Okay first off
That’s partly good news… Now my rant… First off, JULY 6?!?!?! That pits two episodes in direct competition with NBC’s Olympic coverage in August, two episodes what will be completely KILLED in the ratings… and no doubt the Olympics will generate a little more hype that TAR, just a hunch.
Second, it turns out that Allison Irwin, the bitchy slut from Big Brother 4 will be a contestant with her psycho smiling boyfriend Donny. If anyone was unlucky enough to watch even some of BB4, you know why having Allison on is a VERY, VERY BAD THING… And CBS intentionally did this in addition to pairing it with Big Brother on Tuesdays at 10:00PM!!! BB is crap! I’m surprised the FCC hasn’t done something to stop it. If I were Bruckheimer, I’d want to distance myself as far away as I can from BB. Big Brother is moles of light years away from an Emmy-winning, critically acclaimed show like THE AMAZING RACE.
TAR is actually the one reality show that families can watch, unless its okay to have 5-10 year old kids watch a gay naked guy on Survivor. So 10PM is not only a very inconvieniet time (even in the Summer), but a very unusual move.
Third, TWISTS?!?!? Who said TAR needed twists. Survivor needs twists because after a while, watching half naked people sitting around, dirty, doing nothing on a deserted island gets pretty boring… and other reality shows need twists because America has a fascination with seeing people suffer, get put down, get hurt (physically, emotionally), humiliated, degraded, have sex on the air, get bitch slapped, and have a whole lot of other “mean” things done to them. TAR was different because they didn’t have all that crap. Even THE APPRENTICE doesn’t have twists. Get the job done or you’re fired. And now its the 2nd most watched show on television.
The two new twists were probably forced by CBS to “boost viewership,” most likely the demos, teens and young adults love the torture. Both twists just aim to screw a team over. First, in the non-elimination legs, the last team gets all their money taken away. I’m sure the $1 legs are still in play so what happens then? Emergency fund? Beg? Steal? Puhleeze
Second, the YIELD option to slow down another team that may be close to you. Several drawbacks; the YIELD could guarantee a team’s Philimination. And it may not be used to get ahead, it could be used just because you hate someone. Which basically screws a team over.
The only way a team could be screwed, before, would be if they missed a connecting flight or made a stupid mistake. That was part of TAR’s charm, it didn’t need to resort to all that garbage to be enjoyable and entertaining. AND WIN AN EMMY… the first one of the genre, but it was really a no-brainer considering what the reality genre is filled with.
So I’ll probably think of more things to rant about… and while I am EXTREMELY excited that TAR is finally back, I am also praying that these moves don’t ultimately KILL my 2nd favorite show of all time.