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.
You know after he said that to Gretchen and Meredith I was hoping it would backfire on him(about the earlier flight).It must gall Rob that the team Metch came in 2nd and he came in 3rd. :)
Yup, the Romber got "hoisted by his own petard", and some bad luck in the travel agents that gave him the wrong information. I am beginning to suspect more and more that the internet rumors of a few weeks back are correct, that Juchenna wins the race.
>>bad luck in the travel agents that gave him the wrong information<<
Some suspect, and I'm beginning to think this way too, that parts of the show like that are fixed. In a desire to make good TV, to have "weaker" (in perception) teams gain an advantage, what would stop a producer from getting to the travel agent ahead of time, and paying them to not disclose earlier flight info?
Given that more and more of "reality" TV is fixed and engineered with careful editing, it wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Especially in this case, given Romber's popularity, it certainly makes for good TV to see the underdogs pull ahead of the "mean and rude" ones.
Yep, read Gretchen's blog linked at LizJ's post #647. Don't worry, it doesn't contain any spoilers.
Hmmm...the link doesn't work for me anymore
There are many ways the game might be fixed, but this is not one of them. Romber and Relly ran along a street with many airline offices and travel agents, selected two at random. It was a combo of bad luck and lack of persistence that got them on the later plane. Had they continued to check with other airlines and travel agents, they might have found one with the good sense and diligence to actually look at all airline schedules. As Rob said, he was stupid and he won't be again.
I was surprised that all four teams left Rajahstan within ten minutes of one another....guess the last lap really was very very close. That's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it!
I could not tell last night how far apart the first two and last two teams were. Anyone want to venture a guess? If they leave the PitStop a few hours apart, the lead teams may well keep the lead, as I believe that there are many Istanbul-London flights to choose from and the probablility of bunching at the airport is not high.
All right, already, I have to concede that Metch is Amazing and does indeed belong in this race. Hit your mute button when Gretch opens her mouth and she becomes quite the heroine. One tough old broad. My friend and I took a small boat up the Bosporus and stopped at the pier beneath that castle, which is even harder to get to than it appeared to be. The place looked so formidable, we sat in a little cafe at water's edge instead of even walking up the steep hill leading to the castle much less climbing a ladder to the top.
I think it's fair to say it's anyone's race. I'm not going to count out Metch, because I've been wrong every time about them.
May the best team win.
Past TARs have been inconsistant. Most of the TAR races had the last three teams racing together for the last two episodes. Recently, there's been a shift to having four teams racing up until the second to last episode with an elimination. Then, there's only three for the last leg.
I think this is one of my favorite TAR's. It's been much more exciting than last season.
I'm very happy with two of my favorite reality shows this season, Tar and Survivor. The one I've been bored with has been "The Apprentice". I'm tired of Donald Trump!
It didn't work for me at all. :(
In the previews for next week's show it shows Uchenna helping Gretchen and Meredith. He helped them last night as well. If he continues helping them, they may have a chance to stay in it. Not sure about Ron and Kelly. Don't know what effect last place had on them and getting all their items taken away. Also, this is the 2nd time that Rob and Amber came in 3rd. I'm sure that bothers him. I do believe at this rate Joyce and Uchenna will be the winners.
I thought that Ron & Kelly and Rob & Amber went to the Turkish Airline counter and even the airline said it didn't have any other flights.
I know I had a few raised eyebrows at the whole scene because it did look setup.
Although they did catch a break by winning the prize and a night's stay in the Four $ea$on$ Hotel. If had to pick a place in Istanbul where they should be able to gather up some money from hotel guests, they're in it!
Unfortunately I already erased the episode from my DVR but didn't Juchenna and Metch book a roundabout way to Turkey on Air India? Relly and Romber kept asking the Turkish Airline. They needed to check another airline
The roundabout way may have been longer but it arrived 2 hours earlier.
And then, I could be wrong
Even Turkish Airlines can have lazy employees who don't want to bother looking up alternative connections. The fellow who helped Juchenna and Metch with an improbable connection through Dubai was the exception, not the rule.
In TAR5, Myrna and Charla got an apparently much better connection between destinations because one savvy employee booked them through an off-the-route stop which would get them to their destination an hour before the other teams. Trouble was, when they got to that connecting airport, weather set in and they could not get out on time, causing them to arrive at the PitStop after, not before, the other teams and they were eliminated. Had the weather in Dubai been too foggy for takeoff, Juchenna and Metch would have lost time. On this show, as in real life, airline employees can make quite a difference, as can weather and other glitches.
So true!
I wonder whether Ron and Kelly will spend so much time enjoying their posh surroundings and the joys of making up after still another fight that they will lose their edge. You can be sure that in their lesser lodgings, Romber is plotting, renewing their dedication to winning, and catching up on their sleep to make the best showing possible in the next lap.
I'm not exactly tired of Trump, but don't give a hoot about this season's Apprentice. Maybe because the tasks are too much like the other episodes, perhaps because IMO the wannabes are all unattractive and unappealing. Season One was terrific, now it's all downhill. What can they do to pull up?
I think the tasks on Apprentice are boring, and I don't like the candidates except for Tana who does not compare to previous candidates.
I wish they would have them do something besides just marketing.
This may be my engineering background, but I would like to see both teams have new product (phone, mp3 player, computer program, because of Trump a building that is experiencing problems) that is supposed to be come on the market.
I would like to see the teams test the product, figure out the problems, The teams come up with a solution or several solutions and their financial impact.
Part of being a successful business person is to figure out how to solve problems, and I think most of the candidates would not be good at figuring out real problems.
Another thing that I think would be interesting is for each team to have to hire other people to do a task. The teams have to interview people, pick people to hire, and then manage the group for a task. For example, if the task was to open a restaurant, then they would have to hire a chef, a cashier, hostesses, waiters/waitresses, custodian, etc. Maybe the tasks takes longer than a few days.
The show is just stale, and it needs some new ideas.
SERIOUS BARF ALERT:
An interview with Lynn and Alex of "The Amazing Race" At GAY.COM
"Lynn Warren, 30, and Alex Ali, 22, may have come in fifth place on this season of CBS's around-the-world adventure reality show "The Amazing Race," but the couple will definitely go down in the show's hall of fame for quick wit and bad car luck. Just after their last episode aired, the West Hollywood-based pair phoned in an interview with PlanetOut.
I hope you haven't been feeling too much like the token gay guys, because this is totally going to be the token gay interview.
Alex: We love our token gay things.
Excellent. So how was it being the token gay guys?
Lynn: There was also Patrick, so we weren't the only gay guys, but we were the token gay couple. And we loved it. We knew that they hadn't had a gay couple in two seasons, and we were excited to be a different version.
Alex: Absolutely. We're proud of our relationship, and we were proud to show it to America.
CBS has had a pretty diverse group of gay people from one show to another. !!!!!!!!! What was different about you?
Lynn: We're a little kooky. We're a little crazier than ["Amazing Race 5" winners] Chip and Reichen. We knew we weren't breaking the gay stereotype. But we knew that we would stand out as a team.
< snip (a seven-page gap) >
How will you know when you've become a celebrity and you're not normal anymore?
Lynn: When I build a Neverland. (!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Alex: I would say when I don't want to go outside because I don't want to get noticed. Now it's fun, but it must be really difficult for huge, real stars, and I can understand why now. I sort of get it.
Lynn: We went to the Ivy and the waitress was so excited to meet us. When you're getting noticed at the Ivy, you feel like a big celebrity, because they see real stars there."
If you want to read the rest of this drivel, go to: http://www.gay.com/entertainment/interview.html?sernum=1026&navpath=/channels/entertainment/television
Ack! rrrrrRRRRalph [cough cough]
I'll pass on reading anything at gay.com
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