The Computer Vet Weblog

The Amazing Race has won another Emmy. That makes four in a row now; it’s won every single year the “Outstanding Reality-Competition Program” category has been awarded. Of course, these are the Emmys we’re talking about, the body that gives out the same awards to the same people every year (Will & Grace won again? But it was cancelled!). So maybe by now a vote for the Race has become a vote of familiarity; it won last year, so they just give it another vote this year.

Andy Denhart at reality blurred is not happy, mostly because the Race won the Emmy during the same year the Family Edition was on. But I still think The Amazing Race is better than the competition. Survivor is just going through the motions these days, with season after season that just seem to blend together. And American Idol is a fun show, but it’s by no means a good show. So I guess if anyone’s going to get the Emmy, it should be the Amazing Race. They also won Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Editing, both of which they really deserve.

And speaking of the Race, the new season starts on September 17, three weeks from now. This is the new Sunday timeslot they’re trying out, after chewing up and spitting out timeslots on Wednesday, Thursday and Tuesday. They’re starting in Seattle this time; that’s the roster of 12 teams in the picture above posing at Alki Beach. All the stereotypical teams are present: the Married Parents, the Pretty Boy Studs, the Gay Couple, the Parent/Child, the Dating Bartenders, the Siblings. It’s like they have boxes to fill when they cast this show every year, and they always hit each one. The only one they missed this year was the Old Couple; I guess Fran and Barry broke the mold on that one. The oldest racer this time is 52, barely a whippersnapper.

Apparently they’re “shaking things up” by travelling east-to-west this go-around, rather than the usual west-to-east (or in the case of the Family Edition, generally-around-in-a-circle-with-a-side-trip-to-Panama). This means that from Seattle they’re heading out over the Pacific Ocean, instead of the Atlantic like they usually do. I guess for a show that’s filmed in twelve different countries every year, “keeping it fresh” isn’t much of a challenge.

I’m also noticing a pattern evolving with The Amazing Race, where the odd-numbered seasons are the good ones, and the even-numbered (with the exception of #2) are not so great. It’s like the exact opposite of the Star Trek Curse. So does that mean that #10, which starts in a few weeks, is destined to be a dud? I guess we’ll have to wait until it airs to find out.