The 11th time is apparently not the charm for me. I used to really enjoy The Amazing Race…it was fun and it breezed through exotic locales (and past mostly perplexed and/or patiently bemused citizens of the various countries the game barreled through) but watching the first episode of the “all-star” edition left me feeling an undeniable sensation of déjà vu (and not in a good way.)
Contestants running through airports and parking lots? Check. Contestants making snarky comments about each other while proclaiming themselves as the team to beat? Check. Contestants speaking pidgin English to non-English speaking taxi drivers and other bystanders? Check. Competitions built on silly (and somewhat condescending) twists on some aspect of the host country’s culture? Check. “Wacky” scenes of contestants getting lost on highways or in the wilderness? Check. Teammates snapping at and getting exasperated with each other? Check. Host Phil Keoghan standing inscrutably at the rest stop next to some one in colorful native garb? Check.
Been there, done that…and the return of former contestants really doesn’t make it any fresher (how many times do we really need to see professional reality show contestants Rob and Amber again?) or any more interesting. I’m probably not going to watch any more of The Amazing Race All-Stars but, acknowledging the good times from the past, I wish them well.
1 comment:
Sorry to say that British T.V. has the same professional reality T.V. contestant malaise. Maybe we should all go and live in Italy.
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