The Amazing Race season 14

Yep, it's that time again, The Amazing Race returns tonight for its 14th season premiere, 8 p.m. EST.

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re: The Amazing Race season 14

It's supposed to finally be in shot in HD.

re: The Amazing Race season 14

I don't believe it's in HD, but they have supposedly 'refreshed' it with new music and some other upgrades, notably 24-style split screens to show where teams are in relation with one another, which sounds cool.

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Yup, no HD this season.

re: The Amazing Race season 14

The entire cheese challenge was hilarious, though not so much as last season's "marching"

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Best non-All-Stars premiere since TAR6. I love that they refreshed it; the editing style and casting had gotten really stale and predictable as of late. Plus we had a rare legitimately unpredictable ending, not one that was forced by the editing. I loved the cheese task.

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Yes the cheese run was brutal but hilarious. It seems that this year, that there are more likeable teams then usual.

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The younger kid in the "Mel & Mike" group looks like an actor I've seen somewhere, I'd almost swear by it.. am I alone in that?

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As much as I love this show, I'm getting really annoyed at the lack of HD. This is honestly one of the only non-HD shows I still watch.

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He wrote and played Ned Schneebly in School of Rock. And Chuck and Buck IIRC.

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Bingo! School of Rock, that's it!

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And there's a fair amount of cheesecake among this cast as well...

Good cast...most seem quite likeable.

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Hilarious start!

Too bad the bickering couple failed to cut the cheese, fighting couples are usually really entertaining to watch.

Tammy. (Love asian girls)

Apparently the word 'run' isn't in the vocabulary of the wife in 'Team Bumpkin'.

I couldn't help but laugh when the def kid , Luke signed to his mother "that hill was terrifying", I said "dude, you just did a Harrison Ford off of a dam!" lol.

Did anyone else notice that they showed almost nothing of them at the airport? They went from the starting line, to the plane to the destination, they didn't even show them buying tickets. Maybe they're going to cut down on that this season?

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I remember reading that not only have the show runners decided the cut down on the "airport and taxi" footage, the race itself was designed to be very hectic and fast-paced, so that very little time is spent *in* in the airport. It's definately more of a race this year (at least that's the intention).

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A very good first episode with a lot of improvements in format. Still no HD yet which is a shame, but it's probably still a lot harder to do than with Survivor because of all the moving targets and in-car footage. That day should come, especially with "HD" Flip camcorders now on the market.


Not as many people to hate this year. I loved it when "Team Stewardess" announced that with their knowledge of the ins and outs of flying that they should have some advantages over the others.
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re: The Amazing Race season 14

The opening says that it is in HD, but not widescreen HD, I guess.

As for Mike White, if any of you haven't seen CHUCK AND BUCK, a film he wrote and starred in, see it NOW. He is a great writer.

He also was a writer for FREAKS AND GEEKS and appeared on an episode of that.

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...and then we saw them running with wheelie suitcases. Suitcases? Are they out their minds??? Considering some of the locales they go to if they last very long those wheelies are going to become a real problem.

Good first episode and I definitely like the changes they've made so far. Looking forward to a good season!

-greg

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The cheese activity was fantastic! So much fun. Maybe I didn't hear the clue the so well, but I thought they had to use the cheese bracket to carry the cheese down. If it only said get the cheese down, I'm surprised someone didn't roll all four down the hill towards the goal. Would have been darn quick. That being said, the hick guy did very well in that challenge.

I liked that they hardly did any plane stuff. I liked having two flights to two different cities with the destination in the middle. Strategy required.


My breakdown of the teams:

Eliminated Preston and girlfriend: Very attractive woman, but man, she had issues. "He is so good to me," after he yelled at her. At least he treated her well after being eliminated. I'm shocked they were eliminated, from first glance, but the girl was so wimpy. He carried two cheeses, and she didn't do any!

Gay dad/gay son (that sounds funny, doesn't it): no opinion other than they are stereotypical gay, and the son looks like he is 47, not 32.

Flight attendants: older than I expected them to be. The one afraid of the dam is attractive, even though she has a very strong jaw.

Red headed ex-cheerleaders: I can tell they could be b!tchy, but they need to stick around, as they are stunning.

Mother/deaf son: like them so far.

Stunt brothers: like them, and they should go far with their athleticism.

Other dating couple: both seem mellow, good attitude. The girl is very cute.

Brother/sister: good so far, but I bet the brother becomes controlling.

Athletic older married couple: like them, think they will be strong.

Hicks: the guy is a jerk, but the wife should have known the race would be super tough. I'm surprised they weren't eliminated. Of all the remaining teams, this is the only one with 0% chance of winning it all.

Sisters: no opinion of them but I have to give massive credit to one of them - the girl fell hard on her behind/back with a 50 lb block of cheese on her torso, but didn't complain at all. Massive kudos to her for that, as that must have hurt.

One of the strongest groups in a long time. Could be a great season.

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I'd like to know what kind of wood those packback thingies were made of, they came apart faster than Tammy Fay Baker under hot lamps lol.

It looked like Balsa wood lol.

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Am I the only one that sees this as a potential great advantage? I mean, it's a disadvantage in all the obvious ways, but Sign Language is universal, and active in many countries. And the ability of the two to sign means they can communicate in the open information between themselves without raising alarms

Besides, I like them. Thought they were a great team.

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Yeah, Luke can say "Gawd dayum Tammy's ass looks hot in those tight ass jeans!" right in front of her!!

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Hahah.. you just made me wonder how they censor sign language when he decides to curse

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Probably the same way they do when someone gives the finger, they'll just blur out his hands.

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In front of his mother?!?

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That cheese challenge had me doubling over with laughter.

On the flip side, I really wish this show was in HD. CBS should take note of how great Survivor looks in hi-def and apply it to TAR.

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I was thinking the same thing. Then I noticed that the group of regular workers standing at the bottom were laughing like idiots whenever one broke (which was early and often) and I kind of thought it might have been a joke or something. No one seemed to get penalized for not using them.

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There really is no technical reason I can think of that would prohibit them from shooting The Amazing Race in HD. It's just an upgraded camera. Apparently, the network is not all that concerned about it based on this article I found from last summer.

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Completely true. If you can shoot it in SD, you can shoot it in HD. All that's required is an upgrade in cameras and editing gear.

I cannot fathom why this program is not being shot in HD. Imagine the vistas at that bungee-jumping challenge in Switzerland...and then every other locale they visit. CBS (which was very late to the table to shoot Survivor in HD) would be smart to treat it's cash cows--such as TAR & Survivor--with a little respect. TAR also has the distinction of bringing home a slew of Emmys for the so-called "Tiffany network."

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My only guess for why it's not in HD yet is that HD equipment may be harder to get hold of in some of the more remote areas they visit. I seem to remember that a lot of what they do is contracted with local production companies, which raises the question of whether the guys shooting in Mali or Argentina are equipped for HD.

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Jason:

I haven't heard that. I've read that when the teams buy their airline tickets and we see them ask for two tickets...they have actually asked for four tickets but they actually re-shoot that part of the transaction to perpetuate the illusion that there are no production people along for the ride. That's how they got the shots of the teams on the plane, etc. I'd be awfully surprised if they farm that work out to outside shops.

My understanding is that each team has a two-man production team (cameraman and audio guy) attached to their hip the entire way. The techies may trade off along the way for breaks and to avoid becoming too attached to a particular pair.