Well, it's official. Not a single reality show is safe from the terror of reality show producers and networks grasping to be complete and total idiots.
The Amazing Race is currently receiving its highest ratings and most attention in the history of the show. It was season to season in the beginning, with low ratings and a weak time slot. Now, with a prime spot and a lot of press, The Amazing Race has been renewed for two seasons beyond the one that begins on March 1st. Now, this alone is enough of a concern.
I love The Amazing Race, but overkill is possible. Essentially, it is now on as often as Survivor, with two editions per season. 6+7 were this season, 8+9 will be next season. I hope that the audience won't get sick of it, and I hope that five races (Summer 2004, Fall/Winter 2004/2005, Spring 2005, Fall 2005, Spring 2005) won't drive the franchise into the ground. Well, I hope that it doesn't ascend its digging.
Because, ladies and gentleman, it has begun. There is an extent to which I will give a reality show leeway in terms of making decisions with no real reason. In this case, I give them no leeway, and will fully tear into them for messing with a formula not in a way to improve the race itself, but through idiotic changes meant to create nothing but bullshit drama and a whole lot of angry fans.
I know that, CBS, you likely feel that the show might get old if you air five seasons within the same period of time. I agree completely, as I stated above. But, this isn't how you do it. You don't sell out with putting FORTY FOUR FUCKING PEOPLE on a race around the world just to increase the amount of inter-team bickering to be had, by far one of the least entertaining aspects of the show. You have 44 people running a race around the world, and detour tasks with four people, and all of this bullshit, and it'll be a clusterfuck of epioc proportions.
My problem isn't that it won't be entertaining; I'm sure that they could come up with some cool tasks for four people to do and each team member being forced into 3 roadblocks might be kind of cool and all...but I do not think it was the right answer to the situation. When Survivor wanted a break from the norm, they did an All-Stars edition. It was the same basic game of Survivor, but it was different enough that it raised ratings and made having so bloody many seem like less of an issue.
Here, I guarantee people will think "Where's the normal Amazing Race?" and who the hell wants that? Sure, it's going back to normal in the Spring, but to think that they're putting what is essentially a gimmicked edition of the show that changes it drastically on television seriously bothers me. I'm all for small changes to twist things up, but even they can be idiotic (Hello, nearly useless yield). An All-Star Edition would have pleased old fans enough that overkill wouldn't have been an issue, and voila. Problem solved without an idiotic plan like this one.
Shame, CBS. Shame.
The Amazing Race is currently receiving its highest ratings and most attention in the history of the show. It was season to season in the beginning, with low ratings and a weak time slot. Now, with a prime spot and a lot of press, The Amazing Race has been renewed for two seasons beyond the one that begins on March 1st. Now, this alone is enough of a concern.
I love The Amazing Race, but overkill is possible. Essentially, it is now on as often as Survivor, with two editions per season. 6+7 were this season, 8+9 will be next season. I hope that the audience won't get sick of it, and I hope that five races (Summer 2004, Fall/Winter 2004/2005, Spring 2005, Fall 2005, Spring 2005) won't drive the franchise into the ground. Well, I hope that it doesn't ascend its digging.
Because, ladies and gentleman, it has begun. There is an extent to which I will give a reality show leeway in terms of making decisions with no real reason. In this case, I give them no leeway, and will fully tear into them for messing with a formula not in a way to improve the race itself, but through idiotic changes meant to create nothing but bullshit drama and a whole lot of angry fans.
From: http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|93479|1|,00.html
I know that, CBS, you likely feel that the show might get old if you air five seasons within the same period of time. I agree completely, as I stated above. But, this isn't how you do it. You don't sell out with putting FORTY FOUR FUCKING PEOPLE on a race around the world just to increase the amount of inter-team bickering to be had, by far one of the least entertaining aspects of the show. You have 44 people running a race around the world, and detour tasks with four people, and all of this bullshit, and it'll be a clusterfuck of epioc proportions.
My problem isn't that it won't be entertaining; I'm sure that they could come up with some cool tasks for four people to do and each team member being forced into 3 roadblocks might be kind of cool and all...but I do not think it was the right answer to the situation. When Survivor wanted a break from the norm, they did an All-Stars edition. It was the same basic game of Survivor, but it was different enough that it raised ratings and made having so bloody many seem like less of an issue.
Here, I guarantee people will think "Where's the normal Amazing Race?" and who the hell wants that? Sure, it's going back to normal in the Spring, but to think that they're putting what is essentially a gimmicked edition of the show that changes it drastically on television seriously bothers me. I'm all for small changes to twist things up, but even they can be idiotic (Hello, nearly useless yield). An All-Star Edition would have pleased old fans enough that overkill wouldn't have been an issue, and voila. Problem solved without an idiotic plan like this one.
Shame, CBS. Shame.