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Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:43 AM ET

By Jeffrey Goldfarb

LONDON (Reuters) - Jerry Bruckheimer's Emmy-winning reality series "The Amazing Race" will be produced outside the United States for the first time, joining the growing number of hit shows that are being adapted for local audiences.

Disney's Buena Vista distribution arm said on Monday that the traveling adventure competition would be licensed to AXN in Central Europe and Asia, which will make one version for audiences in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and other nearby countries, and another for the Asia-Pacific region.

The number of formatted shows, or ones adapted for local audiences, on U.S. and European television has surged 35 percent over the past three years as producers increasingly seek ideas from other countries.

"This is the first pan-Asia format deal for a reality-competition show and an excellent example of how great content can transcend geographies and cultures," said Steve Macallister, a managing director for Buena Vista.

"The Amazing Race," in which pairs of friends and family members compete in a race around the world, has won three consecutive Emmy Awards. It has run for seven seasons on the Viacom-owned CBS network in the United States, and an eighth season was recently launched.

AXN is the action and adventure channel of Sony Pictures Television International, a unit of Japanese media and electronics conglomerate Sony Corp.

Bruckheimer's hits include the films "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" and TV shows "CSI" and "Without a Trace". He is co-executive producer of "The Amazing Race" with Bertram van Munster.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.


It's about time! and maybe we will get to see these shows, complete with subtitles.

Chris

I'm just waiting for a Japanese couple to yell "Speak Japanese!!" to the Brooklyn cab drivers.

I thought I heard the Fox reality show channel they were working on was going to try to get foreign versions of shows. I suppose it is a bit harder if the show isn't in English (as opposed to things like Canadian Idol, Australia's Next Top Model, Biggest Loser UK, etc.) I hope we'll be able to see this somehow.

mein Rind ist defekt!

I'd like to see foreign pairs compete in the US version. It would be interesting to see how they adapt to other cultures and such compared to Americans.

This is what I've been waiting for!

Chris

I would help out a couple of girls from the Czech Republic if their leg of TAR brought them through the area.