The Amazing Race 6 (1 Viewer)

[Jason Seaver]

Yeah, but the people making it must have gotten a sense of what was working and what wasn't as they shot and edited it. If you're Bertram van Meunster, you've got to be thinking "we need to screen better" when you first see Jonathan harassing his wife, and they certainly knew to cut down the number of Yields between #5 and #6 (wasn't there supposed to be a Yield on every leg in #5, but no-one used them until the end?). And, certainly, during the rest periods, they must have heard a contestant or two say they found the constant bunch-ups annoying, so maybe the audience would feel the same way.

 

[Bob-N]

That's a good point. There should be some coverage of the banter during rest breaks. I recall that there was some occasionally in past seasons but none that I recall this season. It was all race (and tons of early arguing/conflict) this time around.

Also, I've been bitching about the constant bunch ups since AR4.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Instead of the Yield, they should introduce something like the "Re-Do" (as in "re-do last task"), that could be a major time penalty inflicted on any teams behind you. I know, a wacky idea.

 

[Jason Seaver]

That would work for the competition, but likely wouldn't make for good television, though. They already just gloss over the last few people completing a task unless something really extraordinary happens, so why show one group doing something a second time? The current method at least allows us to see teams getting frustrated and talking amoungst themselves.

Or, you know, replace the Yields with Fast Forwards, which people like.

I wonder if this might be the whole "we're not a representative sample" thing biting us in the butt; everyone I talk to on-line seems to hate it, but it's gotten more and more prevalent over the past couple of years. I wonder if they've got some sort of research data that shows that they get a better response to races that are close all the way through, even if that tightness is artificial, than ones where teams are able to pull away or fall back relatively early.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Well, I don't think they want a Team Guido situation (where they were so far behind in the final leg that someone had to go find them and tell them that the race was over) for second place.

 

[Andy_Bu]

This does not make sense to me.

If they were bothered by this during filming and editting, they would have simply editted those parts out.

Instead they went out of there way to focus on them, telling me that they thought those items were working for them.

Andy

 

[Jason Seaver]

That's one possibility, and if it were something that could easily be cut, I'm sure they'd consider it, but a few of Jonathan's uglier moments were at spots where they couldn't be excised - there's just no working around the finish line in Berlin, for instance. And once you've got those, the form demands context.

Although, sure, I'm certain that they were hoping it would work in a "guy you love to hate" way, but there's been enough articles about van Meunster and Koehgan feeling the need to intervene for the first time while shooting the program to suggest that they didn't like how it was going.

And, of course, there's the "for our own sanity" rationale - maybe J&V make for good television (after all, they got our attention), but for those working on the show, well, there's sort of a certain maximum level of people being a jackass you'll put up with, and that sort of thing is past it.

 

[Bob-N]

I guess my point isn't that there are bunch up points at all, just reduce them to one every other or third "week". At least those with a bit of luck or skill that got them the lead keep the lead for at least a leg. One other possible unintential bunch up could be like the lock task in the first part of the finale. Yes, this was mostly luck but other roadblocks or detours could be structured to cause delay problems. It was certainly suspenseful when you had Rebecca and Kris going through the locks wondering who was going to get out first. Then Hayden comes in putting pressure on Rebecca to go over the locks again. I thought that was good TV. Waiting at an airport or for a location to open type bunch up sucks hard.

I suppose it's better TV to have multiple bunch ups, but they could edit it such you can mislead the audience that it's closer than it actually was.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

TV Guide has an interview with Kris and Jon, here's how close (or not close) the end of the race really was:

 

[Ken Chan]

In that interview with Bolo (post #379), he claimed that Kris&Jon were "thirty seconds" behind Freddy&Kendra before they got delayed by the train, although I don't know how Bolo knew that (it doesn't seem like he could see it first-hand). Also, you'd think K&J could see F&K ahead of them.

With this new info, it seems like the flights were a major deciding factor. The editing used Kris's misstatement to make things seem closer than they were.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Daniel - Thanks for posting that interview. Sad they didn't win, because they really deserved to.

I have to say, after a lacklustre season, that was a really good final. Not too much in the way of bunching. Not a fan of the "luck" challenges, like the key thing (or the haybale one - sigh...), but otherwise it was good. Well edited (if misleading) to make the ending more suspenseful. And after a season of everyone travelling on the same flight, it was nice to actually have one where people were all on different flights - and that became the deciding factor. Really enjoyed this one - almost enough to restore my faith in the show. Just as long as the producers have learned their lessons for next season.

 

[Jeff*S*C*]

Has anyone seen that J&V are going to be on that Dr. Phil special coming up about couples counseling? I thought they were only "acting"??:rolleyes

Strrrreeeeeetch that 15 minutes jackass....

 

[Bob-N]

Yeah, as soon as my wife saw that (a Dr Phil fan:rolleyes) promo, she set the Tivo. Might be interesting for the first few minutes. I'm sure they're be better behaved after the public backlash from their antics on AR.

 

[Michael_EC]

The key challenge was actually one of my favourites and I wish there were more like it. Sure, there's some degree of luck involved in your first run through the keys, but it ended up being more a test of patience and thoroughness since most racers ended up going through the whole set more than once. This was probably also the case for the haybales. It's unlikely (though possible) that she didn't unroll a bale with a clue. More likely that she just missed the clues. I like challenges where teams don't necessarily leave in the exact same order in which they arrived.

 

[MikeEn]

ME

 

[Ken Chan]

As I may have said earlier, the odds change if you consider that other teams may have also missed a clue or two. So now you have a clue in a pile of hay. Worst case, all of the clues had been unrolled, and you're unlucky enough to be last and now have to sift through all those piles. Anyway, they could certainly have been unlucky and goofed.

I agree with the rest of the post....

 

[Daniel Kikin]

Today, TV Guide has an interview with Adam and Rebecca, these two are like the Ross and Rachel of TAR.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I saw that Dr. Phil special, and he looked pretty skeptical at the facade that Jonathan and Victoria put up during the interview. Dr. Phil did call Jonathan on him trying to "coach" Victoria during the interview. That was like a kid getting his hand caught in the cookie jar situation.