February 19, 2008
Now that the scribes' strike has finally been resolved, networks have scrambled to determine which of their shows will immediately resume production on new episodes, which ones will be held off for a later date, and which ones will remain in limbo. Aside from deciding what programs will begin filming the remaining installments of their current seasons, the networks have also been busy ironing out which ones get picked up for another go during the 2008-2009 offering.
Over at CBS, 11 scripted series have just been renewed for another season, following last month's announcement that two of its reality shows had been green-lit for another edition. The Amazing Race was picked up for an impressive 13th season, while Survivor was renewed for an unprecedented 18th issue.
February 11, 2008
Uchenna and Joyce Agu enjoyed being on The Amazing Race so much that they are in the midst of the developing their own race show in their hometown of Houston, Texas.
“We wanted to give people the chance to experience what we experienced on the show that we were on,” Joyce, who won the seventh edition of The Amazing Race with husband Uchenna, said in an interview with FOX 26 Morning News. “So what we decided to do was a race in Houston, and we're calling it The Great Race Houston, hoping to give Houstonians the experience we had and to be able to challenge themselves and go beyond their boundaries and push beyond their fears.”
February 4, 2008
Joining a rigorous reality competition like The Amazing Race can no doubt take a toll on a person's stress levels, and this is exactly what happened to show contestant, Ronald Hsu, who finished the 12th season of the show in second place with daughter, Christina Hsu.
In an interview with The Colombian, Christina explained that her father is a much calmer person in real life, and that the short-tempered man viewers saw on The Amazing Race is the product of sleep deprivation and lack of nourishment.
January 31, 2008
The Amazing Race, for almost the entirety of its twelve season run, has been the critical darling of the reality TV world. Being a fan of the series, this has always made me happy, though I found the heaps of praise and awards to be a bit peculiar. The show has won the Emmy a number of years in a row for Best Reality-Competition Series and, just last week, Amazing Race creator took home the Directors Guild of America award for best directed reality show. It seems that the award giving community just decided some years back that The Amazing Race was the cream of the reality crop and that this designation would never, ever be questioned. It's kind of like when sportswriters vote on Gold Gloves for baseball. People like Rafael Palmeiro and Omar Vizquel were basically handed Gold Gloves at their positions every year, no matter what. While perhaps deserved, you'd think that the competition wouldn't remain static year-to-year.
January 23, 2008
Nicolas and Donald were probably the most surprisingly effective team on this season of The Amazing Race. For multi-generational teams to succeed is rare, and not much was expected of 20-something Nicolas and his almost 70 year old grandpa Donald. However, Nic was up to the task of picking up whatever slack was necessary and Don more than held his own on a race that gives people 40 years his junior trouble. The duo was in the running for the million for much of the Race's final leg, but a difficult and frustrating final road block ended up being their final nail in the coffin, and Nic and Don finished in a very respectable third place. We got the chance to speak with Nicolas and Donald earlier this week and discuss their time on the Race.
Below you will find both the written transcript and full mp3 audio of the interview.
January 22, 2008
Ronald and Christina were the biggest story on The Amazing Race 12. The father/daughter combo started out the race on rocky ground, with Ronald constantly bickering with his daughter. It got uncomfortable for viewers at times, but Ronald was open about the fact that he needed to change, that he needed to show more respect for his daughter. And, you know what? He did change and, once that happened, Ronald and Christina became a force to be reckoned with on The Amazing Race. They ended up in second place, but looked poised to be million dollar winners throughout the final leg. We got the chance to speak with Ron and Chris yesterday and they were especially cordial.
Below you will find both the written transcript and full mp3 audio of the interview.
January 21, 2008
TK and Rachel, the laid back quasi-hippies, surprised everyone last night when they came out on top and won one million dollars on The Amazing Race. Some have called the dating couple boring, but that's only because they didn't fight and yell like every other couple on the race. Their incredible calm and positive attitude kept them in contention throughout the season and, in the end, their quick thinking (and Rachel's performance on the final Road Block) catapulted them into first place and one million dollars. We got the chance to speak with TK and Rachel this morning to discuss their time on The Amazing Race.
Below you will find both the written transcript and full mp3 audio of the interview.
January 21, 2008
This is one finale that I wasn't dreading. All three final teams in this season of The Amazing Race were likable to me. Ronald seems to have gotten better at respecting his daughter, Don was a kick-butt old man, and TK and Rachel were sweet together.
How would the final tasks skew? Would they favor one team over another? Will that last footrace decide the winner? Those were the questions I had as I sat down to enjoy the show.