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theschnauzers:
From The Hollywood Reporter via Reuters http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110219/tv_nm/us_television_amazingrace
TV Review: "The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business"
By Marisa Guthrie Marisa Guthrie – 45 mins ago
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – As CBS' "Amazing Race" heads into its 18th season - this time returning teams from previous seasons back for some "Unfinished Business" - reasons for the show's enduring popularity are on full display. Part travelogue, part social experiment, "Amazing Race" has always risen above the fetid dysfunction that plagues the reality genre. (This is a big part of why the show has seven Emmys.) Sure, there is a measure of predictability to the "Amazing Race" by now: someone will recount a story of overcoming adversity while cheesy inspirational music plays in the background; by episode two at least one team will have a blow-out fight; eye-roll inducing product placement (".... climb into one of the Ford Focus cars waiting for you...," host Phil Keoghan says helpfully in the opening minutes of episode one).
But the show works because it's about something: a test of wit and brawn and teamwork coupled with stunning video that will be broadcast for the first time in HD. (It's about time, if ever there was a show that cried out for the stunning clarity of HD it's "The Amazing Race." And now the producers will get their money's worth for all of those expensive aerial shots.)
This time the show enlists losers from season's past for a second chance at the show's $1 million prize money. Repeat performances are nothing new for reality competition shows. ("Race" mounted an All-Stars edition in 2007.) But it does give fans someone to root for - or against. And many fan favorites are back including "cowboys" Jet and Cord McCoy (season 16), sisters LaKisha and Jennifer Hoffman (season 14), Gary Ervin and his daughter Mallory, Miss Kentucky and Miss America runner-up (season 17); erstwhile NFL cheerleaders Jaime Edmondson and Cara Rosenthal (season 14); "goth couple" Kent Kaliber and Vyxsin Fiala (season 12); Margie Adams and her son Luke, who is hearing impaired; and Harlem Globetrotters Nate "Big Easy" Lofton and Herb "Flight Time" Lang (season 12), among others.
The race begins in the Palm Springs, CA wind farm and hop scotches to Sydney, Australia where teams have to swim with real sharks; tiny Lichtenstein, where they must measure the length of the country on motorized bicycles; and Tokyo, Japan where they endure the freezing waters from Mount Fuji as part of a spiritual retreat.
As usual, the cross-continent "Race" is part popularity contest, part behavior lab and adrenaline will build as the race progresses and team members and contestants increasingly wear on each other's nerves. In the first installment, best friends Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew (season 12) telegraph their affinity for Big Easy and Flight Time by sporting Harlem Globetrotter T-shirts. (Big Easy and Flight Time are clad head-to-toe in Globetrotter regalia.) So when the duo falls behind, Glassenberg and Kanew give them an answer to a riddle in order to advance to the next clue. Other teams also help one another, but no one helps the cowboys, who are left to solve the riddle on their own, sweat accumulating on brows furrowed underneath ten-gallon hats. If it's a bit predictable that's a small quibble for a reality show that doesn't make you feel like you need a Silkwood shower. And that's the secret to ,Amazing Race's, success; its escapist fun with a relatable hook. It's your summer camp scavenger hunt with a multi-million dollar budget. Who doesn't watch this show and think, I could easily win the $1 million booty if only I could take a couple months off of work?
(Editing by Zorianna Kit)
georgiapeach:
EXCLUSIVE!
Phil Keoghan Talks The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business' "Sneaky" Teams
by Drusilla Moorhouse
It's a good thing The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business contestants don't have to compete against their host, Phil Keoghan. Even though they've all raced before, he would surely beat them all and win the million-dollar prize himself. Why? Because he's a badass. Phil just rode across America to raise money for MS—his bicycle journey from Los Angeles to New York City is documented in a new feature film, The Ride. Phil took time out of his movie premiere tour to dish on this season's familiar faces, what new challenges we can expect, and who he'd pick as his partner if he were competing in The Amazing Race:
Q&A with The Amazing Race Phil Keogan
Congratulations on your successful ride across America, and the new film!
Well, thank you! It's been a real adventure up to this point.
Now that you have ridden your bike across a continent enduring all kinds of weather and a nasty crash, are you more critical of the racers who whine or give up?
There have been occasions on the race where I have been frustrated with teams that, I feel, have lacked a real go-get-'em attitude and are a little soft sometimes. There have been times on TAR where I have absolutely been frustrated with some of them, and I told them so. I've said getting on this race and having the opportunity to be on this race is a privilege and don't waste it. The Unfinished Business teams are a different lot. They're hungrier than any teams we have already had collectively, because they are all coming back to prove something.
This new season has brought some very feisty, competitive people who are a little bitter about what happened the last time out and have something to prove. How did you select which teams would return this season?
We decided that we would let teams come back for a second chance who had unfinished business—like teams that took a bad pee break, were U-turned, made bad decisions, had mental breakdowns in challenges. Teams that came very, very close but didn't quite make it. [Unfinished Business] gives them a chance to redeem themselves.
Who is the villain this season?
Ah-ha! Well, who would you think it would be looking at the lineup? Well, there was a lot of conflict between Luke and the other girls.... Margie and Luke had a bit of an issue with Kisha and Jen [the "potty stoppers"] in China. Jamie and Cara are a team that take no prisoners—they're a pretty strong, robust team. Kent and Vyxsin are also no pushovers. They're pretty sneaky! I assure you that there is tension and a little bit of jostling for power. I think I can leave it to your judgment as to who those teams are. There's always going to be tension, and I will leave it to you to whether to classify if the behavior is villainous. There's certainly lots of tension.
Who has changed the most since they first played?
Ron was probably the one going through the biggest transformation, when he played with [his daughter] Christina—their relationship really did have quite an arc change—there was quite a transformation that took place. The question is will he revert back to his old ways or has he genuinely changed—changed for the good?
Who has inspired you the most?
The Globetrotters [Herb "Flight Time" Lang & Nate "Big Easy" Lofton] are the team that I would probably say of everybody there is the most inspirational. There are so many teams that have great energy, [but] the Globetrotters are sharing a lot of positive energy with their performance, with their work with the Harlem Globetrotters. I know they have inspired a lot of young people because I saw it during their shows. People are also inspired by Luke and his ability to take on this challenge as a deaf person. I also think you have to look at Mike and his father, Mel, a 70-year-old guy going out and racing. You got to look at Zev and Justin—what I love about Zev is he says it like it is. There's no filter, and that's what I love about him.
Any new twists, like the express pass offered in the first leg of last season?
I'll just say this: Right out of the gate, they are tested to the max. They're definitely caught off-guard right from the beginning. There are teams that are coming right back, and we want to make sure that they don't take anything for granted, and that they make sure to know how everything works. Our idea was to really shock them right at the starting line, and I think we did that effectively. There are a couple of changes to the way things work. I think you'll be entertained by it all. What I can reveal is they have to get straight on a flight to Sydney. What you will see will be a lot of interesting dynamics because all of these teams know of each other. We are going to Sydney and Tokyo. There is a very spiritual ritual that takes place in Japan that is quite outrageous—really, two challenges there that are quite outrageous. One in particular that has chilling consequences, we'll just say it that way.
Are there any of the dreaded eating challenges this season?
Off the top of my head, I can't remember an eating challenge.
If you were doing the race, who would you pick as your partner?
I would say my dad. He's very smart, he's fit. We get along very well, and it would be fun to hang out with him.
.
Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b227048_phil_keoghan_talks_amazing_race.html#ixzz1ESlJOA2d
georgiapeach:
`Amazing Race' 18 goes high and wide
BY GAIL PENNINGTON — St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Posted: Sunday, February 20, 2011 12:00 am |
Phil Keoghan will need a much bigger hair and makeup trailer now that "The Amazing Race" is finally, for its 18th edition, in high definition.
Suggest that possibility to Keoghan, and you'll get the famous raised eyebrow. (It's the left. The right goes nowhere.)
In 18 runs around the world for "The Amazing Race," Keoghan has curled up at the Pyramids in Egypt and shampooed his hair beside a road in China. Between "Race" seasons, he bicycled from Los Angeles to New York, picking up a load of gravel in his hip and face in a scary fall. As a man who wastes no opportunity for adventure, he isn't inclined to think too much about whether his nose is shiny.
While teams race for $1 million, Keoghan races to keep one step ahead and arrive on the mat before they do. Last winter, he spent 23 days on the road with contestants he already knew, as 11 teams who didn't win the first time returned to settle what's being called "Unfinished Business."
"Going out with a new cast is always a gamble," Keoghan said during a recent visit to St. Louis. "You worry they'll turn out to be wishy-washy."
With returning teams, "We had more of a guarantee, because these people had a proven track record. But rather than all-star teams, it's more like they have all-star stories — the unfortunate pee break, the lost passport, the bad taxi driver."
Oh, the bad taxi driver.
"Taxis!" Keoghan says. "They've been hands-down the biggest obstacle teams have faced in the race."
Eliminating a team is always tough, he says, "but this time maybe it was even harder because I knew them better. The first elimination is always the hardest, because nobody wants to be first to go."
The big news for the new season is that "The Amazing Race" is now in high-def.
"HD is a dramatic change," Keoghan says. "And I really think it's come at the right time, giving us something new to talk about, something to sell the show around after 17 seasons."
Possibly TV's most HD-worthy show, "The Amazing Race" has been criticized for remaining in standard definition.
"But that was because of the difficulty of producing a show like this," Keoghan says. "It's not the same as being in a studio. We're shooting in humidity, in rain, in dust storms. What if you're in Bangladesh and the camera goes down?"
The good news is that "we found a way to execute in HD, and the show looks sensational." A change to widescreen format also allows space for more information on screen, without blocking too much scenery, while Keoghan talks about where the teams are or what they're doing.
But remember, before you ask how he keeps busy when the teams are running around, that "95 percent of what I do is behind the scenes — rewriting the script, dealing with logistics, setting up my shots. It's just me, a sound guy and a cameraman, so it's hard."
This season, Keoghan shot a lot of behind-the-scenes footage for segments to air online.
"Viewers are really savvy, and they want to know the process," he says. "The behind-the-scenes segments will give fans a sense of what it takes to make the show and what the teams are doing when you're not seeing them."
Some things never change, though, and that includes teams' struggles to read maps and drive stick-shift foreign cars.
Surely, by now, the "Unfinished Business" teams learned to drive a stick?
"Some people," Keoghan says, "I don't think will ever learn to drive a stick shift."
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/television/gail-pennington/article_2fd325d1-9c98-5755-9d6e-fa0dd0d8b80f.html
LoveRocked:
http://www.goldderby.com/television/news/1163/can-losing-contestants-win-the-amazing-race-an-eighth-emmy.html
Can losing contestants win 'The Amazing Race' an eighth Emmy?
Last year, the seven-year winning streak of "The Amazing Race" at the Emmy Awards was halted when "Top Chef" won Best Reality Competition Series. That this CBS staple lost was a surprise in itself but that it was not beaten by ratings powerhouse "American Idol" came as the real shocker. That hugely popular talent show had never won this award but was thought to have its strongest entry ever with the season finale that included a surprisingly touching tribute to departing judge Simon Cowell.
LoveRocked:
`Amazing Race' 18 goes high and wide
Phil Keoghan will need a much bigger hair and makeup trailer now that "The Amazing Race" is finally, for its 18th edition, in high definition.
Suggest that possibility to Keoghan, and you'll get the famous raised eyebrow. (It's the left. The right goes nowhere.)
In 18 runs around the world for "The Amazing Race," Keoghan has curled up at the Pyramids in Egypt and shampooed his hair beside a road in China. Between "Race" seasons, he bicycled from Los Angeles to New York, picking up a load of gravel in his hip and face in a scary fall. As a man who wastes no opportunity for adventure, he isn't inclined to think too much about whether his nose is shiny.
While teams race for $1 million, Keoghan races to keep one step ahead and arrive on the mat before they do. Last winter, he spent 23 days on the road with contestants he already knew, as 11 teams who didn't win the first time returned to settle what's being called "Unfinished Business."
"Going out with a new cast is always a gamble," Keoghan said during a recent visit to St. Louis. "You worry they'll turn out to be wishy-washy."
With returning teams, "We had more of a guarantee, because these people had a proven track record. But rather than all-star teams, it's more like they have all-star stories — the unfortunate pee break, the lost passport, the bad taxi driver."
Oh, the bad taxi driver.
"Taxis!" Keoghan says. "They've been hands-down the biggest obstacle teams have faced in the race."
Eliminating a team is always tough, he says, "but this time maybe it was even harder because I knew them better. The first elimination is always the hardest, because nobody wants to be first to go."
The big news for the new season is that "The Amazing Race" is now in high-def.
"HD is a dramatic change," Keoghan says. "And I really think it's come at the right time, giving us something new to talk about, something to sell the show around after 17 seasons."
Possibly TV's most HD-worthy show, "The Amazing Race" has been criticized for remaining in standard definition.
"But that was because of the difficulty of producing a show like this," Keoghan says. "It's not the same as being in a studio. We're shooting in humidity, in rain, in dust storms. What if you're in Bangladesh and the camera goes down?"
The good news is that "we found a way to execute in HD, and the show looks sensational." A change to widescreen format also allows space for more information on screen, without blocking too much scenery, while Keoghan talks about where the teams are or what they're doing.
But remember, before you ask how he keeps busy when the teams are running around, that "95 percent of what I do is behind the scenes — rewriting the script, dealing with logistics, setting up my shots. It's just me, a sound guy and a cameraman, so it's hard."
This season, Keoghan shot a lot of behind-the-scenes footage for segments to air online.
"Viewers are really savvy, and they want to know the process," he says. "The behind-the-scenes segments will give fans a sense of what it takes to make the show and what the teams are doing when you're not seeing them."
Some things never change, though, and that includes teams' struggles to read maps and drive stick-shift foreign cars.
Surely, by now, the "Unfinished Business" teams learned to drive a stick?
"Some people," Keoghan says, "I don't think will ever learn to drive a stick shift."
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/television/gail-pennington/article_2fd325d1-9c98-5755-9d6e-fa0dd0d8b80f.html
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