupid comments. I also suspect that he is going to stop ignoring Jessica suggestions real fast. It bit him in the ass on BB and already on the first leg of the race. He stopped doing it in the BB house once it bit him in the ass, there is more room on the race for him to relearn that lesson and not get screwed.

Quote

Totally agree.  I miss the older teams and the parent-kid teams.  I miss normal people on the Race.  The twin brother firemen are about the only "normal" team on this Race so I have no hope they will survive for long.  I was hoping the goat yoga women would be at least semi-normal and fun but they are off to a bad start.  At least they beat out the freaking endless female model team representative for this season.

There are a good number of normal teams. Team Yale, Team Goat Yoga, Team Model, Team Competitive Eaters, Team Violin all have a gimmick but they are not gold medal athlete, professional racers or basketball players. The teams strike me as more normal then the Social Media stars teams. If you had to choose between the original format and the show being cancelled or the slightly more gimmicky teams and a race, what would you choose? I prefer this gimmick to the others that we have seen. Each group brings its own fans to the show, hopefully some of those will watch and the numbers will stick. None of the teams strike me as obnoxious and over the top. They all strike me as competent and they should be fun to watch.  

[sigmaforce86]

14 minutes ago, green said:

8 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

The NBA guy cheated. But the thing he cheated about wasn't what they got penalized for.

 

He didn't cheat.  He actually solved the puzzle for the other team which was dumb but not cheating.  Then he went back to see why his solution still didn't work for him. 

And it is perfectly legal for people performing Roadblocks to help each other out.  They do it all the time. Tons of times through the past seasons.  Actually pretty rare, especially when there are a lot of teams still in the Race, not to have this going on.   It is their partners that can't help them is the only rule.

I'd agree - he could help the other team because TAR has never made it against the rules to do something that slows your team down only things that give you an advantage.  At least I can't think of a time when a team got in trouble for slowing themselves down - there was that one team that hitchhiked to the mat in a private car and were sent back but it's debatable whether that helped or slowed them and I could see where the "no private cars" rule isn't bendable ever because of liability.     He could have been dinged for looking at the other solutions depending on the rules for that task (sometimes it's been allowed other times it hasn't) but maybe since they were last and since they already had the "helping" issue they decided to only add one time penalty.

Too bad goat yoga hit the mat first - barely - how do the two of them work together and know each other for so long but manage to get in a fight the first leg over who slept on the plane, who got directions and who said things nice to whom?  If they went next I would not be sad.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Although not a fan of stunt casting (even though I understand the ratings logic behind it) I enjoyed this episode as the format felt fresh to me and more like the early seasons.  Plus it's great to finally see Phil recognized in the opening credits.  Did we get an eyebrow pop when he dropped his arm to start the race?

Team Slam Dunk is my early favorite so that means they'll finish in fourth place.  I remember both Cedric and Shawn as players and they seem to be good guys who get a lot of enjoyment out of life.

[Haleth]

I've never watched BB so I have no reservations about Cody and Jessica.  They seemed pleasant enough but I can't stand people who make a living off of reality shows.  But if it's true he made anti-gay and transgender remarks I hope he's gone soon.

I was shocked when team Slam Dunk made it to the drinking challenge before the goat ladies.  The goats must really be directionally challenged so hopefully, with any more self navigation, they'll be out soon. 

Living in the Indy area I'm rooting for the drivers, but I doubt they will last long if they don't pay more attention to details.  Incidentally, they are known to be regular, normal guys despite their notoriety.  So include them in the list of regular people.

7 hours ago, muffkins said:

I liked the singing a lot, wish we could have heard more.  Although, we did get to hear it over the end credits. 

That was great!

41 minutes ago, green said:

Well I did since they were re-showing the "Vikings" episode first broadcast last week opposite of TAR, I'd click over during commercials to see Floki leading the first settlers to Iceland to land and start walking along the black volcanic ash coast by the big cliffs.  And the hour following TAR the new "Vikings" episode had Floki getting them to the giant crater in the mountains where the hot springs and geyser are. 

Ha!  I was thinking about Floki too.

5 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Did we get an eyebrow pop when he dropped his arm to start the race?

A little bit.  I was watching for it.  Either Phil is over the whole thing or... botox?  LOL

[green]

20 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

If you had to choose between the original format and the show being cancelled or the slightly more gimmicky teams and a race, what would you choose?

Cancellation 100%.  Same with original The Mole becoming Celebrity Mole. 

They lose viewers because they went away from the original formula and after niche "plants" yet they keep making that mistake season after season thinking that will gain them new viewers which it really doesn't.  These "plants" don't have millions of "followers" (whatever the hell a "follower" is suppose to be) that will "follow" them to watch them on a TV show.  They have a few hundred or a few thousand at most and bring nothing to the ratings.  In the meantime the degradation of the show has turned far more people off watching it.

And no I don't think for a minute Cody has changed.

[shura]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

I did have to explain to my husband that goat yoga was a real thing, I have mocked it quite frequently since having read a couple of articles about it. I am sure the goats are cute, I like seeing them when I take my son to the petting zoo. I don't need goats peeing on me when I am trying to relax but whatever, the silly thing has taken off and people are making good money on it.

But why? Why goats? Why yoga? Just because goats are cute? Then why not goat bird watching? Or goat SAT prep? Or goat orthodontics? I'll never understand, I'm sure.

53 minutes ago, green said:

But of course I am going to pretend instead that it was a shout-out to "Woman Shopping in Field" from Season 6's visit in Iceland where one team (Bolo the wrestler?) asked directions from a middle-aged, well dressed lady wearing dress shoes standing in a muddy, empty field in the middle of nowhere with plastic shopping bags in hand.  That weird mystery lady ended up being photo-shopped into about a hundred TAR photos posted on online sites in the years that followed including the cast of Season 11"s All Stars.

Was she the lady who was  drunk? I don't remember the bags, but I do remember someone, quite possibly Bolo, getting directions from a local who was utterly wasted. I was then thinking, well, what else is there to do in Iceland?

What is this I am reading here about this season being only seven weeks long?  Are they doing away with NELs or running two-hour episodes?

[Netfoot]

Thrilled the show is back.  The theme seems a bit silly.  Formula One winner vs. Professional Hotdog Eater?  Nobody seems to have a "special skill" which strikes me as particularly advantageous to racers.  Unless they have to drive a fast car, or eat camel-face, or something.

Anyway, I think we're set for a good one.  The O vs. Ó was a good trick, although I'm surprised how long some took to catch on.  The flash of <gag> Justin and the green flatcap did cause some consternation for the instant it took me to realize he was only spectating the start, not racing.

I hope these teams turn out to be properly entertaining.  I don't know what is with Bitchface & Sniffles but heaven help us all when KF sets in.

Very pleased to see that after 30 series, Phil still has the ability to locate gorgeous greeters for the mat.

[ProfCrash]

26 minutes ago, shura said:

But why? Why goats? Why yoga? Just because goats are cute? Then why not goat bird watching? Or goat SAT prep? Or goat orthodontics? I'll never understand, I'm sure.

I believe that it started when they were having yoga on the farm and the baby goats kept wandering in. The attendees thought it was cute and it grew into a thing. I did say that I had read an article or two on the goat yoga. I was fascinated that this was a thing and read the article. They only use kids because they are cute and they are less likely to hurt someone accidently. That might have changed since the classes are always sold out and the practice has branched out.

[aemom]

9 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I forgot to say it was great seeing the teams drive themselves. Although, it was odd that there weren’t any issues with driving stick but there issues with, um, parking?!?! Not parallel parking! Not parking in reverse! Just plain parking!!!! WTF???

And they were eliminated, because they couldn't park a car.

[bmoore4026]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  No be go, Ring Girls!  Don't leave us with the Goat Women!

[ProfCrash]

5 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  No be go, Ring Girls!  Don't leave us with the Goat Women!

On the positive side, we get to type goat yoga and goat women for a while. And that is kind of fun. I doubt they last all that long

[TheRabbi]

48 minutes ago, shura said:

 

What is this I am reading here about this season being only seven weeks long?  Are they doing away with NELs or running two-hour episodes?

The season is still 12 hours/legs. But CBS is doubling up episodes 4 times to get the whole season in before Survivor comes back. The entire season will be done by the 21st of February. February is all 2 hour episodes. 

[aemom]

I think that the show believes that they have to do stunt casting to get the ratings up, but I believe that the real reason that ratings are down is because they have dumbed down the race so much.

The challenges used to be much harder. When I was headed down to watch the show last night, I asked my sons if they wanted to join me. One asked "American or Canadian one?" "American," I answered.  They both said no thanks.

TAR Canada still has the spirit of the original show, with brutally hard legs every week.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, shura said:

But why? Why goats? Why yoga? Just because goats are cute? Then why not goat bird watching?

Or Bunny Yoga?

[green]

1 hour ago, shura said:

But why? Why goats? Why yoga? Just because goats are cute? Then why not goat bird watching? Or goat SAT prep? Or goat orthodontics? I'll never understand, I'm sure.

Was she the lady who was  drunk? I don't remember the bags, but I do remember someone, quite possibly Bolo, getting directions from a local who was utterly wasted. I was then thinking, well, what else is there to do in Iceland?

What is this I am reading here about this season being only seven weeks long?  Are they doing away with NELs or running two-hour episodes?

No I don't think she was drunk.  Which makes it even more weird.  She just looked like she was out shopping in the middle of an empty field like it was an Icelandic mall or something. 

I wish I could find some of those Photoshop pics to link in.  I remember they photoshopped her into the cast photo and several other ones from TAR All Stars (Season 11) over on Survivor Sucks I think it was.  Both she and Mama Paolo.  I wish I could find some of those again they were pretty hilarious.

I do remember an Icelandic drunk in that season but I think that was in town and it was a male.  It was still morning too.  Guy was getting an early start on his drinking day.  Maybe he would agree with that Icelandic guy this episode that thought the "black death" drink was  coffee, haha.

Edited January 4, 2018 by green

[Kelda Feegle]

As an Aussie viewer the teams don't have any background for me and I've never watched Indy car, American basketball,  or any country's BB so to me it's not about stuntcasting but the teams all seem so homogeneous in a way.

Too may for me to pick a favourite yet but Yale girl's voice annoys me fwiw.

The violin boys are gorgeous. 

Partner swapping sounds awesome.

I have been to Iceland recently and it is gorgeous. 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Kelda Feegle
Grammar.

[Lady Calypso]

21 minutes ago, AEMom said:

I think that the show believes that they have to do stunt casting to get the ratings up, but I believe that the real reason that ratings are down is because they have dumbed down the race so much.

The challenges used to be much harder. When I was headed down to watch the show last night, I asked my sons if they wanted to join me. One asked "American or Canadian one?" "American," I answered.  They both said no thanks.

TAR Canada still has the spirit of the original show, with brutally hard legs every week.

I totally get the stunt casting and why this show feels like they need to. I think they're taking precautions to raise the ratings to get to the next season. I don't personally think it's that necessary, though. 

It was nice to see the majority of this cast over 30, though. Out of 22 contestants, only 7 are under 30 (the Ring Girls, Team Yale are the youngest at 22, Jessica, and the Indy Drivers). 

I figured out my rankings for the teams.

Love: Team Yale, Team Extreme (Skiiers), Team Big Brother, Team IndyCar

Like/Neutral Until I Learn More: Team Firefighters, Team Ocean Rescue, Team Chomp, Team Well Strung

Dislike: Team Goat Yoga, Team Slam Dunk

I don't really know any of them except Big Brother. I've heard of Goat Yoga, but that's about it. 

[survivinmt]

Love that this show is back! And I thought most of the teams had some fun/funny comments or interactions. I thought that the lifeguard woman was being totally tongue-in-cheek telling Lucas (? is that right?) that she would constantly remind him if he steered her wrong. Was amazed that Sarah (goat woman) could sleep on the plane. If I think of how excited/nervous/tense I would be in that situation - that seems like a real feat. And possibly a real asset to her team if they go very far. Course if it was me I wouldn't have slept the entire week before so maybe once its started and I'm on the plane - maybe?

I figured the bags were cold weather gear as the logo on the bag matched the logo on the purple hats some were wearing. So maybe gloves, jackets, etc.

Teams I like so far are the firefighting twins (although the way they are living their life almost as one is weirding me out a little) and the Indy drivers. Hmm, maybe I am just shallow as I think they are all adorable.

Loved Phil's comment to Miss Iceland - "He sleeps on his couch. Its very sad." I thought Phil and Miss were getting along famously and I loved it!

[bmoore4026]

15 minutes ago, Kelda Feegle said:

The violin boys are gorgeous.

 

I'm 100% for team violin boys

[Jobiska]

19 minutes ago, survivinmt said:

Love that this show is back! And I thought most of the teams had some fun/funny comments or interactions. I thought that the lifeguard woman was being totally tongue-in-cheek telling Lucas (? is that right?) that she would constantly remind him if he steered her wrong. Was amazed that Sarah (goat woman) could sleep on the plane.

I'm sure it was tongue in cheek, but I was coaching Lucas? from my couch, "There, buddy!  Now's the perfect time to bring out that engagement ring!"

Re sleeping on the plane:  I don't see brunette goat woman as 100% the victim and blonde goat woman as 100% the aggressor:  I got the very same passive-aggressive-dig vibes from "Well, I got all this information [which turned out to be bad info anyway, since they were slow] from the stewardess [sic] while you were sleeping."  She tried to retcon it during their argument, but I would have taken it the way blonde goat woman did.  Neither of them was covered in glory in this episode and I wish they had been eliminated instead of the ring girls, whose only flaw from my perspective was their occupation, since as people they seemed just fine.  If bad parkers.

[Lady Calypso]

Just now, Jobiska said:

Re sleeping on the plane:  I don't see brunette goat woman as 100% the victim and blonde goat woman as 100% the aggressor:  I got the very same passive-aggressive-dig vibes from "Well, I got all this information [which turned out to be bad info anyway, since they were slow] from the stewardess [sic] while you were sleeping."  She tried to retcon it during their argument, but I would have taken it the way blonde goat woman did.  Neither of them was covered in glory in this episode and I wish they had been eliminated instead of the ring girls, whose only flaw from my perspective was their occupation, since as people they seemed just fine.  If bad parkers.

Sure, the brunette woman (April??) was being somewhat passive aggressive, as her partner even said that she would do. But I just simply found Sarah to be meaner and more blatantly aggressive. It doesn't seem like they get along all that well and they seem to clash more often than not. Judging by how Sarah taunted April about crying and being emotional and whatnot, I guess I don't like that kind of attitude. It's basically knowing a person well enough to be able to hit them where it hurts. I'm not a fan of passive aggressive behaviour either, so I guess I might have to rewatch to see how April first responded; I must have missed that particular part. 

Either way, I agree that I simply don't like this team in any way. 

Ring Girls seemed harmless. Bad parkers, for sure, but decent people. Granted we only saw a little of them so they could have turned out to be worse. 

[chaifan]

1 hour ago, survivinmt said:

Love that this show is back! And I thought most of the teams had some fun/funny comments or interactions. I thought that the lifeguard woman was being totally tongue-in-cheek telling Lucas (? is that right?) that she would constantly remind him if he steered her wrong.

Yeah, from the way she said it and his non-reaction, I got the impression she was mocking someone - either teams from past episodes or maybe just a couple that they know personally.  It sort of seemed inside jokey to me, and in no way serious.

As for the complaints about "stunt casting", I think "theme" and "stunt casting" are different.  Most of these teams fit the theme (the boxing models were quite a stretch, but whatever), but few fall into stunt casting.  I'd say the BB team is the only team that fits that description.  The NBA players aren't universally known well enough to fit that definition for me. 

Are any teams blogging or doing post episode videos?

Edited January 4, 2018 by chaifan
grammar, damn grammar

[aemom]

28 minutes ago, chaifan said:

As for the complaints about "stunt casting", I think "theme" and "stunt casting" is different.  Most of these teams fit the theme (the boxing models were quite a stretch, but whatever), but few fall into stunt casting.  I'd say the BB team is the only team that fits that description.  The NBA players aren't universally known well enough to fit that definition for me. 

Are any teams blogging or doing post episode videos?

I have to say that I've never heard of any of the competitors and I've never watched a single minute of BB, so all these people are of the equivalent of casting "regular normal people" for me at least.

[peachmangosteen]

33 minutes ago, chaifan said:

As for the complaints about "stunt casting", I think "theme" and "stunt casting" is different.  Most of these teams fit the theme ...

What is the theme?

I loved this ep. Besides Goat Yoga I didn't really hate any of the teams and I am actually quite excited for some of them. 

Cody is already providing me with lots of laughs, so I look forward to watching him. Jessica is pretty funny too.

1 minute ago, AEMom said:

I have to say that I've never heard of any of the competitors and I've never watched a single minute of BB, so all these people are of the equivalent of casting "regular normal people" for me at least.

I watch BB, but I don't know any of the others so same.

Edited January 4, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[survivinmt]

I have seen the competitive eaters before doing their "thing" and its gross and so they pretty much turn me off. If they decide to have other facets to their personalities I could turn that around. Don't watch BB either. I am foolishly proud of that. Addicted to Survivor and Amazing Race but completely ABOVE watching BB. Such a discerning viewer.

[chaifan]

6 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

What is the theme?

 

Champions, or something to that effect.  Everyone has won at something, or is in the top of their field (very loosely described).

[TVJunkee]

13 hours ago, NeverLate said:

What was in the white bags they all carried? 

this was driving me CRAZY?  Did they all buy Iceland souvenirs and then expect to carry them around the rest of the race?  Or did they plan to stop at a UPS store along the way and ship things home?   Ridiculous.  At first I thought Cody didn't bring a carryon bag and just a random white bag for his toothbrush and extra underwear. 

[chaifan]

Who was the guy that couldn't figure out how he was supposed to know what order to put the letters in?   Was that one of the eaters?

[survivinmt]

1 minute ago, chaifan said:

Who was the guy that couldn't figure out how he was supposed to know what order to put the letters in?   Was that one of the eaters?

One of the Indy drivers - Conor or Connor?

[peachmangosteen]

Conor.

[iMonrey]

I would have been happy to see any of the last three teams Philiminated. Goodbye, boxing models. Every season we get a team of girls named Kammie and Kayla or Kassie and Katie or Kaley and Kimmie and they look just alike and you can never tell which is which. Good riddance. 

I don't know how the hell the Goat Yoga gals are even friends! Right out of the gate and they're bitching about each other and to each other. It's like they just met. And I would also have been fine if the basketball players were gone. I didn't think the Roadblock was all that challenging, but it did help show us who was going to be tripped up by details. 

Cody and Jessica weren't too awful, but I could still do without them. Cody has less than zero personality, but for some damn reason, CBS seems to think they've hit pay dirt anytime people hook up on one of their reality shows. I guess they're always looking for their next Rob and Amber. Oh well, could have been worse. Could have been Paul. Kind of shocked it wasn't.

I do like the skiers, though, and the Yale team. And oh my, we haven't had eye candy like team violin since the Chippendales. 

Quote

I believe that the real reason that ratings are down is because they have dumbed down the race so much.

It's that, but I also think it's casting. We always get the exact same types of teams. It's the same problem with all the CBS reality shows. They have a call sheet with specific roles then they set out to cast those same roles over and over again. That's why, after a while, it seems like the same show over and over. You get  the same characters every season, but with different people playing them.

[PaperTree]

So happy to see TAR back.  I totally forgot this would be on and lucked out checking the listings.

I like the "theme" of competitors.  I'm very happy there were no shenanigans/gimmicks/advantages for the start.

Let's race.  Do it later if you must.

Hard to get to know them so quickly, but none jump out to me as ones to hate.  Or love. They are all somewhat likable in their own ways, but I do have a BB bias for Jess & Cody; for now :)

The models seemed nice.  A millisecond late and a foot short.

I like the competitions where people can get ahead by being smart.

[NeverLate]

40 minutes ago, TVJunkee said:

this was driving me CRAZY?  Did they all buy Iceland souvenirs and then expect to carry them around the rest of the race?  Or did they plan to stop at a UPS store along the way and ship things home?   Ridiculous.  At first I thought Cody didn't bring a carryon bag and just a random white bag for his toothbrush and extra underwear. 

I can't find out, so I'll go with duty free booze!..lol

Quote

They are all somewhat likable in their own ways, but I do have a BB bias for Jess & Cody; for now :)

I'm cheering loudly for Cody and Jess! Real loud! 

[Dobian]

Thirty seasons and I finally got to see a true race to the mat, with a photo finish no less.  You could see Phil was thrilled by it.  Plus the added drama of the NBA guys standing there waiting for their penalty to expire, it was a classic.

Sorry that the Ring Girls didn't beat out Goat Yoga.  How many seasons now has the hot chick team been eliminated in the first leg?  The bitchy bullying blond from Goat Yoga has to go.  I would have to throw her out of my car and drive away if I was racing with her.  I do feel sorry for her partner.  Hopefully they'll be eliminated soon since they appear to be a bottom-dwelling team that is already imploding.

This show is once again a feast for the eyes, and a great excuse to watch in HD on the big screen.  Iceland was spectacular.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Dobian

[proserpina65]

Not sorry the bimbos got eliminated, although I will give props to the one who managed to face her fear of heights.  I'm not sure I could do that.  I wouldn't have minded if arguing Goat Yoga women had gone instead or Team Big Brother, and the sooner we lose the competitive eaters, the better.  (I find competitive eating to be disgusting.

Loved Iceland, although I wanted to see more.  Hopefully they'll spend additional time there next episode.  I thought the tasks were pretty good and I like that the teams had to drive right off the bat.

Also, was that asshat Justin at the start?  Ugh, can he please go away and stay away?