Amazing Race 7: Starts 3/1!

Cafe Society
61

Excellent start to the season, I can tell all the teams apart already, they are all pretty distinct, unlike previous season (esp. last) when there always seemd to be 3 or 4 indistinguishable teams.

There was a n older team that got pretty far in something like season 3 or 4, can’t rememebr their names, but I tink they made it to the final four.

I also like all the teams to varying degrees and I wouldn’t start making guesses about who will win yet, things can change rapidly and they didn’t even have to do a Roadblock.

Did you know: In Peru you are required by law to yell “Whooooooo!” when going down a zip line? It’s true.

62

That IS something I noticed last night, about the ability to tell the teams apart this time from the get-go. Half the pack isn’t interchangeable models/actors who all just kind of blend in together. They even managed to make two Blonde-Woman teams who are easily distinguishable (if only because one of those teams is packing more silicone than a surgical-supplies outlet and the other team has the love child of Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore on it).

I didn’t realize how model-numb last season made me until I thought about last night’s opener…

63

First off I’m congratulating myself for remembering to set the damn DVR for the season. :cool: I hate to jump into a show in the middle.

Lynn & Alex:didn’t make much of an impression

Ryan & Chuck: I liked the redneck connection and was sorry to see them go.

Brian & Greg:solid, able to think for themselves, made good decisions

Rob & Amber: No preconcieved opinion but I feel like I should hate them on principle or something.

Ron & Kelly: They better move their asses if they want to stay in the race

Ray & Deana: I do not like him. Purely subjective here

Uchenna & Joyce: I liked them from the start. I loved them on the zip ride.:eek:

Megan & Heidi: Too blonde, too boobylicious, too bitchy

Debbie & Bianca: You go girls. I thought they were making a mistake switching detours but it worked for them

Meredith & Gretchen: Old age and treachery will outlast youth and greed every time. (not that I think they are old or treacherous, I just wanted to say that)

Susan & Patrick: I liked them until she started whining in the cab. Suck it up Mom

64

Are you sure? I think the correct phrase is OH MY GOD!

65

I could’ve sworn it was “Holy Cannoli!”

66

Actually, it’s not very. One dead-giveaway as to whether or not They’re Real is that rock-hard never-change-shape look.

C’mon, guys…obvious nickname: Boobsie Twins (or does noone else remember the Bobbsey Twins…?)

Sorry to see the Hillbillies go. Would’ve much rather seen Team POW/Beauty Queen gone. Will every city remind him of downtown Baghdad?

The brothers are surprisingly funny. They’re my instant favorites.

I think everyone’s so focused on where Ramber is, because they’re the only team that every knows their name. Based on the introductions at the airport, the teams don’t spend a lot of time schmoozing before the race starts.

67

I think I fell in love with them at the airport, when they were looking at Debbie and Bianca appearing to be more than friends, and one said to the other “Those girls are … never mind.” That’s got my vote for Funniest First Leg Moment.

68

I was kinda annoyed by Rob and Amber taking what I considered to be more of a cab, although I guess it qualified as a bus. I remember the same thing happeneing last season or the season before that also.

69

Thank you…that’s who he looks like. Everytime that I saw the commercial that showed the close up of his face after the zip line ride I thought, hmmm…that guy looks very familiar. Now I can sleep at night. Also, his wife Joyce looks like the woman who can bug eyes way out (of Letterman Stupid Human Trick and various other “talent” shows fame). Unfortunately, that’s all I can think of when I see them onscreen.

70

And they’re off!

I’m much happier with the pack this season, because you can actually distinguish between teams. This is more like Season 5 or 4, and I’m very happy with that.

That being said, every team that dug in that 7.40 sandpile is stupid, especially the Boobsey Twins (and count on the doper from California to come up with that nickname) when they saw Mr. Suckitup and Wimpy-me digging in the next pile. Hello girls, but they saw your pile’s time and never came back. That’s called a clue…

I’m sad to see the Hillbillies go (zut may I suggest “Fixing the damn Harleys”), but they were among the stupid group digging in the wrong sandpile, and they should have taken advantage of their language proficiency and left the other groups. I know all those teams just stepped off the plane together, but if Ryan and Chuck had walked around the corner and found a local, and they would have been in the front of the pack instead of screwing around in the peloton and providing directions to teams that beat them in a footrace.

Rob and Amber did took advantage of their fame to strike out on their own, and they nearly finished first. BestFriends4Ever did the same thing at the airport when they borrowed a cellphone and checked flight times.

The moral of this story is to be gregarious with strangers, and not other competitors. Any team that can remember that will do well.

BF4E did hassle each other too much before starting the detour, but I’m going to call that a first leg hiccup. They were first at that point, and they knew they had at least an hour’s lead over the rest of the pack (and they actually had an hour and a half’s lead!) so five minutes of squabbling isn’t so bad after going full on for nearly two days. If they make that kind of mistake again, they aren’t likely to be as lucky.

Two random asides: what’s with all the drinking? Rob had a bottle in his hand every time I saw him sitting down.

And… did anyone else see an ad for Friendship sour cream featuring the eliminated pair in the last third of the show–before we knew they were cut? The ad didn’t say they were cut, but the coincidence was freaky. If that trend continues, holy fuck will I be slamming CBS for doing that.

71

Okay here are my two drachmas…

  • I’m a fan of Rob and Amber. I don’t necessarily agree they should have been allowed on the show, but that won’t stop me from cheering them on. (“Holy Canoli”, I still laugh everytime I saw that promo!)

  • I was quite pissed off that the teams who were on the 7:00 flight were allowed to change to the 7:40 flight. It just didn’t seem fair. There were a set amount of seats available on each flight. I liken that to someone who was supposed to take the 7:40 flight, but checked for availability on the 6:00 flight and got tickets for that because there was room.

  • I like the cash idea for the first place teams, but I always thought that the first place team should get a trip to the same country/city where the check-in is. So if you win the leg in Taipei China, you win a trip to Taipei China.

  • Phil never mentioned the 6 Roadblock rule, or Yeilds (mind you, I don’t think he mentioned the Yeild rule until the first Yeild last season).

MtM

72

Likewise with the Roadblock. Since there wasn’t one last night (which threw me a little), he didn’t go over the rules yet.

73

I like the cash; but I wonder if one reason for it is that some of the previous trip winners may have reacted with “I never want to get on a plane/leave the US again”.

74

Judging from my recent flying experience, it probably has to do with American Airlines providing the vacation “service”

75

Is that a local brand or something? Because I didn’t see it. I’ve never even heard of Friendship sour cream.

76

Initially I thought they’d get a penalty for this, but I guess it falls under the same rules as replacing a car provided by the show: “If your plane is delayed, breaks down, or becomes unsafe to fly, teams may request another plane…however, NO time credit will be given for this unfortunate situation.” Besides, it looked like the 7a.m. plane was delayed over three hours by the time they left – it wouldn’t surprise me if the plane-swap decision was made by the producers themselves.

77

Hey! I was just checking out the show’s updated-now-that-the-leg-is-over website, and I am ecstatic to report that the Destinations links have returned, giving interesting info about the scenery and localeswe see the racers blur right by. It seems to have been expanded, as well!

CBS must have heard me complaining about their absence during TAR6. Yeah, that’s it.

78

I hated Rob in his first season of Survivor but he won me over in the All Stars show. He’s the fun guy you love to hate - it’s fun to have a villain on the show without inciting real rage like Jonathan or Collin. He says some pretty funny stuff and I am amused at Amber’s apparent embarrassed looks over the things he says sometimes. I do get the feeling they are a good couple, though. It didn’t bother me that they used their fame to get ahead, it’s no worse than teams of pretty girls using their looks or the midget using her height to get special preference.

Is it just me or did I hear the POW guy pull aside the other teams and tell them he wanted everyone to know that he was a POW? I raised my eyebrow at that, it seemed like he was fishing for admiration or sympathy or whatever, but I could have misheard and maybe the other team asked him about it.

I like that I can tell the teams apart too. I was impressed at the now-eliminated guys speaking Portugese in their southern accents, I can usually understand when people speak basic Spanish but I could not decipher anything they said because of their accents! I wonder if the locals could comprehend them. Speaking another language (especially a commonly used one like Spanish) is a very big plus in this game.

I also couldn’t believe the number of people who dug in the sand without even checking the times! I could kind of understand those who came later would just assume that the big group was digging in the best time pile, but the first girls talked about what to do and decided ‘we’re here now, let’s just dig here." WTF? Take 30 seconds and make sure you are in the right place! Decisions like that won’t get them too far, and the others that followed blindly aren’t much smarter. Never assume that you are better off trusting other teams’ decisions!

Did anyone else notice that the gay couple seemed to take a different way to the beach than the others? They said they were in a rickshaw but it didn’t look like the other ones and they came from a different way. I wondered if they didn’t follow the instructions right and if they would be penalized for it.

79

I think that’s a good way to put it. While Colin and Jonathan come across as legitimately not-nice people, and have personalities that you can identify as ones you wouldn’t want to be around, I think of Rob as a silent movie villian - he’s twirling his mustache all the while winking at the camera. I’d happily have a beer with him, and talk Survivor strategy (though I’m sure he’s sick to death of doing that every time he walks into a pub).

80

I thought he told Ray he didn’t want everyone knowing. Maybe I heard it wrong, though.