Topic: DISCUSSION of TAR 33 SUSPENSION DUE TO COVID (may contain location spoilers)

[georgiapeach]

From my FB page today..

<< (Question from a friend)
So the filming of TAR has been postponed until after the coronavirus danger has been abated? Am I understanding that right?

A very sensible move if so


 · 2w
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elise Doganieri

Elise Doganieri yes, suspended until the curve is flat.
 (today)
39min

[OMGitsGARRET]

When production on season 33 of The Amazing Race was announced to be shutdown, I genuinely at first thought that this would be the end of TAR33 and it becoming the never-to-be-seen lost-season. But after seeing how the situation has progressed and seeing all of these different other television productions shut down, I have higher hopes for them to resume where they left off once the curve finally flattens, as Elise stated.

I didn't think there were any other shows in the predicament of TAR33; where a reality competition/elimination based format TV show that was ALSO in the middle of filming gets shutdown. I thought that specific of a type of production would be too difficult to resume than, say, a scripted TV show. But it was recently just revealed that the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK was shutdown in the middle of production.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/11201719/rupauls-drag-race-uk-axed-second-series-coronavirus/

According to spoiler sources, they had just finished filming on episode 4 out of a 10 episode ordered season when the shutdown happened. This means at least 3 or 4 eliminations had occurred prior to the shutdown; compare this all to TAR33 having production shutdown at the end of filming episode 3 out of a presumptive 12 episode order season with at least 2 or 3 eliminations.

This is strikingly similar to the TAR33 shutdown and, to my knowledge, these are the only 2 reality competition/elimination based format TV shows to be in the middle of production of a season and shutdown due to the coronavirus. Like I said, when TAR33 was the only reality TV show for this to happen to, I thought it would be the end. But now that RPDRUK2 has also had this happen, plus just seeing the whole magnitude of this pandemic, I think the shutdown on TAR33 was ultimately a good call.

So in the end, I am cautiously optimistic that TAR33 will resume production starting with episode 4 where they left off when this pandemic is finally safely contained. The only question is, with looking at the way everything is going, when will that be?

[dryedmangoez]

From my FB page today..

Elise Doganieri yes, suspended until the curve is flat.
 (today)
39min

Well, that can certainly be a misleading/misinterpreted response lol

When the officials talk about flattening the curve, they mean having a more gradual increase in cases rather than the big spikes that may overwhelm the system (hospitals, etc) with such a large number of people infected.

Thus the social distancing, quarantine and lockdown measures in order to slow down the spread of the virus.

We can assume what Elise actually meant by her answer. But regardless, it will be a very long time before TAR33 can and should resume production. Even when the "curve is flat," as she puts it, I don't think that necessarily means it's safe or a good idea for TAR to get back running around the world.

[Avid]

Celebrity race across the world postponed too ..a week ago.... I think if all the dust settles.. Tar33 ep 3 will be the most watched episode in CBS reality TV history... https://deadline.com/2020/03/celebrity-race-across-the-world-postponed-bbc-studio-lambert-1202878379/

[georgiapeach]

Thanks  Avid! Will copy this over to the Race Across the world post as well.

[RachelLeVega]

Celebrity race across the world postponed too ..a week ago.... I think if all the dust settles.. Tar33 ep 3 will be the most watched episode in CBS reality TV history... https://deadline.com/2020/03/celebrity-race-across-the-world-postponed-bbc-studio-lambert-1202878379/

As much as I want, I doubt it. TAR17 raised the viewership bar to another level.

[OMGitsGARRET]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4xxcLBU6ak

No one has posted this yet, but interesting interview with a production member of The Amazing Race season 33 on the shutdown/coronavirus. The TAR talk is mostly in the first five minutes of the video.

HIGHLIGHTS:

-He believes he may have contracted the coronavirus whilst out filming TAR33.

-Confirmed: 3 episodes had been finished filming

-Filming concluded in Glasgow, Scotland. The cast and crew were sequestered there for several days before finally flying back home to the United States.

-The route was NOT fully determined/set in stone by the time filming had started. There were multiple countries and routes possible.

-The next few legs were supposed to take place "somewhere cold in Northern Europe," somewhere in "Northern Italy" and "South America."

-The ENTIRETY of Asia was set to be skipped. No Asian countries were in contention for the season.

-CBS cancelled the season after the outbreak in Italy got worse, as there was a leg set to take place there.

[RachelLeVega]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4xxcLBU6ak

No one has posted this yet, but interesting interview with a production member of The Amazing Race season 33 on the shutdown/coronavirus. The TAR talk is mostly in the first five minutes of the video.

HIGHLIGHTS:

-He believes he may have contracted the coronavirus whilst out filming TAR33.

-Confirmed: 3 episodes had been finished filming

-Filming concluded in Glasgow, Scotland. The cast and crew were sequestered there for several days before finally flying back home to the United States.

-The route was NOT fully determined/set in stone by the time filming had started. There were multiple countries and routes possible.

-The next few legs were supposed to take place "somewhere cold in Northern Europe," somewhere in "Northern Italy" and "South America."

-The ENTIRETY of Asia was set to be skipped. No Asian countries were in contention for the season.

-CBS cancelled the season after the outbreak in Italy got worse, as there was a leg set to take place there.

I listened to the audio while working from my apartment and, wow, this is some immense insight. WRP made the perfect call to bail before the virus escalated into not being able to leave the country and before the rest of the crew and racers may have caught it. I feel for Ryan the DP dealing with the climate of the situation and how it affected his relationships and provisional lifestyle. I'm still curious what the route would have looked like if none of this was happening- whether we would have gotten an hourglass-shaped navigation or a deformed parallelogram.

I wonder if we're going to hear from more personnel or even the racers that were part of this lost season now that we know we probably and will likely not be getting show-quality footage from this attempt.

[georgiapeach]

It all depends. I think the original hope was to be able to go out again this fall and resume filming.

Sadly day by day that seems less likely.

[theschnauzers]

The thing is that in the original epicenter, Chinw and especially Wuhan, the peak has clearly passed, 4 months in. But China is retaining its border control as to those returning to China to prevent reintroduction os COVID19, while lifting restraints especially in. Wuhan. Meanwhile Japan isreporting a spike in new cases, and is introducing measures often being used elsewhere.

I read these in longer articles post at CNN.com, and that’s a good place to monitor.

[Jobby]

I want them to restart if they ever resume filming. Give the remaining teams a sort of advantage if they really need to make it fair. Every remaining team to get an Express Pass, and the supposedly eliminated teams to just go with the flow and see how far they can go without any advantage.

IDK. Seems logical to me (i know not logical to costs) to just restart, because who knows how long they will have to put this on hold.

Then again, 2-3 teams could have been eliminated and with 2-3 lesser teams to coordinate the filming schedule...?

IDK. My heart is with TAR and especially all the teams on this season.

And the teams on TAR 32 as well. JUST SHOW THAT SEASON ALREADY

[The Dominator]

Celebrity race across the world postponed too ..a week ago.... I think if all the dust settles.. Tar33 ep 3 will be the most watched episode in CBS reality TV history... https://deadline.com/2020/03/celebrity-race-across-the-world-postponed-bbc-studio-lambert-1202878379/

As much as I want, I doubt it. TAR17 raised the viewership bar to another level.

TAR7 is the season with the highest average viewership.  an average of 13.05 million viewers.  Must have been the Romber effect. 

[The Dominator]

Tar33 ep 3 will be the most watched episode in CBS reality TV history...

It will be hard to top the season 2 premiere of Survivor.  45 million viewers. 

[RachelLeVega]

Celebrity race across the world postponed too ..a week ago.... I think if all the dust settles.. Tar33 ep 3 will be the most watched episode in CBS reality TV history... https://deadline.com/2020/03/celebrity-race-across-the-world-postponed-bbc-studio-lambert-1202878379/

As much as I want, I doubt it. TAR17 raised the viewership bar to another level.

TAR7 is the season with the highest average viewership.  an average of 13.05 million viewers.  Must have been the Romber effect.

Definitely. Season 17 though had a trending viral YouTube video + a YouTube team backing up the a bigger audience turnout.

[OMGitsGARRET]

Phil Keoghan confirms on Twitter that the intention for TAR33 is to go back and resume filming where they left off with the same cast of racers once the Coronavirus calms down. 

https://twitter.com/PhilKeoghan/status/1249782008311504896

[RachelLeVega]

Phil Keoghan confirms on Twitter that the intention for TAR33 is to go back and resume filming where they left off with the same cast of racers once the Coronavirus calms down. 

https://twitter.com/PhilKeoghan/status/1249782008311504896

I wonder if those racers will even be back. NDA classified info, but who knows what other stuff they have planned now after the production period is over.

[TARUSAFan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4xxcLBU6ak

No one has posted this yet, but interesting interview with a production member of The Amazing Race season 33 on the shutdown/coronavirus. The TAR talk is mostly in the first five minutes of the video.

HIGHLIGHTS:

-He believes he may have contracted the coronavirus whilst out filming TAR33.

-Confirmed: 3 episodes had been finished filming

-Filming concluded in Glasgow, Scotland. The cast and crew were sequestered there for several days before finally flying back home to the United States.

-The route was NOT fully determined/set in stone by the time filming had started. There were multiple countries and routes possible.

-The next few legs were supposed to take place "somewhere cold in Northern Europe," somewhere in "Northern Italy" and "South America."

-The ENTIRETY of Asia was set to be skipped. No Asian countries were in contention for the season.

-CBS cancelled the season after the outbreak in Italy got worse, as there was a leg set to take place there.

3 Legs filmed in 1 Country? United Kingdom... Well, that's a first for the US Franchise if it is true. (excluding Family Edition)
Kinda not happy about it though.

[Kiwi Jay]

I'm sure it will be an interesting three legs even so. I remain hopeful that 33 will be able to resume filming in 2021. There are myriad possibilities of issues with cast and route, but I know they can cope!

[georgiapeach]

There are a lot of issues here. Some teams may have contractual work issues that would prevent them from just being able to set off again. We just do NOT know.  Venues will have likely changed. Countries may not welcome film crews at the desired time.

Hopefully we can pick right up...but that may/may not be able to happen.  I am sure WRP will have new contingency plans, just please don't jump to a lot of conclusions that everything will be the same without firm evidence.

#RealityCheck

[TARUSAFan]

I'm sure it will be an interesting three legs even so. I remain hopeful that 33 will be able to resume filming in 2021. There are myriad possibilities of issues with cast and route, but I know they can cope!

I do hope that it’s interesting. I’m just not that fond of revisiting locations that were recently visited on the Race. It’s just a sort of minor preference but if the leg design and tasks are great I wouldn’t mind at all. I have a soft spot for United Kingdom. I just admire this country very much. I’m most especially excited of the Glasgow leg.

[zacz]

If it does continue as they are saying I cannot see it happening for a long time - possibly not even to early next year. Many countries have closed there borders to all international travel and these restrictions are likely to remain in place for at least 6 months if not for the rest of the year.

I live in Australia and they have said even if they start loosening restrictions internally not to expect international travel for at least the rest of the year unless we manage to get a vaccine before hand which is very unlikely. We do not have many Covid cases here and most of those we do have are from Cruise ships and/or international travelers (especially from the US unfortunately).

[Lmh1988]

I was thinking that since a few countries have reopened up their filming industries, possibly a solution to finishing TAR 33 could be maybe restricting the Race to only one or two more countries for the rest of the season and just racing within those countries (similar to what TAR Canada does sometimes)? They could charter buses for the teams from city to city in order to limit their contact with others.

Even something like this I think we’re still quite a ways off from, but this seems like potentially an easier solution than a normal Race route at least for this next season.

[theschnauzers]

There are several issues you are overlooking, including that commercial airline travel, especially internationally, is still nonexistent as many countries have closed borders or restrictions to essential travel only. Many countries wil still be requiring COVID19 testing on arrival as well as mandatory self isolation.

It’s way too soon for this to be considered.

[georgiapeach]

Many countries now have a 14 day mandatory isolation upon entering. Many have significant numbers of Covid daily.

There are no easy answers.

I think the HOPE is we will be able to film.

What the REALITY is remains to be determined.

Hoping to refilm later this year also corresponds with the expectation of a significant increase in disease #'s this winter. And the fact is we are unlikely to have a vaccine in place this year.

So...we just don't know.

My background in critical care medicine makes me very concerned that our current management of this disease in the US is NOT going to contain it.

And NO reality show (even my beloved show) is worth risking lives.

So...I honestly think that living with the HOPE that we can make this work....along with the knowledge it may not work as hoped, is all we can do.

We CAN do our parts. Every single one of us can make a difference.

Maintain social distance. Wear a mask. Protect yourselves with all the things you have been hearing. Hand wash. Avoid crowds.

Going to a movie or a sporting event or a crowded beach or a university lecture hall is NOT worth going on a ventilator and possibly dying.

We HAVE to hold on to REALITY.

And meanwhile I will be hoping with every part of me that we can help make our beloved TAR race again.

[BourkieBoy]

I really don't think we have a chance of filming TAR in ANY country until a vaccine is developed and COVID-19 has been completely eradicated. There's speculation that a vaccine could possibly be 'ready to go' by September, but I seriously doubt that. That can't be true right?