Rules , for reference~ WikipediaThe Amazing Race
The Amazing Race is a reality game show broadcast in one-hour episodes in which teams of two race around the world in competition with other teams. It has been broadcast on CBS since 2001 and is currently in its seventh season. It is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and hosted by Phil Keoghan.
The race itself combines the progressive elimination of Survivor, but instead of a voting-based elimination the game resembles a treasure hunt in amateur rally racing. The race starts in a US city. Teams must then follow clues and instructions and make their way to checkpoints in places around the world, eventually racing back to the finish line in the US.
For the second straight year, The Amazing Race was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality/Competition Program, in the 2003-04 Emmy ceremony on September 19, 2004. It defeated two of its competitors from last year: CBS's Survivor (which was the first reality show to win an Emmy) and Fox's American Idol.
Teams
Each of the eleven teams (twelve in Season 3 and Season 4) on The Amazing Race is composed of two individuals. Season 8 of the race will feature teams of four, with Season 9 returning to the two-person team format. The teams represent a wide demographic of different ages, races, sexual orientations, and personal relationships. Past couplings include: long-time married couples, siblings (including twins), parent/child, friends (roommates, fraternity brothers, platonic friends, high school friends, lifelong friends etc), romantic partners (both heterosexual and homosexual), and couples who are separated or formerly dating.
Originally, the race required team members to have a pre-existing relationship and to have known one another for at least three years. In addition, racers from different teams could not have previous acquaintances with one another. However, producers have shown more leniency and changed these rules in recent installments of the race. For example, Kris and Jon from Season 6 were long-distance daters for only a year. In Season 5, Nicole, Christie, Erika, and Alison had previously known one another through various beauty pageants. (Nicole actually beat Christie for the title of Miss Texas USA in 2003.[1] (
http://www.tftj.com/miss/USA/03a_states/TX/a_TX.htm))
Teammates must race the entire race together; they cannot split up or continue on without each other. If one teammate becomes injured and is unable to finish the race, the team must forfeit. (For example, Marshall and Lance during Season 5). Both teammates must also arrive at each Pit Stop together in order to clock in. The various relationship dynamics between the team members under the stress of competition is one focus of the show.
Rules of the Race
All teams must abide by the rules set at the beginning of the race. Failure to do so can result in time penalties, which can negatively affect finishing position in that leg of the race. While the complete set of official rules has not been released to the public, certain rules have been revealed during the various editions of the race:
Teams must purchase economy class tickets for airfare. Teams are allowed to be upgraded to first or business class by the airline, as long as they only paid an economy fare.
Teams are not allowed contact with known friends, family, and personal acquaintances during race. However, teams are allowed to stay in contact with and receive help from people they meet during the race, such as travel agents. (One exception to this rule occurred in in Season 3. Teams were offered a cellular phone after completing a detour. As CBS's website explains, "They had the option of making one phone call to their loved ones back home before driving to the chateau. Teams could talk on the phone as long as they wanted, but had to end the call before getting in their cars.")
For misreading a clue's instructions, the penalty is the amount of time gained by breaking the rule plus an additional 30 minutes (Heather and Eve, Season 3). It should be noted that in Season 2, Will and Blake (on separate teams) misread their Roadblock clues and completed the task incorrectly. They simply re-performed the task before checking in at the Pit Stop and did not receive time penalties.
Intentionally disobeying a clue's instructions leads to a 24 hour penalty (Nancy and Emily, Season 1).
Taking more than one clue from the clue box results in a 30 minute penalty (Freddy and Kendra, Season 6).
Any action which disadvantages another team, such as driving away in another team's car, results in a 30 minute penalty. (Don and Mary Jean, Season 6.)
Failing to complete a Roadblock results in a 4 hour penalty (Hayden and Aaron, Season 6).
Teams who skip a Route Markers are not allowed to check-in at the Pit Stop. They are not assessed a penalty, but are directed by host Phil Keoghan to complete the missed tasks. For example, Chip and Kim and Kami and Karli of Season 5 failing to retrieve a route marker. Also Derek and Drew of Season 3 not completing a Roadblock.
Money
At the beginning of each leg of the race, each team receives an allowance of cash with their first clue. This money is usually given in U.S. Dollars regardless of the current location of the race. The amount varies from leg to leg, ranging from one dollar to hundreds of dollars. Any money not spent on previous legs of the race can be carried into future legs.
During the race, all expenses (food, transportation, lodging, attraction admission, supplies) must be purchased from this allowance. The exception to this is the purchase of airline tickets, which is paid with a credit card supplied to each team.
Route Markers
Route Markers instruct teams where to go next or what task to complete. Upon arriving at each new location, teams must find the next Route Marker in order to proceed. If the teams must complete an objective, the next Route Marker is given to them after completion.
Route Markers were colored yellow and white in the first season, but they were changed to bright yellow and red in subsequent seasons so that the teams would have an easier time spotting them.
One notable exception involving the color of the Route Markers occurred during Season 3, when the production visited Vietnam. While there, the flags used were a solid yellow, to avoid confusion with the flag of the former Republic of South Vietnam.
Special Markers
Some Route Markers in The Amazing Race involve special rules and twists, requiring teams to split up or perform special tasks in order to proceed.
Detour
Each leg of the race features a Detour. A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. One task is typically an easier option that takes more time to complete, while the other is a difficult or riskier option that can be finished quickly. In later seasons, the trend has been towards Detours which offer less clear-cut choices. Often, there may be some degree of luck involved with the "easier" option, such that a team may accomplish the task faster than if they had taken the quicker, harder, riskier option.
Roadblock
A Roadblock is a task which only one team member may perform. Before heading into a Roadblock, teams read a vague clue about the task to come, i.e., "Who's really hungry," or "Who wants to get down and dirty?" Often, a team may figure out the specific task by observing their surroundings, using common sense, or even seeing other teams already at Roadblock. They then must decide which team member would be best suited to complete it. Once a choice has been made, the teammates cannot switch roles. Beginning in Seasong 6, each team member is only allowed to complete a maximum of six roadblocks throughout the entire race. The rule change forces both team members to contribute equally rather than one team member significantly carrying the team throughout the race.
Fast Forward
The Fast Forward allows the first team that finds it to skip all remaining tasks on that leg of the race and proceed directly to the Pit Stop. To find the Fast Forward, the team must perform the task described on the Fast Forward clue, which is found along with a regular clue at one of the Route Markers.
Only one team may use each Fast Forward. Any team that is beaten to the Fast Forward must go back and complete the regular challenges. Since a team may use only one Fast Forward during the whole race, they must decide on the best time to use it. A Fast Forward usually results in the team arriving at the Pit Stop first, but does not guarantee it. In the history of the show, two teams who earned a Fast Forward still arrived last at the Pit Stop. Joe and Bill during Season 1 were arrived last but were not eliminated due to a penalty to Nancy and Emily. Dennis and Andrew during Season 3 were eliminated. Similarly NFL wives Monica and Sheree of Season 4 earned the Fast Forward but only placed 4th in the first leg (behind a three-way tie for first, the only time this has ever happened on the race).
The first four seasons of The Amazing Race featured Fast Forwards in all legs but the last. Beginning in Season 5 onward, only two Fast Forwards are hidden in the entire race.
Yield
The Yield was introduced in Season 5. A Yield allows the first team that discovers it to stop any team behind them at the Yield for a predetermined amount of time as mandated by an hourglass. Like the Fast Forward, each team may use only one Yield during the game. However, each team may be Yielded by another team an unlimited amount of times. In Season 6t, the number of Yields was reduced from one on every leg to only three in the entire race. Teams are warned about upcoming Yields in the clue immediately preceding it.
Pit Stops
Pit Stops are the final destination in each leg of the race. Each Pit Stop is a mandatory rest period which allows teams to eat, sleep, and mingle with each other.
Teams depart for the next leg of the race at the time they arrived plus twelve hours. While a team arriving at 12:00 PM will depart at 12:00 AM, for example, the total amount of rest time may be more than twelve hours--such as one day and twelve hours.
The last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is eliminated, with the exception of predeterminined non-elimination legs (see below). In some legs, the first team to arrive wins a prize such as a vacation or camera, which they receive at the end of the race. From Season 6 on, the prizes were extended to the winners of every leg. Cash prizes were awarded for the first time in Season 7.
Teams normally complete all tasks and check in at the Pit Stop before they are eliminated. Occasionally, on a elimination leg, if all other teams have checked in and the last team is very far behind, Route Markers may instruct them to go directly to the Pit Stop without completing the rest of the leg (Peggy and Claire, Shola and Doyin, Mary and Peach, all from Season 2. Host Phil Keoghan may go out to the team's location to eliminate them (Lena and Kristy, Season 6).
Season 6 introduced the first double-length leg shown over two episodes. The televised episode ended without a Pit Stop with a 'To Be Continued' message. The second half of the leg featured a second Detour and second Roadblock.
Non-elimination Legs
Each race has a number of predetermined non-elimination legs. The last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue on the race. Racers are not explicited told which legs are non-elimination legs. In Seasons 1-4, the clue preceding the Pit Stop ended with the statement, "The last team to arrive will be eliminated," except in some non-elimination legs. Beginning in Season 5, the statement was changed to, "The last team to arrive may be eliminated" on every leg.
Season 5 introduced a penalty to the team arriving last at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg. These teams are required to turn over all the money they accumulated throughout the race. Additionally, the last team to arrive begins the next leg without the allowance given to the other teams. Teams generally beg from locals or even the other teams during the Pit Stop to rebuild their cash reserves.
Final Leg
Three teams compete in the last leg of the race. This leg sometimes includes an intermediate destination where the teams must travel to complete a task before moving on to the final destination (Alaska, Seasons 1 and 2; Hawaii, Seasons 3, 4, and 6; Calgary, Canada, Season 5). The final destination is always a major city in the United States, where the teams must complete several tasks before receiving the clue directing them to the Finish Line. At the Finish Line, host Phil Keoghan and all the eliminated teams wait for the remaining teams to arrive.
The first team to reach the Finish Line wins the race and $1 million. All non-winning teams win lesser amounts of money on a sliding scale based on their finishing order. Ideally, all three remaining teams arrive at the Finish Line within a reasonable amount of time. On occassion, the third place team may fall so far behind the other two teams that it cannot finish the race in a timely manner. In this case, after the other two teams finish, they will be informed that the race is over at their next Route Marker (Joe and Bill, Season 1; David and Jeff, Season 4.
Countries and locales visited
Continent Country
North America United States, Mexico, Canada
South America Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, Chile
Europe France (including Corsica), Italy, Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom (including England and Scotland), Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Russia
Africa Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya
Asia United Arab Emirates, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, China (including Hong Kong), South Korea
Oceania Australia, New Zealand
Trivia
Each team is accompanied by a cameraman and soundperson throughout the race. When purchasing tickets, teams must also buy them for their camera crew. On the program, teams are only shown requesting two tickets, so that they don't break the fourth wall.
Also, for similar reasons, the show makes the point of not actually showing the crews to the point where crewmen have actually been digitally removed from the picture in post-production (
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/story.cgi?show=76&story=5247&page=12). However, during the Johnathan Baker shoving incident in season 6, a cameraman and soundperson were plainly visible filming the team that had checked in ahead of them, and Baker's partner was shown sitting next to the crew tent.
The camera and sound crews rotate teams after each leg.
Host Phil Keoghan is known to fly on the same flight as the teams on various legs of the race.
Eliminated teams are often sent to "sequesterville", a foreign location on the race where they get to relax and do some sightseeing.
Teams receive monetary compensation for the time away from their jobs back home. Even after the race has aired, however, the amount is still required to remain confidential.
