The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race
File:Amazingracelogo.jpg
Created by	Elise Doganieri Bertram van Munster
Starring	Phil Keoghan
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	125 (through season 10, episode 11)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 5, 2001 – Present

The Amazing Race is a multiple Emmy Award-winning reality game show normally broadcast in one-hour episodes in which teams of two or four race around the world in competition with other teams. The CBS program has been on-air since 2001 and has recently started its tenth season. It is produced by Earthview Inc., Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri's production company, as well as Bruckheimer Television for CBS and Touchstone Television (technically making it partially a Disney show). The show is hosted by New Zealander Phil Keoghan. It was created by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster. It has been awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality/Competition Program every year since the category was created in 2003.

The race utilizes progressive elimination; the last team to arrive at a designated checkpoint leaves the game. The race starts in a US city. Teams must then follow clues and instructions and make their way to checkpoints in places around the world, eventually racing back to the finish line in the US.

In October 2005, CBS optioned The Amazing Race for franchising to other countries. Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) and Sony Pictures Television International's AXN Asia have announced an Asian edition of the race, billed as The Amazing Race Asia, that same month. Applications ran from February to the end of March 2006. Filming was begun in June. It premiered on November 9, 2006

In addition, AXN Central Europe announced a version of the show during 2005, to be called The Amazing Race Central Europe. Applications are closed, with filming expected to occur in 2006.

The Amazing Race 10 premiered on CBS on September 17, 2006 at 8:30pm ET.

Teams

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Kris and Jon (Season 6) in Sri Lanka

Each of the eleven teams (twelve in Seasons 3, 4, 10 and ten in Season 8) on The Amazing Race is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. Season 8 was a family edition of the race that featured teams of four, but Season 9 returned to the two-person team format. The teams represent a wide demographic of different ages, races, sexual orientations, and personal relationships. Past team relationships include: long-time married couples, siblings (including twins), parent/child, friends (roommates, fraternity brothers, platonic friends, high school friends, lifelong friends etc), romantic partners (both heterosexual and homosexual), and couples who are separated or formerly dating.

Originally, the race required team members to have a pre-existing relationship and to have known one another for at least three years. In addition, racers from different teams could not have previous acquaintances with one another. However, producers have shown more leniency and changed these rules in recent installments of the race. For example, Kris & Jon from Season 6 were long-distance daters for only a year. Several contestants from Season 5 had previously competed against one another in the beauty pageant circuit. (Nicole actually beat Christie for the title of Miss Texas USA in 2003.)

Teammates must race the entire race together; they cannot split up (except when instructed to do so temporarily by a clue) or continue on without each other. If one teammate becomes injured and is unable to finish the race, the team must forfeit (for example, Marshall & Lance during Season 5). Both teammates must also arrive at each Pit Stop together in order to check in. The various relationship dynamics between the team members under the stress of competition is one focus of the show.

The Race

Money

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Colin and Christie (Season 5) receive money for a leg in Kenya and Tanzania

At the beginning of each leg of the race, each team receives an allowance of cash with their first clue. This money is usually given in U.S. Dollars regardless of the current location of the race. The one exception was leg four of season 10, where money was given in local currency. The amount varies from leg to leg, ranging from no money to hundreds of dollars. (In Season 1 and season 10, teams were allocated nothing during one of the legs, and in Season 4, teams were given only one dollar for each of the final two legs.) On Leg 3 (Mongolia-Vietnam) of Season 10, teams had to earn their money for that leg by selling flowers in the Roadblock. During the race, all expenses (food, transportation, lodging, attraction admission, supplies) must be purchased from this allowance. The exception to this is the purchase of airline tickets (and, in Season 8, gasoline), which the teams pay for using a credit card supplied to them by the show. Any money left over after a leg of the race can be used on subsequent legs.

From Season 5 to Season 9, teams were penalized for finishing last on a non-elimination leg. Teams were forced to surrender all collected money, and would not be given any to start the subsequent leg. For more on this penalty, see Non-elimination Legs.

If a team spends all of their money or has it taken away in a non-elimination round, they may try to get more money in any way that doesn't violate the local laws. This includes borrowing money from other teams, begging from locals, or selling their possessions. One rule that was clarified in Season 7 is that teams may not beg for money at US airports. Further, on Leg 3 (Mongolia-Vietnam) of Season 10, teams were not permitted to beg for or sell items in exchange for money.

Previous teams have also reported on the existence of an emergency fund of money that is carried by their crew that can only be used in extreme circumstances, but generally not as a means to pay for any activity related to the Race. However, the exact amount is not known, nor are the exact circumstances when it can be used.

Route markers

Route Markers were yellow and white in the first season.

Route Markers were yellow and white in the first season.

Route Markers were changed to yellow and red for the following seasons in order to be better seen.

Route Markers were changed to yellow and red for the following seasons in order to be better seen.

Route markers in the Vietnam leg of Season 3 were solid yellow.

Route Markers in Season 8 were colored yellow, white, and black.

Route Markers in Season 8 were colored yellow, white, and black.

Route Markers are the flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark the place where the teams must go in order to complete tasks.

Route Markers are always colored yellow and red, with the following exceptions:

• The original Route Markers used in Season 1 were colored yellow and white. The current colors (with red added) were adopted in subsequent seasons so that the teams would have an easier time spotting them.
• During Season 3, the production visited Vietnam; while there, the flags used were a solid yellow, to avoid confusion with the former flag of South Vietnam, which differs from the current flag of Vietnam. The flag of the former South Vietnam is used as the "official" flag of some expatriate Vietnamese communities in the United States, and is something of a holdover from the Vietnam War. It is a potentially politically volatile subject, and the producers wisely avoided unintended comparison by using the solid yellow color scheme with no red striping. In Season 10 when the show visited Vietnam, the flags were yellow and white.
• Season 8's Route Markers were colored yellow, white, and black.

Clues

Route Information

Route Info clues instruct the teams where to go next. The clue usually only provides the name of the team's next destination; it is up to the teams to figure out how to get there. However, the clue may make specifications about how the teams have to travel. For example, the very first clue of the race specifies which flights teams may take. In addition, teams may be required to take public transportation, drive a marked car or other vehicle, or walk, according to the clue's instructions.

The Route Info clues can instruct teams to go to several types of locations, including a specific location in another city or country, another location within the team's present city, the Pit Stop of the leg, and the Finish Line of the race.

Detour

Detours are yellow cards with arrows on them.

Detours are yellow cards with arrows on them.

"A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. Teams must successfully complete one of the tasks described on the clue in order to receive their next clue." -Phil

One task is typically an easier option that takes more time to complete, while the other is usually a difficult or frightening option that can be finished quickly. Often, there may be some degree of luck involved with the "easier" option, such that a team may accomplish the task faster than if they had taken the quicker, harder, riskier option. Should a team choose to switch Detour tasks part-way through, there is no penalty, other than naturally lost time. The "Detour" has remained one of the constant features of The Amazing Race, with little change to its format over ten seasons.

• The only unique Detour arrangement has been the first Detour in Season 5 where failure to complete one option (based solely on luck at gambling) required the team to complete the second, more physical task.

Roadblock

Roadblocks are red cards.

Roadblocks are red cards.

A Roadblock is a task which only one team member may perform. Before heading into a Roadblock, teams read a vague clue about the task to come, e.g., "Who's really hungry?" (for an ostrich-egg eating challenge), or "Who wants to get down and dirty?" (for a task involving making mud bricks). Often, a team may figure out the specific task by observing their surroundings, using common sense, or even seeing other teams already performing the Roadblock task. They then must decide which team member would be best suited to complete it. Once a choice has been made, the teammates cannot switch roles.

A Roadblock is featured (although, in some episodes, not aired) in every leg except the first one. In Season 1, even the first leg had a Roadblock, but it was not originally aired; it was, however, included as an extra in the DVD release. Season 10 became the first season to have and air a Roadblock on Leg 1.

Beginning in Season 6, each team member may only complete a maximum of six Roadblocks throughout the entire race. Since there are normally twelve Roadblocks in the Race, this rule forces each team to split the Roadblocks equally between the two members (unless a team uses a Fast Forward to skip one Roadblock, in which case the split can be 6-5). In contrast, Season 5 featured three male-female teams that split the Roadblocks 11-1 or 10-1, with the male member of the team taking the load; many speculate that it was for this reason that six-Roadblock rule was introduced in Season 6. The six-Roadblock limit was dropped only for Season 8; additionally, that season's four-member-team format required some Roadblocks to be completed by two people. Season 10 had 13 Roadblocks, therefore, the maximum for each team member was increased to seven.

Fast Forward

Fast Forwards are green cards.

Fast Forwards are green cards.

The Fast Forward allows the team that receives it to skip all remaining tasks on that leg of the race and proceed directly to the Pit Stop. To receive the Fast Forward, the team must be the first team to perform and complete the task described on the Fast Forward clue. The clue is found along with a regular clue at one of the Route Markers.

Only one team may use each Fast Forward. Any team that is beaten to the Fast Forward will have wasted their time and must go back and pick up where they left off. Also, prior to Season 10, each team was allowed to use only one Fast Forward during the whole race, requiring teams to decide when it was most advantageous to use it. With the introduction of the Intersection route marker in Season 10, it appears that a team that has already claimed a Fast Forward marker prior to an Intersection can be eligible for claiming the Fast Forward when merged with another team, though this has not be confirmed by the show itself.

Originally, Fast Forwards were offered in every leg of the race (provided that there was as least one team left that had not used one). Starting in Season 5, the number of Fast Forwards was reduced to two on the entire race. In the event a Fast Forward was not attempted by any team on a leg, the task involved was not shown, though clue envelopes with the green Fast Forward marker can usually be spotted by the viewers.

A Fast Forward usually results in the team arriving at the Pit Stop first, but does not guarantee it. In the history of the show, two teams who earned a Fast Forward still arrived last at the Pit Stop. Joe & Bill during Season 1 arrived last but were not eliminated due to a penalty received by Nancy & Emily. After winning the Fast Forward on Leg 3 (Mexico-United Kingdom) of Season 3, Dennis & Andrew were still eliminated due to their late arrival into England. Similarly, NFL wives Monica and Sheree of Season 4 earned the Fast Forward but only placed 4th in the first leg (behind a three-way tie for first). On Leg 8 of Season 10, Tyler & James and Rob & Kimberly both won the Fast Forward as a result of the Intersection, the first time two teams have ever won the Fast Forward on the same leg. They, however, arrived second and third respectively behind Dustin & Kandice, becoming only the second and third teams ever to place neither first nor last after winning a Fast Forward. Chip & Kim, Freddy & Kendra, and the Linz Family are the only teams to have ever won without the use of the Fast Forward

Yield

Yield signs are yellow.

Yield signs are yellow.

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Ron & Kelly are Yielded by Rob & Amber (Season 7)

The Yield, which was introduced in Season 5, allows any one team to force another team to stop racing for a predetermined amount of time. If there is going to be a Yield, the teams will find the message "Caution, Yield Ahead" in their clue. To Yield an opponent, a team places the picture of the team they wish to yield onto the Yield sign (found near one of the Route Markers). When the yielded team arrives at the Yield, they must turn over an hourglass found on the Yield sign and wait for all the sand to drain before continuing. Each team gets an envelope with their 'courtesy of' sticker at the start of the race (which goes on the bottom-right corner of the Yield sign), and if a team's envelope goes missing, that team loses all power of using any future Yields. Teams like Linda & Karen (Season 5) and Joseph & Monica (Season 9) could not use the Yield, since they had each lost their envelope throughout the course of their respective Races.

Each team is required to stop at the Yield station, and state if they are Yielded or not, and then if they are using the Yield or not to the camera. In the early use of the Yield, teams were required to remove a numbered marker as well when they performed this aspect, though beyond tracking their placement in the leg, these appeared to have no additional purpose.

In Season 5, when the Yield was first introduced, the sign was larger than the future series of the Yield. Teams weren't aware from the clues whether or not there's a yield ahead. In addition, the teams didn't have to pull a number for priority, only when two or more teams are fighting to choose whether to yield a team or not. Only this happened once when Chip and Kim grabbed a number as they were aware Kami and Karli were approaching and wanted reserve in case they wanted to yield Kami and Karli or not. However, when they realized they were the last two teams, rules changed so that all teams were aware of their positions.

Like the Fast Forward, each team may use only one Yield during the game, and only one team may use each Yield. However, each team may be Yielded by other teams an unlimited number of times. From Season 6 to Season 7, the number of Yields totaled three in the entire race, instead of one on every leg. Since Season 6, teams have been warned about an upcoming Yield in the clue immediately preceding it. Like with Fast Forwards, Yields that are present in the race but aren't used and have no affect on the outcome are not aired or mentioned. For example, Season 8 mentioned only having two Yields available on the entire race, but a third Yield on Leg 1 (New York-Pennsylvania) went unaired and unmentioned.

Intersection

This Intersection sign appears above the clue box where the teams must join together.

The Intersection, introduced in Season 10, requires each team to pair up with one other team and perform all tasks and make decisions together until further notice. Should there be no other teams present when a given team arrives at the Intersection route marker, they must wait there until another team arrives. Teams are free to choose their partner team if multiple teams are present. The leg in which it was introduced included a Fast Forward, which was allowed to be claimed by one full group of two teams working together. It is not yet known what the rules are when an Intersection appears in conjunction with a Yield. Alternatively, the teams were given a usual Detour choice selection with its introduction. This new type of route marker is similar to pairings that were done in another reality TV series, Treasure Hunters.

Pit Stops

Pit Stops are the final destination in each leg of the race. Each Pit Stop is a mandatory rest period which allows teams to eat, sleep, and mingle with each other. The production staff provides food free-of-charge to the teams at the Pit Stops (food during the legs must be purchased with the money the teams receive). During the Pit Stop, teams are also interviewed to provide commentary and voice-overs for the completed leg. Teams have been greeted at every Pit Stop by Phil and a local of that country (typically dressed in the local costume), except in Season One, when a local greeted them and Phil was only present to greet the last place team and inform them if they had been eliminated or saved by a non-elimination leg. The eliminations themselves have now earned the name "Philimination" in the Amazing Race fan community, a portmanteau of the host's name and the word "elimination".

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Phil Keoghan greets teams at the Pit Stop on The Amazing Race 5

Teams depart for the next leg of the race at the time they arrived plus twelve hours. While a team arriving at 12:00 p.m. will depart at 12:00 a.m., the total amount of rest time may be more than twelve hours, in which case the pit stop will be extended by 24 hour increments--such as one day and twelve hours (36 hours). Notable exceptions include:

• Season 1, where the Pit Stop in Tunisia lasted 60 hours due to sandstorm.
• Season 8, where the Pit Stop in Costa Rica lasted 20 hours. The Pit Stop in Lancaster appears to have lasted more than 12 hours, but the exact length was not clear.
• Season 9, where the Pit Stop in Oman lasted 24 hours.
• Season 10, where the Pit Stop in India lasted 22 hours.

Prior to Season 5, multiple teams were allowed to arrive at the mat at the same time, creating a tie, and allowing them to leave the mat the next leg at the same time. After the 3-way tie in the Leg 1 (USA-Italy) of Season 4 in which each team received the prize, a new rule was put into place to eliminate ties. If two or more teams reach the mat at the same time, the order that the teams arrived is determined, with the official check in time for the other teams being 1 minute after the first team for the second team, 2 minutes after the first team for the third team, and so on.

The last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is eliminated, unless that leg of the race is one of the predetermined non-elimination legs.

In some legs, the first team to arrive wins a prize such as a vacation or cruise, which they receive after that particular season has aired on TV. In Seasons 6, 8, and 9, prizes were given to the winners of every leg. In Season 7, different types of rewards such as cash and automobiles were handed out; at least two legs, however, did not have a prize awarded. The winners of the third leg in Season 8 won free gasoline for life, from BP and ARCO (specifically, $1200 of gasoline a year for 50 years, which is $60,000 per winner).

Teams normally complete all tasks and check in at the Pit Stop before they are eliminated. Occasionally, on an elimination leg, if all other teams have checked in and the last team is very far behind, Route Markers may instruct them to go directly to the Pit Stop without completing the rest of the leg (Peggy & Claire, Mary & Peach, from Season 2, Michael & Kathy and Andre & Damon in Season 3, Peter & Sarah of Season 10). Conversely, host Phil Keoghan may go out to the team's location to eliminate them if they can't/won't finish a task (Marshall & Lance, Season 5, Lena & Kristy, Season 6). There have been times where teams appear to have been directed to the pit stop by their accompanying audio-video crew or quitting the last Detour or Roadblock prematurely, or outside the normal method of providing a direct Route Marker (Paul & Amie in Season 1, Shola & Doyin in Season 2, and Kellie & Jamie in Season 10)

Season 6 introduced the first double-length leg shown over two episodes. The televised episode ended not with a Pit Stop but instead with a 'To Be Continued' message. The second half of the leg featured a second Detour and second Roadblock. Seasons 7, 8 and 9 each had a superleg of their own, this time with teams meeting host Phil Keoghan on the usual Pit Stop mat at the halfway point, only to have him hand them the next clue instead of checking them in. In Season 10, the superleg did not involve meeting host Phil Keoghan, but rather teams were informed to "KEEP RACING!!!" in their next route marker. In addition, the 2-hour finale of Season 8 took place over a double-length leg similar to Season 6's. Generally, the clues leading up to these double legs are easy to identify because the teams will read a clue like "Go find Phil at the mat" instead of "Check into the next Pit Stop." While there was no set rest period between the two parts of these double-length legs, there usually is some point for the teams to eat, rest and recover prior to the second set of tasks, either due to waiting for hours of operation with provided accommodations or a long train or plane ride.

Non-elimination legs

Each race has a number of predetermined non-elimination legs, in which the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue on the race. Racers are not told in advance which legs are non-elimination legs. In Seasons 1-2, the clue preceding the Pit Stop ended with the statement, "The last team to arrive will be eliminated," except in non-elimination legs. In Seasons 3-4, the clue preceding the Pit Stop ended with the statement "The last team to arrive will be eliminated" in the first few legs, and "The last team to arrive may be eliminated" after a certain point. Beginning in Season 5, the statement "The last team to arrive may be eliminated" has been used on every leg with the exception of the first.

From Seasons 5 to 9, a penalty was given to the team arriving last at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg. These teams were required to turn over all the money they accumulated throughout the race. Teams generally begged from locals or even from other teams during the Pit Stop to rebuild their cash reserves. From Seasons 6 to 9, however, the last team to arrive had to begin the next leg with zero dollars to their name, meaning they did not receive the money given to the other teams at the start of the leg and could not collect money during the Pit Stop.

From Seasons 7 to 9, the penalty for arriving last during a non-elimination leg became more severe. In addition to being stripped of all their money and starting the next leg without an allowance, teams were forced to surrender all their possessions, except for their passports and the clothes they were wearing, for the remainder of the Race. This often resulted in teams who believe they are coming in last checking in at the Pit Stop wearing every single article of clothing on the chance that it was a non-elimination leg, making for a rather comical sight in some cases (a notable example being the Paolo Family in Season 8 donning their underwear then realizing that they still had a chance to beat the Bransen Family).

Starting in Season 10, teams arriving in last place on a non-elimination leg now keep their clothes and money and receive the normal amount of money at the start the next leg, but become marked for elimination; unless they arrive in the next leg in first place, they will receive a 30-minute penalty upon reaching the Pit Stop.

Final leg

Three teams compete in the last leg of the race. This first part of the leg includes intermediate destination(s) where the teams must travel to complete a series of tasks (Alaska, United States Seasons 1, 2, and 9; Hawaii, United States, Seasons 3, 4, and 6; Calgary, Canada, Season 5; Puerto Rico, United States, Season 7; Montreal and Toronto, Canada, Season 8; Paris, France, Season 10. The second part of the leg has teams traveling to a final destination, usually located in a major U.S. city. Remaining teams must complete one or more tasks before receiving the clue directing them to the Finish Line. At the finish line, host Phil Keoghan and all the eliminated teams wait for the remaining teams to arrive.

The first team to reach the finish line wins the race and $1 million. All other teams win lesser amounts of money on a sliding scale based on their finishing order.

Ideally, all three remaining teams arrive at the finish line within a reasonable amount of time. On occasion, the third place team has fallen so far behind the other two teams that they cannot finish the race in a timely manner. In this case, after the other two teams finish, they are informed that the race is over at their next Route Marker (Joe and Bill, Season 1; David and Jeff, Season 4).

Rules and penalties

All teams must abide by the rules set at the beginning of the race. Failure to do so can result in time penalties, which can negatively affect finishing position in that leg of the race. While the complete set of official rules has not been released to the public, certain rules have been revealed during the various editions of the race:

Rules

• Teams must purchase economy class tickets for airfare. Teams are allowed to be upgraded to first or business class by the airline, as long as they only paid an economy fare (Rob & Brennan and Frank & Margarita, Season 1; Reichen & Chip, Season 4; Ray & Deana, Season 7). Airline tickets must be purchased using the team's credit card (provided by the show), rather than money on hand. The credit card cannot be used for any other purpose. However, in season 8, where the main transportation were automobiles, teams were allowed to purchase gasoline with the card.
• When teams need to purchase their own tickets, they may not travel on airlines or air routes that have been blacklisted by production, or may be only allowed to fly on airlines within a given white list; this is generally for safety and security reasons, but has also used to prevent teams from finding routes not previously identified by the race planners that would gain considerably more time than expected and leading to teams potentially being more than a day apart.
• Teams are not allowed contact with known friends, family, and personal acquaintances during the race. However, teams are allowed to stay in contact with and receive help from people they meet during the race, such as a travel agent. (One exception to this rule occurred in Season 3. Teams were offered a cellular phone after completing a detour. As CBS's website explains, "They had the option of making one phone call to their loved ones back home before driving to the chateau. Teams could talk on the phone as long as they wanted, but had to end the call before getting in their cars." )
• When stated, teams may not help other teams in challenges. (Gretchen said this when she was helped by Uchenna with the boat in Season 7.) Otherwise, teams may assist one another in completing tasks, as seen in Season 8, where many teams had help setting up their tents, and the Linz and Godlewski teams cooperated to complete a Detour. In Season 10, however, a new twist is revealed at the Intersection that one team would be forced to work together with another team in a challenge.
• Racers are prohibited from smoking during the race. This results in the sometimes cantankerous attitude of some contestants, such as Ian (Season 3) who quit smoking just prior to the race.
• For filming purposes, team members are generally required to stay within 20 feet of each other, unless one person is performing a Roadblock.
• Teams are forbidden from bringing maps, guidebooks, language books, and many electronic devices including cell phones, GPS units, and PDAs, though maps and guidebooks may be purchased during the race from the money they have been given. The teams are otherwise free to carry as much or as little as they deem necessary. Generally, teams will be provided with winter clothing for when they reach cold climates and are not required to includes these articles within their bags.
• Teams may be forced to submit their backpacks and possessions to searches by production staff at any time and are checked just prior to the start of the race.
• Additional rules specific for a leg or for a task may be given along with the normal clue that is seen by the audience, provided to racers as a sheet or more of standard typewritten notes that are often seen on the show; these rules are generally not explained to the audience unless a violation of these rules occurs, but teams are required to abide by these additional rules until told otherwise. These rules typically outline driving and air travel restrictions.

Penalties and time credits

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Teri and Ian re-fuel their vehicle, after it broke down (Season 3)

• The standard penalty for minor rule infractions is 30 minutes plus the time advantage gained (if any) by disobeying the rule. This penalty is known to apply in the following cases:
  • Using a prohibited form of transportation. Examples include:
    • Teams take a taxi when a clue specifies to walk (Heather & Eve, Season 3; Reichen & Chip, Season 4)
    • Teams take a taxi or bus when the clue specifies to take a train (Frank & Margarita, Joe & Bill, Season 1; BJ & Tyler, Ray & Yolanda, Season 9).
    • Teams use a form of transportation completely prohibited by the clue (Tom & Terry, Season 10).
  • Taking a shortcut when the clue specifies that a marked course must be followed (Andre & Damon, Season 3).
  • Taking more than one clue from the clue box (Freddy & Kendra, Season 6).
  • Driving away in another team's car (Don & Mary Jean, Season 6).
  • Speeding. If a clue specifies a maximum speed, a team that exceeds that speed receives a penalty (Gary & Dave, Chris & Alex, Season 2).
  • Starting in Season 10, any team arriving last on a non-elimination leg would be "marked for elimination" and (unless they arrive first) thus receive a 30-minute penalty to be applied at the end of the next leg.
• If a team realizes they performed an infraction of the rules before they move on to the next task or check in, they can go back to the point where the infraction occurred and repeat the task as per the rules without any penalty outside of the time wasted to return to the task, unless their actions have interfered with another team, in which case a penalty is still applied. For example, the Australian Scavenger Hunt Roadblock in Season 2 was initially performed incorrectly by both Blake and Wil, but they redid the Roadblock correctly, and checked in without any additional time penalty.
• A team that skips a Route Marker or performs a task incorrectly usually does not receive a penalty; rather, the racers will not be able to check in at the Pit Stop and will be told by host Phil Keoghan to complete the missed tasks. Examples include:
  • Derek & Drew missing the last task completely on Leg 11 (Singapore-Vietnam) of Season 3
  • Both Chip & Kim and Kami & Karli missing the Detour clue on Leg 1 (USA-Uruguay) of Season 5
  • Meredith & Gretchen missing the Pit Stop clue, and Uchenna & Joyce missing a key instruction in the Roadblock prior to the Pit Stop, on Leg 7 (Botswana) of Season 7.
  • One exception to this was during Season 1, when Dave & Margaretta missed the cluebox at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Through lucky guessing and help from other teams, they were able to reach the Pit Stop, but were assessed a 1-hour penalty.
• There is a larger penalty for quitting a task voluntarily. In Season 6, Hayden & Aaron quit a Roadblock and received a 4-hour penalty upon arrival at the Pit Stop. In Season 7, Rob & Amber, Ray & Deana, and Meredith & Gretchen each quit their Roadblock on Leg 3 (Chile-Argentina) and received 4-hour penalties that were administered upon the arrival of the next team to the task.
• In Season 1, Nancy & Emily voluntarily quit a Detour and received an even larger penalty: 24 hours. As no other team has quit a Detour since then, it is unknown whether that larger penalty still exists.
• If a team's vehicle breaks down through no fault of their own or otherwise becomes inoperable, they may request a replacement vehicle without receiving a time penalty. However, no time credit is given for their wait in this unlucky situation. (See The Amazing Race 2 Trivia).
• Sometimes, teams are delayed by production difficulties. In early seasons, several teams were awarded time credits because of such difficulties. However, in Season 8, two teams were stopped because of drained batteries and didn't receive time credits. The exact conditions that determine whether or not a time credit is awarded are unknown.
  • During Season 4 in Leg 11: Jon and Al had attempted to get on the same flight as the other 3 teams, which had available economy seating and with plenty of time before the flight left. However, computer problems at the airport prevented their production-issued credit card from being accepted for flight tickets, and they were unable to make that flight, and had to take a flight about 2 hours later. Upon arrival, the other 3 teams were held up by production at the destination airport until the next flight carrying Jon and Al arrived. Production, at that time, was unsure if the credit card issue was their fault, or something outside their control, and thus, had held the teams until production could confer with all parties involved to determine who was at fault. In the end, production determined that the fault was not theirs but a fault at the airport, and thus no time credit was ultimately given; Jon and Al were then told to wait the same amount of time that the other teams were held up. Logically, if the error was production's fault, all teams would have been let go at the same time.
• There are also penalties that are given out but do not affect the placement of the teams, only the time they start the next leg. These are unmentioned in the show, but can sometimes be determined from visual clues at the check-in time and the start for that team in the next leg.
• A team that has performed any of the above infractions but nonetheless checks in last at an elimination Pit Stop is not assessed a penalty, due to the obvious redundancy of such an act. Examples include:
  • Lake & Michelle (Season 9, after taking bus to a destination when the clue specified a train)
  • Kellie & Jamie (Season 10, after voluntarily quitting a Roadblock when realizing that they were already in last place)
• Most penalties are applied when the offending team arrives at the Pit Stop, regardless of where the penalty occurred during the leg; Phil will ask the team to step off to the side and wait out their penalty while other teams may check-in before them.
  • The 4 hour penalty for voluntarily quitting a Roadblock when there is at least one other team behind you is taken once the next team arrives at the Roadblock, as opposed to being assessed at the Pit Stop. If there is no other team behind them, the 4 hours is accessed at the Pit Stop instead.
  • Penalties can be applied after all teams have checked in, after the production team has had a chance to review all materials provided by the teams and the A/V crew at check-in. The most notable example of this was during Season 3 when Heather and Eve, while arriving at the pit stop 1st, violated the last clue's requirement to walk to the pit stop and instead took a taxi. The crew at the pit stop was unaware of the rule breakage until some point after Heather and Eve checked in; during the aired episode, Phil is shown telling all teams in an obvious voice-over that they were "the nth team to arrive", instead of the usual "you are team number n". After the last team arrived, the episode then cut to a scene filmed some time after the check-in, where Phil explained the penalty against Heather and Eve, and informed them that due to the standard penalty (30 minutes plus time saved), they would have checked in last, and thus were eliminated from the race instead of the last-arriving team.

Countries and locales visited

Countries that The Amazing Race has visited are shown in green.

Continent	Countries
North America	Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, United States (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico)
South America	Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay
Europe	Austria, Finland, France (including Corsica), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy (including Sicily), Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom (including England and Scotland), Vatican City°
Africa	Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia
Asia	People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong), India, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam
Oceania	Australia, New Zealand

° Vatican City fielded a Fast Forward in Season 1; however, it was neither used nor shown.

Note: The table does not include airport stopovers such as Bahrain, Denmark, Poland, Qatar and Taiwan. It only contains countries that fielded actual route markers, challenges or finish mats.

Trivia

• Each team is accompanied by a cameraman and soundperson throughout the race. When purchasing tickets, teams must also buy them for their camera crew (4 tickets total, except during Season 8 where it was 6 tickets total). On the program, teams are only shown requesting two tickets, so that they don't break the fourth wall; these shots are generally taken after the teams have initially requested four tickets. All tickets must be purchased as economy class, though the airline can upgrade these tickets for the team, if necessary, as long as there is no additional charge to the team. The team and their camera crew must be on the same flight.
• Also, for similar reasons, the show makes the point of not actually showing the crews to the point where crewmen have occasionally been digitally removed from the picture in post-production. Occasionally, race personnel are shown to viewers, most notably during Season 7 where Brian and Greg's cameraman was shown lying on the ground after suffering minor injuries in an auto accident.
• The camera and sound crews rotate teams after each leg.
• Host Phil Keoghan is known to take the same flight as the teams on various legs of the race.
• When teams encounter people not officially involved with the race while racing, including taxi drivers and ticket agents, these people are then immediately presented with agreement forms to sign, provided by the camera crew, that, among other agreements, allows World Race Productions to use the footage of them on the air. If a person refuses, such footage is either not used, or the person's face is pixelated out on screen.
• Eliminated teams are often sent to "sequesterville", a foreign location on the race where they get to relax and do some sightseeing until the race is over. Teams eliminated near the end of the race are generally flown directly to the final city, and asked to perform "decoy" legs in the same or a different US city in order to mask who the final 3 teams are and what the final city is.
• Teams receive monetary compensation for the time away from their jobs back home. Even after the race has aired, however, the amount is still required to remain confidential.
• The opening credits feature scenes and locations from past and current seasons of the race.
• Teams need to receive travel visas ahead of time for the countries that they will be visiting. However, to keep things as much of a surprise for the teams as possible, production will obtain visas from more countries than are actually on the race itinerary. In doing so, the final destinations still remain a secret.
• Before the race actually begins, the teams are filmed running from the starting line several times, in order to get different close-ups and angles of all the teams.
• Due to the rather obvious nature of the crossing of the finish line, in later seasons several "decoy runs" have been done where teams from the final four are filmed crossing individual finish lines, to deter people from learning the identity of the winning team.
• The "local" personality who greeted the teams in the Philippines in season 5 is the daughter of the country's President, Gloria Arroyo.
• In Season 1, check-in mats for pit stops were representative of local cultures. In Season 2 and Season 3, they were black with a yellow border. Beginning in Season 4, they would feature an ornately decorated world map. In season 8 the mats were black with a yellow and white border. (For an exception, see The Amazing Race 6 In-Race Trivia.) The finish line mats are an elevated red carpet with The Amazing Race logo enlarged on it.
• Lyn & Karlyn and Dustin & Kandice of Season 10 both reached the final four teams of that season, marking the first time two all-female teams made it that far. One or both of these teams will be the first all-female team to race in the final leg and (in all likelihood) cross the finish line. In the first nine seasons, two female teams placed 4th: Linda & Karen (Season 5) and the Godlewski Family (Season 8).

Public reception

Television viewership

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Amazing Race on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned are Eastern and Pacific.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1st	Wednesday 9:00PM	September 5, 2001	December 13, 2001	2001-2002	#73	8.8
2nd		March 11, 2002	May 15, 2002		#49	10.3
3rd		October 2, 2002	December 18, 2002	2002-2003	#71	8.98
4th	Thursday 8:00PM	May 29, 2003	August 21, 2003			8.32
5th	Tuesday 10:00PM	July 6, 2004	September 21, 2004	2003-2004		10.73
6th	Tuesday 9:00PM	November 16, 2004	February 8, 2005	2004-2005	#31	11.5
7th		March 1, 2005	May 10, 2005		#25	13.0
8th		September 27, 2005	December 13, 2005	2005-2006	#42	10.8
9th	Tuesday 9:00PM (February 28, 2006 and March 7, 2006) Tuesday 10:00PM (March 14, 2006 to March 28, 2006) Wednesday 8:00PM (April 5, 2006 to May 17, 2006)	February 28, 2006	May 17, 2006		#56	9.1
10th	Sunday 8:00PM	September 17, 2006	December 10, 2006	2006-2007	???	???

The Amazing Race is notable in that it is one of the few reality shows to grow substantially more popular in subsequent seasons. Even with extensive critical praise the show faced low Nielsen Ratings for the first several seasons, facing cancellation a number of times. Reportedly, it was saved by calls to CBS President Les Moonves from celebrity fans including Sarah Jessica Parker. Thanks to word-of-mouth and the Emmy wins, popularity of The Amazing Race surged in 2005, making it one of the most-watched reality shows on the air. A Family Edition that aired later that year was not received warmly by viewers, and by the end of the 2005-2006 television season, ratings had dropped by nearly 50% from the previous year. Despite this slight setback, The Amazing Race 10 remains a highly anticipated event of the 2006-2007 season, and the show is now one of the longest-running reality series ever, bested only by a handful of other series, such as Survivor and MTV's The Real World.

In Australia, the Seven Network currently airs The Amazing Race. After screening the first season, it was pushed to a late timeslot. After public outcry and demand for the show, it returned in 2004 with season 5 at a more reasonable timeslot to stable ratings. . The 9th Season of the show, which premiered on 2nd March, 2006 in Australia was the 16th most-watched show of the week getting around 1,286,000 viewers: . The episodes of each season usually come in the top 30 most-watched shows of the week.

Other

TARCon is a convention and viewing party held after the evening of the season finale. The event is held in New York City and is organized by Television Without Pity, a popular television website. TARCon gives fans an opportunity to meet past and present racers and host Phil Keoghan.

The popularity of the series has also spawned its own board game and local homemade races, some of which have been mistaken for actual filming of the television program.

The show has also inspired a book, titled "My Ox Is Broken!": Detours, Roadblocks, Fast Forwards and Other Great Moments from TV's The Amazing Race, that is now available to purchase. It is written by Adam-Troy Castro and features an introduction from Season 8 Racers Billy and Carissa Gaghan.

Filming on season 11 of the Race has begun, as an All-Star version of the show.

Criticisms

Despite The Amazing Race's popularity, the show is not without its share of criticism and controversy. Main problems include:

File:AR6JonathanVictoria.jpg

Jonathan's behavior shocked fellow racers and viewers (Season 6)

• Bunching, where teams are constantly grouped together due to bottlenecks such as chartered flights and pre-planned hours of operation of businesses that the teams must use to complete tasks. All versions of the Race have had some form of bunching, as it helps production by preventing having to keep crew around more than a day in one country while trying to also operate in a second country, as occurred during Season 1. However, recent seasons (and Season 6 particularly) had more bunching points than observed in previous season, as well as operating hours for businesses that appear to have been set by the production team (based on the appearance of the hours of operation signs). As well, later seasons included several points where teams were separated into specific groups (through pre-arranged airlines tickets or chartered vehicles, for example), only for everyone to arrive at a bunching point that made the separation meaningless. Furthermore, some bunching points have been at the very end of a leg, with only one task following it before the pit stop; this arrangement does not allow for any time for a team to make up if they error on the task (for example, Lori and Bolo's elimination in Season 6). Nevertheless, bunching teams also adds to the unending suspense that many feel some of the earlier seasons lacked.
• The confrontational, arrogant, defeatist, and sometimes abusive behavior presented by certain players, most notably Flo (Season 3), Colin (Season 5) and Jonathan (Season 6).
• The stunt casting of teams where producers have tended to cast models, actors, and more recently past reality show stars. For example, Season 5 featured one past reality show contestant (Alison was on Big Brother) and Season 7 featured three past reality show contestants (Brian was on Fear Factor; Rob & Amber had been on multiple editions of Survivor). In fact, many teams had connections to the producers or past contestants, trivializing the standard application process. For example, Dennis & Erika (Season 5) had known previous racers John Vito & Jill (Season 3) for many years and a number of the beauty pageant contestants had competed against each other on the pageant circuit.
• The watering down of the clues in subsequent seasons. For example, in Season 1 the majority of Route Markers contained clues about the next location, not specifically stating the location itself. In recent seasons, there have been few actual clues for teams to decipher. What had been clues are now more like simple directions in many cases, variations of the form "Drive to a location via this route and find your next clue"; they remain more challenging in the final legs.
• Design of challenges, especially food competitions. Seasons 5-7 had emphasized gross-out extreme eating contests reminiscent of Fear Factor, rather than focusing on the cultural aspect of the challenge. In particular, while the show has been about introducing teams to other cultures, the volume of food that they have to eat is well above the normal amount for that dish, and has driven the team members to nausea and, particularly in the case of the caviar task in Russia during Season 5, extended pitstops to let the racers recover.
• An increase in the number of challenges involving random searching, generally of the type where only X items contained in Y possible locations, also referred to as "needle in the haystack" type challenges. Normally, these tasks can become easier for the last teams that arrive by simple statistics, but in some cases, racers are told to replace the items back, such that the chances get worse for later teams. While a common task on the show, recent seasons have seen a large number of these tasks in a single race (with 4 such mandatory tasks in Season 9), and have also led to the elimination of fan-favorite teams (Lena & Kristy in Season 6 and the Gaghan family in Season 8).
• The implementation of the Yield has been criticized as taking away from the somewhat unique ability of teams to control their own destiny in a reality series rather than being at the mercy of opponents on shows such as Survivor.
• The removal of Fast Forwards on every leg, which has changed the tactics of using the Fast Forward. In previous seasons, with Fast Forwards available on every leg, there was much more strategy involved in taking one, including using one if you had a minor injury or needed to recover, or if you were at the back of the pack and needed to make up ground. Since Season 5, with only two Fast Forwards present, the only strategy in its use is that if you are the first team to reach the Fast Forward, it's in your best interest to use it regardless of how large a lead you may have or your current team status. It has been speculated that the reason for this is because of the possibility that no team would try to get the Fast Forward on a particular leg, as happened several times in the first four seasons, which would make any money spent on setting them up wasted.
• Overreliance of teams on local assistance instead of relying on self-navigation. Teams are free with work with locals unless otherwise instructed not to, but in earlier seasons, teams were more self-sufficient in determining their route, usually resorting to locals only when lost. Later seasons show teams not even attempting to navigate themselves by not acquiring maps and instead using locals very often to get their directions, and in many cases, paying taxi drivers to lead them as they drive themselves to their next point. Later seasons have also shown more Ferns: local people that volunteer to ride or join along as they guide the teams. Later seasons show aggressive recruitment of such Ferns, questioning how voluntary their service is to the team, though as with most other non-racers shown on the show, teams will need to have the locals sign release forms as to be included in the epiosde as aired. While neither of these tactics are against the rules and can definitely help a team avoid elimination, the near-mechanical use of local taxis, guides, and Ferns in this manner takes navigation, a significant game play element, mostly out of the race for teams that use these tactics often.
• Excessive product placement, particularly in recent seasons. Seasons 7 and 9 featured a Travelocity Roaming Gnome-hunting challenge. Season 8 had teams driving around in GMC Yukons, visiting a BP gas station that fielded no challenge in particular, receiving clues from AOL inboxes (done in Seasons 6 and 10 also) and completing a challenge with Buick luxury golf carts. In Season 9, teams were driving Mercedes SUVs at various points on the race, and on one task had to find and use a flashlight with Duracell batteries. In 2005, The Amazing Race: Family Edition and The Amazing Race 7 were both among the top 10 American television shows with the most product placement.
• The amount of spoiler information generated during some seasons. Unlike Survivor which can isolate the players from public view, The Amazing Race, particularly in later seasons, is well spotted around the world as they go, and fans that identify the racers are usually polite enough to post their findings with spoiler warnings. However, spoilers from other sources have tended to reveal the results of legs and races very early which can ruin the suspense of the show. For example:
  • In Seasons 7 and 8, the winners were revealed in online betting scandals well before the airing of the final episode.
  • In Season 10, AOL repeatedly posted previews for episodes that were more than one show ahead of the last aired one, revealing who had been eliminated.

Broadcasters

The Amazing Race is broadcast on various international television networks. Its previous seasons are also seen on cable TV within the United States and throughout the world.

See List of TV networks that air The Amazing Race

External links

• Amazing Race Forums
• RealityFanForum Amazing Race Forums
• Television Without Pity TAR Forum & Recaps
• Survivor Sucks TAR Forum
• The Practical Nomad's columns on The Amazing Race
• Amazing Race news and Recaps