The Finish Line - December 13
I've been a supporter
and fan of The Amazing Race since the beginning. It
ranks right behind Survivor as the best adventure game
show on television today. It's not hard to see why: you
have the physical and mental challenges of Survivor, but
the eliminations are based on who can get to the mat
first. No amount of politics and deal-making can save
your time if you're too slow in finishing a crucial
task. I even enjoyed watching the Family Edition,
because they did have some interesting challenges.
This past series of The Amazing Race was almost
completely unwatchable. Most of that has to do with the
casting. I don't understand why the casting directors
think that viewers want to see dating, engaged or
married couples arguing over what route to take, or
whether to jump ship and try the other prong of the
Detour. And yet, we continue to get one of these teams
every time. This year was no exception.
Our token arguing couple was the excruciating to watch
Rob and Kimberly. When Kimberly wasn't whining about how
hard the various tasks were, Rob was yelling at his
soon-to-be wife to go faster, try harder, and so on. And
it got old after the very first episode. It got bad
enough that I gave up watching. Just to be clear, one of
the show's most vocal supporters gave up after three
episodes.
If there was any saving grace, there was the tomato
Detour bit on the next-to-last leg where locals threw
fully grown tomatoes at teams hunting through a gigantic
pile of same while the teams hunted for a clue. Watching
Rob throwing tomatoes back at those locals instead of
helping his whining girlfriend was a hoot, at least with
the sound down. Kimberly's voice was stuck at 11,
imploring her lout of a partner to help her instead of
focusing on the others. It was a great bit of
schadenfreude.
In closing, this was the most uninteresting Race yet;
there were no teams I want to root for, on a day and
time when I couldn't watch anyway. If the directors are
going to pick eleven whining couples, then it's time for
Phil to pick up his elimination mat and head back to New
Zealand, because the Amazing Race is no longer amazing.
It's not even fun.
Travis Eberle can be eliminated and stripped of all
money and belongings except for the clothes off his back
and his passport by sending an e-mail to traviseberle@gmail.com |