Reality TV - The Amazing Race 8: Fun for the whole family

jennarose · 08-17-2005, 07:12 AM

The eighth season of The Amazing Race begins on September 27 on CBS. This season there will be teams of 4 and the age limit has been lowered to include children.

Official CBS site

Originally posted by Zach Braff Lover:

Quote:

"Amazing Race," Family-Style By Julie Keller

It's all in the family for The Amazing Race.

CBS has revealed the lineup of contestants for The Amazing Race: Family Edition, the latest incarnation of the two-time Emmy winning reality competition. This year, 10 four-member clans will trek around the world in a battle for $1 million. In the past, friends, lovers, spouses and/or coworkers have paired up, for better or worse, on two-person teams.

As they race around the globe, the four-person family teams will be pitted against each other in a series of mental and physical challenges, presumably testing the bonds of sibling-hood, parent-hood, couple-hood, in-law-hood step-family-hood.

"Anytime you put a family of four together, you get interesting dynamics. It's a pretty humorous and explosive mix," executive producer Bertram van Munster tells USA Today.

Also new this year is the addition of younger competitors. This change meant some adjustments to the grueling Amazing Race schedule. First, there are fewer non-elimination episodes, and the teams only traveled about 30,000 miles total, less than half the 72,000 miles logged by contestants in season six. Less crowded competition sites were also chosen in deference to the kids.

Still, producers see the addition of children as a possible plus for the teams.

"Kids have major advantages just by size," says van Munster. "They can climb through something with more agility, and they're very fast in a crowd."

Plus, they're also, well, childish, so amusing playground antics are likely to ensue. Nine-year-old Carissa Gaghan from Glastonbury, Connecticut, threw down the gauntlet to on Tuesday's The Early Show, which introduced the competitors. "Either you'll be a zero or you'll be a hero," she told her fellow racers.

The family gimmick hopes to build on the show's record ratings last season. Fueled by the antics of Survivor couple Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich, the seventh installment of The Amazing Race averaged 12.5 million viewers a week. The show could also win its third straight Emmy in the Reality Competition category at next month's awards.

Here's a rundown of the teams:

Godlewski sisters from Des Plaines, Illinois: Michelle (42), Sharon (39), Christine (37) and Tricia (26)
Weaver family from Ormond Beach, Florida: widow Linda (46) and her three children, Rebecca (19), Rachel (16) and Rolly (14)
Gaghan family from Glastonbury, Connecticut: Bill (40), Tammy (42), Billy (12) and Carissa (9)
Black family from Woodbridge, Virginia: Reggie (42), Kim (40), Kenneth (11) and Austin (8)
Linz siblings from Cincinnati: Nick (24), Alex (22), Megan (21) and Tommy (19)
Rogers family of Shreveport, Louisiana: Denny (46), Renee (42), Brittney (22) and Brock (19)
Schroeder family from New Orleans: Mark (40), stepmom Char (39) and daughters Stassi (16) and Hunter (14)
Bransen family from Park Ridge, Illinois: dad Walter (51) and daughters Elizabeth (25), Lauren (22) and Lindsay (20)
Aiello family from Mansfield, Massachusetts: dad Tony (57) and sons-in-law Kevin (31), Matt ( 31) and David (26)
Paolo family of Carmel, New York: Tony (52), Marion (52), DJ (24) and Brian (16)

Hosted again by Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race: Family Edition kicks off with a two-hour premiere Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.

BrokenButterfly · 08-17-2005, 11:39 AM

Eh...I don't know how I feel about a 9yr old being on that show.

I'm a bit iffy on this format, I must admit.

MiSS-LiNNy · 08-17-2005, 03:08 PM

Meh... don't know if i'll like this one.

mcdreamylover · 08-17-2005, 05:28 PM

Okay so I'm an idiot. I thought the Amazing Race 7 thread meant you were on the 7th thread. Not AR7 itself.

Sorry about that!

**LilMouse** · 08-17-2005, 08:44 PM

I hope TAR does well competing with all the fall shows.

TokyoNiGHTS · 08-18-2005, 03:57 AM

It's the Amazing Race so i'm sure i'll like it. The concept is atleast interesting, we'll just have to see how it pans out over time.

Having kids as young as 8 makes me question what type of challenges they'll be having this season. Alot of them over each season would deal with stuff you wouldn't want kids that you doing.

jennarose · 08-19-2005, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Okay so I'm an idiot. I thought the Amazing Race 7 thread meant you were on the 7th thread. Not AR7 itself.

No problem.

I had to check myself. I know the other boards don't do it this way but on this board we usually have a new thread for each season even if the old thread isn't full. It was that way when I stared posting here.

Cherié £u£u · 08-19-2005, 10:07 PM

I'm not sure how well a 12 and 9 year old will compete, that seems like a disadvantage to the others.

mh67511 · 08-19-2005, 10:24 PM

Good Lord! How in the hell are we supposed to keep all these people apart? 40 friggin' contestants? Forget it! TAR must have a big budget here -- that's a LOT of airline tickets and whatnot!

**LilMouse** · 08-20-2005, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherié £u£u

I'm not sure how well a 12 and 9 year old will compete, that seems like a disadvantage to the others.

I'd be shocked if that's the team that wins.

**Quarterley** · 08-25-2005, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherié £u£u

I'm not sure how well a 12 and 9 year old will compete, that seems like a disadvantage to the others.

When these teams get eliminated, the parents will say something along the lines of "It's okay. We only wanted to give the kids some experience."

Wow, just imagine the increased volume of fighting and bickering in this season!

**LilMouse** · 08-25-2005, 05:52 PM

I bet the producers casted the most dysfunctional families possible.

Jen Jaree · 08-26-2005, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilMouse

I bet the producers casted the most dysfunctional families possible.

True but there will probably be 1 or 2 familes that don't act like they would want to kill each other.

**LilMouse** · 08-26-2005, 04:45 PM

lets hope. I don't want to root for the crazy, dysfunctional families.

strawberrykisses617 · 08-26-2005, 04:52 PM

Meh, I'll wait for #9 and hope Kaysar and Janie from Big Brother are on it

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