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puddin:
Amazing Race is a family affairInstalment No. 8 of reality show debuts tonight
By BILL BRIOUX, SUN MEDIA

     
 

Children should be seen and not heard - but seen on The Amazing Race?

The top-rated reality series returns tonight with The Amazing Race 8: Family Edition (at 8 on CTV, Cable 2, and at 10 on CBS, Cable 6). The big twist: Four- instead of two-member teams, and all of the teammates have to be part of the same family. Some are traditional families (parents and kids), some blended families (newly married with stepkids). There are also four sisters, four brothers, engaged couples and in-laws.

At first, this idea makes total sense. Anybody who has ever tried to drive their entire family to, say, Disneyland from Edmonton and back again knows all about real drama. It's basically Survivor: The Home Edition.

Having screened most of tonight's premiere (CBS sent critics a tape missing the first-leg finish line), however, the idea isn't as much fun as I thought it would be.

The problem may be with the casting. Like all reality series, casting great villains, heroes and boneheads is key. More than half the fun of Amazing Race 7 was booing "Romber" (newlyweds "Boston" Rob and Amber) as they weaselled their way around the globe. They got screwed out of certain victory at the last minute when their flight was mysteriously held back - a happy ending for many Race fans.
 

That jerk Jonathan from Race 6 was another boo-able bad guy. Cousins Charla and Mirna made Race 5 a trip. Those knuckleheads Kevin and Drew were the original racing fools.

With one or two exceptions, the 10 teams that take part in tonight's Race all seem to hail from Blandville, U.S.A.

The biggest exception seems to be the Paolo family from Carmel, New York. Poppa Tony, who has a hard time tonight finding the Brooklyn Bridge, not to mention the state of Pennsylvania, hears nothing but abuse from his two jerky boys in the back seat, D.J., 24, and Brian, 16. Momma Marion referees.

The Black family, from Woodbridge, Virginia, stands out because it literally is the black family. Just in case you still can't tell them apart, they keep chanting, "Go Black Family!"

Another family, the Bransens of Illinois, consist of a dad and his three babe daughters. "I wanna be on that team," cracks a New York bystander.

A couple of families pack adorable tykes. The Gaghans of Connecticut featured Billy, 12, and Carissa, 9. They figure they've got a lock on this Race because they've already been all over Europe. Like they need another million bucks.

All 10 teams come off as one big happy family and that's not good - somebody has to play the bad guy.

The assumption is that the families toting tots are going to get trounced, but that may not be the case. Host Phil Keoghan states early on that pulling together as a family is more important this time than brute physical strength and stamina. Maybe that's true; little Billy and Carissa paddle like pros in tonight's bizarre Crossing the Delaware event, keeping their family near the top of the pack.

The ones who may need more stamina are the viewers. Speed is everything on The Amazing Race, which is cut like a rock video. Teams are flying off in all directions, scurrying in and out of planes, trains and automobiles. CBS keeps flashing their names, but I found it harder keeping track of these larger teams than with the usual couples concept.

Keeping the players straight should get easier as teams get eliminated and strong personalities emerge - if there are any. If the Paolos get turfed tonight, this Race will already have lost its comedy relief.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Showbiz/2005/09/27/1237270-sun.html

puddin:
'Race' Preps One Family For Storm

Sept. 27, 2005



'Amazing Race' Preview

 
The Schroeder family: Char and Mark with children, Hunter and Stassi. (Photo: CBS/The Early Show)

 
Char Schroeder (Photo: CBS/The Early Show)

 
Phil Keoghan, host of CBS Emmy winning series, 'The Amazing Race.' (Photo: Robert Voets/CBS )

 
 
(CBS) "The Amazing Race" returns to CBS Tuesday night with its first-ever family edition. Ten teams of four will race around the globe as fast as they can for $1 million.

For most of the contestants, it was the adventure of a lifetime, but for the Schroeder family of New Orleans, it turned out to be a dress rehearsal for Hurricane Katrina.

"I think it's a crazy phenomenon that a reality show would prepare you for real life," Char Schroeder says. "But the race absolutely prepared us."

As Hurricane Katrina headed toward New Orleans, the Schroeder family headed out of harm's way.

"When we left, we actually packed our race bags, and ran out with our race bags," she says.

The Schroeders took refuge with friends they met while taping "The Amazing Race," the Rogers family of Shreveport, La.

"The Rogers are the most sensitive and amazing family we ever met," Char Schroeder says.

"Race" host Phil Keoghan says it is a testament of what the show is all about and what makes the show different.

He says, "Having this family version, having teams of four, and families are just very different from, say, couples. We found that out going into this, there was a different kind of spirit on the race. And obviously that extended after the race. That's kind of nice."

Now living in a rental home near Baton Rouge, Mark Schroeder, his children Stassi and Hunter, and their stepmother Char wait to rebuild the home and life they left in New Orleans. The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith accompanied Mark and Char as they returned for the first time to assess the damage.

Mark Schroeder notes, "We grew up on the lakefront and you think, "Is it ever going to be the same.'" Char Schroeder adds, "When we were driving in and seeing the houses, the devastation is so vast."

It was not the homecoming the Schroeders had hoped for. The house they built and moved into as newlyweds six years ago is just beginning to dry out.

"What's all the mud?" asks Char. "That's what came through the dog door and the mail slot," her husband answers.

Muddied floors and mold-stained walls are evident in every room - reminders that the floodwaters of Lake Pontchartrain once filled their home.

"We've been gone two weeks and if I didn't know any better I'd swear we've been gone two years," Mark Shchroeder says. "You know, the mold is going to grow. You just don't expect it to grow up the walls in a week or two."

As they continue to inspect their home, Char asks, "That was our leather sofa?"

"That was our leather sofa," answers her husband with a sad tone in his voice.

Most of what's left will be discarded. Spared were the items above water level: family photos on a shelf, artwork on the walls, many painted by Mark himself.

"Looks like the paintings are all OK," he says.

"Yeah, Venetian-Orleans," Char says.

The painting entitled Venetian-Orleans is Mark's interpretation of how his city would look after a great flood.

He says, "Prints were made of it and I was sending them to everyone in the race, and they were saying I was a prophet somehow. But if you look at the painting, the painting's upbeat. The parade is going on; Mardi Gras is going on; and people are having a good time."

Like his painting, and despite the damage done to the home he designed, Mark Schroeder is optimistic about both the future of New Orleans and his family.

He says, "We had the most wonderfully bonding experience in the world, and now we've had the most horrific bonding experience in the world. So, we couldn't get much closer."

The Schroeders can's say how they fared in the game but host Keoghan says the Schroeder young people, like the other children in the show, were able to hold their own in the competition. If anything, he says, the kids are more fit than some of the older people who have been in the show.

The Gaghan family, for example, is composed of "fitness freaks," Keoghan says. "I mean the youngest, who is 9, can run a seven-minute mile. I mean most 40-year-old men have bum knees and beer bellies and can't run seven-minute miles. On one hand, they're at a disadvantage because they are kids and they haven't got same sort of maturity. But if you want to just look at fitness and enthusiasm and energy, the Gaghan family is extremely fit and feisty."

Other families that viewers should watch out for are the Garluski sisters. "They are just loud, competitive. They range in age from 26 to 42," Keoghan says. "They talk over each other all the time. They love pink. Every time I would see them, they would be in these pink T-shirts. By the end of the first leg, they were rather smelly - I have to say. But, they're extremely loud and they're going to be a lot of fun to watch."

Also interesting to watch will be the Aiellos, he says. They are the father-in-law with the three sons-in-laws. "The sons have obviously married Tony's young daughters. They're out to prove they're worthy of taking their hands in marriage," Keoghan says.

The show has won its third consecutive Emmy for Best Reality Show. "We need to thank the fans for that. They're the ones that keep watching the show. We thank them for that," Keoghan says.

The host is also on tour promoting his book and the DVD of season one. Visit CBS.com to find out the places he will be visiting. "Ten cities. I just don't have my dad driving like I did last time. I'm actually flying."

"The Amazing Race: Family Edition" premieres with a special two-hour broadcast at 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. Central.

puddin:
"Who Dey" In Amazing Race
Sep 26, 2005, 04:02 PM EDT  Email to a Friend  Printer Friendly Version   
 


CINCINNATI (AP) - A Cincinnati mom has four reasons to watch tomorrow night's season premiere of "The Amazing Race".

Four of Terry Linz' children, ranging in age from 19 up to 24, are contestants on the first "Family Edition" of the Emmy-winning reality program. They call themselves the "Who Dey" team, and viewers will see them making their way around the world proudly wearing Bengals' shirts.

Their mother says she'll watch the first episode in an undisclosed location with some company: about 200 other people.

C-B-S has asked her to keep the site a secret to help maintain the illusion that the race for a (m) million dollars is still under way. It was actually taped over the summer.

Linz says nobody's telling her whether her kids were the winners.

 

--- Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer
http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=3899557&nav=0zHF

puddin:
 
Published September 28, 2005

Godlewski family race to amazing finish
The ultimate family adventure kicked off with a lot of feuding during last night's premiere episode of the Amazing Race: Family Edition.

As soon as a monetary prize is waved over people's heads, it's as if their competitive, better-than-thou genes take over and they get rude and obnoxious towards each other and everyone else around them.

This proved to be true at the start of the race in New York, where families like the Paolos kept budding heads and insulting each other. Not only were they bringing themselves down, but they were holding each other from moving forward.

Success in this game is all based on the competitors' ability to work together as a team, that's the only way for them to ensure they get to the finish line and pocket the $1 million US prize.

The 10 teams, each consisting of four players, had to drive to a sports store in Soho where they would purchase some camping gear as well as collect their first clue.

After a challenge that saw the teams take part in a traditional folding of the American flag, it was off to a park in Philadelphia where they would camp out overnight.

The next clue took the contestants to Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. There they came to a detour, which saw the teams have to complete one of two tasks — one was build it, where the competitors had to put together a house and the other was buggy it, that would see the teams pull a buggy across a field.

The Weaver family, a widow and three kids, partook in the buggy it task, but crashed going downhill after running over Linda, the kids' mother. Luckily for Linda, she fit right under the carriage and didn't get hurt. 

The difficulties of working together kept hovering over the Paolo family who were in a constant battle with each other.

"Do something else instead of looking at me like idiots," said Tony, Marion's husband and the father of DJ and Brian.

"This is getting really embarrassing now … I've had enough of this," said Marion after one of her sons called her annoying.

The teams then had to drive to the Rohrer Family Farm, a Mennonite Farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which was the pit stop of this leg of the race. The last team to arrive, in this case it was the Black Family, would be eliminated.

The Godlewski Family took first place and were rewarded with a $20,000 prize.

Catch The Amazing Race: Family Edition Tuesday on CTV at 9 p.m.
 
http://www.metronews.ca/column_on_tv.asp?id=11144&cid=842

puddin:
September 28, 2005
The Amazing Race Family Edition – The Cruel Irony Of It All
Early rumors about the Amazing Race Family Edition suggested that it would be a toned down version of the Amazing Race.  However, the premiere episode revealed that even through there might be an absence of exotic locales on this Amazing Race, the racers are still facing grueling and sometimes dangerous challenges.  Perhaps, the most interesting aspect of the Amazing Race Family Edition is that it seems to have a sense of cruel irony.

The most obvious irony is that the sole black family in the competition is actually named The Black Family.  The Black Family turns out to be one of the nicest families in the race.  Kimberley Black, the mother of The Black Family, states their philosophy as “You don’t have to hurt anybody to get ahead in life, and you don’t have to hurt anybody to win.”

One might also expect the teams with the youngest children to be at a huge disadvantage in the race.  However, the toughest competitor in the entire race just might be Carissa, the nine year old girl in the Gaghan Family.  Carissa Gaghan tells the camera, “I might be small but I’m not stupid.  I can trick any adult that’s trying to trick me.” 

The families start the race in New York, and the first family to get really lost is the Palao family.  Ironically, the Palao Family is also the only family actually from New York in the competition.  One of the first stops for the families is to pick up a clue at a frankfurter stand.  The operators of the frankfurter stand turn out to be Kevin & Drew from the Amazing Race 1.  Ironically, only one racer appears to actually recognize Kevin & Drew. 

The first major challenge the families face is to cross the Delaware river and retrieve an American flag.  The river guides warns The Black Family to paddle up river because the currents are strong.  Ironically, they appear to be the only family to get the warning and the only family to get caught in the currents.

After camping overnight in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, the families have a detour choice between “buggy it” and “build it.”  In “buggy it,” the families have to push and pull an Amish buggy.  In “build it,” the families have to build a working water mill.  The Weaver Family loses control of their buggy and in the cruelest irony of all the buggy actually runs over Linda Weaver.  Of course this series of events was terrifying for the Weaver children, who lost their father when he was run over by a race car while retrieving debris from the Daytona International Speedway. 

The Gaghan Family makes up time in the buggy challenge, and in one of the funniest moments of the premiere, the two young children sing “She’ll Be Coming Around The Mountain” as they pass the all male and more athletic Aiello Family. 

The Gaghan Family has a lot of competitive drive as they try to reach the pit stop first, but they are passed by the Godlewski Family, who are first to check-in and win $20,000.  The Linz Family and The Black Family wind up in a footrace to avoid being last to the check-in point.  The Black Family is the last team to arrive and is eliminated from the Amazing Race.  We guess the moral of this episode is maybe a strategy of not hurting anybody doesn’t translate into winning in the Amazing Race.

http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/2005/09/the_amazing_rac_2.html

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