The Amazing Race

An avid viewer of the first installment of CBS' OTHER reality-based television show, I was quite happy to see The Amazing Race 2 had managed to appear in my TV Guide listings this year.

The Amazing Race follows 11 teams of 2 people with some sort of pre-existing relationship (mother/daughter, best friends, etc.) on a race around the world. Teams must follow clues to discover the next destination, and how to get there is often up to them to figure out. Along the way are various "pit stops." Be the last to arrive at most of these, and your team is eliminated from the race. No fuss, no muss...the quickest survive. NO tribal councils, NO voting!

That is what makes this show so wonderful. Contestants are forced to use not only their strength and wits, but also their (deep breath) intelligence in order to survive. The Race becomes the sole arbitor of who remains, and the viewer ends up having as much fun following the contestants as they do following the ever-surprising route. This is competition at its most basic, and simple is wonderful!

Keep this series alive...it's quite simply the most entertaining of the entire genre.

WOW! This tv show is good enough to beat Survivor but they belong in the same network so... Anyway, I like how they put it together--[11 teams with 2 people in each team]. The one that really gives colour to the show is the contestants and their personality. The editing was really great & I think they should win an Emmy for this. There's alot of action in it and great games. After watching an episode you just can't wait for the next one. Right now I heard its the second best reality show next to Survivor so again GOOD JOB CBS! One thing I love about this show is the places, every episode they go to different country. >

Once upon a time I really enjoyed the Amazing Race. It was fun, exciting, and sometimes heartbreaking. The contestants were people you could cheer for... or against. Of late, though, I have lost interest because of a decision by the executives to move away from what made the show appealing. At one time the racers were common people, just like you and I. A couple of coal miners from Kentucky. Two cowboys who were brothers. The list is too long to continue. This made the race fun. You could sit down and compare yourself to your peers. Now, however, the executives have decided to feature teams made up of ex professional athletes. models, stars from other reality TV shows and YouTube stars. In short, people who are not like the average American. I watched a couple of episodes this year and realized I just did not enjoy the show anymore. If the producers decided to go back to the original format, maybe they get my viewership back.. Until they do consider me an ex-fan.

Season 36 was even worse than Family Edition, and the producers had to really try to beat that season for worst. It was clear 'Team Ringer' was going to win in the first 5 minutes of the first episode, and boy the season didn't disappoint. Let's see, a flamboyant team with a native Spanish speaker, check. Travel exclusively around South America, check. Some real life familiarity with every challenge, check. Never get lost (native Spanish speaker), check. End in the home city of Team Ringer, check. I only finished because we've watched every season. At this point, when Amazing Race gets canceled it's the producers fault. I'll watch next season because I love the show, but this will be my last season if it's rigged again. Certainly this wasn't the first rigged season, but it was by far the worst.

I absolutely love watching The Amazing Race! The challengers are always entertaining to watch as they interact with each other and face the obstacles thrown their way. I especially enjoy seeing beautiful locations worldwide and learning about traditions I may not be familiar with.

However, while watching the show, one of my pet peeves is when the teams struggle with driving a Volkswagen. It seems like they can never figure out that to put the car in reverse, they need to push down on the shift, push it to the left, and then push it up. It's frustrating to watch them continually struggle with this simple task and end up in first gear instead.

Overall, The Amazing Race is a thrilling and captivating show that never fails to keep me on the edge of my seat. I just wish the teams would learn how to operate a Volkswagen properly!