# What season of Amazing Race do the goofy challenges start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469 "2018-06-05T15:46:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/1 "2018-06-05T15:46:17Z")
My favorite TAR challenge is th one where they dress upas kangaroos and hippity-hop through the streets guided by the periodic table of elements. But I’m watching the early episodes and it’s just people hopping from one taxi to another. When does the goofiness start? ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/2 "2018-06-05T16:44:06Z")
Define goofy. In 5 or 6 they had people searching through the sand near the Pyramids looking for rock scarabs. Which ever season had Rebecca and Adam on it, Adam was a bit whiny, he had to walk across a cove in one of those old brass diver’s helmet and suit. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/3 "2018-06-05T16:49:47Z")
I know why they did it, but the thing I really miss from the early seasons (besides the lack of goofy challenges, which I am not a big fan of) is the Fast Forward on every leg. Yes, I know it was a logistical nightmare for the show runners, but I loved the strategy of having one on every leg and having to decide when to use the one you were limited to. “We’re in second-to-last place. Has the team behind us used theirs already? If not, do we use ours now to make sure they don’t get it? If they have, do we take our chances and save it for the future?” Etc. They should get rid of the head-to-heads they introduced last season and add more FFs, which they haven’t even used at all in several seasons as far as I can recall. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/4 "2018-06-05T17:22:40Z")
Does searching for a clue in a temple full of rats while wearing only socks count as goofy? Because that happened in Season 1. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/5 "2018-06-05T18:09:15Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Does searching for a clue in a temple full of rats while wearing only socks count as goofy? Because that happened in Season 1. I don’t think that counts. The true worshippers went barefoot in the temple, so letting the contestants wear socks was really a concession. “Do something the locals actually do” doesn’t seem goofy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/6 "2018-06-05T18:16:10Z")
Since I complained about getting rid of the FFs, I also don’t like that they (apparently) took out most of the money management aspects of the race. You don’t get your first clue with “X dollars for this leg” anymore. OTOH, getting rid of the NEL penalty of losing all your money was a big plus. Nothing was more embarrassing than watching reality-TV show Americans begging for money on the streets of some impoverished country where other people have to beg to live. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/7 "2018-06-05T18:31:39Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > You don’t get your first clue with “X dollars for this leg” anymore. I’m pretty sure they still do, they just don’t show the whole clue. It really only comes up if someone runs out of money. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-season-of-amazing-race-do-the-goofy-challenges-start/815469/8 "2018-06-06T02:04:25Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I don’t think that counts. The true worshippers went barefoot in the temple, so letting the contestants wear socks was really a concession. “Do something the locals actually do” doesn’t seem goofy to me. So I guess finding a tree named “Fat Maria” and kissing it to receive the clue also doesn’t count as goofy. ETA: I should note that racers didn’t know that Fat Maria was a tree. For all they knew they had to kiss a corpulent woman named Maria.