BizRodian

Perhaps they could have more random things that could put you way behind or way ahead... I don't know. I like it how it is now, because many teams have to get there first because there might be plane tickets or something at the next area and you want to get the early flight.

shanester

You do see the cameramen a lot on AR4 if you look closely you see their shadows on the ground/windows etc..

Anybody notice on thursdays show during the horse buggy sequence in Austria(I think) they showed one boom mike guy ducking behind a carriage. He had that "oh sh** I'm on camera look"

It's fun to watch because the way the show is structured nobody can get too far ahead more than a few hours and the last team that arrives can move up the next leg of the race

Groucho

Not at all. Basically, you'd see one or two teams with a runaway lead that the bottom few could never catch up with. Boring as hell, if you ask me.

Blake

I don't think the cameramen are that much of a hindrance. If you've just got one guy with them at all times, getting in a cab, he goes for the front, the couple goes for the back. The rest can follow in a car they've already got handy. Also, everyone has a cameraman, so it's pretty much equal footing there. And in previous seasons, I remember a few teams being let go early from their pit stop because of "production difficulties" - most likely problems with the cameraman's equipment, or something similar. So I guess there are times when the cameramen really do cause problems, or other technical difficulties arise. I'm sure it's all in the rules.What I meant is could they, say, force a team to use a very little known train that only has one trip a day instead of an airplane to give other teams a chance to catch up? Could they change one of the pit stops from "open 24 hours" to "open 9-4"? Could they just find ways to equalize teams if one gets too far ahead, or is everything set in stone from the beginning? Every challenge, every travel requirement?

Skorp

Blake, that's what I was getting at in my earlier post: Does TAR have alternate route markers set up to handle that type of situation? If one or two teams got too far ahead, maybe they can change a task to one with limited opening hours, for example, in order to give the other teams a chance to catch up.

Here's a scenario:
Teams 1 & 2 catch a flight that will put them a half day ahead of everyone else. TAR is, of course, aware of this. Now, the first task upon arrival at their destination was originally planned to be at a site that was open 24/7 (which would enable those 2 teams to maintain their extraordinary lead). So instead of using that task, TAR swaps the clues at the first route marker (while those 2 teams are still en route) to a location which is only open limited hours. The change in tasks would have to effect all the teams, but it would at least give the others a chance to catch up.

The more I think about it, the more certain I am that the tasks and challenges can't be set in stone and that backup plans must exist -- not only to even out the teams, but also to deal with other possible unforeseen events. Take, for example, this past episode: If a big storm in Vienna had caused the bungee jump Roadblock to be closed, would TAR just skip the task entirely? Or would they have changed the clues given the teams at the Mozart & Beethoven houses to a fallback Roadblock location? That scenario, to me, seems to be the most likely.

Groucho

While I don't doubt that backup plans exist for unexpected disasters, I don't think that they change the rules in case one team gets way ahead. That wouldn't be fair, and has been the source of lawsuits on other reality shows.

There will always be bunching up at the events that are only open certain hours, so a runaway lead is something that can't really happen. Teams have been way behind though. I remember last season one team came in SEVERAL hours (I think it was in the double digits at least) behind everybody else...and this is with using the fast forward!

Skorp

Just to clarify: I didn't mean that they would "change the rules" if one team got way ahead. They could simply have an alternate task or route planned as a contingency, which would effect all the teams -- not just the ones in the lead. I don't see how that would lead to a lawsuit.

Tradnor

I like seeing the interactions between the teams. If the teams all got spread out, they would never have to deal with each other. There would be a lot less conflict. Like the horse carriages in the most recent episode, where some teams got in without taking the ticket, and other teams grabbed them instead. That would never have happened if the teams hadn't been bunched up to begin with. But it was more fun to watch than teams coming along one at a time and riding the carriages without incident.

As for camera/sound people, I think the one reality show that admitted their existence was NBC's Lost. It mentioned that teams had to buy tickets and such for the camera person, and frequently showed the camera person on screen, sometimes even talking.

clemente

I think Lost was the polar opposite of TAR, where there were no boundaries as to how you could get back to your destination and you didn't know where the other teams were in relation to you and you could build a monumentous lead.

It also, if I recall, wasn't that exciting or captivating because of the lack of those things.

Groucho

Because it would be tampering with the final outcome of the game. For example, if halfway through a football game, one team is making a lot of touchdowns and the officials suddenly change the rules so that touchdowns are now worth 1 point, it affects the game. When money is on the line, the producers can't just say "We don't like how this team is doing, so we'll even the playing field."

Now, if the game were more dynamic and all the teams signed agreements that they understood that the rules would change if one team got wildly ahead, then the producers could get away with this. But I doubt that's the case...all it takes is one person to "squeal" and the game loses credibility.

Josh Z

Exactly, Lost was quite tedious and NBC didn't even finish airing the first (and only) season. As I recall, they dumped the last few episodes on the Travel Channel, and nobody cared.

I like the way the Amazing Race formula works. I wouldn't have them change a thing.

tor_greg

The teams are allowed to spend their money on any form of transportation they wish (unless specified), on the condition that they can provide transportation for their camera and sound people (also a team of 2). So, for example, if a team wanted to buy a horse and use that as transportation, they can do that -- as long as they buy another horse for their crew.

atari2600

never thought about it like that (comparing to LOST)...i guess this way is the best despite its flaws.

i still love the show!

Patman

There a lot of downtime, travel time that doesn't get much in terms of coverage on the show, but I would say that travelling on the trains, buses, etc, for long stretches of time is the mentally fatigueing aspect of the game that we don't really take into account. I wouldn't want to be one of those cameramen during the travel times when it's quiet and boring, but having to stay alert in case a bruhaha erupted among teams or within a team.

Groucho

I really have to give props to the cameramen on the show. One incident from last season was when one of the teams left their clue behind by mistake. The cameraman quietly filmed it (to the delight of the audience). Another moment was when several of the teams cheerfully filled up their vans with unleaded while the camera zoomed in on the "DIESEL ONLY" label.

It's these little touches that put "The Amazing Race" ahead of the pack of reality shows.

DodgingCars

AR is easily the best reality show on tv. I don't think Survivor even compares.

My favorite part about AR is its more about the game than the drama (though there is some).

garmonbozia

what would happen if a team was running to get on a subway train or something before the doors close, and the camera/sound people don't make it on with them???

Has anything like this ever happened? I just wondered what would happen....would the show somehow try to get the camera people to the end of that route before the players? do the players have to wait for them? or is it playing the game is most important, don't worry about the cameras?

taa455

Crew members for this show have to be extremely quick. I don't think there would ever be an instance like you describe. If there is enough time for a team to get on the subway, there is also enough time for a camera man to get on too. If it did happen by some freak accident, I'm sure there are standby people waiting along the entire route. Every step os mapped out as far as where the next destination is, so it isn't like they could lose a team.

chowderhead

I absolutely stopped watching Survivor because of this reason.
Switching members up to "balance" (Africa) a tribe. Inserting a subjective immunity challenge to even out the tribes (Australia) and other Mark Burnett manipulations (favoritism) made me stop watching his labrat experiment.

TAR is my favorite show at the moment. People are complaining about the bunching. But they would probably complain even louder if a team got so far ahead that the other teams could not catch up. I think that the producers are trying to stagger the bunching so as to not be so obvious i.e. last week's run through the sewer followed by the 3-4 horse carriages at 30 min. intervals. You have control over the times with the hours of operations to the sewers and you can still call it a race once the
sewers open.

What I always wondered was the airplane tickets. I am assuming they need to purchase 2 tickets for the team and 1-2 tickets for the camera person/sound technican - for 4 tickets. They always say that the plane is full but when I look at the plane scenes there *appears* to be empty seats. Are the producers just limiting the amount of teams on each plane? If the plane is indeed full, shouldn't other teams be given priority over the camera person/technicans. I am guessing they need to keep the camera person with their team at all times. Anyway, is it TARsday yet????

chowderhead

In Season Two, Wil and Tera were awarded extra time (1 minute) due to "technical difficulties" beyond the contestants' control. I believe they were racing to the pit stop (at the farm in New Zeland?) chasing Blake and Paige. They never gave the reason but I believe it was because the camera person was "too slow" out of the car or something so they had to stop. The extra time allowed Tara and Wil to tie for first with Blake and Paige and both teams got a cruise or something which I am sure Wil and Tera took SEPARATELY!

Groucho

Based on the wording the show uses, I think that on certain legs the contestants can only get on flights where the producers have pre-bought tickets.

Take the first episode of this season. How could they know that there was 4 slots on one plane, 3 slots on another, etc? They couldn't without pre-buying, because any Joe of the street could have showed up and bought the tickets out from under the contestants.

They play this part down, of course, but it's one of the controlling factors that helps keep the constestants clustered.

djbrown

there have been instances in the past where teams were given "time credits" for "production delays". One team, perhaps it was Andre and Damon, was given a rather large (like an hour or two) time credit if memory serves....