Sadness.
That's what I felt when I heard they were doing another All Star edition of The Amazing Race. I love The Amazing Race. It has always been up there with Big Brother with me. Though where Big Brother is a guilty pleasure, Amazing Race is the class of reality game shows. It has won how many Emmy's now? And rightfully so.
I love Amazing Race because they, for the most part, stay true to the proven formula. They don't feel the need to have some new gimmick or twist every season. Sure, there have been some misfires like the family edition. And yes, the occasionally dip into the old CBS stunt casting by bringing teams from Survivor and Big Brother. But they were never as bad about being stuck in the past like it's CBS brethren.
One thing I hate is All Star seasons. I hate it. Especially in Big Brother where if you are a live feed watcher, all talk turns to inside baseball shit, and everyone has a been there done that / I am above the law attitude which is annoying to watch. Yeah, that's Big Brother. But it annoys me on The Amazing Race as well. I hate the constant interviews of "last time we we like that, but this time we will be like this" or "we won't make the same mistakes we did last time". Finally, I just like new people. That's all.
Then they announced the teams.
Anger.
I'm not even sure if I plan to watch this season. I know my lady will, and as I don't do anything else on Sundays, will probably be roped into it as well. But seriously, the contestants are like a Who's Who of my least favorite teams, combined with teams that just need to go away. I really don't even know who I would go for. Let's look at the teams.
Let's start with the big one that made my head explode. Brendon and Rachel from Big Brother. Seriously, what does the Reilleys have on Les Moonves to keep getting cast on their network? They have to have pictures of Les with another woman, threatening to show them to Julie Chen. They just have to. I cannot for the life of me figure out any other reason that these gas bags keep popping up on my shows? So yeah, I obviously am not going for these two.
Cowboys/Globetrotters/Margie and Luke: How many damn chances do you need. I liked Cowboys and Globetrotters the first TWO times, but if you can't win after two tries, then you cant win. And the fact that these three teams are on a third time makes me fear that Brendon and Rachel will also be back for a future All Stars.
Leo and Jamal/Natalie and Nadiya: There shrieking "Twinnies!" and "Ay-ay-ay"s are like nails on a chalkboard.
Joey and Meghan: Have you seen that SNL skit with with the white college kids who obsess over anime and act like they are Japanese? These two are the real thing.
John and Jessica: This is the douche bag that hot eliminated while holding on to an Express Pass. Did I mention that John was a douche bag? Well, if I didn't, John's a douche bag.
That leaves Bopper and Mark (annoying rednecks), Dave and Connor (only on because father hurt himself), and Jennifer and Caroline (good ol' country singin' gals from down home, ya'll!). Ugh!
And if they were going to bring back a team that got dicked over because they hurt themselves, I would have rather them brought back James and Abba from Season 21. That dude fucked up his knee and still kept going. Then they got dicked over after the cab they had drove off and stole their passports. That's a team that deserves a second chance!
Also, concerning James and Abba, there is a good interview up on the AV Club with Abba concerning behind the scenes on the show. I would link it, but my computer is being an ass, but you can find it if you Google search James and Abba AV Club. It's a good read if you are a fan of the show.
And not only would James and Abba have been better for All Stars, seriously, just go to the Amazing Race website, click through any of the last five or so seasons, and there are so many teams that are way better than all of these.
At least The Amazing Race comes on like 8 times a year, so I just have to wait a few weeks for a new one.
