The Amazing Race 17 Media/News

[Erika]

CBS to debut 'The Amazing Race's seventeenth edition September 26


CBS has announced The Amazing Race's seventeenth edition will premiere with a special 90-minute broadcast on Sunday, September 26 at 8:30PM ET/PT.

Beginning October 3, The Amazing Race settle into its normal Sundays at 8PM ET/PT time period, where it will be followed by the second-season episodes of Undercover Boss at 9PM ET/PT (due to The Amazing Race's 90-minute debut, Undercover Boss' second season will premiere at 10PM ET/PT on September 26).

CBS hasn't released any additional details about the seventeenth edition yet, however filming has already completed and the Race began in Gloucester, MA in late May.

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Local eyewitnesses spotted the teams boarding local fishing boats that took them across the small seaport's harbor. Once there, The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan began the Race and the teams scrambled to drive themselves to Logan International Airport in Boston, where they boarded flights to England.

In addition to The Amazing Race's seventeenth-season debut, CBS also announced Survivor: Nicaragua -- Survivor's 21st edition -- will premiere on Wednesday, September 15 at 8PM ET/PT.

As it has for the last nine years, Survivor's premiere will mark the debut of CBS' new fall schedule. The rest of the network's schedule won't begin premiering until Monday, September 20, the formal start of the 2010-2011 television season.

CBS had renewed The Amazing Race for its seventeenth season in January and announced the show's fall broadcast in May.


Source: RTVW.com

[Jay]

I can't wait!

[alexandra]

Beauty Queens, TV Hosts Set for New Season of The Amazing Race

Beauty queens, home-shopping TV hosts and a daughter and birth mother recently reunited after 20 years are among the motley cast of characters who’ll scurry tirelessly around the planet during the upcoming 17th season of The Amazing Race on CBS.

Among the more notable contestants: Miss Kentucky 2009 Mallory Ervin, competing with her father Gary; Jewelry Television host and Miss Oregon 2004 Brook Roberts, teamed with fellow TV host Claire Champlin; Internet comedian Kevin Wu (a.k.a., KevJumba on YouTube) and his father Michael; Princeton a cappella singers Connor Diemand-Yauman and Jonathan Schwartz; and birth mother and daughter Andie DeKroon and Katie Seamon.

They’ll be a tired bunch by the end of the race. This season, premiering Sept. 26, will cover 32,000 miles through 30 cities on four continents. The show will make first-time visits to Bangladesh, Ghana, and the Arctic Circle. And for the first time, the team finishing first in the premiere episode will get a surprise, game-changing advantage, according to CBS. –Tim Nudd


Source: People.com

[ballerboi]

Kevjumba for the win.

[Riddle]

really rooting for KevJumba and Andie and Jenna. I love them so much and their whole story. Really hope they are the first all female team to win.

[Manny]

:omg !! KEVJUMBA!! I'm rooting for him!

[Erika]

Phil Keoghan: A Game-Changer Does Amazing Race Good

Sep 24, 2010 04:30 PM ET by Joyce Eng

After seven straight wins at the Primetime Emmy Awards for reality-competition series, The Amazing Race was dethroned this year by Top Chef — a loss that Phil Keoghan sees as a positive. "Change is just a really good thing," the Amazing Race host tells TVGuide.com. "And it only makes us want to continue to make a good show, which I think we've done this year." The globe-trotting series' 17th installment kicks off Sunday with a new and heavily-hyped game-changer called the Express Pass. See what Keoghan has to say about the new element, what teams you should watch out for, and if Padma Lakshmi really hit him on the Emmys red carpet.

TVGuide.com: I was bummed you guys lost the Emmy, but seven years is a really good run.
Phil Keoghan: Yeah, I think change is always good. It's funny because I was using a surfing analogy on the red carpet about how working in the entertainment industry is a little bit like surfing in a sense because if you get on a good wave, a wave will always break no matter how good the ride is. It was just weird that we went seven in a row and the wave broke, since in surfing, every seventh wave is the big wave and then it cycles again.

TVGuide.com: Padma Lakshmi claims she abused you on the red carpet. True?
Keoghan: [Laughs] She definitely gave me a couple of good jabs with her purse. I've never met her before, so I got such a shock, like, what?! It came out of the blue. All of the sudden, my arm was being pounded. I'm always respectful of the fact that people voted and this year they voted for another show. We really try to do new things every season and try to be as good as we can be.

TVGuide.com: Speaking of new things, what can you tell us about the Express Pass?
Keoghan: Well, first of all, I think we've tried to always inject new things, but at the same time, we don't want to mess with something that's worked. Like I said, change is always good. It livens up the show and keeps everyone on their toes, especially for a show that's been on as long as ours. This is a tool that teams can use to help themselves stay in the race and it's something from the beginning that gives them an extra incentive to race really hard right out of the gate. It rewards the team that does well, but unlike the Fast Forward, its impact is not for one leg. It has an effect on the entire race.

TVGuide.com: Was it just a coincidence that there are three hair stylists on three different teams this year?
Keoghan: [Laughs] You know, I wouldn't have noticed that had you not said something. We certainly didn't set about trying to pick a whole bunch of hair stylists. I don't know how interesting it would be to have a whole cast of hair stylists. Maybe it would be. Maybe we'd call it Hairspray or something: The Amazing Race: Hairspray.

TVGuide.com: Which teams should we keep an eye on?
Keoghan: We have very strong, all-women teams this season, which is great. Michael and Kevin — father and son — have a really interesting dynamic. They're like Ron and Christina from a few seasons back. When there are two generations connected by blood, you can end up with these really cool dynamics because it's like they're living on different planets and they wouldn't in a million years be with each other if they weren't family. ... The father is funny, but he doesn't know he's funny. Because of that, it makes it so much more enjoyable. You're watching something that's real and raw. In the reality world, it's getting harder to make sure that you don't have people auditioning who are trying to pull the wool over your eyes because they come to the auditions with preconceived ideas about what they think they should be as opposed to what they are. "We should be like the crazy hippie couple." They try to fit something that they think we need. Just be yourself. If yourself is not what we're looking for, then try again.

TVGuide.com: The cowboys last season is probably the most beloved team in Amazing Race history. Is there any team you think fans will take a liking to?
Keoghan: If I were picking an all-stars cast, I would definitely pick the cowboys to come back. That was the caliber they were, and we certainly have a few of those this season. One of my favorite relationships is Gary and Mallory. This is a beautiful woman who has so much bubbly personality that it just pours out on the screen. It's infectious energy. It's really exciting to watch her. Her dad really brought her up like a tomboy, so it's weird she's as tough as she is and she's Miss Kentucky.

TVGuide.com: How about villains?
Keoghan: I'm going to leave that for the audience to judge, but there definitely are teams where people are going to be like, "Aw, man, I can't stand this team" or "I can't believe they did what they did." I think it's important to have those teams — those who are maybe overly confident and get knocked down a few pegs when they see how tough the race is. Or they made assumptions about other teams and find themselves in a situation where they're humbled. There's always a honeymoon period in the beginning where everyone's trying to be nice, but as the race goes on, it settles in and you have to do whatever it takes to win.

TVGuide.com: Dan and Jordan last season moved up to first class in the finale, but a lot of fans got all riled up about that, even though it's a totally legal move. They didn't buy first-class tickets.
Keoghan: I'm surprised actually because I got a lot of emails from people. It was so clear-cut. Normally, fans are very, very informed, but for some reason, they got confused about that one, and it was so simple. They asked, they didn't pay for it, and they moved forward. I think if it was a team they really liked — like the cowboys — they wouldn't have bothered making a stink about it. But there were some who were questioning it. It's totally within their right to do it. They never broke a rule. [Moving up to first class has] been done many, many times. I don't know if people realize how seriously we adhere to rules. We're traveling with a lawyer, consulting with lawyers back here about every rule and game judgment. There is a rulebook that we follow very, very closely. We're not going to jeopardize the franchise by changing things.

TVGuide.com: You go to some new places this year: Bangladesh, Ghana, the Arctic Circle...
Keoghan: Yeah, Bangladesh is just a mind-blowing place to go to, one of the most densely populated places in the world. It can be an overwhelming experience for people who come from open spaces. The Arctic Circle — what makes the show so interesting is that the teams will fly from a place like Africa to the Arctic Circle, so, it's like I said in a script meeting, they're going from the furnace to the freezer. You're constantly testing people and throwing them out of their element. Then you have them do the tasks that are always exciting. The tasks dictate the content since you never know how anyone is going to react to them.

TVGuide.com: You've had some well-known people on the show and there has been chatter about a celebrities-only Amazing Race. Do you think that's a good idea?
Keoghan: I think we should listen to the fans and if the fans think we should do it, then we should. I think it would depend on who those celebrities were. I think there are some who I think would be really good. But then there are some who I think might want to go on, but not be that good. The other thing is, how realistic is it? I don't know if some of the celebrities who have spoken to me are fully aware of what exactly it entails. I think they like the idea of it because they see it on TV once a week for a few months, but I think living it might be a little different to what they're used to. There's always that unknown factor about what happens to someone when they travel. Then it comes down to if it's realistic for them to do it, if it fits into their schedule and if they can put up with our schedule. There's no trailer, hair or makeup or hotel to go back to. But I think it'd be fun to watch.

The Amazing Race 17 premieres Sunday with a 90-minute episode at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.
Source: TV Guide

[Jay]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Amazing+Race+Going+distance/3577297/story.html

Amazing Race: Going the distance
'It's a lot harder than it looks,' Amazing Race host says

By ALEX STRACHAN, Postmedia News September 25, 2010

Phil Keoghan has a recurring nightmare.

In the dream, the affable Amazing Race host is in a soft, dreamy bed in a nice, cozy hotel with clean sheets, central heating and a comfy ambience, relaxing after being stranded in the pouring rain for 19 hours or more, waiting for the last-place team to cross the finish line of that day's race leg.

And then, suddenly, he realizes he's missing his backpack. The one with his passport, money, shaving kit and a fresh pair of clothes.

And then the phone rings: there's a production meeting in the hotel lobby in five minutes. Be there. Aloha. Click.

"I never leave a hotel without my backpack, because, no matter what I think is going to happen, the opposite will happen and I need to be ready to jump on the plane and go," Keoghan told Postmedia News, sounding a little like the aggrieved traveller he has worked so hard not to be.

"That said, every season, without fail, my bag goes missing. My entire wardrobe is in that bag. I need spare shirts for the pit-stop check-ins. I carry a spare shirt in my carry-on bag that I take with me on the plane, because there have been times when I've been caught next to naked. My bag went missing for five days in Africa once. It came back looking like a football team had used it as a ball on the field and beaten the crap out of it. My shaving kit was stolen that time. I didn't look like anyone you'd want to let on a plane."

The bag weighs 32 kilograms and yet it goes missing as easily as a TV remote control vanishes in the folds of the family couch.

"Inevitably, the nicest hotel is the one we have the shortest amount of time at," added Keoghan, who is from New Zealand. "And at the worst hotels, we have all the time in the world."

Not that he's complaining.

"I love travelling, and I love this job," he said. "I'm not complaining about what I do. I'm just telling you that it's not what people think."

The Amazing Race, winner of seven Emmy Awards for outstanding reality competition program, returns tomorrow night with an expanded, 90-minute kickoff, featuring 11 new teams and several countries -and cultures -The Amazing Race will visit for the first time.

To finish this season's Race, the teams will cover 52,000 kilometres across four continents and 30 cities. The course will take teams through Bangladesh and Ghana for the first time. Another Race leg will take teams across the Arctic Circle.

This season's teams include a pair of on-air hosts from the U.S. Home Shopping Network, a pair of Ivy League a cappella singers, an Internet entertainer and a young adoptee reunited with her birth mother after being given up for adoption 20 years earlier.

Bangladesh, in particular, affected the teams in a profound, meaningful way, Keoghan said. The Amazing Race visited Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in previous seasons, but Bangladesh shook the race participants on a whole other, more fundamental level. The low-lying country suffered serious flooding and landslides in June, and is often affected by natural disasters. The country has more than 200 rivers, and is prone to severe flooding.

The stress of travel -coupled with unfamiliar climates, food and culture -wears on different personalities in different ways, Keoghan acknowledged.

Generally speaking, the teams that do well, Keoghan said -"and I am generalizing" -tend to be those who embrace foreign cultures, are kind to strangers and treat people with dignity and respect. That's not to say that thoroughly unpleasant personalities haven't done well on The Amazing Race in the past, Keoghan admitted, but those who go in with an open mind gain the most from the experience, win or lose.

"If you notice, when teams are respectful of those around them, people generally go out of their way to help them."

That's not to say the Ugly American has disappeared from The Amazing Race entirely.

"There are some teams that are very abrasive and start yelling and treat people with disrespect, and generally, when that happens, they get themselves into big trouble. It can be hard to watch. Someone said to me the other day, 'Why would you want to put these people on TV, why would you want to show that?' Because it's the real world. You can say it's good TV, but it's also the real world. How many times have you been embarrassed at the behaviour of some people, perhaps even people you know? I don't think it would be right for us to only pick people who are perfect travelling ambassadors."

The longest days, from Keoghan's perspective, are those when the first team leaves a pit stop -a 12-hour pause in Amazing Race time -before the last-place team has checked in. "Whatever you had planned that day, forget about it."

Viewers see only the Race teams board a plane; in reality, each team also means a cameraman, sound engineer, field producer and all their attendant equipment, baggage and paraphernalia. Putting The Amazing Race together involves a lot of pleading, cajoling, negotiating -and occasionally begging -at airline counters. The field producers have to gamble on how much camera equipment to put aboard a particular flight, not knowing if all the teams will catch up by the time that flight takes off.

Keoghan has learned a lot about himself during his 17 seasons hosting The Amazing Race, not least of which is that he's hopeless at predicting the outcome, even though he knows the Race teams perhaps as well as anyone. "I really don't know what it takes to make for a great team. I've seen the most unlikely teams win the race. And teams I thought would be there in the end I've seen get knocked out early on. I would not want to put myself through the race. I think it's a lot harder than it looks."

The Amazing Race's new season debuts tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. on CBS and CTV.

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