The Amazing Race: Family Edition
 

So it started last night, and I was thinking I wouldn't like it due to the constraints of 4 people and some being very young. I was delighted to be wrong. The smallest girl seems pretty tough, and should be a good competitor. And the younger boys look like they will get pretty competitive with each other, so it should be interesting. Anyone else watching? I'm hoping for some more interesting challenges this season, last season was pretty rough.

Spoiler: Does anyone know if they will be leaving the country? A friend heard a rumor that it would be all within the US. Which could either make for an interesting show, or really boring depending on where they are going.

Spoiler: I don't know either way, but I think having a good chunk in America would be fun, considering they usually "travel the world" without going to any of the nooks and crannies of the US. I also liked that they already had 2 challenges that brought out the differences in the different team alignments. The Black family ultimately lost because they weren't strong enough to paddle the boat (with two little kids), while the Linsz(?) family took advantage of the buggy challenge with two light-weights to pull around.

The sooner that bitching New Jersey family loses the better

I watched it as well, I wasn't going to because I figured a family version would suck, but I was quite surprised, it was a really good episode, and I reckon I'll be watching the rest of the season.

The bad part about this season is that usually there's only a couple of two-person teams that are annoying or one or two individuals... but now there are annoying four-person teams, which multiplies the annoyance and drama to a degree that is nearly unbearable to watch at times, IMO.

Couldn't agree more. I was hoping they'd get out yesterday. But looks like it didn't happen.

I think that the difference between winning and losing this year, will be the kids' ability to do any strength based tasks.

It seems that this year, I don't really have a team i'm rooting for. At least not yet.

am i the only person that found it funny every time the african american family showed up on the screen, it said "black family" at the bottom.

im sure they got some letters from some idiots that didnt realize it was their last name.

and phil.. what a dick.

BLACK FAMILY... YOU'RE THE LAST TO ARRIVE...

i laughed everytime.

Yeah, I was kind of curious when I saw "Black Family". Then my sister told me that that was actually their last name.

I read somewhere (maybe cbs.com), they are only traveling 12,000-15,000 miles (down from 72,000 in the last couple of races) and toned down the challenges for the families. I doubt they will travel to any 3rd world countries..

What, no 10 year olds travelling 18 hours in box cars packed with Indian men? :lol:

I agree with the poster who said that there are a lot of annoying teams. The only ones my wife and I were really rooting for were the "perfect family" (the marathon runners and their uber-kids), the "siblings" (sister and 3 brothers) and the "dad and 3 daughters". The cackling "pink sisters", the Jersey family and the two Louisiana families need to go away right now.

i think they are from new york...upstate or long island

You're right. Carmel, NY. I guess some team kept calling them the Jersey Family...

Time will tell about "Family Edition", the first couple of episodes on these shows are always confusing to me. What I don't think I'm gonna like is with 4 people, it seems like they are always talking over each other so I can't hear whose saying what...

It's actually interesting to see more of the U.S. for once. I'm curious what people from other countries who watch the show will think. That whole Black family thing was just hilarious; I'm kind of disappointed they were already eliminated because there would have been a guaranteed few funny moments per show. And guess what, a gambling website has stopped betting because of excessive bets on a certain team. How can they take bets in the first place when it's obvious a bunch of people out there will know who won? This time I don't want to know who it is.

I'm pulling for the Guy and his sons-in-law family. I really hope they hit at least 1 3rd world country, maybe in central america. I was looking forward to seeing how the kids did when they arrive at the train station at 3 am and have to sleep on the street.

I just wonder how the whole long distance travel thing is going to work. They got big nice SUV's and they had to go to the sporting goods store and get the tents and stuff. So now the topper of the SUV is full of gear. What are they going to say? Ok, now bring all that crap on the airplane? Although Phil did say that airfare was payed for along with gas... So who knows.

I got the impression that the tents and stuff was only for the one night

or until they travel by plane

Oh man, tonight's show was vaguely funny, yet sad and pathetic. You'd think maybe ONE team member out of four would know ANYTHING about Washington including such a basic fact as the existence of a reflecting pool in front of BOTH the Capitol and Memorial. Not only that, but the clue clearly said it was the pool at the US Capitol; it's not like the producers were trying to trick them or something like in one past season when there were two museums with the same name in Paris. Hey, were those fences I saw entirely enclosing the reflecting pools now? Way to uglify the place. I hope they're for some legitimate reason other than stoppin' the terr'ists. I also hope the teams will get out to California at least if they're going to be spending all this time in the US.

After last night I'm really not liking this round of AR. Its almost like the "Amazing Race's Family Vacation" without Chevy Chase, I can see a clue at the Grand Canyon that will send them to Wally World...

I liked seeing the exotic locations of places that I will probably never visit, so hopefully they will hop them off somewhere, but so far in the 3 hours the show has been on they went from NYC to Virginia, which is I guess 2-3 days real time.

If they could do the family thing with 21+ folks (like the so called Desperate Housewives and the Father and his 3 sons-in-law) it would make it much easier to watch. Seeing teenagers talk about how stupid their parents are really bugs me, hell I can get that at home...

Myself personally, who has never been to Washington and is not an American only knew about a reflecting pool, I did not know there was two.

However, I am the type of person that I definately would have asked people. And I think I would have caught the 'US Capital' part of the clue.

Unfortunately, yes. There are some breaks, but not many. We were just there in June and they where there then.


So far this edition has been interesting becuase it has been taking place in areas I have been recently (or where I live). It's fun to shout at the TV - "no, turn left you moron!"

I go back and forth on this season if I like the format of the teams. I get frustrated that half of the teams have one person who just can't hack it. Didn't someone say to them that a little bit of exercise would have been an key part of preparation? Of course, the teams are more real to life than in other seasons.

And will someone slap everyone from the "New Jersey" team. I thought the sons were asses, and now I know who it came from.

Well, these teams are all Americans. I don't think it's too high of an expectation for 25% of Americans to be somewhat familiar with Washington. =P

Haha, score! The Paolo (sp?) family is still kicking around! I love watching them bitch at each other.

My theory is that they're hustling everyone! They're going to surprise EVERYONE by winning! :D

Not likely :lol:

Yeah, I really wanted to give this format a chance, but after 3 episodes, I think it is just kind of blah.

I hope they get out of that area and move on some. Also, I think some of these teams are just lacking when it comes to common sense. The clues are very obvious, and you're working with maps of the country you live in. Some of these people should just stop and figure it out before driving without a clue...

Yeah, I'm ambivalent about the season. Some of the family dynamics are interesting, but many of the teams are incompetent. I don't think contestants will be tested as hard as they have been tested in past seasons.

Yes! I'm really getting sick of the same scenery again and again.

I have a feeling that they are going to be the "Flo" of this season. Piss and moan the entire time, come in nearly last place every time, and then eek out and win by default. :(

Heck, I didn't know that there were 2 reflective pools, and I definitely think the one in front of the monument is more well known (ala Forest Gump, etc). And I think the producers knew exactly what they were doing, and were purposely trying to confuse teams by the wording of the clue. It said the reflective pool "at the capitol", which the entire city is "the capitol". I did think it was funny that the one team asked a guy that was British, and he knew that there were two pools. :lol:

Also did anybody else think it was a bad idea to have them sneaking around swapping briefcases in front of the capitol building? I kept expecting some secret service guys to come out and tackle them or shoot them. :D (I know, I know I'm sure they cleared it with everybody first, I just thought it was kind of bizarre what with the different security incidents that have occurred there in the not too distant past.)

Having recently been on a wonderful road trip through Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan, I can handle an all U.S. Amazing race. I just hope they make an effort to get to all corners. And so far it's been too easy. There hasn't even been one plane or train trip yet!

<i>"OMG! How do we get to Virginia?!?" "Hey this map says to take the interstate. Phew!"</I> Duh.

I'm also sensing an American history theme, what with the crossing of the Delaware and the Civil war re-enactment. I'm much more interested in contemporary US culture. Once they start challenging the families, it will be more entertaining.

But most of all, I hope, I hope, I hope we get to see the Paolo family navigating themselves around Italy. That would be fascinating on so many levels.

I get the feeling this version might prove popular with US ratings, but will fair poorly internationally (The AR has been a big hit around the world).

Personally, I can't get into it. I like watching people struggle with foreign languages and customs and dealing with cities not laid out in a grid fashion - until they head to Africa or Asia or Russia or something, I've got no interest.

Wow, didn't like how the race went last night. Pick a number, if you are last out of the trailing 4, you don't have a chance at catching up. There was absolutely no competition there. Ride a bus for 8 hours, get clue, run to wall and pick number. Maybe you could get lost, but it didn't even seem like that was an issue. So the last team to do the centrifuge was screwed. Whatever.

And what's up with the preview for next week. Take yourself and your 3 kids to a race track. Oh and sorry your husband/father died at a race track a few years ago. So much for compassion on the side of the producers.

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed by this episode. The centrifuge was another easy challenge and it looks like all the destinations are just going to be mainstream tourist attractions and retail stores.

Here's my prediction for a future episode:

"In this challenge, teams must navigate their way through the Mall of America and find The Gap. There they must fold 150lbs of sweaters to receive their next clue!"

Well, I'm sure they planned the destinations of the entire season before they actually picked the teams. Unless you're talking soley about the previews.

All I have to say is...

FREE GAS FOR LIFE? ARE YOU SHITTING ME? Screw the million bucks, I want THAT prize!

At least they actually got on a plane in this episode, now they need to leave the country for a while...

I was disappointed to that the last team was eliminated, I figured it was going to be non-elimination (the producers said that they will have many more in Family, yet to see that). Since they all came in the same order they left the centrifuge. Not to mention they had that classic cut where they show the last 3 teams appearing "lost" trying to get to the mat, only to have them arrive in the order that they left.

I agree that it's cruel to have a family that lost their father at a racetrack, compete at a racetrack. Hopefully, they were made aware of it before hand.

Well, another pretty dull episode; just more driving around on interstates followed by simple tasks. At least next week's promo promised that they will leave the country. I suspect they will go somewhere safe like the Bahamas, Hawaii or England and it won't be until the end of the episode.

I always like it when they come to Canada, but I hope they send them somewhere besides a ski resort like they have in the past.

I admit its starting to grow on me, they said initially that there would be more non-elimination rounds, so they are narrowing the field enough to make it intersting in the last few episodes. Some of the behavior of the families really irritates me, some of the cold comments made at Tallidega about the Weavers (who lost their Dad at a racetrack), made me want to smack the shit out of them.

Fair enough. The strength of this edition is definately the personalities on display. Thinning the herd to 3 or 4 teams and then running a string of non elimination rounds would help build up some tension.

I hate non-elimination rounds. If anything, they should have one early on. It's no mystery when there are 3 teams left and it's not the last episode.

I'm actually sorta upset that they are leaving the country next episode. I would have liked to see them continue on through Texas/New Mexico/Arizona. Maybe they'll be back.

I thought the quote the Mom made about Lake Ponchartrain being the largest of the 5 Great Lakes was smack worthy!

Those kinds of comments make the show more interesting. Of course, it would be nice for the obnoxious teams to lose early, but without them, the show would be outrageously dull- especially this season.

This season is dull. Instead of choosing to drive a race car, they use 4 person bikes. It's these types of decisions on the producers part that really bugs me.

I'm glad they're flying somewhere though, although probably not too exotic, it will be nice to hear something other than "now drive 250 miles to the middle of nowhere." I can't wait to see that prick Paolo kid get scared before bungee jumping. Now that is more like old school Amazing Race.