This week's Amazing Race really annoyed me. The producers' strategy of bunching the teams between pit stops is well-known, but usually it happens right out of the gate via airline schedules or contrived hours of operation on the first stop. This week the bunching happened near the end of the episode. There were a number of activities in this leg of the race, but none of them mattered except for the final one.
I don't like the bunching strategy, but I at least understand it. The show is theoretically more exciting if all teams have a roughly equal chance of winning each week. Fine, I'm on board with that. But to bunch them up at the end of an episode instead of the beginning makes no sense whatsoever. Worse, it jerks the viewers around. Am I watching a race, or not? A race doesn't hit the reset button 3/4 of the way through. I felt anger at the producers during this episode. I hope this was just a mistake, some kind of logistical snafu that didn't work out as planned and won't happen again. One of the reasons the show is popular is because of its perceived fairness, relative to other reality shows. Players' own actions get them eliminated, rather than political maneuvering and backstabbing. Except this week a team was saved by The Hand of GodThe Producers. And that's just not cricket.
I noticed that too, and was wondering if it was because they were hoping for a last minute swim-off to the finish. Why the pool thing, otherwise?
Posted by: Jodi on January 27, 2005 02:27 PMA friend of mine and I observed they seem to be doing a lot more bunching on this particular series. The producers will probably tell you it's a feature, not a bug, but I think you're right -- it randomizes the outcome a lot more. Still, I can't argue too much with last week's results -- the good guys won and the team that made the biggest screw-up went home.
Oh, BTW, thanks for your congratulations on the previous Amazing Race thread. I was hoping to duplicate your excellent run, but I certainly can't complain. You might not have seen the last of me in that regard, though I'll be back in more familiar surroundings, if ya know what I mean...
Posted by: Eddie on January 30, 2005 01:40 PMEddie: I presume you mean the upcoming marathon promotion for Can You Beat Ken? (Ken Jennings' forthcoming trivia game from University Games), in the form of the Jeopardy! tournament with a few dozen of the show's past winners all vying for a shot at Ken in the finals. Has it taped yet? If not, good luck!
Posted by: Peter on January 30, 2005 05:14 PMI believe the first-round games begin taping today. I tape next week.
Posted by: Eddie on January 31, 2005 08:54 AM