Treasure Hunters, on NBC, is going to receive the inevitable comparisons to The Amazing Race. They are both reality shows featuring teams competing against each other while traveling the globe, with one team eliminated after most episodes.  This is another example of why synopses of TV shows fail to construe the true essence of shows; Treasure Hunters and The Amazing Race couldn't be more different. 

Treasure Hunters premise is an obvious piggybacking on The Da Vinci Code craze: teams are charged with finding artifacts by solving intricate clues and puzzles.  The treasure is in the "millions", at least according to the NBC promos.  The biggest difference between Treasure Hunters and The Amazing Race is the tone and production of the program.  Whereas Race bases itself in reality, with their contestants having to deal with the practical issues regarding transportation, this being one of the main hurdles of the game, Treasure Hunters puts absolutely zero emphasis on the finer points of traveling.  Once they figure out where they must go, the transportation is ready and waiting. 

The show itself takes on a mythical feeling because of this.  It's the kind of thing you dreamed about doing when you were in grade school, but only on a thousand times greater scale.  Adding to the mythical, storybook quality of Treasure Hunters is the gimmicky nature of the teams, such as Team Miss USA, Team Geniuses, and Team Ex-CIA.  The most mesmerizing team is the villainous Team Fogal, whose degree of moral corruptness is astonishing, given that Mr. Fogal has been a Minister for over twenty years.  They are all portrayed as characters, which is fine, because, as we all know, characters are a lot more entertaining than real people.  These characters blend well with host Laird Mackintosh, who speaks with enough gravitas to make Stone Phillips proud.

The production is slick, filmed almost like an action movie.  And it feels like one too.  The action is constant and the producers have even figured out a way to make teams solving puzzles exciting.  That is the mark of good editing. 

Most of all, Treasure Hunters is fun.  Pure fun.  The Amazing Race takes its time, far more so that Hunters.  And that's okay.  It's a simple matter of taste; action or drama.  If you like drama, The Amazing Race is for you.  If you like action, it's Treasure Hunters.

I like action.


-Oscar Dahl 
(Photo courtesy of NBC)