Author Topic: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?  (Read 12169 times)

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Offline NMC

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2020, 05:30:13 PM »
I can't believe the amount of differing thoughts here, but I guess that's the luxury of opinions. Lol.  Someone said further up that 18 - 24 was the decline, for me these seasons had probably the best casts up until that point, it was just the boot orders that ended up being rubbish.

Honestly, Season 27 is where I started losing interest. I hated that entire season, and though 28 picked up again for me, since 29 I haven't felt as connected to the show as I once did. I LOVED the show before 29, now I just watch it because I'm a fan.

I thought season 27 had the most "Normal" cast of the recent seasons. Everyone was fine, but I can understand why some didn't like it. Season 28 was not that good and I thought I was going to hate 29, but I'll admit that it is good

For some reason I had a total mind blank and got 28 and 29 mixed up. I really enjoyed 29, and wasn't a fan of 28.

So I guess for me TAR has only had one good season since 27, and that was 29. It's a huge shame, especially as the older Seasons I could rewatch over and over but I cant see myself ever wanting to rewatch 27, 28, 30 or 31. Just hoping 32 really does "bring it back to basics" as Phil said.
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Offline Traveldude1

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2020, 06:04:16 PM »
I can't believe the amount of differing thoughts here, but I guess that's the luxury of opinions. Lol.  Someone said further up that 18 - 24 was the decline, for me these seasons had probably the best casts up until that point, it was just the boot orders that ended up being rubbish.

Honestly, Season 27 is where I started losing interest. I hated that entire season, and though 28 picked up again for me, since 29 I haven't felt as connected to the show as I once did. I LOVED the show before 29, now I just watch it because I'm a fan.

I thought season 27 had the most "Normal" cast of the recent seasons. Everyone was fine, but I can understand why some didn't like it. Season 28 was not that good and I thought I was going to hate 29, but I'll admit that it is good

For some reason I had a total mind blank and got 28 and 29 mixed up. I really enjoyed 29, and wasn't a fan of 28.

So I guess for me TAR has only had one good season since 27, and that was 29. It's a huge shame, especially as the older Seasons I could rewatch over and over but I cant see myself ever wanting to rewatch 27, 28, 30 or 31. Just hoping 32 really does "bring it back to basics" as Phil said.

Season 31 is really strong imo. The most likeable cast of recent seasons(except for R&/A&JJ)


Offline TARstorian

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #27 on: August 30, 2020, 05:50:13 PM »
14 will always be the definitive point for me.
I have been to 63 countries. I have met Phil Keoghan, Jon Montgomery, Allan Wu, Elise and Bertram in person. I visited Joe & Bill in Hawaii, JK & Mike in Singapore, and Rovilson in Manila. I attended the TAR 28, 29, and 34 finales.

Offline TheBayAreaGuy

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #28 on: September 11, 2020, 01:06:29 AM »
100%....they're some great seasons after this (S17 & 29) but most have been frankly terrible or mediocre at best. The show began to take itself too seriously in S14 and saw itself more as a game than a show.

14 will always be the definitive point for me.

Offline Wadsy

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #29 on: December 27, 2020, 10:37:24 PM »
There have been a few rough spots, but I would not say it has declined and stayed that way...

TAR 13 is one of the worst seasons in my opinion. The cast is mostly weak and the locations were underwhelming besides New Zealand and some of the other early countries (maybe Bolivia?)

TAR 16 is an awful season with another bad cast, and the worst team in my opinion being Carol & Brandy. The tasks and locations were also weak in my opinion, and not even Jet & Cord could redeem this trainwreck.

TAR 19 was a huge let down when it aired and I still say it was the start of a few below average seasons (20, 23 and 24).
The task design was a shambles, both Thailand legs sucked as well as Belgium and I was not keen on the winners. It was a mess from start to finish.

TAR 24 was terrible - we all know it so why bother explaining.

TAR 27 was a huge borefest. I just couldn't get into this season and gave up after Zambia.

Lastly, TAR 28 also felt like it was not planned out well. The back half of the season was very uninteresting and then you have legs like the Columbia>Switzerland-France which made no sense. It was not a well thought out season but at least we saw Columbia, Armenia and Georgia for the first time.

Wadsy


Offline Johnie_Bravo

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #30 on: December 28, 2020, 06:00:27 AM »
* TAR15 & TAR16 is the dark ages of TAR, very dry, bland, lack of spiciness, terrible booting orders and very uninspired for me, but luckily TAR17 salvage everything and revitalized the TAR into greatness...

* TAR24, TAR8 and TAR26, worst in terms of gimmick seasons, TAR24 from castings, booting orders, task design and destinations very terrible for me while TAR8 and TAR6 very promising concepts but epic FAIL in terms implementations or executions...

Offline Jay33

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #31 on: December 28, 2020, 06:13:57 AM »
I feel like the editing has declined since TAR 25 or so.

Offline Declive

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #32 on: December 28, 2020, 12:14:32 PM »
I feel like the editing has declined since TAR 25 or so.

Me too. I think the Golden Years of TAR were between seasons 12-21.
There was drama pretty much every leg. Flight searching, epic song entrances when a team won a leg.

Those seasons got me emotional.
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Offline I ♥ TAR

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #33 on: December 28, 2020, 01:17:55 PM »
TAR25 is season since when it all started go downhill...

It indroduced us:
- bad editing (not showing departures, not showing Phil announing placements, annoying zooming during confessionals...)
- hashtags
- random twist that will not work out (Save, F4 racing finale leg, later Head to Head, Team Switch, Extreme Roadblock, Mega leg)
- cringey Phil trying to be funny
- RTV couple in the cast being new norm (Keith & Whitney, later Cody & Jessica, TAR31 cast, Will & James, certain TAR33 team)
- public line open for public (it kill all fun for us who are enjoying following spoilers)
- low ratings and constant changes in schedule

Then TAR26 came and era of gimmick seasons with almost fully recruited casts could start.

Offline TARUSAFan

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #34 on: December 29, 2020, 04:07:59 AM »
TAR25 is season since when it all started go downhill...

It indroduced us:
- bad editing (not showing departures, not showing Phil announing placements, annoying zooming during confessionals...)
- hashtags
- random twist that will not work out (Save, F4 racing finale leg, later Head to Head, Team Switch, Extreme Roadblock, Mega leg)
- cringey Phil trying to be funny
- RTV couple in the cast being new norm (Keith & Whitney, later Cody & Jessica, TAR31 cast, Will & James, certain TAR33 team)
- public line open for public (it kill all fun for us who are enjoying following spoilers)
- low ratings and constant changes in schedule

Then TAR26 came and era of gimmick seasons with almost fully recruited casts could start.

It started with S.25 with the reasons above.
It was just a shame, because I loved S.25's cast.


Offline TheBayAreaGuy

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #35 on: May 31, 2021, 12:16:49 AM »
Nah, the golden age years of TAR were S1-13 (except 6 & 8 ).

I feel like the editing has declined since TAR 25 or so.

Me too. I think the Golden Years of TAR were between seasons 12-21.
There was drama pretty much every leg. Flight searching, epic song entrances when a team won a leg.

Those seasons got me emotional.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2021, 01:48:23 PM by TheBayAreaGuy »

Offline claude_24hrs

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #36 on: May 31, 2021, 12:42:24 AM »
TAR 32 became the first season completely edited out of airport drama from the starting line.

Offline LandonM170

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #37 on: May 31, 2021, 01:56:16 AM »
In terms of rating: season 24
In terms of quality: season 30

Offline stunami

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #38 on: May 31, 2021, 09:43:14 AM »
One aspect also that we don't talk enough that changed the race a lot is new technology.
Watching old season, nobody had phones with internet where you could just google something or a place to find. Racers were so much more disconnected of the real world that they had to rely on a bit of luck and lots of skills. Now anyone can go to the airport and print some info, or stop in the street and ask if anyone as a smart phone.

I think Casting is also very important, and a bit lacking in some of the new seasons... I still think there was a shift in the 20's where the only casted 1 or 2 normal team, and the rest were mactors/wannabe celebrity/etc. That's not really what people want to see. we want real people, a team that could be my neighbours or somebody I know

Offline Traveldude1

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #39 on: June 02, 2021, 09:00:59 PM »
I feel like the editing has declined since TAR 25 or so.

Me too. I think the Golden Years of TAR were between seasons 12-21.
There was drama pretty much every leg. Flight searching, epic song entrances when a team won a leg.

Those seasons got me emotional.

I think The Amazing Race hit its peak during the early teen years and it lasted until the early 20s. With the exceptions of Seasons 20 and 13 (not as bad as I remember it being, but still not great), this was the best run of seasons the show has seen. The intro was fantastic and the tense music during tasks and traveling really made for a great watch. Seasons 1-11 were much more hit or miss

Offline Wadsy

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #40 on: June 15, 2021, 05:51:41 PM »
Here is what I think personally.

The first seven seasons were the show's best years.

TAR 8 was an abomination.

Seasons 9-18 were mostly above average, if not disappointing in some areas (13 and 16 being real duds).

19 to 25 have been a combination of average or above average, so again another hit to the series (though leg design really started to go downhill from this point).

I personally enjoy TAR26 but it was really from this point on where things start to go downhill due to casting. 27 and 28 are both pretty underwhelming, again due to casting and leg structure.

29 and 30 are two gems amongst the poor quality - I really like both of these seasons.

31 could have been better and 32 was awful.

Bottom line, its not really about the show being terrible from a certain point on - but a significant drop in quality overall over time.
Wadsy

Offline TheBayAreaGuy

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #41 on: July 12, 2021, 01:49:14 PM »
The downhill of the show began in TAR14 when it became a RTV show instead of just staying as an "unscripted drama" that focused on the characters.

Offline TARA

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #42 on: January 19, 2022, 05:56:42 PM »
Editing changed from Season 9. For me, that’s when the show declined.

But for the overall production, it started declining when they had their hashtag 12shows21days production schedule. Phil has tweeted this a lot. The race is now produced with a tighter budget and controlled to make sure their filming time doesn’t run over. This has resulted in less airport drama as productions pre-book some flights to 1) keep every team not too far apart so they can all move on to the next leg; 2) Lower airfare from last minute reservations.

This has completely changed the show. It went from a more continuous race to 12 separate episodes of an on-location task solving game. Gone is the airport travel from one country to another which made up a lot of airtime before. Right now, it’s more emphasized on the “tasks” even though I don’t think it’s what made TAR successful in the first place. They could really just do these tasks anywhere, heck, even in a studio. What’s the point of these tasks unless they’re climbing the Alps that can’t be replicated. I understand it’s easier to produce the show logistically when they can group everyone in to one country, do two tasks, and then move on to another country to do two more tasks. We don’t get to see much in between these days. They make traveling between countries a lot easier. Even for the tasks themselves, there weren’t a lot of ridiculous costumes involved and dramatic make up on in the early season.

I watched an interview in early 2021 of Phil and some of the past contestants. Rob from Season 1 also notices the change. Phil says it’s harder to book international flights as more people are traveling these days than when they started 20 years ago. I remember there’s an interview of Bertram and Elise. Bertram acknowledged the show changed in terms of editing around the time Season 11 or 12 was aired.

In my mind, it was TV genius that TAR started the show when they made teams say they need to buy two tickets at airport or bus stations just for TV. Now they don’t air that anymore. Whoever came up with that idea really knows how to make a successful TV show. They make the race part more real as if they were traveling alone and the audience doesn’t think much about how the whole thing is produced much. Now you hear all sorts of things in the program. I remember when the Goth team broke a rule in Japan, they said and it was aired “we don’t know what (production) is gonna do.” They never would air anything like that in early seasons. Production was completely out of the final edit. In later seasons, they don’t even bother with editing out cameramens out of shots anymore. Remember in Season 4 and 9, they would blur the appearances of cameramen if they have to use that shot. That really made a difference in quality TV.

Also speaking of editing, there’re no more establishing shots when they transition from one team to another team at a different location. There were great transitions in Season 2-8 with music added in. Also, if anyone paid attention, in early seasons like Season 6, at the finish line they would show teams waiting for the winning team in the order they were eliminated. Those are the great details in editing that are long lost when they got sloppy. They have a bland editing formula for tasks where they’ll play the audio of post-leg interviews of teams recounting how they did the tasks and lay it on the videos of them doing those tasks. In early seasons, it was constructed with yelling / conversations between team/members to tell a story. They also did great work in an overall story arch. Watching earlier seasons, there were so many instances that the editors put soundbites out of texts to better tell a story (when they would show a yellow subtitle). Those take a great effort to comb through the footage and construct an arch for an entire season. You also see they break the fourth wall with teams directly talking into the camera, or to the camera person behind the camera as they were answering their questions. In early seasons, not that they didn’t use shots of teams talking to producers behind camera, but they would edit those in as if the teams were talking amongst themselves. They did a lot more to make the audience forget there’re crews there.

Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Jonathan & Victoria from season 6:
Victoria also blames the network, noting that because a camera was visible in the shoving shot, “It shows this decision had to go way up the line.”
https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2005/01/the-amazing-race-6-jonathan_victoria_interview/

This shows CBS used to take this seriously with cameras out of final edit.

Bertram and Elise, if you’re reading this: Please bring back the old quality.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2022, 04:47:04 AM by TARA »

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #43 on: February 03, 2022, 09:11:53 AM »
Really thoughtful reply, appreciate it!
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Offline Declive

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #44 on: October 18, 2022, 11:24:04 PM »
I'm thinking this Season might slowly turn the script around again.
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Offline Tober2005

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #45 on: October 25, 2022, 08:03:57 PM »
I think it declined starting on the time that they filmed Season 27 because that's when they began to film only 1 season per year. But now that they already filmed 2 seasons this year, they might start filming seasons faster again.
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Offline Traveldude1

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #46 on: October 26, 2022, 04:58:35 PM »
The Amazing Race's decline can be traced to S14 with a very gradual decline in quality since then. Many aspects of the original race format were tampered and messed with and were forever altered from this point forward (intro, messing with the pit start times, semi-celebrities, wacky tasks). The editing shifted from this point forward to focus more on tasks, which is why we don't have quite as many memorable teams from the newer seasons.

The final nail in the coffin, though was S24 where everything wrong with the show up until that point, combined to make one of the worst editions of the show. The tasks were lazy/uninspired, you had an awful cast, the route was awful all around, and a terrible finale. The producers got complacent and didn't want to change anything and it ended up with one of the very worst seasons to date

Offline Parasparopagraho

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Re: When did The Amazing Race decline, if at all?
« Reply #47 on: April 23, 2023, 04:15:30 PM »
Given that the last addition to the top-tier was 25, anything from Blind Date Edition onwards - with exceptions such as Reality Clash/Showdown and 34 proving the rule.

(Strangers' Edition is quite possibly the most overrated season of all time.)