The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Episode 3
The Amazing Race: All-Stars, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Episode 3 - It's a Nice Day for Whitewater by Mike DeGeorge -- 03/08/2007 Mike has the same question as Dustin & Kandice, as some teams seem to be lacking a clue. And don't forget about the clueless Mirna & Charla or David & Mary. Plus, the results of the "favorite season" poll. It's all inside! I’d like to thank everyone for the dozens of emails talking about their favorite season of The Amazing Race. The results were literally all over the place, with many different seasons getting mentioned for various reasons. Of course, people still have a bad taste in their mouths for TAR4 due to Flo, and most still disliked the Family Edition, although one emailer mentioned that it wasn’t THAT bad. Thanks to everyone who wrote in, and I’d like to apologize for not writing back, as there were simply too many. The results are rather unscientific, because no one season got anything close to a majority. However, The Amazing Race 5 got the most votes, with many readers mentioning the great personalities like Charla & Mirna, Linda & Karen, Colin & Christie, and Chip & Kim. The Amazing Race 2 was mentioned often, many readers crediting Danny & Oswald and the others for saving the show from cancellation. Lastly, The Amazing Race 7 got a number of votes, primarily because of Romber. So what I got out of this is something I’ve said for a while – great contestants make for great, memorable seasons. My next question feeds off of this. Who is your favorite and least favorite team of all time, and why? It doesn’t have to be for racing skills, it can be purely because they make you laugh or made you sick. The only limitation on this is, this is only open to teams NOT in the All-Star season. Feel free to mention Kevin & Drew if they’re your faves, but I want a nomination not from this season. The Good: Rob & Amber Alert!: Once again, Rob & Amber came in first. Once again, seemingly every other team spent half the race wondering what they were doing. For paying such attention to them, the other teams haven’t clued into the fact that the reason Rob & Amber keep finishing first is that they’re racing their own race, not worrying about any other teams. Also notice how they aren’t making alliances, yet aren’t worried about teaming up with other teams from time to time – Cha Cha Cha last week, Eric & Danielle this week. They’ve figured out that helping another team get a momentary advantage doesn’t hurt at all, as long as it helps you too. By the way, I want to mention that this header joke was courtesy of my fiancée, Maria. It was a really good one, I thought. Cha Cha Cha: Everyone is focused on either Rob & Amber or the lower-placed teams, I just wanted to point out that some other teams are running fantastic races and not getting enough credit. Cha Cha Cha, of course, are running their usual steady race, not to mention getting along well. Team Guido are moving fine and, with a couple moments of pettiness aside, make me wonder why they were so hated on their season. Uchenna & Joyce are running the same solid yet unspectacular race that allowed them to win a million bucks a few seasons ago. Put Me in, Coach!: I’ve said many times that a few of these challenges would leave me quivering in the fetal position. However, there are very few things I would like to try more than white-water rafting. The geek in me even loves watching the water, following the physics of it all. The Bad: My Old Kentucky (Go) Home: I’m as tired of Team Kentucky now as I was at the end of last season. I cried out in physical agony when Mary tearfully mentioned the Chos. But a part of me is still a little sorry that they’re gone. I know, I know. I’ll get over it. Hey, at least it wasn’t a non-elimination leg! Get a Clue!: How many times are teams going to have to lose, be penalized, get lost, or otherwise have bad things happen to them because they didn’t bother to read the clue properly? In this case, it didn’t hurt the Beauty Queens at all, but Team Guido (suffering from their second mis-read clue of the race, mind you) lost several positions and could have been sunk if not for the ineptitude of those behind them. Oh, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, FISH!: Very nice Roadblock this week. In fact, it looked absolutely grueling. But I have to ask the question – how, unless of course you have a genuine phobia or are Mirna, who is afraid of everything, can you be afraid of fish? They’re FISH. With a few exceptions, they’re some of the most harmless and docile creatures on the planet. The Ugly: Yes, AGAIN: Mirna’s behavior with Ian & Teri wasn’t the ugly part, it was their reaction to Ian that irritated me. Because you know if someone had tried to do that to them, we’d have gotten an earful about how evil the other team is, how saintly they themselves are, and how people are just picking on them because they’re women or taking advantage of Charla. It’s not like Mirna even HAD a defense. She tried to use the famous “I’m rubber and you’re glue” defense, saying she learned it from Ian. What are we, in third grade? She’s just lucky Ian’s pre-commercial request for security went nowhere. Reports of Her Drowning Were Greatly Exaggerated: I really hate when this show creates fake drama, whether it’s in the “coming next week” previews or just before the commercial break. 99 times out of 100, a crisis faced by a team immediately before a break is fixed more handily than the Brown Hornet can get out of a dastardly trap to the cheers of the Cosby Kids. This week, it’s Teri’s “near drowning” that irritated me. Before the break, she was swept overboard and we got various angles of the rafters looking for her, Ian’s anguished gasp, and the final shot, from underwater, aimed up at the surface showing a number of air bubbles. In other words, we’re led to believe she was seconds away from dying, when of course when we came back from break one of the guys casually yanked her back aboard as if it were routine (which it probably was for them). No, I didn’t want to see her hurt, I’m glad the mishap was minor. But I get really tired of these manufactured crises. This show is awesome. People don’t watch this show thinking “Man, I hope someone falls into a river and almost drowns tonight.” That’s what the FOX network is for.
The Amazing Race: All-Stars, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Episode 3 - It's a Nice Day for Whitewater by Mike DeGeorge -- 03/08/2007 Mike has the same question as Dustin & Kandice, as some teams seem to be lacking a clue. And don't forget about the clueless Mirna & Charla or David & Mary. Plus, the results of the "favorite season" poll. It's all inside! I’d like to thank everyone for the dozens of emails talking about their favorite season of The Amazing Race. The results were literally all over the place, with many different seasons getting mentioned for various reasons. Of course, people still have a bad taste in their mouths for TAR4 due to Flo, and most still disliked the Family Edition, although one emailer mentioned that it wasn’t THAT bad. Thanks to everyone who wrote in, and I’d like to apologize for not writing back, as there were simply too many. The results are rather unscientific, because no one season got anything close to a majority. However, The Amazing Race 5 got the most votes, with many readers mentioning the great personalities like Charla & Mirna, Linda & Karen, Colin & Christie, and Chip & Kim. The Amazing Race 2 was mentioned often, many readers crediting Danny & Oswald and the others for saving the show from cancellation. Lastly, The Amazing Race 7 got a number of votes, primarily because of Romber. So what I got out of this is something I’ve said for a while – great contestants make for great, memorable seasons. My next question feeds off of this. Who is your favorite and least favorite team of all time, and why? It doesn’t have to be for racing skills, it can be purely because they make you laugh or made you sick. The only limitation on this is, this is only open to teams NOT in the All-Star season. Feel free to mention Kevin & Drew if they’re your faves, but I want a nomination not from this season. The Good: Rob & Amber Alert!: Once again, Rob & Amber came in first. Once again, seemingly every other team spent half the race wondering what they were doing. For paying such attention to them, the other teams haven’t clued into the fact that the reason Rob & Amber keep finishing first is that they’re racing their own race, not worrying about any other teams. Also notice how they aren’t making alliances, yet aren’t worried about teaming up with other teams from time to time – Cha Cha Cha last week, Eric & Danielle this week. They’ve figured out that helping another team get a momentary advantage doesn’t hurt at all, as long as it helps you too. By the way, I want to mention that this header joke was courtesy of my fiancée, Maria. It was a really good one, I thought. Cha Cha Cha: Everyone is focused on either Rob & Amber or the lower-placed teams, I just wanted to point out that some other teams are running fantastic races and not getting enough credit. Cha Cha Cha, of course, are running their usual steady race, not to mention getting along well. Team Guido are moving fine and, with a couple moments of pettiness aside, make me wonder why they were so hated on their season. Uchenna & Joyce are running the same solid yet unspectacular race that allowed them to win a million bucks a few seasons ago. Put Me in, Coach!: I’ve said many times that a few of these challenges would leave me quivering in the fetal position. However, there are very few things I would like to try more than white-water rafting. The geek in me even loves watching the water, following the physics of it all. The Bad: My Old Kentucky (Go) Home: I’m as tired of Team Kentucky now as I was at the end of last season. I cried out in physical agony when Mary tearfully mentioned the Chos. But a part of me is still a little sorry that they’re gone. I know, I know. I’ll get over it. Hey, at least it wasn’t a non-elimination leg! Get a Clue!: How many times are teams going to have to lose, be penalized, get lost, or otherwise have bad things happen to them because they didn’t bother to read the clue properly? In this case, it didn’t hurt the Beauty Queens at all, but Team Guido (suffering from their second mis-read clue of the race, mind you) lost several positions and could have been sunk if not for the ineptitude of those behind them. Oh, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, FISH!: Very nice Roadblock this week. In fact, it looked absolutely grueling. But I have to ask the question – how, unless of course you have a genuine phobia or are Mirna, who is afraid of everything, can you be afraid of fish? They’re FISH. With a few exceptions, they’re some of the most harmless and docile creatures on the planet. The Ugly: Yes, AGAIN: Mirna’s behavior with Ian & Teri wasn’t the ugly part, it was their reaction to Ian that irritated me. Because you know if someone had tried to do that to them, we’d have gotten an earful about how evil the other team is, how saintly they themselves are, and how people are just picking on them because they’re women or taking advantage of Charla. It’s not like Mirna even HAD a defense. She tried to use the famous “I’m rubber and you’re glue” defense, saying she learned it from Ian. What are we, in third grade? She’s just lucky Ian’s pre-commercial request for security went nowhere. Reports of Her Drowning Were Greatly Exaggerated: I really hate when this show creates fake drama, whether it’s in the “coming next week” previews or just before the commercial break. 99 times out of 100, a crisis faced by a team immediately before a break is fixed more handily than the Brown Hornet can get out of a dastardly trap to the cheers of the Cosby Kids. This week, it’s Teri’s “near drowning” that irritated me. Before the break, she was swept overboard and we got various angles of the rafters looking for her, Ian’s anguished gasp, and the final shot, from underwater, aimed up at the surface showing a number of air bubbles. In other words, we’re led to believe she was seconds away from dying, when of course when we came back from break one of the guys casually yanked her back aboard as if it were routine (which it probably was for them). No, I didn’t want to see her hurt, I’m glad the mishap was minor. But I get really tired of these manufactured crises. This show is awesome. People don’t watch this show thinking “Man, I hope someone falls into a river and almost drowns tonight.” That’s what the FOX network is for.