# Amazing Race 11/23 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342 "2004-11-23T20:05:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/61 "2004-11-25T00:48:53Z")
I hope so too, **Mama Tiger**. I looked through that website that **lisacurl** found, and they’ve got listed both TARflies and TWOP under favorite forums. Here’s to a spectacular crash and burn! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/62 "2004-11-25T03:05:03Z")
> [@Just Some Guy](#): > > And it’s really hard to see this as editting. While I can believe Jonathan doesn’t treat his wife like that continually the fact remains that he did treat his wife like that. He might not constantly belittle her but he did an awful lot of it on camera. Yeah you can capture a bad portion to make a person look not so nice but when what was captured was this bad its hard to believe that it is just the result of editting. That’s the worst thing about him…it seems like a lot of them fight. Even team Geritol has gotten snippy with each other, but they seem to respect each other at least. He doesn’t, he’s treating Victoria like crap - in a very, scary way. (As is Hellboy. Another very scary person). ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/63 "2004-11-25T03:37:36Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > He doesn’t, he’s treating Victoria like crap - in a very, scary way. (As is Hellboy. Another very scary person). But viewers - i.e. us - thrive on the ones who are scary. The producers must choose some of the couples on this criterion. Certainly, by giving Adam and Rebecca the tagline “Former dating couple”, they are fuelling expectations that they will go the way of most other “former dating couples”, who end up former once again (rateher than dating). Similarly with Team Botox, they raise our expectations of scummy behaviour by asking Jon to drive his Ferrari (_black_ Ferrari) out of his driveway for the camera, while providing him with the moniker “entrepreneur” (hee-hee), just so that we will simultaneously turn to our partner and say “Wanker!” It’s difficult to say how much of the subsequent rage is staged, but that’s the point. As soon as we can point to a character and say that was staged, ratings will plummet. As soon, indeed, as we start talking about “characters” rather than people, ratings will plummet. This is one manipulative show. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/64 "2004-11-25T09:45:47Z")
How totally awesome that the show went to Oslo and Holmenkollen-- cuz I’ve been there! And walked up the stairs to the ski jump! I can totally sympathize with the navigational difficulty getting to that high point though, since the roads to it are quite winding. However, there is just no excuse for M&M-- learn to drive a stick people! And Gus-- it’s a race, so transfer some of that weight from your gut to your right foot and _step on it_. Driving 10km below the speed limit will get you sent home mighty fast. In fact, this was totally my dream TAR leg, since I’ve done my share of archery and competitive paddling. That unusual mix in the boats really shouldn’t have been a problem-- in a large boat, the most important factor is timing, not necessarily fitness or athleticism (except insofar as being athletic and having a sense of timing often go hand in hand…) But that skiskate choice-- ouch! Some teams are going to be bitching and groaning the next leg. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/65 "2004-11-25T10:19:26Z")
> [@Mama Tiger](#): > > Oh, it gets worse: Jonathan came out of lurk today (he’s been lurking under a variety of nics on forums all over the web for at least a month – you can tell it’s him because he praises himself in his posts and he _always_ spells “does” as “dose”) over at the Tarflies forum and is now posting under his own name. So far I’ve read some of his \ anonyomous posts over at TARflies. Wow, he’s even more of an ass than I thought. “I think Tigar [sic] Mama is nuts!” Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/66 "2004-11-25T18:30:57Z")
Coming very late to this party. Taped it, didn’t have a chance to watch until last night. From the quick Iceland montage to the look of fear on Phil’s face at the hands of a lady wrestler (I’m with you on that one, **CROdell** ), this was a superb episode! I repeat my protest about the lack of a “Destinations” link on the official page. I want to know more! Lots of snippy behavior, I can only assume that everyone’ rhythms are being thrown off by the extremes of day/night timing during summer in the high latitudes. Nice zipline to start off with, and like the twist of the Kim Memorial Roadblock Rule. I didn’t get the boat thing either, it had a sticky film of “Survivor” residue all over it. But the Detour! The best in ages! When teams feel the need to change their mind multiple times about which they will do, you know the producers have chosen well. Let’s hope the rest of the season is this good. From the [Leaderboard](http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race6/route/leaderb.shtml): **Kris/Jon** : Still haven’t seen enough of this team to get a feel for them, but they are certainly good competitors. Kudos! **Assathon/Victoria** : The worst thing about this prick, from a viewer’s point of view, is that at least Colin was a good racer. They lukced into second place this time around. Victoria? Hey, if you stay with a person, you deserve them. **Robin Hood/Hera** : Nice shot! If the detours this season are more evenly balanced toward skill this way, they might have a chance. **Hayden/Aaron** : Liked 'em last week, not so much this time around. Aaron came off as kind of a crybaby with the skiing, but then again, it could still be severe jet lag accompanied by screwed up day/night timing. **Lori/Bolo** : Not so much snipping this time. In fact, not much screentime at all. Is there a new editor this season who just likes to see people fight? **Adam/Rebecca** : I’ll take credit for last week’s call on Adam, **jayjay**. He’s a real freak in every sense of the term. I swear if we hired a PI to look into this, we’d find out that he had killed Rebecca’s favorite pet while they were apart. **Don/Mary Jean** : Hey, yeah, why _haven’t_ we seen other senior teams ask for a discount? This team has spunk. If they play their cards right, they could be for the older TAR teams what Linda/Karen were for female suburbanites. **Freddy/Kendra** : Another team lost in the shuffle. They seemed more congenial than the others this leg. Guess that puts you on the cutting room floor this season. **Lena/Kristy** : Nothing was more priceless than the look in their eyes as they glanced at Victoria in the Viking village. I hope this team is around for awhile. **Meredith/Maria** : Obvious cannon fodder from the get-go. Learn to drive a stick! At least that cuts down on the number of women with frizzy hair this season. I can’t tell half of them apart yet! So I have to ask: Any [All-Star](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287713) candidates yet? ---
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/67 "2004-11-25T21:55:42Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > But viewers - i.e. us - thrive on the ones who are scary. The producers must choose some of the couples on this criterion. Rebecca, a Virginia Beach native, was interviewed by the local paper and mentioned that she had been considered for TAR5, but the producers decided that her on-screen chemistry with her partner at the time was too bland. So, apparently for TAR6, she delibrerately chose Hellboy, a former boyfriend with whom she would have a nice stressful on-camera relationship. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/68 "2004-11-25T22:17:09Z")
> [@ChordedZither](#): > > Rebecca, a Virginia Beach native, was interviewed by the local paper and mentioned that she had been considered for TAR5, but the producers decided that her on-screen chemistry with her partner at the time was too bland. > > So, apparently for TAR6, she delibrerately chose Hellboy, a former boyfriend with whom she would have a nice stressful on-camera relationship. Okaaay… Y’know, if this IS the case, and if she basically “got back together” with him just so they’d make it onto this show, she’s even worse than him. He’s just psycho. She’s a manipulative user with no concern for how playing him like this will affect him. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342/69 "2004-11-26T01:46:49Z")
> [@ChordedZither](#): > > Rebecca, a Virginia Beach native, was interviewed by the local paper and mentioned that she had been considered for TAR5, but the producers decided that her on-screen chemistry with her partner at the time was too bland. > > So, apparently for TAR6, she delibrerately chose Hellboy, a former boyfriend with whom she would have a nice stressful on-camera relationship. Doesn’t surprise me at all. Those moneymen (moneypeople?) know how we tick, and they’ve had five series to refine the formula. They _must_ have a (male) hate figure (who will last the course, i.e. be around to be hated for most of the series) - Colin, Jon. Their staple duo has become (was it always? I didn’t watch until last series) the strapping good-looking model couples. Around these they like to weave a bit of diversity (senior citizens, dad & daughter, gay couple, bowling moms), because these are the teams we will root _for_. (Obviously, we will root against the hate figures.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-23/276342.md?page=3)