Are you kidding me?For months we've been hearing about the unfortunate Amazing Race: Family Edition, and today, the cast has finally been revealed. It's not good, people. It's not good at all. I'm praying that this season will have me eating my words because right now, there are flippin' nine-year olds running around on this show. If I wanted to see this junk, I'd be tuning into ABC. And oh yeah, the route has been reduced to a pithy 30,000 miles total, far less than the usual 72,000. In an E! Online article, the producers are already doing some pre-emptive damage control, saying that this installment will be really, really, really good! They should just shut up. I mean, we're gonna watch it anyway. We're beholden to it. But don't patronize us.
(Meanwhile, cut to me six weeks from now singing the praises of The Amazing Race. Damn you!!)
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Comments (34)
Listen, unless one of those kids are gonna get eaten by a shark then the AR producers can go F-themselves.
I don't want to watch 9 year old Suzie screaming "I gotta go to the bathroom" at the start of the third leg of the race at 2:34 am in Budapest!
1 of 34 | Posted by America's Next Top Fan | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:15 PM
This is going to suck! Dammit!!!
2 of 34 | Posted by punkrox | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:15 PM
C'mon B, you know it's gonna be good! Step outside of your "single guy, no kids thank you very much" hateration and think back to all of the family trips you took as a kid that were supposed to be fun, but really everyone got on each others' nerves by the third day, and some had to be separated somehow for fear of blood being drawn. OK, now multiply that by being in a competitive environment, your family against all the others, and trying to win cash and prizes AND the pressure of being on TV and being watched by millions of people. Hello, meltdown! Hello must-see-TV!
3 of 34 | Posted by joslyn | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:25 PM
I want to see 9 year old Carissa eat 4 pounds of meat. This season is going to be really good because the kids are so annoying or it is going to blow because the kids are perfect.
4 of 34 | Posted by carol | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:29 PM
ugh...i already want to bitch slap that little blonde girl!
5 of 34 | Posted by sweetblondie30 | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:32 PM
Just looked at the family bios. The Linz Family is my pick for the team that is going to kick some ass. They are all between the ages of 19 and 24. Some of the other teams look good, but I think the Gaghan Family (pictured above) is going to fall flat.
6 of 34 | Posted by carol | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:34 PM
Let's hope Spring brings us "Amazing Race: Family Pets Edition".
7 of 34 | Posted by Ozone Dude | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:48 PM
Careful what you wish for, B-Side, or we're going to see an abusive daddy beat the crap out of his son on television because the kid couldn't carry everyone's packs to the finish line fast enough.
This will, of course, start a months-long obsession for you that will include you stalking the family at the airport.
8 of 34 | Posted by Papercuts! | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:52 PM
Anyone else find it HILARIOUS that the only African-American team is named 'The Black Family'?
Should make for some interesting snark.
9 of 34 | Posted by Nathan | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:53 PM
are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet?
10 of 34 | Posted by copygodd | Posted on August 16, 2005 1:54 PM
I believe the scuttlebutt around the internet is that the course this time around is quite tame for the kiddies. There have been numerous sightings at multiple locations (during the taping) here in the U.S. I doubt that they will be going to the really exotic places, so as not to put the kids in harm's way. Probably England, France, Australia, etc.
But, yeah, it could very well be 30000 miles of 'are we there yet?' :)
ha!
11 of 34 | Posted by ha! | Posted on August 16, 2005 2:05 PM
Surely there will be an ep where one parent cusses at another family's kid. That'll be worth tuning in for. I'm reading Phil's book right now.
12 of 34 | Posted by Lady J | Posted on August 16, 2005 2:21 PM
Beauty Pageant Contestant alert!
According to the bios, team Rogers not only has a former Miss Louisiana, but the mother works as a beauty pageant trainer. This is gonna be good.
And is it just me, or did CBS mix up the Weaver family in their family photo? Rachel looks like the 19 year old, and Rebecca looks like a 16 year old.
ha!
P.S. "Mom, he's breathing my air again!" "I'm not touching you - am I bothering you? Cuz I'm not touching you!"
13 of 34 | Posted by ha! | Posted on August 16, 2005 2:31 PM
Beg to differ, B-Side, but I think this season has a lot of potential. Think of all the fun to be had guessing at which of the little tykes will throw the most and worst fits, and the drinking games that can be made out of the kids throwing fits or their parents invariably freaking out.
Add to that the amusement that will come from watching awkward teenage hookup attempts, the Bransen father trying to fend off the invariable advances on his daughters, and you've got a recipe for some good TV.
And with any luck, one of the pit stops will be at Brat Camp.
14 of 34 | Posted by Grellis | Posted on August 16, 2005 2:43 PM
I will NOT be watching this. The CBS Early Show profiled all of the teams.
It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life. You have families with kids competing against some teams comprised purely of adults.
Stupid.
15 of 34 | Posted by nicole | Posted on August 16, 2005 2:52 PM
Given that this is TAR, I won't count them out just yet. If this were a new edition of some other reality competition show, I might not give the producers the benefit of the doubt. But these people initially had the foresight to hire Phil and create the concept of the detour (a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons), so I'm going to tune in and see how it goes.
16 of 34 | Posted by callygirl | Posted on August 16, 2005 3:40 PM
In the original casting notice, CBS said they were looking for all types of family. It looks like they went with the narrow traditional definition. So sad. They should call this the "Straight White Families Plus one Black One Edition."
17 of 34 | Posted by downtownlala | Posted on August 16, 2005 3:43 PM
Wow! Just saw the CBS.com photo. All that white skin! So much blonde hair! Only one black familly? Where are the latinos in this country?!! (Oh, that's right, working for a living!)
One more reason this season wil suck: No more crazy taxi drivers. Yes, you can't fit six people (the team and the crew) in a taxi.
18 of 34 | Posted by Hinha | Posted on August 16, 2005 4:11 PM
Holy Crap! Just what I don't want to watch. I thought the pic was fake! It looks like an insurance company commercial family. Just looking at them makes my teeth ache.
Hmmm maybe one of the 9 year old gets kidnapped into white slavery or one of the parents loses control and beats the sh*t out of them, now that would be worth watching ;)
19 of 34 | Posted by Retroqueen | Posted on August 16, 2005 4:15 PM
I felt the need to chime in: This show will suck. I hate whining - and kids whine. I hate namby pambyism - and kids are namby pambys. I hate "special rules" to help weak players - and kids are super weak. And I hate gimmicks - this format is pure gimmick.
Weak. And yeah, where ARE all the Asians and Latinos on these shows? Reality shows have fallen prey to the Hugh Hefnerization of the world - and I'm sick of it. GIVE ME SOME GOD DAMN FLAVOR.
20 of 34 | Posted by sg-dub | Posted on August 16, 2005 4:17 PM
I just visited the AR8 page at cbs. Did anyone else notice the black family is actually the Black family?! It will make it easy to watch them on the leaderboard.
21 of 34 | Posted by mikey | Posted on August 16, 2005 4:37 PM
I'm torn. I don't think this was a particularly good idea on the face of it, but I do think that it could make for some interesting TV.
Because it's AR and they've come a long way since they started (Did anyone watch the first season on GSN recently? Talk about a rough start!), I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt until at least the second episode.
And then I'm going to watch anyway because I just love that show.
22 of 34 | Posted by Maura | Posted on August 16, 2005 5:27 PM
For Amazing Race fans who have missed previous seasons, they are now on the Game Show network everynight (even Saturday and Sunday) at 8pm and 11pm central time. Luckily for me, the only season that I have seen was the most recent, so I am loving this (tonight is the final of Season 3). I am really discouraged that they are bringing children on this show now... I wont be watching it. It changes the entire game and won't make it nearly as interesting. CBS has screwed up as bad as Kaysar-
23 of 34 | Posted by amygirl | Posted on August 16, 2005 5:28 PM
I'm going to withhold judgement until the first episode. As long as the families with the youngest kids go early, it could be interesting seeing foursomes bicker worse than couples.
Couple of those adult kids better be gay, though. Reality TV doesn't work without at least one token gay. So I'm hoping there's at least one mom who's Wiccan with three daughters, one "Born Again", one lesbian, and one accountant. A nice mix.
24 of 34 | Posted by Dennis | Posted on August 16, 2005 5:30 PM
This show is gonna rock!
Am I the only one who watched the show that was like tar for families. Family Face-off on Nick @ nite was a cool show that I got into at the end of last year and was pretty cool.
25 of 34 | Posted by tv freak | Posted on August 16, 2005 6:07 PM
btw: did sitboy make it on
26 of 34 | Posted by tv freak | Posted on August 16, 2005 6:37 PM
Yes, TV Freak, I saw Family Face Off. That was like my sleeper favorite show for a hot minute! If TAR Fam Edition is anything like that, it should be good.
27 of 34 | Posted by joslyn | Posted on August 16, 2005 7:42 PM
Mate this will be great cant wait till it gets to Oz we love it down here.
G,day to all from Australia and keep on racing,Hi Phil
28 of 34 | Posted by Paul Christensen | Posted on August 16, 2005 8:47 PM
Well I guess I will say it first
BRING BACK JONATHAN AND VICTORIA
Next it wil be a chimp and his mother running the race.
29 of 34 | Posted by Stan Lee | Posted on August 16, 2005 8:50 PM
why are they changing it? this season is going to suck!!! has cbs heard of a concept called diversity?!
30 of 34 | Posted by arggggg | Posted on August 16, 2005 9:19 PM
MAybe they will force the 9 year old to eat spicy hungarian soup which she will then vomit up into her bowl, and the n force her to eat her own vomit.
THat would be awesome.
31 of 34 | Posted by EdHill | Posted on August 17, 2005 6:44 AM
Where's the COLOUR!!?
I mean c'mon, 500 million people down there and the producers can only find ONE non-straight-white family to compete??!! tsk tsk tsk.
32 of 34 | Posted by sweetblondie30 | Posted on August 17, 2005 7:11 AM
Stan Lee, I would TOTALLY watch a Chimp and his mother running the Amazing Race. That would be quality television for the poop-throwing alone.
33 of 34 | Posted by Papercuts! | Posted on August 17, 2005 9:11 AM
I met Jonathan In SC this past summer, he was respectful and kind to everyone he met. Jonathan out of all the reality stars spent the most time with all of us. I am just an average person who would like the world to know Jonathan and Victoria are very nice to each other and to the people they come in contact with.
34 of 34 | Posted by Stacy Mcneail | Posted on August 30, 2005 4:40 PM