Amazing Race starts tonight!! on FRIDAY

Cafe Society
1

8:00 PM Eastern, 7 PM Central Little more than an hour from now.

Just now looking at the cast. All new people.

Caution Video Link
A couple (lady has no left arm)
Two women bicyclists
Two women scientists
Couple of Pro Wrestlers
Mother/Daughter Flight Attendants
Couple who were formerly Survivor constestants
Two women Real Estate Agents (and Partners)
Dating Gay Couple
Two Men firefighters
Couple who are Dentists
Dating Straight Couple
Probably too late for zut’s preseason Taxi’s assessment. :mad:

2

I came in here thinking “hey they had an Amazing Race team on Survivor, did they do the opposite?” not realizing that, yes, they did. I just barely remember Whitney, don’t remember Keith at all, though.

3

I watch Survivor…but I don’t remember either.

4

OK, still did not remember Keith and Whitney. They were on the Survivor: South Pacific, the one where Sophie Clarke won and Ozzy and Coach Wade returned to the show. It was Cochran’s first time on Survivor.

The Blondes are Sisters. Definite Eye Candy…but dim (Sun rises in the West?). But now they are gone.

Three teams stumped by a compass challenge? Including fire fighters? Let the snark begin.

The Dentists were scary! Bleached White teeth and bronze skin.

I am rooting for the Scientists!

5

At least we won’t have football delays.

I’m always annoyed by women who admit they are going to use their looks to get ahead. Probably because that was, and always will be, impossible for me.

6

“Men are supposed to let us do things ahead of them because we’re pretty and have big (fake) boobs! What’s WRONG with those firefighters?!”

7

I was a faithful TAR watcher for a long time, but I haven’t watched the last several races. I decided to give it a try again. Pretty good opener, though there are a lot of teams to not like.

The Cambodian/Vietnamese couple are very annoying.

Thank god they’re gone! I normally moan when the “eye candy” goes early, but they weren’t that hot and I was hoping they’d get Philiminated.

Yeah, I’m going to have to be an anti-dentite for the duration of the race. It sucks that they got the Save.

Me, too, though we haven’t gotten to know much about them yet. I like the surfer girl team, too.

8

I’ll have to see how soon CBS posts the show after airing. I may not be able to watch until Sundays anyway, since I work Fri and Sat nights. Posts so far sound like I do want to watch though!

9

Liked it. An actual task that relied on skill and sent teams out in a different order than they arrived.

10

Whitney was married when she went onto Survivor, and she hooked up with Keith on the show then got a divorce from her husband.

11

I had the same first impression but the guy did explain the compass to other teams during the roadblock so he wasn’t a jerk. It might not have been good strategy to do that, but it worked out for them.

12

Taxi Assessment:

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Lisa & Michelle (#MiamiRealtors) - I have to admit, I totally loved Lisa’s “the sun rises in the west” moment, followed by the two beats of incredulous silence. That was perfect. I’m not surprised that Lisa & Michelle are the first out - they didn’t seem to bring much to the Race.

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Michael & Scott (#TheFirefighters) - I’m not really sure that the firefighters are all that much better than the real estate sisters. Yeah, they didn’t get eliminated in this episode (which makes them at least a little “better” by definition, I suppose), but now they’re starting at least four hours behind all the other teams save Keith & Whitney, and Scott looked just exhausted, to boot. They were getting the sappy loser’s edit this week (enough so that I thought they’d be eliminated immediately), and I expect we’ll see more of a loser’s edit next week.
Keith & Whitney (#TeamNashville) - Keith & Whitney seem like they’re in a little better shape than Michael & Scott. They’re still four-plus hours behind the competition, but I think they can beat Michael & Scott, and I’d expect at least one bunching point in the next two weeks that would allow them to catch up to the rest of the pack. Still, they’re fighting against elimination, and I don’t see them being measurably better than any of the eight teams ahead of them. They have Survivor experience, I suppose, but that seems like a nonexistent advantage.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Shelley & Nici (#MomDaughter) - I gotta root for Shelley & Nici, seeing as they’re from Detroit. I also, theoretically, like flight attendants as Racers - with a lot of the Race revolving around airports and travel, any experience in that area should be a huge plus. But…I dunno, They don’t seem all that impressive.
Dennis & Isabelle (#TheDatingCouple) - Dennis & Isabelle should give Keith & Whitney a run for their money in the “no applicable experience” category. I suppose they both have some experience with Southeast Asian culture (and Isabelle has apparently worked abroad as a model), but I’m not seeing that translate into anything tangabile.

“Rapido! Por Favor?” - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Maya & Amy (#SweetScientists) - I know it’s probably the producer’s fault, but I think I’m going to get quickly annoyed with this team for prefacing half their statements with, “as a scientist…” I like their analytical approach, though, so I’m cautiously optimistic. Let’s see what they do next week.
Tim & Te Jay (#CollegeSweethearts) - Tim & Te Jay came in second this episode, which should impress me. Tim’s also a flight attendant - theoretically a great profession for a Racer. (And Te Jay performs in drag as Tia Wanna, which I really really hope becomes relevant this season, because that would be awesome.) But…I’m just not bullish on this team. They don’t seem like they have the stamina needed to go through a whole season. Like Maya & Amy, I’m interested to see how they do next week.

In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Adam & Bethany (#SoulSurfers) - I really like this team (perhaps more than is warranted, truly). They seem to work well together, have a good attitude, and they seem like they can Race well over the long haul. I expect to see them regularly in the top half of the teams at the Mat.
Brooke & Robbie (#TheWrestlers) - I’m not quite sure what to think about the wrestlers here - they were in dead last for the first half of the episode, then Robbie blew past like seven other teams at the Roadblock to find his chest. Too, I think being a professional wrestler is probably not a bad way to prepare for the Amazing Race, what with the travelling, and competition (real or not…), and the spectacle. On the other hand, they apparently have trust issues in their relationship, which may be…interesting, given the stress of the Race.
Kym & Alli (#TheCyclists) - A top-three finish for Kym & Alli. I have a soft spot for competitive women teams, so I think this bodes well for them. On the other hand, they seem less experienced than most of the other teams, Still, I like their attitude, so I think they’ll do OK.

Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Misti & Jim (#TheDentists) - I have to admit this team rubs me the wrong way, what with Jim’s noise about being the most dominant team EVER blah blah blah. But they looked pretty good in this episode, staying near the front nearly the entire time. Their only slip-up was missing the sign-up board for the plane flight, but Jim more than made up for that by nailing the Roadblock. So: fit, smart, great teeth, AND now a get-out-of-Philimination-free pass. How can this team not wind up in the final three?

13

Yes! This is what all episodes should have - tasks that require at least a little skill and thought, and brutally penalize teams for not getting it right, resulting in an obvious ordering by skill.

Yeah - like I said, Jim the dentist really rubs me the wrong way, but he wasn’t really being a jerk to the other Racers. Apparently he (they, I guess) also do a lot of kid’s orthodontics, which… seems like you need some patience and dedication to do.

14

I also liked that he went throught his process at the start of the task:

“Here’s how I think this compass works. I have an alternate method that lets me confirm it. Nope, I was wrong but now I know. Onward with doing this right.”

What I really don’t understand, though, is everybody helping the other teams on how to use the compasses. I’m not big on helping regardless. But you’re all bunched up on what is pretty obviously the last significant task of the leg. That seems like the perfect time for a polite “I’m sorry, but we can’t help other teams right now.”

15

Forgot Rob and Amber already, did you? They were on The Amazing Race twice and on Survivor, i dunno, three times?

The Amazing Editors did a great job this episode. From the dentists’ pearly whites, to filming Phil’s task intro just as the first team was getting in (“Hi, Mr Phil!”), to showing where the treasure chest was in relation to where the teams were digging, to the ultra-blonde moment of thinking the sun rises in the west.

16

Jim rubs me the wrong way, too, and I’m really trying to figure out how much of that is dentist/hygienist/husband/wife blowback from my lasting bad taste that the last dentist/assistant/husband/wife team (Lake & Michelle) left. Although I have to admit that Jim and Misti don’t have the abusive husband/victim wife vibe that Lake & Michelle did.

17

The two blondes were very pretty and very entitled. The firemen should’ve explained karma to them at the mat. Maybe they did and it was edited out.

The digging blonde was the prettier of the two, but they both seemed like selfish rich bitches who grew up as privileged brats.

The wrestlers surprised me.

18

“The sun rises in the west” will go down in Amazing Race history but for me the best moment was watching the wrestlers sink their little boat. They didn’t even have to row it! They just had to sit down and keep their cool!

Nasty Blackbeard laughter from the Amazing Editors was mean but I still enjoyed it.

19

Had to DVR Friday, finally got to watch last night. Glad to see the blondes gone - yes, karma can be a real bitch sometimes. At least they don’t have to worry about lugging their makeup cases all over the world. :smiley:

Next week looks fun - pancake races! Heading to Olney perhaps? (It definitely didn’t look like Liberal KS!)

20

It seems like there’s an inverse unnecessary boobage law of The Amazing Race. Women who show the most unnecessary boobage in their intros (like the Real Estate Girls lounging around in bikinis) leave earliest in the competition. This rule doesn’t apply to someone like Bethany, who is a professional surfer.

But thank god they’re gone. The Real Estate Girls were dumb as hell. The one doing the shovel task looked like she was constantly posing with it.

I agree with Zut and see the Surfers, the Bikers, and the Wrestlers in the top three. Not the Dentists though, they have MELTDOWN written all over them.