The Amazing Race - 10/5/08 - Live Commentary

[Brent]

Tulin wrote:

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WE NEED MORE DALLAS!!!!!!!

more Starr

[Shintaek]

I'm starting to like Mark & Bill, Tina & Ken, and Toni & Dallas. Terrence & Sarah were hillarious as usual, this time it was mostly Terrence.

I like the format now, but wished that at least once in each episode (maybe for the Pit Stop) for clues/instructions to be riddles instead of "Go here to find your next clue".

Tulin wrote:

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WE NEED MORE DALLAS!!!!!!!

NO! MORE SHIRTLESS DALLAS... AND NICK!!!!!!

[firehawk12]

Well, before they were just given a picture of a flag and told to go there.

[Brian]

They need to do away with non-elimination legs.

[Brent]

brains! wrote:

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They need to do away with non-elimination legs.

Nah, I find those fun, especially back in the old days when they lost their money or bags. Plus, non-elim legs have saved many a team who have made it into the final 3.

[Brian]

For me it just drags out the show and ruins the pace. And usually saves a team I want out of the game, lol.

[marplanauta]

if you want to make it more interesting, take away their money, or just give them the essential

[McCoy]

Taking away their money is what they used to do until very recently. And it was not interesting. What they do now i.e. they have to come in first on the next leg or face a 30 min. penalty, is better. As long as the leg design has bunching that gets them level with other teams and gives them a fighting chance.

[marplanauta]

what i meant was not just for non eliminations.
Make the whole race with a predefined and pretty scarce amount of money, so they will not be able to take taxis to go everywhere and they will not be able to sleep in hotels every once in a while

[McCoy]

But isn't that what they do now? Give them just enough to get them through a leg? If they don't take taxis how else would they cover these distances (some of them pretty far)? Or are you saying they should go back to driving themselves everywhere? I do agree there are a lot more taxis in the show these days. There is certainly more drama when they do their own driving.

[Brian]

I prefer to see them doing their own navigating and driving, too.

The occasional panhandle can be quite entertaining, as well.

[Spot's Meow]

I really think they should do their own driving, for two reasons. The first is that it makes for much more entertainment when teams get lost on their own or just follow someone else who is lost. Second, I was listening to an interview of Anthony and Stephanie yesterday and they said that the cabs are so crappy in some places that you have a 50/50 shot of getting one that runs properly or a cabbie who knows what he's doing. After hearing the way they described things, it sounds to me like the biggest reason they came in last was bad luck in choosing taxis, and I think it would be better to take that element out of the show.

[Canadave]

^ Or have them take public transportation more often. Don't specify how, just let them solicite directions or find a transit map and let them loose. There are still variables, but it's less random than cabs.

[McCoy]

Spot's Meow wrote:

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I really think they should do their own driving, for two reasons. The first is that it makes for much more entertainment when teams get lost on their own or just follow someone else who is lost. Second, I was listening to an interview of Anthony and Stephanie yesterday and they said that the cabs are so crappy in some places that you have a 50/50 shot of getting one that runs properly or a cabbie who knows what he's doing. After hearing the way they described things, it sounds to me like the biggest reason they came in last was bad luck in choosing taxis, and I think it would be better to take that element out of the show.

Well they would say that, given how things played out for them. But if it were accurate then half the teams would have had the same problem they did. Which didn't happen. If it had, there's plenty of drama in that and it would have been shown. Nope they just screwed up and don't want to admit it.

[Spot's Meow]

Well I didn't just get the impression from them, it was from watching the show in general. Cabs have often been an issue, one that I feel doesn't add positively to the show. When they get lost on their own it's funny, when their cab driver gets lost it's just annoying. They did say in the interview that all teams had trouble with cabs and that they had to switch cabs a few times because many were broken.

Something else interesting that they mentioned was that it took a long time to get the camera and sound crew into the cab as well. If they had their own cars this wouldn't be so much of a worry.