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Week ten: Charla & Mirna
2007-04-26 05:55:00
----After weeks of bizarre up and down returns from this admittedly unusual team, Char la and Mirna have settled for the second week in a row in the comfortable middle niche of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars." Their flameouts are now not as fierce but their successes are not as spectacular either.----The cousins could have played a key role in the whole Yield drama between the other three teams but their offer to subsidize Oswald and Danny came too late as those friends had already made an arrangement with Dustin and Kandice.I'm not sure that giving money to Oswald and Danny would have been a good idea from a strategic standpoint though the ethics of such an offer can't be disputed. Charla and Mirna have come around in recent legs to reclaim the ethical high ground if not necessarily the racing high ground.Charla completed part of what was a difficult Roadblock for her in walking around the rim of the Macau Tower because the high winds around the structure made keeping one's footing...
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Week ten: Dustin & Kandice
2007-04-26 04:38:00
----The beauty queens truly became the Yield Queens in leg eleven of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars," buying the rights from Oswald and Danny to use the Yield against Eric and Danielle. More importantly, Dustin and Kandice took advantage of Oswald and Danny's own mistakes to gain first place for the leg.----By "Amazing Race" rule, each team can only use one Yield per race so Dustin and Kandice had no way to use the feature again until Oswald and Danny offered their end-run around the rule. While the short term upside for Oswald and Danny to make the Yield deal was obvious, the upside didn't seem as apparent though for Dustin and Kandice. The beauty queens arranged for the Yield to hit Eric and Danielle because the daters were a more physical team. Regardless of their obvious physical disadvantages, Charla and Mirna had demonstrated a better actual track record of success to date so targeting them may have made more sense.At any rate, with the Yield coming so early in the leg as Mirn...
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Fox cancels "Drive"
2007-04-26 03:20:00
----Variety reports that Fox network cancelled the drama "Drive ," based around the concept of a high-stakes illegal cross-country race, after only four hours of episodes. The last Monday airing of the series hit only a 1.5 demo rating among 18-49s, just over half of TAR's most recent airing. "House" reruns will take the vacated Monday slot.Okay, I know for a fact that Fox targeted TAR fans to see "Drive" since the network bought Google ads that went out to "Amazing Race"-related sites including this one during the brief time that TARBloob carried such ads.Fox's scheduling of the "Drive" series premiere then against an "The Amazing Race" episode just cut off a core group of potential viewers at the pass who would have more easily appreciated the concept. Maybe "Drive" still would have failed anyway but at least the series would have stood a fighting chance.----Relevant link: Variety
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Week ten: Eric & Danielle
2007-04-26 01:10:00
----Eric and Dani elle must have felt stomped on by the world after being Yielded for the second time on "The Amazing Race: All-Stars." What proved to surprise me though is that the daters used their own negative emotion to a positive result, rising to reach the Pit Stop second and after the mark of elimination penalty, score an official third place finish.----Eric and Danielle were understandably furious and bewildered after being hit by the Yield from Oswald and Danny. (I really wish that Eric could find a way to express such emotions without the need for blurring and beeping but that's a side point.) What is a relevant point is that Eric and Danielle came out determined after the Yield like no other team has in a long time to make up for the lost time. Eric had no problem with an admittedly not difficult Roadblock at Macau Tower. More importantly, the daters were able to pass both the faltering Oswald and Danny and the Charla and Mirna teams on the Detour task to rise into an uno...
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Week ten: Oswald & Danny
2007-04-25 23:16:00
----The focal point of the tenth episode, eleventh leg of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" from Macau, China was clearly Oswald and Danny 's decision to cede the Yield power to Dustin and Kandice in order to replenish their lost monetary funds. The irony of course is that we heard Oswald and Danny explain at the start of the episode that they didn't want to backstab anyone in order to stay in the race. (We don't know when those comments were really made due to editing.) Of course, Oswald and Danny came to believe incorrectly that they would in fact have to backstab Eric and Danielle at the direction of Dustin and Kandice to stay in the race.What the friends didn't know at the time was that there was a third option to become available, the option to receive funds from Charla and Mirna without selling their collective game souls in the process.----Without Charla and Mirna though, the question was a very simple one. If you were in Oswald and Danny's position and didn't know about Cha...
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TAR and the same-sex question
2007-04-24 22:57:00
----As long as I'm waxing political today, here's one more post to throw on the fire. WARNING: This post will no doubt get TARBloob banned in several more countries. Read on if you dare.----Evil also is present "in the parliaments of so-called 'civil' nations where they promulgate laws contrary to the nature of the human person, like the approval of marriages between persons of the same sex or euthanasia," he said.- Catholic News Service quoting the words of Archbishop Angelo Amato, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.----Well, there we have it. Pope Benedict XVI's doctrinal representative has stated the word. The evil that threatens our civilization today is the Canadian parliament that let TAR7's Lynn and Alex get married.We may remember that the same-sex couple was married soon after the airing of "The Amazing Race 7" in a ceremony promoted by a Canadian radio station. Clearly, Lynn and Alex's wedding and the weddings of countless other same-sex cou...
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"Survivor" to tape in charted ground
2007-04-18 21:55:00
----Variety reports that "Survivor " will be taped for this fall's airing where "The Amazing Race" has gone many, many times already. This is supposed to be really special though because "Survivor" will stay there longer. Eh... whatever.----Relevant link: Variety
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Auschwitz
2007-04-05 23:56:00
Writing about the visit of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" racers to Auschwitz is not something that I could have done as part of any race recap post. The enormity of what happened three generations ago at Auschwitz and similar concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe couldn't be lumped in the same post with a description of TAR11 teams eating sausages. The various "Amazing Race" teams had to take the power and emotion of Auschwitz and interpret it for themselves. Eric and Danielle saw the visit as a chance to get past the pettiness of their own arguments, Charla and Mirna reflected on the genocide of Assyrians at the hands of Turks circa World War I. The Joe/Bill and Oswald/Danny teams were thankful for the chance to live their lives as their true selves, a chance denied to so many people not so long ago.----The targeting of Jews by Adolf Hitler during the 1930s and 1940s is widely known to history and only denied nowadays by fools and bigots. What isn't as widely known as t...
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TAR11 finale to air May 6
2007-04-02 21:54:00
CBS officially announced that the finale of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" will air on Sunday, May 6 at its normal 8 to 9 p.m. EDT/PDT slot. The All-Stars finale marks the second finale run in a row to air as a regular length one hour episode."Survivor: Fiji" will conclude the following Sunday, May 13 from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT with the usual one hour reunion show afterward.----Relevant link: CBS via The Futon Critic (WARNING: Linked press release contains spoilers for other CBS shows.)
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"Project Runway" defeats TAR for GLAAD award
2007-03-27 21:46:00
----Bravo has put out a press release noting that its "Project Runway " series defeated a host of other shows including "The Amazing Race" for GLAAD's Outstanding Reality Program award. GLAAD stands for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "Project Runway" should certainly be congratulated for its award victory but TAR has obviously been no slouch over the years in being both an outstanding reality program and a gay-friendly one. The beauty of "The Amazing Race" series is that all of the competitors, gay and straight alike, are depicted as real people with their own strengths and weaknesses beyond orientation questions.----At some point, I will have to post here about how my own views of gays and same-sex relationships have changed in part because of this series. Hopefully, I'll get around to writing that post before the All-Stars run airing ends.UPDATE: And I did, linked here.----Relevant link: Bravo via The Futon Critic
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TAR may near Survivor rating
2007-03-24 18:56:00
A CBS press release posted on The Futon Critic notes that "Survivor : Fiji" scored a 4.1 rating (among viewers aged 18-49) in a special airing last Wednesday.Though the "Survivor" broadcast was still strong enough to win its time slot, it was off significantly from its usual Thursday numbers. Clearly, some viewers either didn't know or forgot about the Wednesday airing and ended up missing an original episode of the program.The end result may give "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" at least a small chance to beat or tie Survivor's rating for this television week. TAR should score than its usual number as viewers will be funneled into Sunday night's CBS lineup off the North Carolina-Georgetown men's college basketball regional final.----
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Reminder for "Survivor" fans
2007-03-21 22:22:00
In another "interesting" scheduling decision from CBS for reality show fans, "Survivor : Fiji" will have a NEW episode tonight (Wednesday night) at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT. This week's new episode is dislodged from Thursday because of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In recent years, CBS had skipped "Survivor" airings both basketball conflict weeks a la last week or simply chosen to air recap/outtake episodes on playoff week Wednesdays.Tonight's day in advance "Survivor" combined with another expected strong lead-in Sunday for "The Amazing Race" could make audience levels for the shows closer to each other this week than any time in recent memory.----
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Where other ratings stand
2007-03-10 01:55:00
While "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" scored a commendable 3.7 comeback rating last Sunday night in the 18-49 demographic, fellow CBS reality series "Survivor: Fiji" is still scoring superior numbers for the CBS network even against "American Idol" competition."Survivor" hit a 4.5 preliminary demo rating last night after a 5.0 the previous week. Both numbers are obviously better than TAR11. The Thursday series will go on a brief break for NCAA men's basketball tournament coverage before resuming without the handicap of Idol competition.Where TAR has established ratings superiority is over Mark Burnett's other flagship series, "The Apprentice: Los Angeles." The latest version of Donald Trump's business contest scored a 2.7 demo rating last Sunday, an improvement over recent outings but still not a good number for NBC. The long-term future of that series, at least with Donald Trump as the lead billionaire, remains in doubt."Grease: You're the One That I Want" remains no threat to an...
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Week two: Joe & Bill
2007-03-02 15:30:00
"Team Guido" had one of the more up and down legs of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" this time out which ultimately ended on the upside for a third place finish.We haven't seem Joe and Bill drift into any villain role, continuing more as self-depreciating elder statesmen who happen to be gay. What was an asset in this case is basic intelligence and deduction with Bill correctly figuring that extra letters were contained in the Roadblock, unnecessary for solving the puzzle. Maybe Bill saw the TAR9 sculpture building with the extra unneeded pieces for all we know.The other obvious "up" is simply the fact that this team was one of the few that actually knew how to navigate to the actual Valley of the Dead without some right turn into nowheresville. Joe and Bill gained at least two placements from their wise navigation. Where I would scream at this team or at least one of the members of it is over the lack of reading for the Detour "by machine" task. That task clearly required that both ...
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NBC reality ratings tank
2007-02-13 12:41:00
One week before TAR Stars launches, NBC's comparable reality programs tanked in the Nielsen ratings."Grease: You're The One That I Want" is not so wanted, dropping to a low 2.0 preliminary Nielsen rating opposite the Grammys in the age 18-49 demographic. The show will directly oppose "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" starting next week though that opposition seems token at best now. The televsion audience has judged "Grease" and rejected it."The Apprentice" also fell to a 2.4 demo mark against the Grammys and the return of "Desperate Housewives," below any mark received in the recent memory for "The Amazing Race." Donald Trump's show shouldn't rate that low in upcoming weeks but the eventual fate of the series now seems in increasing doubt.Perhaps more importantly now from TAR's standpoint, the Grammy Awards received an average 8.5 mark including an 8.3 in the TAR hour. The strong young-skewing viewership allowed CBS a second golden opportunity on as many Sundays to promote TAR11.-...
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"Survivor" ratings slips, still top in slot
2007-02-09 20:28:00
"Survivor : Fiji" opened up the 14th run of the franchise with another slip in the Nielsen ratings to a 5.8 in the key 18-49 age group, down from last cycle's 6.3 launch. The Fiji opener was still enough though to again make CBS the top demo performer in the Thursday 8 p.m. Eastern slot. Even if fewer people are interested, "Survivor" is not going anywhere for awhile... and those of us "Amazing Race" fans would gladly take that 5.8 rating number in a second.----Relevant link: Media Life Magazine
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"Survivor: Fiji" premiere tonite
2007-02-08 21:40:00
The 14th cycle of the "Survivor " series premieres tonight on CBS, 8 p.m. ET/PT. "Survivor: Fiji " should do good ratings though the network has to be hoping that its Super Bowl promotion can help arrest the series' slow ratings decline. Regardless of how Fiji's ratings turn out, "Survivor" will return next television season for cycles 15 and 16.----Relevant link: CBS: Survivor Fiji
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TAR Geekout!!!
2007-02-07 00:52:00
----(a.k.a. Ev plays with numbers!)Trying to get some idea of how an "The Amazing Race" will play out is usually more art than science. We have had in the past to evaluate the capabilities of people who by definition, we have never seen and have never played the game. Some teams bring capabilities in terms of physicality, intelligence, language and travel experience that would figure to correlate to TAR success. The state of the team members' interpersonal relationships, however personal, have to be evaluated as part of the TAR preview process in the belief that stronger relationships are more conducive to successful long-term racing. Over the course of the next week and a half, all of those factors will be qualitatively weighed again as part of the team-by-team previews.What is different this time is that each of the All-Star teams (with one hybrid exception to be noted) now has a past track record that can be evaluated quantitatively, i.e. with numbers. ----Already established su...

TAR dodges a greasy bullet
2007-01-29 22:01:00
NBC's planned reality show competition against "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" doesn't seem all that competitive after all. In a live episode without NFL competition, "Grease: You're The One That I Want" still only achieved an average preliminary 2.5 demo rating among key 18-49 viewers, with a 2.8 in the 8 p.m. hour where it will eventually face TAR11.The Grease demo numbers fall well below TAR10 levels, close to the worst weeks of "The Amazing Race 9" run. At such not so impressive demographic ratings, "Grease" would pose no serious threat to draw viewers from TAR even in the same reality competition genre.Nielsen numbers posted on PIFeedback.com indicate that overall "Grease" audience levels are also well below the most recent "Amazing Race" cycle. Let's breathe a big sigh of relief on this one, TAR fans. "The Amazing Race" will control its own fate.On a side note, the news is better for "The Apprentice" which recovered to a 3.5 demo rating without the NFL or an original "Desper...
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"Survivor" renewed for 2007-08 season
2007-01-17 22:01:00
Variety (subscription link) reports that "Survivor " will be renewed with two more editions to run during the 2007-2008 television season. The official announcement from CBS will occur later this week.Despite the show's gradual ratings decline, "Survivor" still draws superior numbers when compared to most other television programming. The program's renewal is a no-brainer, especially with the prospect of a writers' strike against scripted programming on the horizon.There's no word on a renewal or cancellation of "The Amazing Race" for the fall season as of yet though I expect TAR to eventually be renewed as well.UPDATED: "Later this week" turns out to be "later today." CBS confirmed the "Survivor" renewal.Relevant links: Variety (subscription link), CBS via The Futon Critic
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Quick other reality ratings notes
2007-01-17 17:39:00
The challenge that "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" could receive from competing NBC reality programs may not live up to snuff, after all."Grease: You're the One That I Want" (slotted directly against TAR Stars late next month) plunged down to a 2.7 Nielsen demographic rating among age 18-49 viewers while "The Apprentice" also plunged down to a 2.8 mark. Both recorded ratings were below that of any "The Amazing Race 10" episode, hovering near the worst marks set by the disappointing TAR9.There are huge caveats for the ratings fall of the programs as they both had to compete against the "24" series premiere. "Grease" in particular also suffered from the competing partial overrun of an NFL playoff game. We'll need to wait for the report after Sunday, January 28 for a cleaner read on the true ratings strength of both shows. Meanwhile, "American Idol" opened stronger yet again than last year if Drudge's flash report is accurate. If you watch AI, God love you and God bless you but the ap...
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NBC reality hits week 2
2007-01-15 00:49:00
"Grease: You're the One That I Want" and "The Apprentice: Los Angeles" move into their respective normal timeslots tonight on NBC (I had thought it would take another week or so) at 8-9 p.m. ET/PT and 9-10 p.m. ET/PT respectively.After moderately successful demographic debuts, both shows will likely drop in the ratings tonight though the competition from the extended "24" series premiere on Fox may be more responsible for expected NBC losses than anything else.UPDATED: We'll have to wait a few weeks to get a better idea of whether "Grease" and "The Apprentice" can maintain their debut numbers against normal competition. Next weekend's numbers will be deceptively low as well as the AFC Championship playoff football game will be played next Sunday night, Eastern Time.
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"Survivor: Fiji" cast announced
2007-01-12 21:02:00
The "Survivor : Fiji " cast is revealed, CBS via The Futon Critic press release has the cast listing along with a few spoilerish plot details about the first few days of the survivors' stay. The good news is that the cast has ethnic diversity without last run's stupid tribe segregation stunt. The bad news is that there are too many Californians again (10 out of 19). I'm sure the Golden State is nice and all but come on now!!The 14th "Survivor" cycle will premiere Thursday, February 8 on CBS.FYI, we're still waiting on the official TAR cast and scheduling announcement although the cast has bene unofficially rumored for some time now. Maybe we'll find out official details next week at the CBS network's Television Critics Association presentation.
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Rosie is (sort of) wrong
2007-01-10 21:27:00
Entertainment and even mainstream news viewers have been greeted by the spectacle of the feud between Donald Trump (host of "The Apprentice") and Rosie O'Donnell (co-host of "The View"). The feud started over Trump's pardoning of a wayward Miss USA winner but has since degenerated into assorted name-calling, especially from the borderline sexist business tycoon.My worldview is probably closer to that of the more tolerant Rosie O'Donnell, especially since she is a fan of most reality television and did have TAR10's David and Mary on her show. That having been said, Rosie is incorrect in describing the season premiere of "The Apprentice: Los Angeles" as having tanked. Critics of the show this week have pointed to overall "Apprentice" premiere audience levels of just over nine million viewers, admittedly a low overall viewership. The problem with such criticism is that overall viewership is simply not a relevant measurement in the world of television. Viewership in key demographics...
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All Greased up
2007-01-08 20:03:00
Take a deep breath on this one.Mediaweek's Marc Berman reports that new reality competition series "Grease : You're the One That I Want" scored an initial 4.3 rating in the main ad-friendly age 18-49 demographic. By way of comparison, the "Grease" premiere outrated every episode of the recently concluded "The Amazing Race 10."If "Grease" can maintain its audience levels beyond its first month, the series would figure to draw away a portion of TAR's reality competition fanbase. That said, initial online reaction to "Grease" has swung towards the negative so there's still reason to believe that the new reality show won't be a threat by the time TAR: All-Stars rolls around.----On a side note, "The Apprentice: Los Angeles" drew a 4.1 demo rating for its opening, just slightly above the TAR10 premiere. It's not a #1 overall slot rating but should be good enough to keep "The Apprentice" franchise viable.Relevant link: Mediaweek Programing Insider.
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Will "Grease" be the word?
2007-01-07 18:17:00
Tonight may actually turn out to be a key night in the run of "The Amazing Race," not for any airing of TAR which won't start again till next month but for the first glimpse at its new reality competition.New reality competition series "Grease : You're the One That I Want" begins tonight on NBC in the 8 p.m. EST/PST "Amazing Race" slot, with an extra half hour for the first few weeks. The concept is that would-be Greasers will compete for the male and female leads in a Broadway run of the "Grease" play. The question for TAR fans is whether this latest reality competition entrant will prove to be weak or strong competition for TAR's eventual All-Star airing. If "Grease" opens weak, good news for TAR. If "Grease" opens (and stays) strong, TAR could be hurt or even require a new time slot. Pre-opening buzz on "Grease" has been mixed but with a big negative buzz about host Billy Bush (I'm not surprised) who has already been yanked from the promotional spots. You couldn't pay me enou...
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Next "Survivor" will go on..
2006-12-07 19:49:00
Neither rain, nor wind nor a military coup against a democratic goverment will stop the next run of "Survivor " from making its appointed rounds.Relevant link: AP via USA Today.
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"Apprentice" premiere date announced
2006-11-23 20:56:00
NBC announced the premiere date for the next edition of "The Apprentice " as Sunday, January 7. The series will usually air in the 9 p.m. ET/PT slot so some reality genre fans will no doubt use "The Amazing Race" as a surrogate lead-in when it returns later in 2007.The premiere date for "The Amazing Race 11" is not yet known. Some speculation (or wishful thinking) has the TAR11 All-Stars version getting a post-Super Bowl premiere airing but I tend to believe that "Survivor" or a CBS comedy will get that prize. TAR is just not high enough in the CBS food chain for such an opportunity.
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Week one: Erwin & Godwin
2006-09-18 23:16:00
Brothers Erwin and Godwin were one of the more unusual teams in the race. The pair did state that they would display some intelligence racing in TAR10 and clearly have the educational backgrounds but didn't make a distinct early impression with that intelligence. In fact, the Cho's mental brain fart of playing with water guns at Seattle's airport could have caused serious trouble with the post-9/11 mindset of security today.The Chos didn't have the best time of navigation either, it seems that China and Korea were not the same land no matter how many politically incorrect jokes were told so communication with local taxi drivers didn't work well. The team stayed near the back of the pack until the physical wall climbing allowed them to advance in the standings. Their karmic help of Rob and Kimberly was a good thing though probably wasted on that particular team.Erwin and Godwin have the minds and bodies to do well as an alpha male team but didn't realize that potential in leg one.
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Week one: Bilal & Sa'eed
2006-09-18 23:15:00
Week one in television time for best friends Bilal and Sa'eed turned out to be the final week and a short week at that. The team became the first victims of surprises devised by "The Amazing Race" producers to freshen and regain support for the program. In some ways, Bilal and Sa'eed paid for the ratings misfortunes of TAR8 & TAR9.After a promising beginning and brief first place run thanks to Bilal's driving, the team did not race particularly well. Had the team been allowed to run the whole leg though, it could have made up ground on the more physical final task. Their initial failure to recognize the correct rental car return location at Seattle airport doomed the team to the second tier. Had they made the first flight out to Beijing, Bilal and Sa'eed would likely still be with us. The bad taxi driver en route to Forbidden City at the end was an unlucky misfortune though if Sa'eed had actually pushed the team to actually walk out of the cab, at least to another cab, the team...
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