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.
Nobody was eliminated. It's a two hour leg strung out over two weeks. Guess CBS couldn't afford to pre-empt CSI Miami two weeks in a row.
Rob and Amber were in first place as the show ended. No others showed up to the mat in front of Phil but it appears the current order is Romber, Relly, Juchenna, ExLax and Metch.
Here is me on this year's TAR:
LOL, nice but gross summation of team ex-lax.
Hey, that does sound like ExLax. dang it!
But that would be me talk to my wife about now. My attitude would be sucking about now. Might get eliminated just to be able to take a hot shower.
Now I'm disturbed...I sound like Team Exlax! hahahahahah!!
LOL. Great summation. PullllEeease, TAR, get back on the beaten path!
I've never been to India but know plenty of people who've made the trip. According to every one of them India reeks from border to border and coast to coast, and it's not entirely because four-legged animals are relieving themselves in the streets.
How about next time is "Amazing Race: Northern Hemisphere"? Although that doesn't keep out India... enough with the third-world nations! I watch this show for the virtual tourist experience!
I second that emotion!
Just looked at the map of the Lucknow area, where our poor racers are sweating it out in dingy streets. It's in northern India, not far from Pakistan and Nepal.
The producers could take them to Katmandu next, and even up to Everest base camp, but what will you bet they go south to Bhophal, where some American company had an enviro accident? Or to Pakistan where the friendly Muslims can beat them up? I wish TAR aired on any network other than leftie SeeBS. This tour of the third world is beginning to look like Rather's Revenge.
(My kid was in Kathmandu on R&R from Saudi, where he was a project management programmer. He and his buddies got stuck in a snowstorm for a week at a place called Namche Bazaar, the last little town on the trail up to Everest base camp, and had a blast telling yak jokes and having snowball fights. Now THAT would be a Pit Stop!)
Of course they also did do that weird jog from Sweden to Senegal and back to Germany last season so maybe they will head on up to Moscow.
Or maybe down to Singapore and then over to Oz. Then from Australia to New Zealand, back into South America and on up to Long Beach.
Taiwan? Phillipines? Japan?
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How about North Korea?
Detour: In or Out:
Your task, smuggle food into North Korea or infiltrate a border town and smuggle a refugee out to freedom. You have $150, some small arms and a squad of mercenaries to help you complete this task. Good Luck!
After the crummy places they have visited, our TAR race covering the U.S. sounds pretty good right now, doesn't it?
FOTFLMAO!
Thanks for the map. Yes, Singapore, Oz, lots of interesting CLEAN places they could get to next, but who knows if the Racers will even live through their India stop? Delhi Belly may do them all in. TV stars must be chuckling about the awful things amateurs have to do for one lousy measly million when all they have to do is strut across a set looking stupid.
We should apply for jobs as TAR producers!
EmilyGeiger has proposed an all-USA TAR, which could be terrific! I'd definitely expect some freepers to apply.
They could go somewhere really cool. Like Mongolia, or Japan. Somewhere the Race hasn't gone before, and which fans would enjoy seeing.
Or they could send us to Indonesia or somewhere else that they can play up the "hot, stinky, and poor" aspect of.
Hmmm...Now why do I think they'll be going into Vietnam?
Just so CBS can show how the Vietnamese people have recovered from the American occupation and aggression.
Based on where they have been so far, I think this is a good bet. This is a terrible TAR season so far (based on my only watching last season, so I'm no expert on the series...LOL!)
I've watched every season and I have to agree. The teams just aren't as fun as some seasons, the legs aren't as cool, it's been less travel-agency-video and more National Geographic.
Some of the problem is definitely the destinations. Some is the chemistry between teams. Rob and Amber are screwing up the whole equation and I hate them for that. Plus they're nasty and I like seeing the nasty folk getting eliminated and so far they haven't been.
I think seasons 2 through 4 have been the best so far.
That about sums this season up for me.
Actually, TAR did go to Vietnam one season. I'd have to look up which one. It was pretty interesting. One of the clues was at the Ho Chi Min monument in some traffic circle. Nam is much less dusty and feelthy than India and Africa and the people seemed happy enough to see Americans too. One of the teams was a Nam vet and his wife, the "older couple" (under 50) who finished in second (third?) place, as I recall.
I absolutely loved season 5 with low-flying helicopter cameras shooting wonderful sights in incredibly beautiful, civilized downtown Buenos Aires, Evita's grave, lavish public buildings, and a clue hidden among the dancers in an authentic tango club (swoon). Then they raced on to the gorgeous almost-Bavarian village of Bariloche in the mountainous south of Argentina. Spectacular! Caused me to put Argentina on my must-see list.
And then, they went to the pyramids in Egypt, with photography that showed them like I've never seen them before. We really got a sense of their size and of the perspective of those on the ground.
I cannot imagine why this Race is going to such nasty places, except for the fact that some shows, once they have high ratings and hooked viewers, fire their expensive writers and cameramen and cheapen down the production. Botswana and Lucknow sure do suggest traveling on the cheap. Travelocity is a big sponsor, perhaps we should complain to them. They'd much rather book tours to pricier places like Sydney and Paris and Tokyo.
And they went to South Korea one year, didn't they - some of the teams went the wrong way and nearly ended up at the border?
They went to China last time, I'm sure they've been to Singapore and either Thailand or Sri Lanka (or both?). Time to visit Tokyo, go back to Russia, or spend some serious time in Australia.
Serious time in Japan would work for me. And yes, Russia and China. Beijing has miles of ancient stuff, the Forbidden City, as I recall.
If I had time, which I do not, I'd check the CBS site and list every place TAR has visited.
I do, I'm doing nothing but looking out a window at some airplane traffic on the airfield. Be back later with a recap...I type slow, so it may be a while.
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