No chicken, no check-in: the Amazing Race 12 finale
After a couple of months of not much use, I dusted off the old TV and just saw the Amazing Race 12 finale. Mild spoilers ahoy for the cautious or the uninterested:
I missed too much of this season to get to know the teams really well, but I was rooting for Ron and Chris from the get-go. Not just because they're Asian but because Ron has exactly the kind odd humor I find entertaining, and I don't find him to be the totally evol kind of self-absorbed father TWOP'ers seem to think he is. But then, I missed the first half of the season and most of the second half. Chris on the other hand, is totally the dream version of me, if I were taller, fluent in who knows how many languages, and able to keep my cool even when totally sleep deprived. Also, several million time more glamorous.
I did find it interesting that this year the finale three had no "villain" -- every team was portayed as having their faults but generally regular kinds of people out on the adventure of a lifetime. Forget the usual kind of reality show casting; I think the producers did a good job of finding teams the audience could root who still brought some drama to the show. This is precisely why I'm not into survivor, etc. but love Amazing Race, which certainly has its share of personalities but is really about the race and not about the people with the DSM-IV personality disorders. Even my parents, who never watch reality TV, were absolutely hooked on this season. I think they finally understand what I have loved the show since the first few seasons.
Actually, I applied a couple of times with a few different partners, only to conclude that the TV market for non-blonde, non-model, non-model females was minimal. But I am hopeless. One episode and I am scheming who I could sucker into an application and how to make something that might get noticed. And if I did, I'd totally stand on the mat and tell Phil, "No chicken, no check-in."
Returning our regular non-reality show, angst-filled, on-the-border-of-cancellation fandom: Jericho returns to TV next week. I admit a slight bitterness that the ONE save-a-show campaign I didn't join was of course the one that ACTUALLY WORKED, and of course I didn't see most of the last half of the season, but it seemed like a pretty promising show last year and I am looking forward to catching a couple of episodes when I can. Plus, it has Skeet Ulrich, who I would watch just for his part in the excellent but cancelled-way-too-soon Miracles.
I missed too much of this season to get to know the teams really well, but I was rooting for Ron and Chris from the get-go. Not just because they're Asian but because Ron has exactly the kind odd humor I find entertaining, and I don't find him to be the totally evol kind of self-absorbed father TWOP'ers seem to think he is. But then, I missed the first half of the season and most of the second half. Chris on the other hand, is totally the dream version of me, if I were taller, fluent in who knows how many languages, and able to keep my cool even when totally sleep deprived. Also, several million time more glamorous.
I did find it interesting that this year the finale three had no "villain" -- every team was portayed as having their faults but generally regular kinds of people out on the adventure of a lifetime. Forget the usual kind of reality show casting; I think the producers did a good job of finding teams the audience could root who still brought some drama to the show. This is precisely why I'm not into survivor, etc. but love Amazing Race, which certainly has its share of personalities but is really about the race and not about the people with the DSM-IV personality disorders. Even my parents, who never watch reality TV, were absolutely hooked on this season. I think they finally understand what I have loved the show since the first few seasons.
Actually, I applied a couple of times with a few different partners, only to conclude that the TV market for non-blonde, non-model, non-model females was minimal. But I am hopeless. One episode and I am scheming who I could sucker into an application and how to make something that might get noticed. And if I did, I'd totally stand on the mat and tell Phil, "No chicken, no check-in."
Returning our regular non-reality show, angst-filled, on-the-border-of-cancellation fandom: Jericho returns to TV next week. I admit a slight bitterness that the ONE save-a-show campaign I didn't join was of course the one that ACTUALLY WORKED, and of course I didn't see most of the last half of the season, but it seemed like a pretty promising show last year and I am looking forward to catching a couple of episodes when I can. Plus, it has Skeet Ulrich, who I would watch just for his part in the excellent but cancelled-way-too-soon Miracles.