THE AMAZING RACE VII --TAR7-- Official Show Thread & photo preview

CBS ^ | Feb 24, 2005 | Veto! with a little help from CBS.com

[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.

[JenB]

You're in Alaska, right? They went there the first season, as almost the final leg. The gay guys got so far behind, they weren't even to their final task in Alaska when the winners crossed the line (in San Francisco, IIRC). Ever since then, there've been the bunch-ups...

[hattend]

Now, I'm going on the list from the website maps so I will probably miss all the small towns visited
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Season One: can't access all destinations. Looks like Johannesburg, SA was one destination starting in New York. They have left the old ShockWave software up on this season so it won't advance (for me anyway)
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Season two:

Start in Las Vegas,NV to Rio de Janiero (Brazil), to Iguercu Falls (Brazil), to Cape Town, SA, to Namibia, to Bangkok, Thailand, to Chang Mai, China, to Hong Kong to Sydney, Aus, to Coober Pedy, Aus to Christchurch, NZ to Aukland, NZ to San Francisco, CA (FINISH)
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Season 3: (this is the one I wish I had watched!!)

Start in Miami, FL to Mexico City, MX to Cancun, MX to Aberdeen, Scotland to Lisbon, Portugal to Fez, Morocco to Marrakesh, Algeria(?) to Grindelwald, Switzerland to Fussen, Bavaria to Singapore to Ho Chi Men City, Vietnam to Danang, Vietnam to Seattle (FINISH)
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Season 4: (this sounds good too!)

Start in Los Angeles, CA to Cortina, Italy to Venice, Italy to Gmunden, Austria to St Remy-De-Provence, France to Amsterdam, Netherlands to Bombay, India to Alleppey, India to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to Sandakan, Malaysia to Seoul, South Korea to Mooloolaba, Australia to Ellis Beach, Australia to Phoenix, AZ (FINISH)
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Season 5: (another good trip!)

Start in Santa Monica, Ca to Buenos Aires, Argentina to San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina to Punta Ballena, Uruguay to St Petersburg, Russia to Luxor, Egypt to Cairo, Egypt to Lake Manyara, Tanzania to Dubai, UAE to Kolkata, India to Rotorua, NZ to Manila, Phillippines to Calgary, Canada to Dallas, Texas (FINISH)
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Season 6: (This is the season that sucked me in...good places too!)

Start in Chicago, Illinois to Grindivik, Iceland to Voss, Norway to Stockholm, Sweden to Goree Island, Senegal to Berlin, Germany to Budapest, Hungary to Corsica, France to Lalibela, Ethiopia to Sigiriya, Sri Lanka to Xi'an, China to Shanghai, China to Chicago, Ill (FINISH)
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[hattend]

Yep, I couldn't find the data for season one.

I would have liked to see where they went up here. Do you know? Fairbanks? Anchorage? Juneau? or was it a small outlying village?

[JenB]

I wanna say Anchorage - or at least they flew there. The challenges were things like ice dipping (that was the roadblock) and I think the detour included snowmobiling. They slept in igloos!

[AxelPaulsenJr]

If I may weigh in here on the question of locations for the race. This is a race around the world and the places that they have been to so far are in the world. We are only half way through the race, maybe the last half will be spent in the lobby of the Hilton in downtown Kuala Lampur.

I have enjoyed the race very much this season, and I'm sorry Jen, but I must disagree with you, team Romber has made the race all the more enjoyable. They are competative, but hey, this is a race!

[JenB]

Hey, you're entitled to your opinion! I just can't stand their smug arrogant faces and I would love to see them come in third (since we're expecting they'll be in the final three) behind Joyce and Uchenna, and the gay guys.

Hmmm... south... pit stop in Antarctica?

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Joyce and Uchenna would be fine with me as winners, but I am pulling for team smug.

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Since we are listing places we would like for AR to go to, here is my ideal race:
Start in Topeka, Kansas (pretty much in the middle of the country)
pit stops:
#1, Caracas, Venezuela
#2, La Paz, Bolivia
#3, Dublin, Ireland
#4, Madrid, Spain
#5, Warsaw, Poland
#6, Kuala Lumpur, Thailand
#7, Jakarta, Indonesia
#8, Papua, New Guinea
#9, Kyoto, Japan
#10, Sapporo, Japan
#11, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
#12, Portland, Oregon
Finish Line, Lincoln, Nebraska (back to the middle of the country.)

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Excellent! Please send a copy of your suggestions to TAR producers.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

I wonder if the producers have ever tried to figure out if it would be possible to have a live televised finish of the race?

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

I wonder if the producers have ever tried to figure out if it would be possible to have a live televised finish of the race?

I'm sure they have thought about of it. But in all reality, it would be a logistical nightmare!
So many things could go wrong, from delayed flights, traffic jams, cabbie strikes, all the way down to an over exuberant winner uttering a few choice expletives.

[Veto!]

Love your list of places ...we really must get on the planning committee for TAR. Just one itsy bitsy thing, cuz, last time I looked, Kuala Lumpur was the largest city in Malaysia. Hehehe. Teams could run up and down the 1,453-foot-tall Petrona Towers looking for clues ....didn't some movie feature action stars leaping (falling?)off the skybridge?

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Malaysia, Thailand, whatever. And yes, that movie was with Sean Connery and some drop dead gorgeous actress who's name for some strange reason escapes me at the moment. I'll go over to the IMDB website and see if I can locate the movie.

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Found it! The movie was "Entrapment" and the drop dead gorgeous actress was none other than Catherine Zeta-Jones!

[Veto!]

I am pulling for team smug.

Team Smug! LOL. I like them too. But I don't care who wins.

[Veto!]

Great job! It's really cool to have destinations of prior races listed in one place. Hard-core TAR fans should copy your list for reference.

I can't get flash-whatever to work either, but did find SOME of the Amazing Race 1 destinations buried in the text:

NYC to Victoria Falls, Zambia
Zambia to France, Pit Stop the Eiffel Tower
Paris to Pit Stop Les Baux, a hill town in Provence, France
France to Tunisia, Pit Stop, El Jem, in Central Tunisia
El Jem into the Sahara, Pit Stop somewhere in the sand
Sahara to India
India to Alaska
Alaska back to NYC

Apparently they did not go to the Far East.

Point of interest: In TAR-1, a mother-daughter team, Nancy and Emily, opted out of a Detour and received a 24-hour penalty. Clearly, this was an unwieldy and unwise length of time so somewhere along the way, it was changed to a 4-hour penalty. Otherwise, Rob would still be shoveling down Argentinean BarBQ.

[Veto!]

maybe the last half will be spent in the lobby of the Hilton in downtown Kuala Lampur.

LOLOL. Now you're talking! My kind of trip. The orchid-filled open-air rooftop restaurant in the Manila Hilton would be an excellent place to spend a few days too. Been there, done that, loved it, went back!

[Veto!]

Connery and Zeta-Jones! What a pair! I now recall seeing that movie. The scenery was gorgeous too!

[Veto!]

Ooops!

Further to the TAR-1 list of places in post #556, they DID go to the Far East:

Pit Stop: Tiantan Park, Beijing, near Tian'anmen Square
Pit Stop: Pai Plong beach, Thailand
Pit Stop: Krabi, Thailand

As I recall, they had to perform some ancient Chinese ritual on an open-air altar at the Temple of Heaven in Tiantan Park.

[hattend]

Yep, Romber is the team I am cheering on, too. They know how to play the game.

They have ExLax pinging off the walls wondering how Romber is doing instead of just running their own race.

They have Relly wondering if they are being played or not...again, distracts from running their own race.

Juchenna is doing pretty well and I'm really surprised Metch is still in the hunt (Pssst...Gretchen, suck it up and just DO THE TASK. Stop kvetching.)

With the Top 3 appearing to be Romber, Juchenna and ExLax based on the background spoiler, I hope Romber succeeds. I wouldn't mind if Juchenna wins, either. But let team ExLax fail (honey).