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How to Improve The Amazing Race
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Posted by: IJustLikeTivo

There is an interesting thread over on the TWOP site out how to fix/improve TAR.

How to fix The Amazing Race

I think the people here are much smarter than over there. What do you say?

Here are my suggestions, some are the same as in their discussion or with twists.

1. No person on any team can go up more than 2 in Roadblocks. If you have 2 and the other person has 0, they have to do the next one. Zach did 12/13 roadblocks or something close to it. Hardly fair.

2. More mental challenges with legitimate red herring answers to let someone make a bigger mistake. I just took the FAA pilots exam and maby of the possible answer are one designed to see if you forgot a step. If you did a false answer looks true. They need that here.

3. less empahasis on Cabs and more on public transport. Using Cabs makes the whole thing too random. If you had to use public transport, it would be based on your skill, not the skill of the cabbie or the luck of who got the first taxi.

4. More multipart city challenges. e.g. go to these five places in any order, pick up clues, when you have them all, open/use them to figure out where to go next.

Ok, Your turn.

IJLT

Posted by: Turtleboy

Part of the problem with this year's race wasn't anybody's fault except Osama Bin Laden.

In the post 9/11 world, it was difficult to have them go to better destinations. They spent more time in Europe (and only barely went to Africa) then was necessary.

Posted by: Haps

More "clues" less directions.

Posted by: pmyers

I agree on the more clues than directions...like the one that said go to the tallest buildings or whatever instead of just saying go to Kuala Lumpure.

Posted by: bbarnhart

I very much dislike that many times, the teams in the lead were forced to wait at challenges. I know it would be next to impossible to say, do the bobsled at 3 in the morning and also, early in the game the contestants would be strung out. What they could do is add up their extra time they had to wait and let them leave that much early after a pit shop.

Posted by: pmyers

I also don't like that they say "take a cab to X and go to Y temple". They should say "get yourself to X by whatever means and go to this temple"

Lets allow the teams to use some ingenuity (if they have it) a lot more and make money really an issue.

Has money ever been an issue on any of the seasons? I can't remember anything that shows it has...

Posted by: Todd

I wonder if the teams have any problems with security in airports when they're running through the terminals with huge backpacks??

Posted by: laria

quote:
Originally posted by pmyers
Has money ever been an issue on any of the seasons? I can't remember anything that shows it has...

It sorta was for Blake and Paige last season. They didn't run out but they lost their wallet or something, and had to beg for money in the airport.

Posted by: VegasVic

quote:
Originally posted by bbarnhart
I very much dislike that many times, the teams in the lead were forced to wait at challenges. I know it would be next to impossible to say, do the bobsled at 3 in the morning and also, early in the game the contestants would be strung out. What they could do is add up their extra time they had to wait and let them leave that much early after a pit shop.

It does get frustrating at times that teams build a lead and then are forced to wait for something to open or the next flight etc... which allows other teams to catch up. But the producers need to that to happen to prevent one team from getting too big of a lead. People would stop watching if one team was ahead by 2 days.

I do like the idea on the other board of always replentishing the clues/vehicles, etc.. so the teams don't know what place they are in. Right now they can see how many clues are left in the box or how many cars are left so they know.

Posted by: pmyers

quote:
Originally posted by VegasVic
It does get frustrating at times that teams build a lead and then are forced to wait for something to open or the next flight etc... which allows other teams to catch up. But the producers need to that to happen to prevent one team from getting too big of a lead. People would stop watching if one team was ahead by 2 days.

well that sure would make Fast Forwards more important to the race...

Posted by: Skittles

quote:
Originally posted by pmyers
well that sure would make Fast Forwards more important to the race...

It's funny that you mention that. My biggest complaint in Amazing Race 2 was that the Fast Forward competitions just seemed to be a free pass to the Pit Stop for that leg of the race. It came as a huge surprise to me when Dennis and Andrew used their Fast Forward in TAR3. Even after they completed the Fast Forward, they still came in last place, despite the fact that they were only nominally behind most of the other teams. The fact that a slow limo took them from their Fast Forward to the Pit Stop appeared to have been at least partially responsible for their downfall.

While I was disappointed for Andrew and Dennis, I was glad to see that the producers have reworked things a bit so that winning a Fast Forward isn't a guaranteed free pass into the next leg of the race.

Posted by: pmyers

Did every team use up their Fast Forward this year? I'm sure they all did, but I just don't remember Zach and Flo using their's.

Posted by: Skittles

I think one or two of the teams that were eliminated in the first 4 episodes didn't end up using their Fast Forward.

Posted by: Knative

quote:
Originally posted by bbarnhart
I very much dislike that many times, the teams in the lead were forced to wait at challenges ... What they could do is add up their extra time they had to wait and let them leave that much early after a pit shop.

What if they just let everyone leave the pit stop at the same time? This would solve the problem of teams getting too spread out over the course of the entire race. If the bobsled track opens at 8:00 a.m. then have all the teams leave at a time that prevents them from arriving before it opens. Whoever finds the best route there gets to attempt the challenge first and then get on with that leg. Elimination is based only on who arrives last at the pit stop. Since any advantage to finishing a leg three hours before the next team is almost always negated by having to wait I don't see how having them all leave at once would hurt the game.

CBS is never going to let the teams get too far apart so I guess the current way of doing things is as good as my suggestion. But I think my way would make for a more exciting show. Especially since I hate the waiting aspect of it.

Posted by: TiVo'Brien

The cool thing about Amazing Race is that it can be improved and still keep the show fresh, as opposed to Survivor which has grown very stale if you ask me.

Yes, more clues, less directions.

Posted by: HoosierFan

quote:
Originally posted by SkittlesDFW
It's funny that you mention that. My biggest complaint in Amazing Race 2 was that the Fast Forward competitions just seemed to be a free pass to the Pit Stop for that leg of the race. It came as a huge surprise to me when Dennis and Andrew used their Fast Forward in TAR3. Even after they completed the Fast Forward, they still came in last place, despite the fact that they were only nominally behind most of the other teams. The fact that a slow limo took them from their Fast Forward to the Pit Stop appeared to have been at least partially responsible for their downfall.

While I was disappointed for Andrew and Dennis, I was glad to see that the producers have reworked things a bit so that winning a Fast Forward isn't a guaranteed free pass into the next leg of the race.

I believe I read somewhere, that they were very far behind (like almost 24 hours), so a slow limo ride couldn't hurt.

Posted by: debtoine

quote:
Originally posted by pmyers
Did every team use up their Fast Forward this year? I'm sure they all did, but I just don't remember Zach and Flo using their's.

The CBS web site says they used it in episode 7, leaving Morocco. I can't remember what is was, but they did use theirs.

deb

Posted by: TivoDaddy

More clues, more clues, more clues! I really like the one on TAR3 where they had to get multiple answers to get the combination on the safe. No mroe than two consecutive Roadblocks by one person. Once you pick a detour task, you must complete it and can't go do the opposite task.

Posted by: Skittles

quote:
Originally posted by debtoine
The CBS web site says they used it in episode 7, leaving Morocco. I can't remember what is was, but they did use theirs.

deb

I vaguely recall F&Z conferring with another team (Vito and Jill, perhaps) about who would be taking the FF that round.

Posted by: DLiquid

quote:
Originally posted by TivoDaddy
No mroe than two consecutive Roadblocks by one person.

This is the only suggestion in this thread I agree with. Anything that makes the race more fair by letting the teams' leads spread out more will just make the show less exciting. They should also continue to innovate and change the clues and puzzles, but I feel that this season they did a decent job of that.

One more thing. This show has extremely sloppy sound editing. The racer commentary is cut and pasted so badly that it is distracting to me. Sometimes they'll even cut and paste different things together to make a sentence. It's just poor and unprofessional editing. They need to do a better job with this.

Posted by: jradosh

One the the things I like most in the show is when the contestants have to interact with the locals. Selling fruits in Vietnam, for instance, was a great challenge. So was selling the clams (or whatever) in Casablanca (or where ever that was). Solitary tasks like finding a flag down a path, or even bungee jumping, aren't nearly as interesting. I say include more tasks that make the contestants interact with the locals! :D

J

Posted by: tanstaafl

quote:
Has money ever been an issue on any of the seasons? I can't remember anything that shows it has...

Yes, the Guidos had definite money problems towards the end of the first Race. They were forced to take slower transport a few times (like public bus instead of a taxi) because of it. (They also tried to sneak into the Taj Mahal without paying.)

quote:
I wonder if the teams have any problems with security in airports when they're running through the terminals with huge backpacks??

Gary & Dave from AR2 had a run-in with airport security in the first leg (Las Vegas airport) which prevented them from getting onto the first plane, but that may have also involved them parking their car illegally.

quote:
It sorta was for Blake and Paige last season. They didn't run out but they lost their wallet or something, and had to beg for money in the airport.

Blake left his wallet in the cab that took them to the bus station.

Posted by: ewolfr

Don't let the teams go back and forth between different tasks like Flo and Zach did. If you choose the boats you have to stick with the boats. No going over to the bikes to see if it looks easier.

Get the racers closer to the States so that they dont all get bunched up and the same flights. It was stupid that they had to fly 10,000 (give or take a few) before getting to the final city. They should have ended up in LA or San Francisco first. Many more flights to choose from to get to Seattle.

Posted by: rasheed

Less taxis and more options/choices to get from place to place (especially when travelling within a country or same continent). Let them choose between boat, taxi, train, etc. If the money became an issue, that would be even more interesting.

I also like clues that are not obvious (as already mentioned).

Rasheed

Posted by: esperantisto

I also wish there were alternate routes rather than everyone doing exactly the same thing. That's what I liked about the Travel Channel's reality show. Now what was that called?

Posted by: ewolfr

"Lost"

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by ewolfr
"Lost"

I never saw "Lost". Can you explain what your suggestion means? :confused:

J

Posted by: cheerdude

Lost was a NBC show that was "re-positioned" on the Travel Channel.

Concept was simple: The producers drop off 3 teams of 2 somewhere in the world. They don't tell the teams where they are. The teams have no money.

Their goal was to get themselves AND their cameraman to the Statue of Liberty... by any means necessary. If I remember correctly, the first set of shows started from Mongolia... while the second (and last) set was from the Andies.

Another show that follows the "any means necessary" approach to get from Point A to Point B is ESPN's "Beg, Borrow & Deal".

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by cheerdude
Another show that follows the "any means necessary" approach to get from Point A to Point B is ESPN's "Beg, Borrow & Deal".

Well, I did watch some of BB&D and I wasn't impressed. I think part of my problem with that show was the size of the teams. This produced too much bickering within the teams. I prefer bickering between teams.

Also the age of the players in BB&D was consistently young. The target demographic was, I think, not me.

That being said, I'm sure that there are some aspects of BB&D and Lost that could be appropriated for AR. I guess only time will tell...

Here's another idea of how AR could be improved. They should break the pattern of every episode having a "Road Block" and a "Detour". I'd like to see a longer list of challenges spread over a large geographical area without any enforced chronological order. Yes, this would be harder to shoot, but it would be worth it! For example...

Teams arrive in Europe for a Pit Stop. Their next challenge is to visit at least 5 sites out of a list of 10 possible sites. The sites are in London, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Funds are limited. After visiting the 5th site they are given the directions to the next Pit Stop which would not be in Europe.

This could easily span two episodes. Maybe the last two?

J

Posted by: VegasVic

quote:
Originally posted by jradosh

For example...

Teams arrive in Europe for a Pit Stop. Their next challenge is to visit at least 5 sites out of a list of 10 possible sites. The sites are in London, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Funds are limited. After visiting the 5th site they are given the directions to the next Pit Stop which would not be in Europe.

This could easily span two episodes. Maybe the last two?

J

I think this is an interesting idea but I guess the whole point of "race" is for everyone to race the same basic course.

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by VegasVic
I think this is an interesting idea but I guess the whole point of "race" is for everyone to race the same basic course.

True. But they already have Detours that leave the teams running two different courses. This just pushes that notion a little more to the extreme. They still end up at the same Pit Stop in my idea.

Any, it's just food for thought in case anyone from CBS is listening :D

J

Posted by: jhausmann

quote:
Originally posted by IJustLikeTivo

1. No person on any team can go up more than 2 in Roadblocks. If you have 2 and the other person has 0, they have to do the next one. Zach did 12/13 roadblocks or something close to it. Hardly fair.

2. More mental challenges with legitimate red herring answers to let someone make a bigger mistake. I just took the FAA pilots exam and maby of the possible answer are one designed to see if you forgot a step. If you did a false answer looks true. They need that here.

3. less empahasis on Cabs and more on public transport. Using Cabs makes the whole thing too random. If you had to use public transport, it would be based on your skill, not the skill of the cabbie or the luck of who got the first taxi.

4. More multipart city challenges. e.g. go to these five places in any order, pick up clues, when you have them all, open/use them to figure out where to go next.

I'd add:

5. No more than 2 or 3 teams can travel on the same long-distance flight (flights in excess of 4 hours). In order to co-ordinate this, TAR would need to set up it's own "travel agent" at the airport that is the only place tickets can be purchased (which could be used as a detour, of sorts). No more upgrades to business/first class. No more purchasing wrong class tickets. No more whining about how it's an emergency.

6. Randomly selected vehicles will "fail". CHoose the wrong car and you get a time penalty of some length (to emulate a flat, engine failure). Key to a "lockbox" that contains the failure resides with the TAR cre travelling with the contestants.

Posted by: shady

Before the show even starts, how about putting the applicants through a test that challenges them under pressure. Any sign of whining, and the're out :D

Posted by: David Platt

quote:
Originally posted by shady
Before the show even starts, how about putting the applicants through a test that challenges them under pressure. Any sign of whining, and the're out :D

Oh, come on-- that would make for a boring, boring season. ;)

Posted by: jlb

quote:
Before the show even starts, how about putting the applicants through a test that challenges them under pressure. Any sign of whining, and the're out

Ah yes......The new no-Flo clause..........

Posted by: martinp13

I would think that's the "heavy Flo" clause. :) :) :)

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by martinp13
I would think that's the "heavy Flo" clause. :) :) :)

I've been waiting for weeks for someone to make that kind of joke. I had one saved up myself but was too meek to us it! (something about being visited by 'aunt flo' ;))

J

Posted by: janry

We like "Amazing Race" & "Survivor", but "Amazing Race" is our favorite of the two.

I'd like the producers to coordinate an Amazing Race pit stop at the Survivor camp. It would require careful coordination and both episodes to be aired on the same night but should be possible.

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by janry
I'd like the producers to coordinate an Amazing Race pit stop at the Survivor camp. It would require careful coordination and both episodes to be aired on the same night but should be possible.

I must say, that's the most interesting idea I've heard in a long time (since December anyway :p)

J :)

Posted by: coldtoes

quote:
Originally posted by jradosh
Well, I did watch some of BB&D and I wasn't impressed... This produced too much bickering within the teams. I prefer bickering between teams.

This was precisely the problem with "Lost." I started off watching both Lost and AR1, and thought the concept of Lost was more interesting. But the teams (and there weren't many - only 3?) seemed to spend so much of the time whining and fighting that I couldn't bear to keep watching. At least AR usually only has 1 or 2 whiny/abusive pairs out of 12, and then you can just root for the annoying ones to be eliminated.

quote:
Originally posted by DLiquid
This [limiting a contestant's consecutive roadblocks] is the only suggestion in this thread I agree with. Anything that makes the race more fair by letting the teams' leads spread out more will just make the show less exciting.

I'll second that. I was initially annoyed that the producers used detours and flight times to even everyone up, but in AR1 when the Guidos got a day behind everyone else, it took a lot of the suspense out of it. I like trying to figure out whether we're really seeing a close race or they're just editing the show to make it look close. And I think letting people switch detours midstream adds suspense too - I suspect it usually costs them time to switch tasks after investing a lot of time in one already, but it reflects their frustration and desperation.