When I asked you Monday what you thought about this season's lacklustre finale, I had no idea that the response would be so huge! An overwhelming 93 per cent of you agreed with my analysis, but in addition, you sent me your suggestions on how the show could improve.
I told you that my colleague, Greg David, would be interviewing host Phil Keoghan this Friday. Well, as a sign of appreciation from all of us here at tvguide.ca, we're giving him your suggestions. Enjoy!
1) Stick with new contestants we can relate to
“TAR jumped the shark with the All-Stars. Viewers (and racers) brought too many prejudices into the start of the season and the show fizzled before it really got going. The only consolation was that I can't stand Myrna and Shmyrna. For me this was kinda like watching Sanjaya.” – Mike Hamilton
"I already know what these people are like – and I couldn't wait for them to be cut when they first ran the race. Why the heck would I want to see them again, and en masse no less? They should stop already with the All-Stars and the Families and stick to what they did best." – Lorna Skinner
"Rob and Amber had their place and time in the limelight. That series ended, didn’t it? I do not like seeing the same people over and over again in any way shape or form, nor have I ever enjoyed seeing characters from other reality shows appear on TAR." – Roman VonLukawiecki
"I think they need to review the original format – somewhat genuine, ordinary people. This celebrity championship slop is for the pigs. I'm tired of seeing beauty queens & GQ type images on this race." – Greg H.
2) Add some finesse to the challenges
"You can stack a show with interesting people, but sitting in cabs and waiting for doors to open doesn't promote conflict. The whole point of this show was to force people to do stupid things as quickly as possible while tired. That's fun to watch when they have to move a camel (because the camel doesn't care about any race) but not fun when they have to count sandwiches, and then hop on a train." – Mike Kiss
"I would like to see the racers make difficult decisions, like getting a choice on how to travel from one destination to another. They can either drive or take the train, but there are risks and benefits to each choice. If they pick driving, one of the unmarked cars will have a slow leak in the tire. Or, if they choose the train, they won't know that the train will stop for five hours possibly causing them major a setback." – Darlene McDonough
"Quit saying this is the most extreme Race ever, and then have all the same challenges." – Aimee Perez
"Where are the clues in the haystacks they must search for? Where is the search for one letter among 10,000? Challenges like those were missing – teams didn't seem to get frustrated enough, they just cruised through the challenges and off to the next one they went." – Johanne Ramsay
3) Bring back the two-hour finale
"I'm sorry, but an hour-long finish is really anti-climactic and just plain boring. When they used to have four racing for the first hour, I was glued to the set to see who would be the final three... and even if it wasn't the team I really wanted to win, I'd already invested an hour and wasn't about to stop watching." – Christine
"I would prefer the two hourr special the finale... perhaps in this case because Oswald and Danny were much more interesting to watch than the other teams left." – Laurie Yates
4) Have a longer time off between seasons of TAR
"When it first started and there was a longer gap between shows, I looked forward to it; it was actually exciting. But now it seems they must have a Race on the go all the time, and frankly I can really miss episodes and not care. Or tune in to the last 15 minutes of it." – Kevin Munro
"When The Amazing Race first came out it was exciting, then you had to wait six or seven months to watch it again. It built anticipation." – Brad Frail
"Both Amazing Race and Survivor have gone from season to season without a break. Not seeing another season of either until October or even after Christmas would be refreshing." – Neal Schulz
5) After the fact interviews and updates
"Why don't they do a 'where are they now' special and/or web page? All of us here at my workplace who watch the Race have done so since the beginning, and we are constantly googling what happened to this person/team..." – Amanda Miloff
"I must say it would be nice for them to have interviews with the racers after the fact – clips of unseen footage, what goes on behind the scene, etc." – Nickyl
6) International competitors
"Have a season of international competitors: a couple from Canada, U.S.A., Europe, etc. Maybe someone should put the bug in the producers’ heads!" – Leanne McDonald
"I think the race should always have new people. Change legs as they will, but each race session should have new participants. Maybe get participants from different countries and have a leg of the race in each one of those countries." – Laurie John Hayton
"It’s time they changed it up a bit and made an international competition or perhaps a Canadian vs. U.S. contestants show. OK, so I’m trying to get on the show myself to kick some Yankee, whiney butt, but really! Something has to give." – Suzanne
7) Less conspiracy and control!
"I find it a bit fishy that Rob and Amber got the boot in week four. I mean, c'mon, they were such fierce competitors before. How could they possibly fail this time? Can anybody say payoff?" – Fiona Taylor-Jurik
"My beef with this show is this: no matter what, they always catch up! It's really boring knowing that your favourite team is three hours ahead but once they get to the airport (for example) well, they start from scratch again. Isn't the point of the game to be ahead of everyone?" – Johanne Ramsay
"The race is fixed so that no one can get far ahead. Either it's a non elimination round or they all get to a place (i.e. the airport) and have to wait for a flight. Also, it seems like the challenges are designed as they go along to produce the desired result instead of being set before the race begins." – Betty and Tony
"I think what I am most tired about with the show is the manipulation to even the racers up. What advantage truly have some of these teams enjoyed by really performing and coming in two or three hours ahead only to have it dwindle away at the first opportunity?" – James M. Ryce
Different prizes
"Get better sponsors. Travelocity is getting stale... shoot the gnome! We need Coke, or Best Buy; things average people can enjoy. Not everyone can take time off work to go on the three trips they won! Really..." – Greg B
9) See more of the places/go more places
"I liked seeing the different locations and would like to see more, and how they actually managed in the different countries. The boring part was seeing contestants get in cabs and hearing, 'Go faster we are in a race.'" – Mickey Gohn
"Honestly, I'm sick to death of racers sitting in a cab. This show should really be titled Amazing Taxi, or Cabmazing Race." – Mike Kiss
"The travelers were not excited about the opportunity to see their destinations because they had done it before. Too much time was spent in airports haggling for tickets - half an hour per episode. I timed it!" – Helen Weiss
10) Shake it up
"Why not have the teams race on behalf of different charities.... with nothing but the title going to the winners and maybe a nice vacation? I'm sure that homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, etc. could all use that kind of money to help the poorest of our communities. If there is no cash incentive maybe we will see people at their best instead of their worst!" – Joan Forry
"I think they should pair up strangers to race…Then you would see some real bickering." – Dawn Cody