My most frequent complaint about The Amazing Race is the lost opportunity represented by the frequently lame challenges the teams are asked to perform. With just a little more effort, the inane needle-in-a-haystack searches or purely physical challenges could be transformed into simple but satisfying puzzles that with both physical and mental components. It's clearly not hurting the show's ratings, but I can't help feel that the game aspect of the show could be stronger. Enter
As a primetime network show, the puzzles are pretty simple-- Morse code, a substitution cipher (with provided code key), an electronic combination lock-- but so far nicely devised. The lock in particular-- positioned within view of Mount Rushmore and opened by entering the ordinal sequence of the four presidents carved thereon-- felt elegant in its simplicity and integration with the environment. I was a bit disappointed that none of the teams figured out the image on the map they received, since I recognized it as an anamorphic image immediately (there was an exhibit of such images when I visited the Salvador Dali museum in Figueras, Spain). The Geniuses and Young Professionals seemed particularly dense when, confronted with a cylinder that looked remarkably like the one already in their possession, they never connected the dots.
Production values are high, and I was particularly pleased that viewers are told how far behind the leader each team is, so we're not left to wonder if teams were very close to each other or just edited to look that way. The product placement is particularly egregious, however-- is there anything unique about Ask.com's search technology?-- and my attention span isn't so short that I need to see the cell phone videos more than once, thanks. But Treasure Hunters shows real promise, and I hope the ratings are strong enough to warrant a second season and an audition opportunity for the pirates of Briny Deep ("PIRATES: Seattle, WA").
Posted by Peter at June 18, 2006 10:51 PMPeter - If you ever have any hope of getting on TH I'd be sure to clear the archives of staticzombie before trying...you'd be just a wee bit overqualified as 5 minutes of reading would show.
That said, I actually enjoyed the show as well. I was tolerant of the not-AR level editing quality, and enjoyed the setup and introduction of the two sets of teams. I also thought the puzzles were very fair and at a good level for the competition. I particularly liked the Mt. Theodore Roosevelt clue, because not only did they allow you to pick a punitive, but not absolutely crippling wrong answer, but there were also two ways to solve it correctly.
Overall, at least based on just one episode, my wife and I are pleasently surprised and look forward to seeing if they can keep it up. My question to you is, what if two teams just can't solve a puzzle? For example, I can believe the Texans could have been there for four score years without figuring out 1-3-26-16. And without the scrum early on to overhear one of the other teams might have been stuck indefinitely as well. Based on your experience do you think they are going to screw up and create a puzzle that is just completely beyond two teams?
Posted by: Lou on June 19, 2006 02:35 PMIt wasn't clear to me if the teams were informed that their past locations were a clue to the next one, or if that information was just given to the home audience. Since all but one team went directly to Mt. Rushmore, I'm assuming the former-- in which case, the Mt. Theodore Roosevelt clue was OK-- but only just. Otherwise, I'd consider it completely unfair. If I had a map with an encrypted message on it, and was then given a decryption key, I'd immediately go where the message indicated. Had the message simply said THEODORE ROOSEVELT-- without the "MT"-- it would have been fine. I suspect the MT was added to help defeat premature decryption before teams got the decryption key (if Briny Deep had received the map, you can be sure we'd have been crunching on that message the entire way to Lincoln).
I'm guessing that the producers have an escape valve in place to handle the chance that teams can't crack a puzzle. The cell phones are already such an integral part of their game, it would be easy to provide them with a panic number or call them with an offer of a hint at some cost. And I really don't think the Wild Hanlons will be around much longer to bollox up the curve.
Posted by: Peter on June 19, 2006 04:21 PMMy company is actually planning a version of "The Game" in New Zealand. Would you or anyone you know, like to help plan this?
Sincerely,
Tsanders
www.southofegypt.com