The Amazing Race 5 Returns

[starvenger 0]

For those of you that watch the show (and I know that there are a few of you) here's the list of teams:

 

Names: Kami and Karli French

Ages: 26

Occupations: Cafe manager, student (University of Oregon)

Hometowns Eugene, Ore.

Relationship: Twins

 

 

Names: Marshall and Lance Hudes

Ages: 31, 25

Occupations: Restaurant owners

Hometowns Dallas

Relationship: Brothers

 

 

Names: Coling Guinn and Christie Woods

Ages: 24, 26

Occupations: Cell phone store owner, managing partner of longevity and wellness center

Hometowns Corpus Christi, Texas

Relationship: Dating

 

 

Names: Chip and Kim McAllister

Ages: 46, 44

Occupations: owner of web company, owner of recruit company

Hometowns Coto De Caza, Calif.

Relationship: Married parents

 

 

Names: Alison Irwin and Donald Patrick

Ages: 23, 21

Occupations: Unemployed, student

Hometowns Meadville, Pa. and Shenandoah, Pa.

Relationship: Dating

 

 

Names: Linda Ruiz and Karen Heins

Ages: 45, 41

Occupations: Mother/tennis teacher and mother/homemaker

Hometowns Palmdale, Calif.

Relationship: Best Friends

 

 

Names: Dennis Frentsos and Erika Shay

Ages: 27, 25

Occupations: Mortgage broker, wedding planner

Hometowns West Nyack and Piermont N.Y.

Relationship: Formerly engaged

 

 

Names: Jim and Marsha McCoy

Ages: 53, 26

Occupations: Helicopter pilot, law student

Hometowns Jacksonville and Gainesville, Fla.

Relationship: Father/daughter

 

 

Names: Charla Faddoul and Mirna Hindoyan

Ages: 27

Occupations: Manger of sportswear store, lawyer

Hometowns Phoenix, Md. and Towson, Md.

Relationship: Cousins

 

 

Names: Brandon Davidson and Nicole O'Brian

Ages: 25, 21

Occupations: Model, actress

Hometowns Houston, Los Angeles

Relationship: Dating

 

 

Names: Bob Barron and Joyce Nicolo

Ages: 61, 54

Occupations: Retired, medical practice administrator

Hometowns Mount Laurel, N.J.

Relationship: Internet dating couple

Now the question I have is, is there something that Bob isn't telling us?

[LaParkaMarka 0]

He's a 61 year old retiree dating some chick he met off the net? Sounds like our Bob.

 

When is the show starting up again?

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

Where's the token "gay" team?

[starvenger 0]

July 6 at 9:30EST. I think that normally it's on at 10pm though...

[CanadianChris 0]

They all seem kind of blah from that list. No "Dating 12 years/virgins" in the lot.

[Astro101 0]

That Alison is the same one from Big Brother 4...now I know who to hate right off the bat!

[starvenger 0]

They all seem kind of blah from that list. No "Dating 12 years/virgins" in the lot.

Heh. They DO have a "formerly engaged couple" though...

[starvenger 0]

Hmm, I just read on another site that one of the cousins is a "little person". Now THAT should be interesting if they stick around for awhile...

[The Electrifyer 0]

Well, here's the official website: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race5/

 

And yes, there is a "little person" there. Also, as Astro said, Alison from Big Brother is there with her boyfriend, Donny, that she always mentioned in the show. I hope that bitch loses.

[Guest croweater]

OH FOR GOD'S SAKE

 

CAN WE GET ONE BLOODY AMERICAN TV SHOW WITHOUT HAVING SOMEONE NAMED "CHIP" IN THERE.

 

 

WHO THE HELL CALLS THEIR SON CHIP??????

[starvenger 0]

OH FOR GOD'S SAKE

 

CAN WE GET ONE BLOODY AMERICAN TV SHOW WITHOUT HAVING SOMEONE NAMED "CHIP" IN THERE.

What do you mean, EVERY show?

 

I mean Transformers didn't... oh, wait, Chip Chase.

 

Well WCW certainly never... huh? Firebreaker Chip?

 

But then there's Married... With Children, right? Whaddaya mean, Charles "Chip" Esten was a guest star?

 

Hmm... I guess you're right.

[starvenger 0]

Bump.

 

Article from Zap2it.com

 

They're savvy, they're determined and now they're off and running.

Trailing a cloud of road dust and Emmy glamour (as last season's outstanding reality-competition program), "The Amazing Race 5" gets under way on CBS with a special 90-minute premiere on Tuesday, July 6.

 

As in previous years, the competition sends 11 two-member teams, each with a pre-existing relationship, on a high-intensity race around the world for a $1 million prize.

 

While previous editions of the Race got off to a fairly genial, even slightly goofy start, this fifth round feels strikingly different, as injuries and hard feelings surface almost right from the Southern California starting line.

"This is by far the most cutthroat season I have seen in terms of how people have played the game, because the teams have worked out where the equalizers are -- airports, say, where the teams tend to stack up -- so they know when they really need to push," says Phil Keoghan, returning for his fifth stint as host.

 

"This particular season really has an edge to it in terms of the teams we have chosen. They're edgy, engaging characters, contrasting teams that rub one another the wrong way from time to time. We don't look to create a 'perfect holiday' atmosphere, and the players that come into the game now are just much more charged-up and competitive from watching previous seasons."

 

That's certainly true of Marsha McCoy, the 26-year-old Florida law student who hopes she and her father, Jim, can work as teammates and pull out a victory, although no parent-child team has fared well in previous Races.

 

"The most important thing is to have mental toughness," she says. "I loved Danny and Oswald from the second Race, because they didn't stress themselves out. They stayed calm and made good decisions. Our big goal is to make as few mistakes as possible, so we don't wind up 30 miles out of the way."

 

"We both can get an attitude at times, so mainly we've been working on trying to think and work as a team," Jim McCoy adds. "As a military father, I tend to treat her like one of the troops, but this race is a 50-50 proposition, so I am working on being more flexible."

 

Three of the four previous Races have been won by two-male teams, and the lone exception, in "Amazing Race 3," occurred when Zach Behr all but physically carried his spoiled, petulant girl pal, Flo Pesenti, through much of the competition.

 

This year's lineup includes no "alpha male" teams, just Dallas restaurant owners Marshall and Lance Hudes, two brothers who are no gym bunnies.

 

"We are not going to win this race by sprinting," concedes Marshall Hudes, the older brother at 31. "We've seen a lot of very fit people lose this race early on, because they don't think it through and they make a major mistakes. We hope to avoid that. Anyone who doesn't make a major mistake will get at least halfway through."

 

Other teams include:

 

Twins Kami and Karli French, 26, of Eugene, Ore.

 

Colin Guinn, 24, and Christie Woods, 26, a dating couple from Corpus Christi, Texas

 

Chip and Kim McAllister, 46 and 44 respectively, a married couple from Coto De Caza, Calif

 

Alison Irwin, 23, a former (and widely loathed by viewers) "Big Brother" house guest, and her browbeaten boyfriend, student Donald Patrick, both Pennsylvanians

 

Linda Ruiz, 45, and Karen Heins, best friends from Palmdale, Calif.

 

Dennis Frentsos, 27, of West Nyack, N.Y., and his former fiancee, Erika Shay, 25, of Piermont, N.Y., retesting the romantic waters together

 

Charla Faddoul, a store manager who has a form of dwarfism, and her cousin, Mirna Hindoyan, both 27-year-old Marylanders

 

Houston model Brandon Davidson, 25, and his girlfriend, Los Angeles actress Nicole O'Brian, 21

 

Bob Barron, 61, and Joyce Nicolo, 54, a couple who struck up their acquaintance via the Internet.

 

"The Amazing Race 5" includes a new feature called "Yield," which allows one team to slow down a competitor. Used shrewdly, it can eliminate a rival team, although that same team can become a bitter and formidable enemy if its members manage to survive elimination despite the Yield.

 

In addition to that new wrinkle, "Race 5" offers new challenges to its teams in terms of the sheer distances they are forced to travel. "This season was one of the toughest yet," Keoghan says. "We traveled more miles than ever before, about 75,000. Most previous seasons have been around 50,000. To put that into perspective, to go around the equator once is 23,000 miles, so we did the equivalent of looping the world three times, although we were zig-zagging, of course.

 

"It gets pretty hairy. There were plenty of times when I was racing to get to a pit stop knowing that the teams were racing there at the same time. So far, touch wood, we've managed to stay ahead of them, but I always laugh when people think I must get in some nice shopping and sightseeing on this thing. They don't realize it's very intense and the Race takes place over a pretty short period of time. It's a big adrenaline ride, and even when the teams are sleeping, we're usually continuing to move."

 

Although "The Amazing Race" consistently draws rave reviews from critics and a loyal cult following among viewers, its ratings have lagged behind less classy fare such as the voyeuristic "Big Brother." Encouraged by that Emmy win, however, CBS already has greenlit "Amazing Race 6" to air during the 2004-05 season.

 

Keoghan says the fans he meets are so enthusiastic he finds it hard to believe ratings have been somewhat soft.

 

"Of all the show I've ever done, fans of this show are the nicest and the most enthusiastic," he says. "Frankly, it surprises me that there aren't more people watching the show considering the number of people who come up to me and say such nice things.

 

"And this, without a doubt, is the strongest Race we've ever done."

You gotta love the fact that even the writer can't hide his contempt for Flo...

[The Electrifyer 0]

Amazing Race 5 premiers tonight after Big Brother. My prediction: Bob Barron gets eliminated tonight.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I'm really excited for tonight. This is by far my favourite reality show.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Well, my prediction was wrong. Who'd have thought one of those young couples would have been eliminated first?

[starvenger 0]

Catching a tape of this. Charla is an instant favourite, and it's even more impressive since her cousin is a liability.

 

(edit) Well, Allison's legendary bitchiness is helping her team so far...

 

(edit2) Man, Jim's hardcore. And as for the eliminated team, let that be a lesson to ya Dennis - nice guys finish last.

 

Crap, I watched this on tape, and it still felt like 3 hours. But in a good way.

Edited July 7, 2004 by starvenger

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Catching a tape of this. Charla is an instant favourite, and it's even more impressive since her cousin is a liability.

 

(edit) Well, Allison's legendary bitchiness is helping her team so far...

I dont like them. Couple of reasons:

 

A) The whole fit Mirna threw over having to carry the side of beef. I didn't see anyone else throwing a fit over it, including Jim who had busted his knee all up.

B) Mirna saying "We don't need anyone to win this game" at the same point that they had got the local guy to carry their bags for them.

C) Charla is all self empowered and can do anything she wants to but yet they still resort to getting people to help them because of her condition.

 

Getting rid of the fast forward in favor of the YIELD thing was also stupid. A team in the back of the pack used to be able to jump back into contention by using the FF, but with the yield all it does is stop 1 team for a period of time. The team that uses it probably wont gain much ground and all the other teams are still going. The Yield should make all the other teams stop, although then it could be called the Freeze Frame or something.

 

Im also curious about what happens to the team that comes in last on a non elimination leg that could make their lives miserable.

 

First show was still really good, although I dont think that theres a clear cut favorite or a clear cut team to hate that continues to do well.

[starvenger 0]

Charla I like, Mirna not so much. Flo-lite.

 

Getting rid of the fast forward in favor of the YIELD thing was also stupid. A team in the back of the pack used to be able to jump back into contention by using the FF, but with the yield all it does is stop 1 team for a period of time. The team that uses it probably wont gain much ground and all the other teams are still going. The Yield should make all the other teams stop, although then it could be called the Freeze Frame or something.

Fast Forward is still there, but since it's an existing thing, and noone opted to use it, they didn't go over it.

 

Im also curious about what happens to the team that comes in last on a non elimination leg that could make their lives miserable.

That team loses any money they have saved up until that point

 

First show was still really good, although I dont think that theres a clear cut favorite or a clear cut team to hate that continues to do well.

My current favourite team is Lance/Marshall. Individually, I'm liking Jim and Charla.

 

Least favourite team right now is the God Squad.

[Astro101 0]

I despise Alison. And maybe they alternate the Yield and Forward Pass. Didn't they still showed the FP in the past seasons even though no one used it?

[starvenger 0]

I despise Alison. And maybe they alternate the Yield and Forward Pass. Didn't they still showed the FP in the past seasons even though no one used it?

They did, but only if there was strong consideration towards using it (and, presumably, if they needed more filler).

[CanadianChris 0]

I despise Alison. And maybe they alternate the Yield and Forward Pass. Didn't they still showed the FP in the past seasons even though no one used it?

TV Guide said that there are only two Fast Forward passes on this season's Race.

[starvenger 0]

I despise Alison. And maybe they alternate the Yield and Forward Pass. Didn't they still showed the FP in the past seasons even though no one used it?

TV Guide said that there are only two Fast Forward passes on this season's Race.

I'm thinking that means that the FF was only used twice. Otherwise they've already burned one, since the CBS website is saying "No Team used the Fast Forward on this leg."

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

They were clearly carrying the FF around in this episode. It is the one in the green envelope.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Mirna was annoying, but her crush on the host was amusing. And I got a kick out of how everyone was "chasing the midget" at one point in the ep. That team's "we're strong and we can do anything!" attitude was annoying as hell.

 

God Squad was also annoying, but in a more amusing way. Had to like the guy's "She needs to learn that we have to trust god" after he arbitrarily makes a decision.

 

I don't really like any of the teams so far. The trampling was pretty low, too. I was really hoping that the twins would at least hug or something when they finished. Maybe kiss. Erika was the cutest out of the bunch though.

[starvenger 0]

Mirna was annoying, but her crush on the host was amusing. And I got a kick out of how everyone was "chasing the midget" at one point in the ep. That team's "we're strong and we can do anything!" attitude was annoying as hell.

If you read the TWoP forums, I think EVERYONE there has a crush on Phil. I've got no problems with the teams trying to get help or using whatever to their advantage, but it is annoying when it directly contradicts their "motto".

 

God Squad was also annoying, but in a more amusing way. Had to like the guy's "She needs to learn that we have to trust God" after he arbitrarily makes a decision.

All I can say is, God did not tell you to walk to the ferry.

 

I was really hoping that the twins would at least hug or something when they finished. Maybe kiss.

Hmmm, yes, that would've been nice...

[CanadianChris 0]

Mirna was annoying, but her crush on the host was amusing. And I got a kick out of how everyone was "chasing the midget" at one point in the ep. That team's "we're strong and we can do anything!" attitude was annoying as hell.

If you read the TWoP forums, I think EVERYONE there has a crush on Phil. I've got no problems with the teams trying to get help or using whatever to their advantage, but it is annoying when it directly contradicts their "motto".

Miss Alli has a crush on Phil. Everyone else follows her like sheep.

[The Electrifyer 0]

The God Squad isn't too bad, the girl is at least hot.

[starvenger 0]

I"m jumping back to the "Yield" thing and according to the website,

 

Alison & Donny were first to find the Yield on this leg, but they elected not to use it.

So only the first team to find it has the opportunity to use it?

[CanadianChris 0]

According to the CBS website:

 

Each leg of the race has a YIELD point. Teams must stop at the YIELD location to do two things before continuing along the course: 1) They must check to see if they have been YIELDed by another team; 2) If no Team has been YIELDed, they must decide whether to use the YIELD or not. If a Team is YIELDed, they must turn over the hourglass and wait until all the sand runs out before they may continue with the race. A Team may use the YIELD to stop another Team only once throughout the entire course of the race. However, there is no limit to the number of times that a Team can be YIELDed by the other Teams.

 

So no, any team can use it as long as it hasn't been used. I think it appeared that way in the summary just because that was the only time they showed it during that episode.

[starvenger 0]

Allright. I guess we'll find out what happens if a team YIELDs another team but that team has already passed the YIELD point. I'd assume that either 1) the team pix are taken out as they pass or 2) the team that uses the YIELD is SOL.

 

(edit) OK, I'm reading the stuff about the FF as well...

Two pre-determined legs have one FAST FORWARD, which allows the Team that completes the FAST FORWARD task first to proceed directly to the next PIT STOP without having to do any further tasks, including DETOURs or ROADBLOCKs, on the way. The trick is that only the first Team to find and complete the FAST FORWARD on the leg may use it; any subsequent Team that finds it will have wasted their time and must go back and complete all tasks. In addition, a Team may claim only one FAST FORWARD during the entire race.

So there ARE only 2 FFs. I was wrong again. I wonder if this is tied to the massive amount of distance the teams travel this time around - the tasks seem more time consuming, so a FF could give a team a huge advantage...

Edited July 8, 2004 by starvenger