You are correct. Josh showed them where the last 4:00 tickets were - and then made the great 'tits' comment about the models.

As to the show itself: thanks to everyone who suggested it for me.

I don't care for reality shows in general: Will Trista pick ?? or ??? Whose the best this, whose the best that.

But, this one has a lot going for it. It kinda feels like a real-life 24 with their constant edge-of-your-seat action.

I have to believe this is the most expensive reality show as well: cars are provided, trips to Italy, mountain travels, spending money, giving away prizes to first place, etc. Just in the first episode!

Here's hoping the "models" are the next to go!

Maybe I wasn't watching closely, but I thought Amanda and Chris took a 4 o'clock bus ticket first, and then took a 2 o'clock later when they found one of those. If so, didn't they state something about not being able to trade tickets once you found some the first time. Did I see this incorrectly or did they screw up.

From what I could tell, htere was an indication on the outside of the tickets about what time they left. Once you picked them up, you were stuck. But you COULD read and see what time it left before you sealed your fate.

That makes sense then. I was working on some things as I was watching and thought they actually picked up the tickets.

http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?31722

Happy Returns for 'The Amazing Race'
Thu, May 29, 2003 11:33 PM PDT

by Rick Porter
Zap2it, TV News


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - It's true that the broadcast networks are making more of an effort this summer to run original programming, but let's face it: A lot of it probably won't hold our attention.

How great is it, then, that CBS has dropped another installment of "The Amazing Race" into our laps? The purest of all game-oriented reality shows, "The Amazing Race" also has the added benefit of being a travelogue for all the poor shlubs -- present company included -- who can't just jet off to Milan on a whim.

Milan, not so incidentally, is the first destination for our 12 teams, who start out from L.A.'s Dodger Stadium. There's no really easy way to get from there to L.A. International Airport, so the teams with SoCal ties have an advantage at the start.

Or so you'd figure. Buddies Jeff and David take seemingly forever to get out of the stadium parking lot, while married gay couple Reichen and Chip have trouble finding the parking lot where they're told to drop their vehicles. Both teams get stuck on the last flight out.

Models Tian and Jaree also catch a bad break, as the latch on the tailgate of their SUV malfunctions and they have to wait for a replacement vehicle.

The other teams include some now-familiar types, like the sort-of dating Cindy and Russell -- she wants to step up the relationship, he's not sure -- and married couple Steve and Debra, who seem like the kind of people you'd like to have as neighbors but don't look to have a chance at winning. There are also some new combinations, like beefy, middle-aged air-traffic controllers Steve and Dave, circus clowns Jon and Al and long-time couple Millie and Chuck.

In their late 20s, Millie and Chuck have been dating for 12 years. Millie's ready to get married, but Chuck has some commitment issues.

And, oh yeah -- they're both virgins.

Back to the race: After arriving in Milan, the teams take buses at two-hour intervals to a ski resort, where they're faced with their first Detour option: Walk a rope bridge and slide on a zip line, or use a locator beacon to find snowmobile keys buried in a sizable field of snow.

No one takes the safe option, and for the most part the teams stay grouped according to when they got there. Several teams seem more into alliance-building and working together than on past editions -- maybe because they're more hip to how the race works. Father-and-son team Steve and Josh even do NFL wives Sheree and Monica a solid in Milan, making up for cheating them out of one of the earlier flights in favor of Steve and Dave.

The Chicagoans have some trouble on the mountain, as Dave tweaks a knee on the hike back to the pit stop. They muddle through, however, finishing fifth.

The first three teams -- Millie and Chuck, dating couple Amanda and Chris and Steve and Josh -- decide to finish first together, on the theory that alliances can only help. Monica and Sheree use their Fast Forward option, skipping the Detour task and heading straight to the destination, where they end up fourth.

The end of the race comes down to David and Jeff, Tian and Jaree and married couple Debra and Steve, who aren't nearly as fit as the other two teams. David and Jeff mistakenly think they can use the snowmobiles from the other part of the Detour, costing them time. They recover and manage to finish 10th.

Jaree's cigarette habit nearly costs her team, but in the end, first impressions prove corrected, and Debra and Steve are eliminated after finishing last.


Chris

I'm waiting for Josh to make a "Stevedave" reference. Every time one of them complained or fell or couldn't figure out the airport, I was yelling, "Go home Stevedave!" I live alone.

I dont suppose this will be replayed? I want to watch this season, but I forgot it was premiering yesterday.

Brian

Last season, UPN re-ran the early episodes of TAR 3, so try looking for it on your local UPN channel and you might get lucky.

Heh actually he'd be more likely to make an even more obscure Kevin Smith reference and bust out a "bear is driving" joke. For his birthday a couple weeks ago I got him a toy car with a plastic bear and the Dante and Randal action figures glued in. He was ecstatic.

I really enjoy TAR and I'm glad it's back on. Each season I end up pulling for at least one team... last night all I could establish was who I DON'T want to win. That move the father/son made with the air controllers made me pull against both teams the rest of the way.

Okay, PLEASE stop the Virgins title next week. In fact, just say they are dating and in future shows let them talk about that like it's just a normal part of their life (even though it is kind of surprising). Likewise with the gay couple. I don't wanna constantly hear about their marriage. I mean in the sense that it's just not a big deal.

The clowns are obviously supposed to be the funny pair, but I get the feeling they won't come close to Drew and ____ (forgot his name).

You're confusing Drew and Derek ("Team Zoolander") with "Team Oh Brother," whose names I can't recall. But I agree, those guys were great...very entertaining to watch.

I think the name you're trying to recall is Kevin.

Pretty good first ep., but I think they missed a big opportunity to throw the players for a loop with this one. They should have had the first beus take players to a spot far away from the challenge and then make them find their way there. Then, have the second bus take players to a closer spot and find their way there, and then the third bus takes them directly to the challenge. That would have really shaken things up nicely and given the players something to think about in the future.

As it happened, things progressed exactly as you would expect them to.

Let's fill in team monikers (or come up with better ones):

Team Implants
Team Clown
Team NFL
Team Boot Camp
Team Coronary
Team Virgin
Team Gay
Team Staypuff
Team F-Bomb
Team Buds
Team Engaged
Russell/Cindy (she pines for him, not reciprocal)

Who is Team Coronary? The air traffic controllers?

Team Buds and Team Engaged -- kind of lame, to be honest. We don't know enough about them to be too creative at this juncture. (Although I could see the engaged couple being called Team Zipline, but that might be a bit obscure.)

Russel/Cindy maybe need to be Team Whiny, but maybe that was just the one episode. We'll cut them some slack for now, I guess.

lol at Team Implants. I just call them The Blondes.

The overnights are in. Good news, bad news. Good in that it saw a 17% increase over last year's premier. Bad in that it still lost to NBC comedy repeats:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/go...tv&id=20030530

Yes, I believe someone earlier used this to describe those 2 out of shape guys with age on their side.

Team F-Bomb is also Team Dysfunctional.

And you know what, I bet most of the people watching those NBC comedy repeats have already seen those episodes during the regular season. They are just conditioned to watch the same things over and over again.

After I've seen the original airing, I rarely see that episode again, even in syndication. There is too much new stuff to keep watching the same ole, old stuff!

Well hopefully the ratings will increase week to week.

Chris

Quote:

Team Clown

Team Barnum?

Quote:

Team NFL

Seems good enough for now.

Quote:

Team Boot Camp

Who is this? The father/son? How about "Team Skywalker?" "Huff puff huff puff. Josh, I am your father!"

I would make a slight modification to this and call them Team "Virgin".
Team Closet?


Good enough for now. They're too non-descript for anything else.
See above.
Team Unrequited?

Russell and Cindy could be Team Yuppie

I wondered if Team Coronary would loose simply because the only soundbites they repeated over and over in the episode was "We're old and out of shape."... "Boy, we are old, and just well, not in shape"..."Huff', huff', huff'- did I mention that we were old and- huff', huff', huff'- out of shape?"

Does nerdlinger Josh say "Lets Rock" every time he exits a vehicle?

Well, it was an okay start. Amazing Race always gets better around the halfway point as the tenson mounts and the personlities really shine. It still proves there is always one couple without a chance in Hell, be it old grandmas or middle age couples who've never turned dwon a buffet. Oh, yes, and Americans are loud and brash often for very slim reasons.

Clowns are sad, sad, people.

Does anyone remember the couple (I think it was Cindy and Russell) that made the illegal left turn into the parking lot at LAX? I think they should have gotten a time penalty.
Regardless, it is GREAT to have my favorite show back on TARsday!!! YEAH!

Team Coronary?

There's nothing wrong with their hearts (not yet anyway).

How about

Team Wounded Knee
or
Team PATCO?