TAR 11/10: "Speed Dating Is The Worst"

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…I have no idea if there’s yet another pre-empt because of a game. All I know is that the Pats aren’t playing this weekend, so it ain’t them.

They’re in Abu Dhabi this week. The Afghanimals must be overjoyed! Plus in the preview No Brain (I think) declares that Pinky has “mental issues”. He only now realizes this?!?

CBS does have the NFL doubleheader today. Adjust DVR’s accordingly!

60 Minutes is on right now on the East coast.

Here in the DC area it’s 15-20 minutes late. I still don’t get why CBS says the 1 o’clock game doesn’t end until 4:30, yet they seem to think the 4:30 game will end at 7:30. Hasn’t happened yet.

That is pretty silly on their part, agreed. I suppose we should be grateful that CBS pushed 60 Minutes back to 7:30, finally, but they really need to follow Fox’s lead and not schedule anything non-NFL until 8pm.

The theory behind 1pm games being longer, somehow, than the 4:25 games is that there are a bunch of 1pm games, any one of which could go to overtime. All the other broadcasts can switch to the longest game once their games end. There is only supposed to be one 4:25 “National Game” so the odds of it going long are much less.

And then we get tonight, where after the National Game ended…they switched to another game that ran longer!

sigh

The baseball wives keep being referred to as bunnies, and in their TAR bio they use the term themselves. That wouldn’t happen to be Playboy bunny, would it? Just out of curiosity, of course; it’s not like I’ll go search out their pictures if so. Really, I swear!

For those of us who are completely clueless - what’s TAR?

The Amazing Race.

Ellis, I asked the “bunny” question several weeks ago, and don’t think it was ever answered.

Bunnies, explained.. Just a nickname, I guess. The origin of it feels contrived, though. I did find it funny that they were so concerned with not revealing the location of the correct dates and then they ended up last.

I thought Nicole and Travis might be headed towards elimination with an Express Pass in their pocket. I did find their approach to conflict at the task very interesting, with her saying basically, " You can tell me later how much I fucked up but right now, let’s get this done." That seems like such an Emergency Room staff quality to me.

Tim and Marie continue to grate. Does anyone think their over-the-top arguing at the date task was overdone and their way of trying to make it difficult for other teams to concentrate? I was embarrassed for them when she was complaining right in front of the workers that the dates were “disgusting”. And then Tim went and called them prunes. :smack:

The Afganimals are growing on me. There. I said it.

That non-elimination was pretty darn expected.

Taxi Assessment:

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Hoskote & Naina and Rowan & Shane and Chester & Ephraim and Brandon & Adam and Tim & Danny - Already eliminated.

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Ally & Ashley (holding steady) - So Ally & Ashley once again compete for last place, and again finish just out of trouble. This marks four episodes in a row where they’ve finished second-to-last. So maybe Nicky & Kim are in worse shape for next episode, but Ally & Ashley are just biding time until they go home.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Nicky & Kim (holding steady) - Not a good episode for Nicky & Kim, who lose all the advantage they had from a comfortable second-place finish last week, and fall all the way to the back of the pack. Still, they’re saved from elimination this week, although they’ll have to do some kind of worthless sit-on-a-park-bench-type task next week, so they might need a little help to survive.

“Rapido! Por Favor?” - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Leo & Jamal (holding steady) - Another good leg for Leo & Jamal. The decision to jump on the only-ten-minute-earlier flight could have been risky, just because of the vagaries of flight delays, but it wound up being a non-factor. (With the two direct flights taking off and landing at the same airport, and presumably following the same flight path, most of the reasons for delays would apply to both planes anyway. Still, moves that seperate you from the pack aren’t to be taken lightly.) Or, actually, the only-ten-minute-earlier flight maybe was a factor: Leo & Jamal seem to have kept about a ten-minute lead through the mosque and the Detour and onto the “luxury yacht,” so that may have been a direct factor in their win.
Tim & Marie (holding steady) - For all the yelling and over-hurriedness on the Detour task, Tim & Marie did finish ahead of both Ally & Ashley and Nicky & Kim. Not stiff competition, to be sure, but showing more attention to detail than I thought this team capable of.

In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Jason & Amy (holding steady) - Jason & Amy seem to have this “always a bridesmaid” thing going on, where for the last five episodes running (save for the abortive Fast Forward attempt) they’ve been battling for first place, but not quite getting there. They did choose what I thought was the better of the two Detour options, but the advantage was only a few minutes.

Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Travis & Nicole (holding steady) - A slight amount of stressed peevishness from Travis & Nicole, which was either substantially not shown or given more consideration by the editors than it was worth. They fall to third, but this is also the sixth time in seven episodes that they’ve finished in the top three, so that bodes well for making it tho the final three.

My 11 & 9 y.o. daughters asked me “If it’s so hot, why are the women all wearing jackets?” Which led to a discussion of the social and legal requirements of Arabic countries. They decided that they’d never for any reason go to any country that has clothing laws for women, but not men. Which I cannot argue with.

Early on when the Ice Girls were misreading the first clue (“Abu Dubai”) I was hoping they were going to wind up in the wrong country.

Me too.

At least they made the “sit in a racecar driven by a professional” challenge something of a challenge. As I recall they did a road block at the Le Mans circuit years back which consisted of only having to sit in the car. {walk over to Wikipedia…} Yes, it was Amazing Race 4 (Reichen & Chip’s season), the challenging bit was having to change 4 tires before getting in the car for a lap.

They are growing on me too. I like their enthusiasm and the fact that they never complain, just get it done.

But I also like the relationship that Jason and Amy have, they don’t argue or fuss, just help each other out the best they can.

Once they’re all grown up have them walk around with their dad. And everybody completely topless.

Then ask them what country they want to move to next.

Women are allowed to be topless everywhere men are in New York state. Possibly others as well.

Agreed. That was a great way to make a “sit there passively” challenge actually challenging.