Didnt he say that he wrote “School Of Rock”? I am pretty sure he was also an actor in it as well…
Besides, those things weighed 100 pounds each. Would you really want to be the one at the bottom trying to stop one coming at you at 30 or 40 miles an hour?
You can get decent quality HD cameras that fit in your hand. High end HD cameras are not any larger than regular pro cameras for TV shows. The Travel Channel shoots their stuff, like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmer, in HD. So they could probably do, they just don’t choose to.
50 pounds. They had to stack 200 pounds worth, and 4 of them made that, apparently.
Well, there goes my theory.
Yes, he’s a writer and an actor.
He’s pretty awesome, I’m so afraid they’re going to go out early and most of my love for the race will be gone (like the San Diego comic book guys from last season).
Once the carrier thing broke, I would’ve hopped on it (with my cheese), and ridden it down like a sled.
I like the stunt guys and the older athletic couple.
None of the teams really tried this on purpose, but was there any reason they couldn’t just heave all four cheese wheels down the hill and then pick them up at the bottom?
Glad to see the bickering couple leave; that stuff gets old fast.
I’d like to know who they usually get that cheese off that hill. Those carriers didn’t look up to the job at all.
I was wondering that, too. Maybe they were afraid others would steal them? I did see a couple rolled off into some woods, so maybe that’s why. Naw, probably no one thought of it.
There was also the angry looking homeowner who watched a cheesewheel smash through his fence. 
I’d bet they were explicitly told they could not do that. While I laughed and laughed at that challenge, 50 lbs. of 30 mph of uncontrollable cheese weaponry could do some serious damage - especially if everyone was doing it. Could’ve laid that town to waste.
I must be in the minority. Cheese related mayhem just didn’t strike my funnybone.
In the highlights for the next episode, did Linda lose her way and her husband? Because she was crying all alone by the side of the road and I didnt see no husband.
On your marks, get set…
GO!
I liked the de-emphasis on airport drama this episode, and the fact that the choice of the better flight was complicated by the additional train journey at the end. Nice twist. And an actual, non-manufactured footrace at the end! Awesome! Also, hah hah! People fall down! Wood thing break, cheese go roll! Hah hah! Look like that hurt! Hah hah! Ahem. I admit I laughed. I also admit I’d like to see a “pound the other team in the 'nads” task, but maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, time for the…
Taxi Assessment
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Jennifer and Preston (Southern dating couple) - It’s rather satisfying to see THAT couple–the ones who decide to participate in the Race to strengthen their relationship and decide if they’re right for each other–crash and burn and get Philiminated first. That saves me from writing “a highly stressful competitive event that stretches over weeks and is designed to produce tension and poor decision-making is not representative of real life, and participating in such an event to strengthen your relationship only serves to reveal that your decision-making skills have already been negatively affected even before the Race” every week until the inevitable meltdown. Now I just have to write it once. And, seriously–did y’all notice Preston was carrying Jennifer during the race to the mat? The chance of this being an effective strategy are pretty slim, and if it actually is an effective strategy, that says a lot about…something. Something which I’m presently too bored to speculte on further. Sayonara, Jennifer and Preston. I’ll see you next week in the intro.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Linda and Steve (west Virginian couple) - Linda and Steve are huge fans of the Race, and have watched every season. Apparently Linda thought she was just watching “The Amazing,” because she certainly didn’t seem to expect the “Race” part. And…look, seriously. I’m usually sympathetic to racers who are giving their all and are just not as physically fit as the other teams, and I’m usually unhappy about husbands berating their wives, and I’m usually excited about teams who are not models/actors/cheerleaders/whatever. But for God’s sake, if you have to be pushed up a hill by your teammate on the very first episode, then someone, somewhere, has made a serious misjudgment, and that someone is likely you. One small bright spot for this team is that Steve read the omens and decided on the risky strategy of humping four cheeses at once down the hill, correctly intuiting that a small gamble might land them in not-last place, while avoiding the gamble would certainly leave them trailing other teams, as Linda would never make it back up the hill. His gamble paid off, and Linda & Steve are with us for one more episode. They are, however, unlikely to grace the screen for longer than that.
Christie and Jodi (blonde flight attendants) - According to Christie & Jodi, their greatest strength was that they’re flight attendants, and they knew all the ins and outs of travel and can schmooze the flight crew and so forth. Great; I look forward to seeing that. Now explain how it was that they wound up taking the train that arrived later? Surely they knew departure time and arrival time don’t necessarily correlate? Did they not realize a “train” is also a mode of transportation, much like a “plane”? Hopefully for them this was a one-off brainfart, otherwise these ladies will not be around for much longer.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
LaKisha and Jennifer (black sisters) - I watched the team previews on cbs.com, and one of the sisters said, verbatim, about their Race strategy, “being mean takes too much thought.” Now, that’s a great line. Is she saying, correctly, that being bitchy is just a waste of time? Or is she saying things that take thought should be avoided? An intriguing conundrum. Anyway, not a lot of screen time for these sisters, which perhaps means they’ll be around for a while, logging time later. However, they also landed in eighth place, so I’m stashing this team here near the bottom of the rankings, subject to a rapid rise if future placements warrant. Or not.
Cara and Jaime (red-headed cheerleaders) - Cara & Jaime are confident women with experience traveling and experience together as teammates. Cheerleading teammates, but teammates nonetheless. They think this gives them a big advantage. Maybe; I’m skeptical. Let’s see what this team does next week.
“Rapido! Por Favor?” - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Mel and Mike (gay father and son) - Now I think this is interesting–this is the token gay couple, only they’re not a “couple,” per se. More importantly, they’re determined to have fun on the Race, which I think is the right attitude. With Mike’s comedic background, look for some good quotes from this team, for however long they last. Which might not be that long–TAR is for young people, and Mel is by far the oldest contestant at 68. (As an interesting side note, Brad is 52, Linda is 52, Michael is 51, and Margie is 50, making five teams with one member 50 plus.)
Amanda and Kris (personable dating couple) - This is the other, non-Jennifer-and-Preston, dating couple. And truth be told, I’m cautiously optimistic about this team. They’ve been dating for some time, and are NOT on this Race as a relationship-tester, they’re on it to have fun. I’m getting a Kris-and-Jon vibe from them, and I hope I’m right. Another team without much screen time, so let’s hope they go far and do it happily.
Brad and Victoria (older married couple) - This is sort of the token older couple, although they’re not actually much older than the other married couple Linda & Steve. Considering Linda & Steve’s likely fate, though, we can probably safely think of Brad & Victoria as the remaining older couple. Again, little screen time for this team, so I’m somewhat optimistic about how far they’ll go. In fact, they strike me as fairly smart and athletic, and I’m amazed they made it up and down the cheese hill without falling.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Margie and Luke (deaf son and mother) - This team thinks they have two big advantages: their sooper-sekkret communication whereby they can talk right in front of other teams and not be understood, and Luke’s amazing memory which will help them in remembering the instructions in the clues. Now, the latter I can respect, although it remains to be proven. The former seems like pretty weak sauce. I mean, you ever heard of whispering? Yeah, other teams can do that. And it’s nice how Luke wants to prove deaf people are capable and everything, but do people really think deaf people are stupid or something? Seriously, I’ve never heard that (pun not intended). And even if so, I don’t think bungee-jumping off a dam or rolling cheese down a hill is exactly sufficient counter-proof. Anyway, Luke has a cause, and it seems to have guided this team through to a first-place finish this week, so hurray for them.
Mark and Michael (short stuntmen) - Now, since a fair number of TAR tasks can be boiled down to, “do something scary,” one would think that stuntmen would have a natural advantage. And that may be so. However, a) everyone knows that, on a Detour, you choose the scary option, b) despite the timing of commercial breaks, I don’t recall anyone ever chickening out, and c) for most of these scary tasks (as for the one in this episode), your placement is determined by the time you get there, not how long it took to complete the task. No extra points for doing it fearlessly. On the other hand, given that stuntmen are probably pretty physically fit, and this team has some extensive travel experience, this just might be the team to beat.
Tammy and Victor (Asian brother/sister) - An impressive first leg out of this team. A little luck, to be sure, but only a minute out of first place is not a bad place to be.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
No one this week–you have to earn this position.
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
Great, now I have Flight of the Valkyries in my head.
Isn’t he Mr. S-h-n . … just call him “Ned”?
Could you explain it for me? This is my first season of the Amazing Race. I am assuming that your rank at the end is based on elapsed time vs. what order you come in, but I am not sure. Thanks!
Me neither…in fact, it made me a little annoyed for some reason. I guess I don’t like a task that is SO difficult that no one seemed to be able to do it properly…especially when they don’t tell you what’s allowed and what isn’t. Phil said they had to use the traditional cheese carriers, but he never specified whether alternate methods were ok.
When the teams got to the bungee jump, my husband turned to me and said, “you’d be doing that one.” It looked horrifying.
That would be me, too. If supervenusfreak and I ever got on the Race, I would be the one doing all the height tasks, because he’s afraid of heights. So am I, but I’m incapable of eating disgusting things…they come right back up. He is quite capable of eating disgusting things (which he proves every time he has squid at the Chinese buffet…eurgh…). So in Roadblocks, we’ve decided I would be doing the jumping out of airplanes or off of dams and he’d be doing the “eat a quart of vomit-phlegm soup” stuff.
Nothing to do with “elapsed time.” Entirely to do with the order of arrival at the Amazon Bathmat. Being timely at a task is only relevant in so far as it affects your arrival order at the Pit Stop.
If you want to start a task at the same time as anyone else (or earlier) then you must hustle your butt so yo get to the task first (or at least early). If you don’t move to get there, you had damn well better complete it faster that the folks who got there first to have a chance of passing them.
Okay, seriously, how awesome and adorable was Phil last night when he signed “You are team number one”? Stuff like that is the reason why this is the best show on television. Also – I was watching the Race with my daughter, who is almost two, and every time someone would push or get shouty or whiny, she would wag her finger at the TV and say, “Be nice! Stop it!” Love that kid. And my husband has promised to take me to Switzerland “one of these days,” so hopefully I will be able to find out the Truth about all that cheese and those “traditional” rickety transport back-sled-packs.
I love Margie & Luke and Mel & Mike, and to a lesser extent I like Mark & Michael, Amanda & Kris, and Brad & Victoria. Tammy & Victor are so Type-A and so competitive that I want to smack them around. Everyone else is “meh” to “bleh.” I will give props to Christie & Jodi for recognizing the truth about TAR: “You only need to be faster than one person” – at this point, anyway.
What’s with the flight attendants and their luggage? Did they really bring ones that can only be dragged behind them? I mean really that’s the dumbest thing they could have brought, it has to be a lot slower to drag them, even if they can put them on their backs.
I’m glad that they didn’t just say go here, they made them figure out where there was. The yodeling was great too.