The New Amazing Race (some spoilers, in the event anyone really cares)

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

New season started last night, anyone else watch?

Here are my thoughts:
-I almost feel like Phil could have said at the top of the show, "Tonight the part of _____&_____ will be played by these two new people." Now I understand that a show like this will attract a certain type of person so it's only natural that after a few seasons there would be some resemblences but this is ridiculous. One black couple? Check. One team with at least one gay guy? Check. One old married couple? Check. One team of somewhat ty sisters/best friends? Check. And now it seems that a semi-emotionally abusive husband and his trophy wife are mainstays as well. While no one will ever be Jonathan and Victoria the hillbilly dentist and his wife might make a run for the le. There comes a point where it just looks like you're filling in quotas instead of fielding a compe ive field of racers.
-The fat, annoying gay guy on the team that got eliminated? I'm pretty sure he lied about his fear of flying to get on the show. They showed two clips of him looking forlorn as he confessed that he hadn't flown in eight years because of his phobia. Then when it comes time to jump on a plane to Brazil he looks as cool as a cu ber. Same deal when he has to get in a helicopter. And knowing that show if he had done ANYTHING that even looked remotely like he was nervous about flying they would have shown it, because the producers love to play up bull story lines like that and somehow make this show is really all about people growing by overcoming adversity, and not a bunch of attention s going for a million bucks.
-The hippies and the dorks, while annoying at times, are actually breaths of fresh air. At first I didn't like them, but as the episode wore on I found myself liking them, if for no other reason that they weren't cookie cutter replacements of previous teams.
-I understand the need for CBS to play to middle America, but if you're going to cast two tacky, annoying, 50 something women, don't make them from Texas. It just makes all of us look bad. If you're going to send white trash out to represent a state get them from Oklahoma as that my actually be a fair representation. Those two dimwits are an embarrassment to this great state.

That's my take on it. What about you?

[pache100]

Ay-yi-yi. Nearly all of these nitwits are annoying. If those two women had screamed, "I peed my pants!" one more time, I was changing the channel. I wanted them to be eliminated last night. And, that old man and old woman need to quit worrying about what everyone else is doing; if she hadn't walked around that frickin' motorcycle shop for hours moaning and whining and wringing her hands trying to get that dentist dude to build her motorcycle for her, she'd have been done first (NO ONE said she couldn't look at the other cycles to see where all that stuff went, but did she do that? NOOOO!). Right now I'm leaning toward the dentist dude and his wife (although I don't think he treats her very well and I may have a problem with that later) and MoJo. But...it's gonna be a long season.

[pache100]

If you're going to send white trash out to represent a state get them from Oklahoma as that my actually be a fair representation. Those two dimwits are an embarrassment to this great state.

I call them the "peed my pants pals".

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Yeah, the old folks are kinda grating. I wouldn't have minded seeing any of the bottom three teams gone last night. The old people will probably be the next to go. When they finished they did the obligatory, "Well, hopefully we got all the mistakes out of our system." No ever gets them out of their system, they just make room for whole new mistakes. Of course, how they'll top walking past the clue box half a dozen times is beyond me.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

And another random thought, in the closing minutes of the episode the guys called upon "genie power" (which consisted of the aforementioned fat, annoying guy folding his arms a la Barbara Eden and making a sound like a ringing telephone) while the "peed my pants pals" thanked Jesus for sending them a cab. Stupid Christians advance, stupid genie worshippers get eliminated.

It's the first commandment in action people!

[greywheel]

I want to see the "frat boys" and the "hippies" get into a fight. That would be different.
Might first instinct says that the "black couple" will take it. They would seem to have the combination of physical fitness and intelligence required. But they ran towards the back of the pack yesterday, so now I am not sure who I expect to win.

[easjer]

I cannot root for a team that calls themselves MoJo, especially when the was crying at the beginning of the show. I mean, yes there are points in the race where I would cry with frustration too, but standing in line to get tickets for the first flight on the first leg of the race is a bit much. Otherwise, they were all right.

Jonathan and Victoria redux annoy.

Nerds need to give up the schtick, otherwise endearing and cute. Hippies not as grating as I expect.

Old couple didn't grate as much as usual, but they're dumb, so I'm not wasting my time with them. How do you walk past it seven times?

All of the dating couple (minues the nerds) are going to have issues (should we take the next step? don't you love me?). The black couple seem most stable, but were long distance folks, so maybe, maybe not - did you see her thighs? MASSIVE! I thought they handled the leering Brazilian crowd well.

The rest sort of blur. I don't care for the alpha males or the ty friends. The Houston women made me moan, but I'm glad the other pair was eliminated, because they REALLY got my nerves. The 'glamizons' next would be fine by me.

I don't have an early favorite. I predict JV2 will last a good ways and become increasingly icky. I predict one of the dating couples will have a spectacular flameout a la Lenny and Karen or more recently Ron and Kelly.