Amazing Race #3 (Show Thread)

CBS Entertainment ^ | 10/1/02 | CBS

[jriemer]

The Amazing Race #3 (Show Thread)

Freepers,

I would like to introduce a thread for fans and fans-to-be of the Amazing Race (TAR) on CBS Wednesday nights 9PM EST (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race3/) . For quite some time, Survivor had a thread running on FR and I thought that TAR should have a thread of its own.

TAR is essentially a race around the world for twelve two-person teams who are competing for a grand prize of $1,000,000. Each week, the last team to complete that leg around the world is eliminated. There’s no tribal council, no alliances, and no weakest link unless your team comes in dead last.

This race is all about raw, naked endurance while keeping your wits, working with your partner, and staying focused on the final goal as you travel 40-60k miles around the world by every imaginable mode of transportation in foreign cultures.

The previous two Amazing Races started and ended in the continental US but went through completely different countries along the way. TAR #1 raced through Africa, European countries, Tunisia, India, Thailand, China and Alaska. TAR #2 headed to Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Alaska.

At the very beginning of the Amazing Race, all the teams are given identical clues at the same time to the their first checkpoint. How well the teams travel from point to point starts spreading out the field and eventually decides what team will be eliminated at the end of that leg. In addition, the points themselves have activities that are either “Detours” or “Roadblocks”. The teams cannot receive directions to the next checkpoint without successfully completing the Detour or Roadblock..

A Detour is an activity that both team members must complete together at a checkpoint. They usually involve the choice of engaging in “fast and risky” activity like bungee jumping or “slow and safe” endeavor like carrying a Chinese Dragon. Sometimes, the “risky” activity is too difficult the teams that pick the “slow” activity finish their task first. This is a great place to for lead changes to take place.

A Roadblock is a single-person activity at a checkpoint. These are usually designed to physically or emotionally challenge the individual beyond their comfort zone. Some examples of these types of challenges in are: finding the checkpoint directions in a cave filled with bats, stacking sea-going container with a crane or diving under water to release the direction from a sealed container.

The last remaining rule in TAR is the Fast Forward. The Fast Forward enables the team to bypass all of the checkpoints and go directly to the final destination for that leg – provided the team conquers the Fast Forward challenge. Each team has the ability to use their Fast Forward once during the race and only one exists on each leg. Once one team on a leg has taken a Fast Forward, the other teams are often surprised to learn that their Fast Forward option is no longer available and they have to re-think their strategy on the fly. For teams at the back of the pack, this knowledge often comes too late and they are soon eliminated.

At the end of the leg, the last team is eliminated from the race and all teams are given twelve hours from the time of their arrival to base camp to rest. In my opinion, this is a particularly “evil” rule because if a team arrives at 2PM – they have to start the next leg at 2AM the next morning. After a while, this begins to grate on everyone and makes for some rather snippy dialog.

This is a snapshot of the rules of the Amazing Race and I will leave it up to you to tune into the show and root for your favorite team.

jriemer

[jriemer]

11/25/02

Amazing Racing Freepers,

As I prepare to be stuffed with food this Thanksgiving weekend, I am overstuffed with pride as I predicted that Flo / Zach would win last week’s leg and that Team Bad Boyz (Andre / Damon) would be eliminated. I am too good for words. Now, back to reality.

I predict that this week leg will be a non-elimination leg.

I predict that Team Ugly (Teri / Ian) will be last but not eliminated. Darn.

I predict that Team Rambette (John / Jill) will win this leg.

If you are going on an Amazing Race to Grandma's or family for Thanksgiving - Be Safe!

Jriemer

[jriemer]

12/9/02

Amazing Racing Freepers,

After a hectic double episode where Flo / Zach should have been eliminated and Team Rambette (John / Jill) finally were, our final four teams are in Singapore. I have the following predictions that I wish will come true:

I predict that this week leg will be an elimination leg.

I predict that Team Ugly (Teri / Ian) will be eliminated however I have a nagging feeling that they will be hanging around longer than a plugged nickel or a unwanted Christmas party guest.

I predict that Ken / Gerard will win this leg.

I really hope that the Team Ugly prediction comes true and they are finally voted off the island.

Jriemer

[jriemer]

12/9/02

Amazing Racing Freepers,

After a hectic double episode where Flo / Zach should have been eliminated and Team Rambette (John / Jill) finally were, our final four teams are in Singapore. I have the following predictions that I wish will come true:

I predict that this week leg will be an elimination leg.

I predict that Team Ugly (Teri / Ian) will be eliminated however I have a nagging feeling that they will be hanging around longer than a plugged nickel or a unwanted Christmas party guest.

I predict that Ken / Gerard will win this leg.

I really hope that the Team Ugly prediction comes true and they are finally voted off the island.

Jriemer

[jriemer]

AllSmiles,

Zach deserves all the grief he receives from Flo because he picked her as his partner on this around the world junket.

Flashback to the very first episode and my first TAR #3 Play-by-play: "Once in Mexico, the teams grab taxis and during the ride to the “Angel of Independence,” Zach says on camera that his partner, Flo, is very “high maintenance” and this character trait could be a “liability” on a round the world trip. Hello! Didn’t you think about this when you both signed up for the show? I bet she really will have a spring in her step for the rest of the race…"

If Zach actually thought that Flo could help their team "win", this has turned out to be a terrible mistake because they have only won leg with the help of a Fast Forward. I am certain he could have picked a more capable, compatable, and competative partner in his circle of friends than Flo. If Zach was more interested in "scoring" with Flo, he wouldn't be such an @$$ and driving her over to waiting arms of the single Zoolander. So far, Zach's plans to "win" and / or "score" have been, at best, unsuccessful. But hey, he does wear that really neat spotlight on his forehead. Loser

jriemer

[jriemer]

12/18/02

Amazing Racing Freepers,

After bobbing around in the Mekong delta in a downpour and a completely screwed up Roadblock, Team Zoolander (Derek / Drew) were eliminated in Ho Chi Mihn City, Viet Nam. In a way, it was appropriate that Team Ugly (Teri / Ian) won this leg because we found out that Ian is a Viet Nam vet however ir really screwed up my predictions from last week.

Since this is the last episode of the Amazing Race, this one is for all the marbles:

Team Ugly finished the Viet Nam leg first but they are running against the odds. In previous races, the oldest teams were eliminated by leg #4 and #3. Plus, the marrried teams had never raced beyond leg #6. Team Ugly has always been in back of the pack for 9 of the 11 legs to date. They have the worst average finish of the three final teams. Did I mention that they run really slow?

Ken / Gerard completed the Viet Nam leg last. They have been amazingly consistent and never finish worst than sixth place. They have been at the front of the pack 8 of the 11 legs. They have a fatal flaw of second-guessing their decisions at the Detour and this has cost them considerable time. They have done this at least three times: the Horse / ATV in Morocco, Coins / Trees at the Swiss bank vault, and the coconuts / fruit in the Mekong delta. If the continue to reconsider their decisions and chose both Detour tasks both teams will get ahead of Ken / Gerard.

Flo / Zach are in the middle position in Viet Nam. Historically, the average age of the winning team is twenty-six. Flo / Zach are twenty-three and they are significantly younger than both Team Ugly (50) and Ken / Gerard (38). Despite Flo’s whining, their age is an advantage as there are more phyiscially able to cope with the stresses of traveling some 20+ days around the world.

As much as I like Ken / Gerard, I do not believe that their mistakes earlier in tonight’s leg will put them out of the race. In the end, the final leg will have a long dash to the finish line from the last checkpoint in the end destination city. This will test the remainder of the mental toughness (edge to Team Ugly) as they run (edge to Flo / Zach) to the finish line. The biggest question will be will Flo / Zach arrive at the finish before Flo cracks under the strain?

I regretfully say that Flo / Zach will win the million dollars. Alas, Zach did not score as the Single Zoolander is at the finish line with the other previously eliminated teams to greet Flo. Single Zoolander and Flo live happily ever after.

Jriemer

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I despise Flo with every fiber of my being. She is fundamentally, irrevocably flawed. She might look good, but if she were the last woman on earth, I'd go gay. In a contest between her and Hillary, Hillary is a better catch.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I'll add that Ian is doing well in Vietnam, because i think he is relishing the return, and isn't intimidated by the culture.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I'd pay money to watch somebody kick her teeth out.

And speaking of violence, did you see that Brian from Survivor had troubles with his non bug eating bride?

[Lead]

The Mole is also good, it might be starting soon.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Blind Date and Elimidate are kinda fun on a nightly basis, but those are just "hookup" shows with snide commentary.

Fear factor is the closest to the adventure format, but I don't know where they are in their cycle.

[Wrigley]

Flo and Zach winning had everything to do with the stupid airline/train station equalizer.

[CaliGirlGodHelpMe]

I am so angry that Flo/Zach won. That girl has all of the qualities I despise; she uses her looks to get whatever she wants from the men around her (and Heaven help them if they fail); she lets some poor sap waste his time trying to win her "love" while conveniently calling him "just a friend"; when the going gets tough, it's either tears or insults, never a helpful, positive attitude; and last but not least, her showing her panty- clad body in bed to the single twin, while Zach was lying next to her but couldn't see what she was doing because of the angle of the blankets, showed that she doesn't mind making a fool of the guy she's with if there's something better on the horizon.

This kind of person gives women a BAD NAME! She's 23 - let's hope that she will use this money to develop some independence and strenth of character. (BTW, how much would you like to bet she tries to talk Zach into letting her "take care" of his half too?)

[jriemer]

12/19/02

Amazing Racing Freepers,

It is with much regret that my prediction for the grand prize finish came true in the exact same order. If I had just the same luck picking ponies at the racetrack….

Flo / Zach won the one million dollar grand prize however; the most of other contestants aren’t walking away empty-handed. Here’s a summary of their wonderful parting gifts.

Flo / Zach: $1 million dollars + one cheesy digital camera

Team Ugly (Teri / Ian): The rumored second place cash prize + two week long cruises + one cheesy digital camera

Ken / Gerard: The rumored third place cash prize + one week long cruise + one cheesy digital camera

Team Zoolander (Derek / Drew): One week long cruise + one cheesy digital camera + the single Zoolander won the white elephant prize, Flo.

Team Rambette (John / Jill): One week long cruise

I hope you enjoyed watching the Amazing Race as much as I did and next season, we can fire up another TAR thread.

Jriemer

[jriemer]

Cali,

Flo was "trading up" the entire race. She would hit up on Ian if she it would get her ahead in life.

If Zach had a functioning neuron in that headlight-shining forehead of his, he would be running as fast as he can in any direction away from her. But I'm insulting neurons.

jriemer

[carton253]

I absolutely did not want Flo to win. If I were Zach, I would have flipped the little basket boat over and let her drown. Man, she whined at a frequency that hurt my ears - like chalk on a chalkboard.

Here's my big complaint about the Amazing Race... it really isn't a race because everyone catches up at the airport/train station... it's a luck thing... luck into the cabbie who can get you the final pit stop the fatest. That's how all three races ended.

Zach deserves the whole prize. He needs a job at Foggy Bottom. I couldn't believe he kept his cool. And it's fitting that the romance is over... yes it would be the moment I cringed at Flo's whine.