this is the thread where we talk breathlessly about the best TV show on North American television: THE AMAZING RACE!

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woo-hoo! i just found out that the show is on for 2 hours tonight!!! only ten hours to go til then!

Emilymv (Emilymv), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 14:54 (twenty years ago) link

What's the exact all-around dynamic of this show again? Do odd stunts and then argue about it?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 15:51 (twenty years ago) link

Ned, do you even own a t.v.? if you don't, you should get one. and a remote-control. and cable. and some snacks. and an easy chair.

scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 15:56 (twenty years ago) link

The stunts aren't usually that wacky, they usually just involve trying to get to a certain place, but at least one team inevitably has horrible luck and gets a flat tire or a slow driver or something and has an emotional breakdown and yell at each other. It's great!

n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 15:59 (twenty years ago) link

Ned, do you even own a t.v.?

Of course! It's a great video monitor.

at least one team inevitably has horrible luck and gets a flat tire or a slow driver or something and has an emotional breakdown and yell at each other

Well that's no fun!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 16:05 (twenty years ago) link

You'd be surprised. Basically, the whole reason the show is good is because it's well-edited, put together for the maximum amount of ridiculousness and excitment. Reality TV is all about the editing, and Amazing Race has the best.

n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 16:36 (twenty years ago) link

For this reason, descriptions of what happens don't really do it justice.

n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 16:36 (twenty years ago) link

Hm, that makes for a good explanation! I'd be up for watching some sort of highlight DVD, I think I've mentioned. But I'm still extremely against the committing of time to a regular schedule of TV watching (even in a 'have it on the TiVo but must watch it at some point to avoid falling behind'), as I've muttered on other threads. Work schedules take up enough time, let the rest be flexible!

(The 'no fun' observation also is because it would be extremely unfun to argue with Spencer! Now if the two of us were venting our contempt on someone else, a different story.)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 17:07 (twenty years ago) link

seeya, brooklyn nerds.

that blue haired guy is a nice Colin substitute AND he's really funny!! (in an obnoxious wanna kill him kinda way.)

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 04:02 (twenty years ago) link

Models? Hand models, maybe!

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 04:47 (twenty years ago) link

How can you talk breathlessly? I haven't read any of the rest of this thread, so maybe that has alreday been adressed.

adam... (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 04:48 (twenty years ago) link

We use our minds.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 04:51 (twenty years ago) link

Hayden be workin the titties!

Big Baby Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 10:50 (twenty years ago) link

Yellowshit is an ASS-HOLE. That shit's going to get old fast.

Seems like most of the teams are squabblers. Do they always start out that way and then normalize, or is this a particularly awful group? Also, quite a few of them were on the trip to work out their relationship problems. Yeah - great place to do that! You don't go on Amazing Race to improve your relationship (.. you go on to ruin it.)

dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:05 (twenty years ago) link

My wife's comment: "Aw, the Beastie Boys have to go home." I Think I wet my pants a little.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:07 (twenty years ago) link

I think Dan is right about team yellowshirt. Absolutely home prono. "New York Jews in Iceland"....i laughed.

Big Baby Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:07 (twenty years ago) link

That was crazy how that guy was acting like being Jewish and skinny was some kind of handicap.

I'm going to have to kill yellowshirt.

It's funny that some couple-halves say, "you have to slow down so I can keep up with you" and others say "you have to speed up to keep up with me"

When will the teams get it through their heads that alliances are for other reality shows like Survivor and Big Brother, but that here it's every team for themselves? Alliances make no sense.

Maria D. (Maria D.), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:33 (twenty years ago) link

Is there a rule that you have to stand and read the clue for the camera? Cuz like, I f I were in Chicago and I read "take a plane .." I'd start running for the el to get to the airport and I'd read the rest of the clue on the train. Or at the very least, walk and read at the same time.

dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:41 (twenty years ago) link

OH MY GOD. I had never seen this before and now I'm completely entranced by it. I want to enter and go to ICELAND and run about on snowmobiles like that James Bond movie.

jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:43 (twenty years ago) link

"That was crazy how that guy was acting like being Jewish and skinny was some kind of handicap."

Hahahaha! That was funny. I think he had mistaken himself for a dwarf. "who would ever believe that a skinny jew from brooklyn could come here and do these things." He dared to dream and I'm sure he is an inspiration to many other young skinny jews from brooklyn who feel as though they will never be able to reach their goals in life.

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:43 (twenty years ago) link

i don't think grandpa/grandma and father/daughter are long for this world. but i could be wrong.

i also LIKED how that one team tricked the two friends into following them the wrong way. it was mean, but effective. the alliance thing is such a bad idea. more dirty tricks!!

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 13:47 (twenty years ago) link

When will the teams get it through their heads that alliances are for other reality shows like Survivor and Big Brother, but that here it's every team for themselves? Alliances make no sense.

Alliances absolutely make sense at the beginning of the game; if you can band together with three or for other teams and sabotage at least four other teams out of the compatition, you're putting yourself into a better position later on in the game.

Also, wrestler girl needs to learn how to count. She also needs to take a page from the Chip and Kim book of strategy: Don't finish last.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:15 (twenty years ago) link

I was hoping the boatman was going to push Yellowshirt into the water. It looked like he wanted to.

Leon the Fratboy (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:16 (twenty years ago) link

Oh, and Hellboy's girlfriend filling the SUV with gasoline when it was CLEARLY marked as taking diesel cracked me up.

Leon the Fratboy (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:17 (twenty years ago) link

Also, Icelandic men are hot.

jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:19 (twenty years ago) link

Blonde sufferer: Sit down, Jonathon. The boat driver needs to see.
Yellowshirted asshat: YOU ALWAYS WORRY ABOUT THE WRONG THINGS!!!!!!
Boatman: Please remove yourself.
[YS sits.]

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:22 (twenty years ago) link

I was wondering if any of the maps they were using had milage on them. By the way they were navigating, it seems as if the maps may have been drawn by Billy from Family Circus.

dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:28 (twenty years ago) link

(Sorry, the boatman actually said "Move aside." I also loved the shot where they were celebrating finding the clue and the boatman was visibly thinking, "If I tip the boat over now, we will freeze to death in 45 seconds... Ah sweet release, how I crave thee, but I cannot make this cameraman suffer for the sins of others.")

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:32 (twenty years ago) link

"We're models, so we're familiar with the nuances of airports."
So we went to the Air Canada desk to get Iceland via Mnpls.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:36 (twenty years ago) link

hahaha! so true! and why was the father/daughter team driving so SLOWLY? geez, speed it up. you aren't starring in the made for tv version of the tortoise and the hare.

Emilymv (Emilymv), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:42 (twenty years ago) link

This was awesome, especially when they started out in Chicago. OH MY GOD! WHERE IS THE BLUE LINE?!?!?!?! I just knew at least one team would go to a station without the blue line. It's just funny to see them all freaking out over the el. And then when they get on the train, they show it speeding down the tunnel, but we all know it's going pretty slow and they'll be on there for quite a while before they get to O'Hare. Good times.

Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:43 (twenty years ago) link

I really like the father/daughter team, but the dad has got to go!

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:45 (twenty years ago) link

No wonder the state of U.S. intelligence is what it is, if he's in the CIA.

Leon the Fratboy (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:57 (twenty years ago) link

Perhaps he roots out terrorists on the side. Iceland being such a hotbed.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:58 (twenty years ago) link

This show made Iceland look so lovely. It made me want to go there more than ever.

Leon the Fratboy (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 14:59 (twenty years ago) link

An impulse most understandable. I wonder if there's some sort of way I could swing by en route to Europe next summer, like db did. That'd be great fun!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 15:14 (twenty years ago) link

"With my yellow and your blue, we're like superheroes!"

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 15:30 (twenty years ago) link

I understand that they are in a race, but it really irks me that some of the contestants are so rude to the "locals" when asking for directions.

jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 15:37 (twenty years ago) link

I liked how when they introduced the cast, he said he was a dictator and his gf is like, "Yeah, I do whatever he says."

Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 15:38 (twenty years ago) link

The other funny thing about the Chicago/el stuff is that they edit it so that it seems really crucial which train to the airport the teams get on, but at that time of the day, the blue line to O'Hare is going to be coming at least every 5 minutes.

n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago) link

The main thing I'm worried about right now is that NONE of the teams seem that likeable. The Brooklyn bros were ok, but now they're gone. Some of the indistinguishable pretty young couples seemed nice enough, but I can't tell them apart. So there's not really anyone to root for (a la Chip & Kim), at least not yet.

n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 16:14 (twenty years ago) link

the grandparents! i loved it when they were jogging to the waterfall and decided they should slow down and not sprain an ankle.

Emilymv (Emilymv), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 16:17 (twenty years ago) link

But, c'mon, you know they're going to lose next week, right?

n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 16:17 (twenty years ago) link

I liked the sisters, they were a little spacey but they really seemed to enjoy and appreciate Iceland and the things they got to do.

Leon the Fratboy (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 16:19 (twenty years ago) link

RIP New York nerds. Next time, maybe think about how big a 7 square mile lake might be.

So, I wonder: one of the women, upon hearing that their first stop was Iceland, remarked something to the effect of "Great! That's where my favorite band is from!"

My question is...is it Sigur Ros? The Sugarcubes? Bjork? I can't think of any other obvious choices.

Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 18:07 (twenty years ago) link

I caught that too. I prefer the ambivalence!

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 18:08 (twenty years ago) link

er, ambiguity even.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 18:08 (twenty years ago) link

I don't know, I'm pretty ambivalent.

n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 18:09 (twenty years ago) link

I immediately did the same thing! It was the model sisters, wasn't it? That was the basis for my asusmption that she meant Bjork/The Sugarcubes.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 20:27 (twenty years ago) link

Do Mormons like Bjork though?

n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 17 November 2004 20:30 (twenty years ago) link


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