9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Posted on 02/24/2005 8:35:27 AM PST by Veto!
Begins March 1 on CBS, 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific
Here we go again, race fans, for the Seventh Season of The Amazing Race (TAR7). We'll vicariously travel with eleven teams as they fly, drive, climb, crawl, leap, slide, and boogie around the world to compete for one million dollars. They'll never know where they're going next or what they'll have to do once there. The last team to arrive at the "designated pit stop" at the end of each week's episode will be eliminated from the race -- unless it is not. So pull up your favorite armchair and travel along with the Freeper Amazing Race contingent every Tuesday night for the next few months as we root for favorites, throw tomatoes at the others, and wish we were the ones living dangerously. BON VOYAGE!
A Thumbnail Photo Guide To This Season's Possibly Amazing Racers
Brian, 27 & Greg, 24 are brothers from Santa Monica, California. Brian is an actor/bartender and Greg is a bouncer. Their primary motivation for participating in the Race is to travel the world with each other and meet new people. Veto!s opinion: Team Bro wants face time on tv. They are big, strong, in shape, and they think they're action stars. But are they wily? Could be they'll be eating other teams' dust.
Debbie & Bianca are best friends from Los Angeles, California and Woodbridge, Virginia, respectively. Bianca is a high school teacher and Debbie works as a photographer. Both are highly educated, experienced travelers, and have lived abroad. Veto!s opinion: Keep an eye on these two. Unless they scratch each other’s eyes out, they’ll probably do just fine.
Lynn & Alex are (would you believe?) a gay couple from West Hollywood, California. They both work as executive assistants. With their four-year anniversary on the horizon, they possibly hope to get married in Amsterdam—if indeed they race through Amsterdam. Veto!s opinion: Need I say?
Megan & Heidi, a make-up artist and fashion designer, are roommates from Oak Park, California. Both are allegedly extremely competitive and not afraid to take risks. They decided to sign up for the Race “just for the challenge and competition.” Veto!s opinion:. Can the Hair Queens keep up the pace when their tresses get tangled? I see hissy fits on the horizon.
Meredith, 69, & Gretchen, 66, are a husband/wife team from Easton, Maryland. Meredith is a retired executive and Gretchen is a retired nurse/flight attendant. He holds seven National Masters Swimming Championship titles, she admits to being quite loud, particularly when upset. . Veto!s opinion: If Gretch doesn’t turn into Nurse Ratched, they may go far and win Freeper kudos for their efforts.
Ray, 44, & Deana, 27, are a dating-on-and-off team from Canfield, Ohio and Youngstown, Ohio respectively. Ray, a former semi-pro football player, is a stockbroker and Deana is a marketing and promotions executive. Both enjoy weight lifting and karate. Veto!s opinion:This season’s “will their relationship last?” team. Ray will overdo it trying to beat younger guys. Ho-hum.
Rob, 29, & Amber, 26, AKA Boston Rob and Ambuh, are an engaged couple from Canton, Massachusetts and Beaver, Pennsylvania, respectively. They formed an alliance and fell in love when they competed with each other on “Survivor: All Stars.” Amber won the one million dollar prize. Rob finished as the $100k runner-up, but proposed to Amber before they knew which had won the big bucks. Veto!s opinion: Two Thumbs Up! Highly athletic and competitive, these two know how to work together. But will their “take-over-the-‘hood” skills that won them Survivor translate to racing’s Hall of Fame? Why, indeed, not?
Ron, 28, & Kelly, 26, are a dating Team from Villa Rica, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina, respectively. Ron is a former Iraq War POW who is currently a student at the University of Georgia and works as a motivational speaker. Kelly was crowned Miss South Carolina in 2002 and works as a Legislative Correspondent…(for whom?) Ron was an Apache helicopter pilot in Iraq. When shot down, he was captured, interrogated, held captive and later rescued by the United States Marines. Following his rescue, Ron returned home and was introduced to the reigning Miss South Carolina. The two have been an item ever since. Ron is very competitive and admits he’s a thrill seeker. . Veto!s opinion: Two more thumbs 'way up. They’ll be Freepers’ favorites, and they have what it takes to win.
Ryan, 31, & Chuck, 32, are lifelong friends from Landrum, South Carolina and Inman, South Carolina, respectively. Ryan is a general contractor, and Chuck works in boiler tube replacement sales. Both are motorcycle nuts and very religious. . Veto!s opinion: Definitely wily Southern boys. Up against tough competition, but I hope they make a good showing.
Uchenna, 40, & Joyce, 44, a childless married couple from Houston. Uchenna worked for Enron as an energy trader and Joyce worked in sales for WorldCom, have different jobs since their companies went bankrupt. If they win, they say they’ll use the money for in-vitro fertilization. Veto!s opinion:A tough, scrappy pair, but too much tension here, methinks, for them to get much traction. They’re hardly Kim and Chip, the wonderful black couple who won Amazing Race two seasons back.
Susan, 54, & Patrick, 26, are mother and gay son. She is the Director for Judicial Affairs for Miami University in Ohio and Patrick is a writer now living in Hollywood. Susan, married to Patrick’s father for 34 years, earned her college degree as a “non-traditional” student. Patrick says his family has always been very supportive of him,even —surprise, surprise-- when he told them he was gay. Veto!s opinion: They’re looking for love in all the wrong places; hopefully, their elimination from the show will be swift and merciful.
That’s it for the Preview.
EG, you've gotta try out for the show. Bring a friend or relative! YOu know we'd all be rooting our little freeper hearts out for you.
But wouldn't she need a friend and a grandma and a child for next season? :-)
Oh no..my husband and I would be the very couple everyone would say "Ugh I can't stand them!" WE are so super competitive we would kill each other in the process, plus our kids are not old enough. Of course we could take my brother and sister in law, but there again homicide would be committed. :) You could try! B'ham is a cool city to visit and it's in a red blooded red state that has beaches and mountains to visit.
We'd never say Ugh we can't stand them about you, EG, especially if you're competitive to the max. Try out for the next one, leave the kids with relatives.
I have an ex in B'ham so it's not high on my must-visit list.
Oh, sorry bout that. That's tough I'm sure. Nah I think I'll skip this time. I'm much more in favor of supporting someone vicariously. Let them do the work and I'll cheer. Although, if TAR was ever to do a race stateside I might be tempted. I would love to see all 50 states. Of course they would have to find some real challenges since there would not be any language barriers,etc.
Until you went through South Central LA, Chinatown in SF, or South Border Texas :-)
LOL. Yes I've heard those are barriers in and of themselves. See a stateside race could be done. :)
Stateside race really could be fun. Chinatown SF could be a blast. Especially if they had to eat a dozen or so "ten- thousand-year-old eggs," which are thoroughly blech.
I've been saying for years that TAR should go thru New Orleans where they'd have to navigate through drunks on Bourbon Street to find Tonya Harding. And Calle Ocho, Miami's Cuban district. How about a run through New York's garment district, where Shopping or Schlepping would work just fine.
Not in the states, but also rife with possibilities, a run through the current Survivor encampment. Maybe they'd win immunity.
The Amazing Race 7, Episode 3
CBS Mar 15 09:00pm
The preview asks:
"Do You Need Some Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation?", One team is unable to complete a Road Block, so the members accept a penalty and encourage other teams to do the same.
If you missed last week’s show or want to refresh your memory, here’s a brief rundown of people, places, and events:
The teams left the Pit Stop to catch the bus to their next clue, which they would find at the shoe-shiners union hall at the end of a ten hour bus ride over the Andes in Arequipa, Peru. Teams were given $480 for this leg of the race, which seemed quite generous considering the low cost of food, etc. in that region. “Follow the Money” is good advice for this episode.
Surprise, surprise, the bus would not leave until next morning, teams are bunched at the bus station, Rob discovers that the second bus to leave will be the first to arrive at Arequipa. Apparently he’s watched TAR before and figured out that one must ask about arrival times. But the teams who’ve publicly called him an idiot are lined up like sheep at the wrong bus, notably Bianca&Deb, Patrick&Susan. Rob shares the secret with Uchena&Joyce and Ray&Deana and tries to bribe the bus station fellow to keep mum but his maneuver is discovered by Alex&Lynn and shouting ensues. All of the racers clamber aboard the early bus. While hurtling over the Andes at warp bus-speed, Brian&Greg, the surfer dudes, amaze everyone by cozying up with Megan&Heidi, the hair queens. Whoda thunk? Two matches made on Venice Beach of there ever were two.
Rob collects a few bucks from Ron, Ray, and Uchena to bribe the driver. He does not use any of his own money –hehehehe—though he’d told the other conspirators that he would. There’s not a lot of money involved and Rob, one might argue, contributed his wicked know-how, worth something indeed. When the bus arrives at Arequipa, lo and behold, only the front door opens, allowing Romber, Uch&Joyce, Rah&Deana and Ron&Kelly, the bribers, to leap out and capture the available cabs, while all other teams are stuck in the rear of the bus, pounding on the door, yelling and shouting. Why they didn’t walk a few feet and exit from the front we’ll never know.
At the shoeshine union, teams find a roadblock—they must shine five pairs of shoes. Only one team member may perform the task. Amber, Ron, Joyce, and Deana set off into the streets accompanied by a shoeshine union fellah, to accost Peruvians and sell them a shoeshine for one Peruvian “sole,” an unintentional play on words. (This is an easy, not physical task. One might wonder why Ron didn’t have Kelly do the shining, but his pride in his military polishing skills won out over that consideration. In subsequent shows, , will this cost them?.) Ron finishes first, and gets a ticket from the Shoeshine Union for the first of two flights to Santiago, Chile. Also making that flight are Romber, Ray&Deana, and rather miraculously, Susan&Patrick Meredith and Gretchen. The other teams get tickets for a flight leaving 45 minutes later.
In Santiago, teams scramble to a funicular that hoists them uphill to a statue of the Virgin Mary and a spectacular view of the city. Romber & Ron&Kelly quickly get there and discover that they have arrived at a detour in which they must chose between Shop and Schlep. Schleppers must travel nearly two miles to a bookstore and deliver 180 books eight blocks to the Library of Congress to receive their next clue. In another “Follow the Money” moment, Rob remarks to Amber that since they’re running short of cash, they’d better not shop. Ron & Kelly, Ray and Deana, and Rob & Amber opt to Schlep books. Susan & Patrick ran into trouble at the funicular after running out of money, forcing them to beg to pay for the fare, which means that teams from the second flight caught up with them. If this wasn’t a typical liberal move, I’ve never seen one, overspending and expecting strangers to pick up the slack. Whatever did they do with all the money, one must ask? Contribute it to Kerry ’08?
As Romber & Relly sped off to the bookstore followed a few minutes later by "Reana," the second plane landed in Santiago with Debbie & Bianca getting an early lead on the Teams in the back, while Megan & Heidi fell to last place. At the funicular, Meredith & Gretchen chose to Shop. Debbie & Bianca, from the second flight have now caught up to Susan & Patrick from the first flight and decide to schlep books. Brian and Greg will schlep too,
At the bookstore, Rob & Amber take their time stacking books on a dolly, with Rob noting that it has to be done correctly to balance the load, which he learned doing construction work. They get all 180 volumes on the dolly and deliver them to the Library of Congress in record time, where they get their next clue and speed off to another lovely high hill in downtown Santiago, Cerra Santa Lucia. the Pit Stop, coming in well ahead of the pack. They win a well-deserved vacation to Paradise Island in the Bahamas, where , if their luck holds, they’ll probably break the bank at the casino. WhooooEeeee, these guys look like winners. BUT this Race is Amazing in more ways than one, and anyone can win the TAR7 million.
. . Meanwhile, Ron & Kelly, who stacked books at the same time Romber did but with no apparent book-stacking method, stack fewer than 180 on their dolly, forcing them to make a second trip to the bookstore before getting their clue and arriving at Cerra Santa Lucia for a creditable second place. Also having problems counting books and keeping them on the cart, Ray and Deana arrive in third place.
Where’s everyone else? Debbie & Bianca and Brian & Greg are wrestling with books, counting them wrong, dropping them all over the street. The other brave souls chose to shop, which meant finding a restaurant where they would receive a traditional Chilean recipe from the chef. Then, in a large, crowded (but surprisingly uptown chrome and neon) market, they had to buy the five ingredients for the recipe and return to the chef to earn the next clue. Naturally, having no money, Susan & Patrick decided to shop. LOL. Meredith & Gretchen, Lynn & Alex, Uchenna & Joyce, Megan & Heidi also went shopping.
Uchenna and Joyce are good with a buck and breezed through the market and on to the pit stop, coming in an easy fourth. Had Enron and WorldCom, their former employers, made them CFO's, they'd probably still be in business. Now, everyone who was in on Rob's scheme on the bus to Arequipa has arrived, 1,2,3,4. Will they stick together in subsequent laps of the race?
All hell broke out in the marketplace as Meredith and Gretch discovered they didn't have enough cash and Gretch reverted to Nurse Ratched mode, yelling and shouting to "Please (which sounded more like Achtung!) let us buy it at the price we can afford." Not wanting to suffer lobotomies, the Chilean fishmongers quickly acquiesed, but got back at them by putting a thumb on the scale and selling them fish too light to meet the recipe's requirements, sending M&G back for a "correct" fish and wasting their time. LOL.
Lynn&Alex had an even worse time, also getting a too-light fish and reverting to bitchy hissy fits at the vendors who weren't about to put up with them and went rather berzerkers, driving them out of the market with shouts and threats--they'd have used pitchforks if they'd had them. Susan&Patrick finished begging and finally bought their stuff without further ado, and Megan and Heidi, once they got to the market, had a relatively good shopping experience. It's getting places that bolluxes them up.
Back at the Library of Congress, struggling to count books, genius brother Brian reminds genius brother Gregg to "use his library voice," LOLOL. These two are such immature Californios that PBSKids was their biggest influence in life. But who knows, they may win the race and I'll eat crow.
Meanwhile, after much huffing and puffing, cabbing and shouting, Lynn & Alex arrive at the Pit Stop in fifth place ahead of sixth-place Debbie & Bianca, and seventh-place Meredith & Gretchen, with Susan & Patrick stepping onto the mat in eighth place.
Did Brian and Greg and Megan and Heidi get waylaid? No, not that we know of. They are in side-by-side cabs, gazing out the windows at one another with big buck and doe eyes, wishing they were all back in California so they could become closer friends. But showing no chivalry, the guys race up the long steps to the Pit Stop first, leaving Megan and Heidi in the dust. Hugs, kisses and tears as the two couples are jerked apart just when they'd become so close.
Finish Order
1. Rob and Amber by a mile or five.
2 Ron and Kelly
3. Ray and Deana
4. Uchenna and Joyce
5. Lynn and Alex
6. Debbie and Bianca (Won last week, dropped this week)
7. Meredith and Gretchen
8. Susan and Patrick (Dropped after coming in second last week.
9. Brian and Greg
10. Megan and Heidi. Eliminated.
And now for this week's burning question. Will Brian and Gregg cozy up with Bianca and Debbie tonight?
I’m a Left Coaster, not checking back in until mañana.
If you want on or off ping list, please FreepMail me.
Whoo-hoo! TAR!
I won't be checking in until tomorrow (might get to watch late tonight, though). Hope Rob and Amber are eliminated soon, just so we can go back to TAR and not Survivor. If I wanted to watch Survivor, I'd watch that.
Brian and Greg ought to get their act together. They should be doing much better.
Excellent summary. Thanks for the ping.
Hey, JenB. I'm not rooting, I'm reporting. This wasn't about Survivor. Rob and Amber just happend to dominate TAR last week in a most remarkable manner. Web sites all over the Net that basically hate them agree that they ran a truly Amazing Race last week. I hope you can forgive them for winning that other show, which by now is really irrelevant, and relax and enjoy their racing skills. And who knows, they may get eliminated tonight. The first week's two winning teams sank almost to the bottom last week, so you just never know.
Appreciate it, freedom1st. I love this show!
I appreciate your reporting skills and admit they were pretty skillful - but I don't like them and I really think they're changing the flavor of the show. I'm not blaming them, they only bring up Survivor half the time, the other contestants do it the other half.
But I hope they do get eliminated. I'd like Ron and whatsername to win, because Ron seems like an all-around nice guy. And a hero, too.
LOL.. good summary. I enjoy that as much as the show! And I agree about Gretchen's voice, like fingernails on a chalkboard. Ugh.
Looking forward to tonight!
DVR cocked and ready.
Please let this be the week mom and son get stuffed.
Chawmed life, m'dear. Your travels sound like much more fun than our RAcers', who rarely get room service -- not that they deserve it. And you could win a mil too in Vegas.
I'm rooting for you!
Really..mom just said she wants boyfriend for son. Every mother's dream.!
Mom and son are lost in Chile...LOL
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