The Amazing Race 7 (1 Viewer)

[McPaul]

Thanks for the updates, Ric and Bob, I appreciate it...

as for this ep, another good one. I never knew what a whirling dervish was until today. I've been wondering when TAR would come to London, and they've finally done it, and in grand fashion as well. Metro - Double Deckers - Sherlock Holmes... great Londoner trademarks (at least from my perspective)... I don't understand how the boats fit into the stereotypical London stay, but I was very impressed!

Unless there is a HUGE evening force next week, there's nothing that will prevent R/A from winning it all.

too bad.

 

[Chris_Morris]

I propose a rule change for next season. Teams may ask locals for help, but cannot have locals "mysteriously" be able to drop everything they are doing and follow them around like puppies solving every riddle and clue for them.

3 times in one season is just too coincedental.

Along with that comes the rule change, no more stunt casting. Let the teams make the show, don't imagine the show first and then try to cast to fit that mold.

 

[Patrick_S]

This is just my opinion but I think it has been fairly obvious for a long time that Rob and Amber win the race.

While I hope I'm wrong the reason I think that way is because of the old news that CBS is going to air their wedding. They'll endlessly play up the angle that they are a reality "super" couple. They probably also have some of the other reality participants from the shows they have been on.

I'll second again the notion that they should not have any more "stunt" casting for the show.

As for the locals helping out, while Rob and Amber’s faux celebrity might be helping I don’t think it would be too hard for any team to enlist the help of a local. I would just go up to a local and play up the fact that they would be on American TV. I think almost any younger person would be susceptible to the 15 minute of fame syndrome and help out for a little while.


I'll second again the notion that they should not have any more "stunt" casting for the show.

 

[AjayM]

Well the "good" rumor is that;

U&J win it all.


There was an article a month or so ago about a couple of online sportsbook type places that were getting a lot of action from specific parts of the country and promptly shut down betting.

This has happened a couple of times before, Apprentice Season 2 and a couple of times with Survivor (IIRC) and each time they've been spot on (well for Trump and Survivor they know the final two before the "live" finale). Of course knowing that has happened in the past I wouldn't pull it past a network to try and create false rumors.

Personally I think R&A have been consistantly the best of the teams out there, some of their tactics aren't very sportsman like, but still within the rules, and as we saw a week ago they can backfire on him as well. On a personal level I can't say I'd be friends with them, but as they say all the time, it is a competition (so who knows what they're like in "real" life).

Andrew

 

[brentl]

I'm Very upset that Roomba are recognized it is a HUGE advantage, a shouldn't have happened.

Booo BOoooo!!!

Brent

 

[brentl]

I just noticed something funny, Kelly was holding the paper right against the magnifying glass was a Loser!

Brent

I guess she has no idea what a magnifying glass is used for.

Brent

 

[Kwang Suh]

Neither Romber or team POW consider U&J a threat, which is why they weren't roadblocked.

 

[Jason Seaver]

So, Patrick, do you think there should be any more stunt casting on the show?

I have to say, though, that Rob and Amber have been a great team. Yes, maybe they attract assistants easier than the other teams, but I think any reasonably good-looking, charismatic team can grab someone (how far did Lena & Kristy drag their guy in Race #6? How many guys did Jonathan & Victoria enlist?); people like the cameras. They've had a target on their backs all race and known it, and they've only avoided being yielded by getting there first. And you have to admire the creativity of punting the roadblock even if you hope there are stiffer penalties for it in future races.

 

[Patrick_S]

Jason made it very clear that I thought it would be fairly easy for any team to enlist a locals help.

As for "stunt" casting, I agree that Rob and Amber have been an entertaining team but every season has had teams that were just as entertaining so it's not as if they bring anything special to the table.


Why not just bring in totally unknowns and give them their 15 minutes of fame.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I think you have to give Team Romber credit for thinking outside the box during the course of the race. And Rob has been very entertaining, although I understand why he rubs some people the wrong way, he competes, and is able to make it work with Amber, without having meltdowns we've seen with other teams whose relationship and communication levels aren't quite all there.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Hey, they've done that roughly seventy-five times versus two "ringer" teams. I imagine that they felt it might be interesting from a perspective of producing serial television to stick a pair of semi-well-known people in there, see what effect it has on the interpersonal dynamics; would some teams be star-struck, would others develop an irrational hatred (hi, Lynn and Alex!), would they tend to isolate themselves from the common folks? And I think, on that level, it's been a success; it has made for interesting viewing, and it has affected the way other teams played the game.

I figure Bruckheimer & WorldRace get hundreds if not thousands of audition tapes for every race, so when they're casting, they try and look for team types they haven't used before (I seem to recall a producer saying that they'd love to find a good grandparent/grandchild team). Engaged minor celebrities would fall in that category. They're also looking for folks who are comfortable with the camera and will be memorable "characters", and Rob and Amber provide an amount of certainty there.

And, hey, it's a business, and pulling some of that Survivor audience in can't hurt.

Now, if the unscripted-show-veteran-team becomes a predictable staple of the show, that might be a cause for concern, but as an occasional thing, it makes for good TV.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Neither one of them had a hand in putting R/A on. R&A never even applied. Rob met Bertram Van Munster at a CBS bash, mentioned something about AR and Bertram told him, ok that would be good stunt casting, you're in.

 

[Ken Chan]

Well, that one time before the steel boxes, Rob did the Jedi Mind Trick on Ron. (Or perhaps Ron didn't have the guts to Yield Rob&Amber to their face.)

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, I wasn't saying they auditioned, just that the producers are probably always looking for new and interesting types of teams.

 

[Joseph S]

I guess Kelly is right. He found a way out of that one too.

 

[Robbie R]

I respectfully disagree.

I think Rob and Amber do bring something special to the table. IMHO they have been one of the most entertaining teams to ever run the race. They are aggressive, funny, and not afraid to screw another team to win, all attributes that make great Reality TV. I would much rather watch Rob & Amber play aggressively to win, then watch teams like Collin & Christie, Blue Hair, Hellboy, ect ect bitch and fight for the whole race.

Different Strokes........

 

[Hugh Jackes]

I am enjoying Rob much more here than on Survivor. I think that the losers each week being simply those who were last, rather than who got out manipulated out of the game, tempers his worst impulses and makes him a better player at this game than that game.

I didn't like him much on Survivor. When he implied that he was pulling the strings "..like in the Godfathah...", he came off as cocky and brash, and a guy who left a bad taste in my mouth. Here, he is cocky and brash (and in the leg to Turkey, those traits almost bit him in the behind), but he also mostly alway right.

Have I explained this well?

 

[Mark Ram]

On the subject of stunt casting.
Why not just make all of the contestants semi-famous racers then? Why give the advatantage of fame(on a small scale) to any one particular team?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Why not make all of the contestants athletic guys in their twenties? Why give the advantage of being able to run really quickly to just certain teams?

 

[Patrick Sun]

Why not give Segways to the elderly teams!

BTW, Rob was the Robfather on Survivor. Heh heh.