Amazing Race All-Stars Redux

Cafe Society
1

Just before TAR6 started, I posted a thread proposing casts for an All-Star Amazing Race.

Now that TAR6 has ended, let’s take another look at it.

I maintain a realy interesting race could be had by taking the runners-up and last Philiminees from previous seasons 9the winners don’t need any more money, IMO). The pool now consists of these 18 teams:

From TAR1:
Frank & Margarita (reconciling couple)
Joe & Bill (Team Guido)
Kevin & Drew (The original wiseasses)

From TAR2:
Tara & Wil (The original abuse couple)
Blake & Paige (down homey brother and sister)
Oswald & Danny (The Cuban Team Guido)

From TAR3:
Teri & Ian (Abuse, like everything, gets better with age)
Ken & Gerard (Wunza homo, his brother ain’t)
Derek & Drew (dumb-as-two-posts twin brothers)

From TAR4:
Kelly & Jon (she was the redhead always ready to collapse)
David & Jeff (two guys who have left no impression whatsoever on your memory)
Jon & Al (The clowns)

From TAR5:
Colin & Christie (C&C Abusic Factory)
Brandon & Nicole (Team Blue Lagoon)
Linda & Karen (Bowling Moms)

And now, from TAR6:
Kris & Jon (They of the bad cab Karma)
Adam & Rebecca (Hellboy and his mother/father figure)
Hayden & Aaron (Is it a Philimination or a proposal? It’s both!)

Although, of course, I’m open to suggestions, such as the one from the other thread which would gather all Episode 1 Philiminees and anyone who got booted after starting a leg in first place.

So, assuming they’d want to put themselves through it all again, who would you want to see in an 11- or 12- team All-Star race? And, any of you seasoned world travellers or Dopers abroad, where should they go and what tasks shhould they have to perform?

2

I have seen (and heard!) enough of Hayden, thank you very much. Drop them and bring back Gus & Hera. Go Shirtless Gus! Go Hera-bot!

3

I suppose I should have posted my personal picks:

All listed teams from TAR1. Tha’t’s 3.
Blake & Paige from TAR2. That’s 4.
Maybe Ken & Gerard from TAR3 (Memorable Quote: “Just pretend there’s a box of donuts at the bottom!”, although it’s not as good as Kevin & Drew’s “Swing, you fat bastard, swing!”). That’s 5.
David & Jeff from TAR4 (I believe these were the ones whose fellow racers named them “The Goats”) were the Kris and Jon of their season, great ability but little memorable screen time, but they were very good racers. That’s 6.
Jon and Al from TAR6. Decent racers and a lot of fun to watch. That’s 7.
Colin & Christie from TAR5. TAR6 has made them look like Ken & Barbie in comparison. That’s 8. In fact, everyone from TAR5. That’s 10.
Kris & Jon from TAR6. I’d love to see them go for it again. That’s 11.

If the producers told me I had to do 12, I’d toss in Lena & Kristy (The Mormon sisters who ran afoul of the hay bales) from TAR6. It shoulda been them in the top three instead of Adam & Rebecca.

As far as tasks go, I like the ones which involve some aspect of life in the local setting that may seem totally exotic to the Americans, or perhaps ones where such a bit of normal local life is taken to an extreme.

London: A Detour option: “Mind the Gap”

Racers must use a suspended rope to swing from a Tube platform into the open doors of a train on the other side of the station. They must time their swing so as not to get hit by an approaching train on their own side, and must not fall onto the third rail.

France: Roadblock: Who can do some fast talking?

The racer must convince 25 people to actually enter Eurodisney. Once done, the ticketing agent will give them their next clue.

Tokyo: Fast Forward task: Search through a warehouse containing 2000 Hello Kitty dolls and find the one with three dot-like eyes instead of two.

4

My initial list:

Now that we have this season (and another couple coming) I know that any All-Star edition really will need about 18 teams to get those that erally should be on. Still, I’ll limit it to 14. I think that just works better. My new list with the most recent season added. Changes bolded.

  1. Rob and Brennan - season 1. They won and they were fairly dominant in doing so. Likable and interesting.
  2. Frank and Margarita - season 1. Second place. He could be a villain and they have an interesting dynamic. Solid racers.
  3. Joe and Bill - season 1, third place. Clear villains but also very good racers.
  4. Kevin and Drew - season 1, fourth place. Pretty good racers, but fan favorites and actually funny as opposed to trying hard to be funny but looking like a tool.
  5. Wil and Tara - Season 2, 2nd place. Hateful, evil, and mean. But, they raced well in spite of heavy dysfunction.
    6. Freddy and Kendra - Season 6, 1st place. Not the greatest team ever, but a win is a win and they have some skill.
  6. Teri and Ian - Season 3, 2nd place. With 14 teams, you need a 3rd villain. Along with Team Guido they bring a competent aged racer vibe.
  7. Ken and Gerard - Season 3, 3rd place. Another likable, feel good team. They’d be marked for an early exit due to the level of solid racing teams, but they would be fun to watch.
  8. Jon and Kelly - Season 4, 2nd place. More women needed, but they also race well and, while not the nicest people, do keep things interesting.
  9. Chip and Reichen - Season 4, 1st place. They get in mainly because they won. I could live without seeing them again.
  10. Chip and Kim - Season 5, 1st place. Fan faves. Underdogs. They skew older and minority which this group needs. They are darn fine racers.
  11. Colin and Christie - Season 5, 2nd place. Best team to not win, at least on racing ability. I think they become a clear team to watch hoping they mess up. I also think this level of competition would be an interesting test.
    13. Kris and Jon - Season 6, 2nd place. One of the best and most consistent teams. They bring a high likeability factor. Very similar to Rob and Brennan in smoothness and they could clearly hang as solid racers.
    14. Lena and Kristy- Season 6, 9th place. A very well liked team. Fulfills the requirements of nice, hot chicks, and all women. Plus, we get the what might have been to ease the blow of their irrationally unlucky departure.

Just missing the cut:
15. Linda and Karen - Season 5, 4th place. Frankly, I think they were a fluke. Nice and persistent, but they succeeded mainly due to circumstance. They seem an obvious easy out and I am trying to mostly avoid that.
16. Derek and Drew - Season 3, 4th place. Twins and dominant male athleticism. But we have plenty of that with more personality.
17. Heather and Eve - Season 2, 9th place. Another Who Dat pick. If you’ll remember, they screwed up the last part of a leg and took a cab when it said “Walk to the pit stop”. They lose the redemption spot to Emily and Nancy because they are worse when it comes to racing and they are idiots.
18. Charly and Mirna - Season 5, 6th place. We have enough evil teams.
19. Chris and Alex - Season 2, 1st place. Yeah, they won, but they are utterly forgettable.
20. Flo and Zach. This team does not exist.
**21. Mary and Peach - Season 2, 9th place. Lose out to Lena and Kristy as the likeable females that deserve a second shot. **
22. Nancy and Emily - Season 1, 5th place. Nice story, but their nice story loses out to Kris and Jon, another nice story with much better racing skills.
**23. Danny and Oswald - Season 2, 5th place(?). Lose out to Freddy and Kendra. Winning teams get priority and we have enough nice teams at this point.
**

5

True enough. I assume * and Victimia don’t either?

I agree with you, my list doesn’t have enough women, butI’d probably bring back Mary & Peach before I brought back Jon & Kelly. IIRC, they were another very unexpected departure at the time.

You see fit to include previous winners. An All-winners and 2nd placers could be interesting as well

Rob & Brennan
Frank & Margarita
Chris & Alex
Tara & Wil
Flo & Zach (who do not exist, so it would be an 11 team race)
Teri & Ian
Reichen & Chip
Kelly & Jon
Chip & Kim
Colin & Christie
Freddy & Kendra
Kris & Jon

Now right there, apart from the lack of all-female teams, you’ve got an interesting line-up. A nice blend of looks, talent, dysfunction and abuse (although perhaps a bit heavy on the last: Colin, Ian, Flo :wink: , Wil, and Frank, who looks like an angel compared with his later counterparts).