The Amazing Race 19 on CBS

TV Notes
'Survivor' winners Ethan and Jenna head up new 'Amazing Race' cast. Plus: New twists revealed!
By Dalton Ross, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - August 30th, 2011


Robert Voets (CBS)

EXCLUSIVE: The Amazing Race has not been shy about having former CBS reality stars on the show. Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich of Survivor fame played twice, while Big Brother‘s Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd, as well as Alison Irwin (and her non-Big Brother boyfriend Donny) all have appeared on the program. But now, for the first time, two winners will team up to compete as Survivor: Africa champ Ethan Zohn and Survivor: The Amazon victor Jenna Morasca head up the cast for the show’s 19th installment (premiering Sept. 25 on CBS), which will also feature some new twists to the game.

For Zohn, racing across the world with his longtime girlfriend is especially sweet considering his recent medical battles after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “Last year I was attached to a pump in complete isolation in a f—ing hospital room, and now I’m out traveling the world with the woman I love. Whatever happens, it’s gonna be okay,” Ethan told EW.com just before embarking on the race. “But if she screws up, I’m gonna kill her.”

Among the 10 other teams joining the longtime Survivor couple will be Zac Sunderland — who, at 16, became the youngest person to sail around the world alone — and his dad Laurence, former NFL tight end Marcus Pollard and his wife Amani, and Olympic snowboarders Andy Finch and Tommy Czeschin. (A full list of teams is below.) The duos will experience a few new twists this time around, including And for the first time ever, The Amazing Race will be visiting the countries of

Seeing as how Ethan and Jenna both won their seasons of Survivor, which one of them will get to make the big decisions on the race? “We actually made a list of things that each of us is good at and not good at,” Jenna says.

“I’m surprisingly more nervous than Ethan so I told him unless it’s a horseback riding, pole dancing, circus, animal, or shopping challenge, that he’s doing the first Roadblock.” But don’t be surprised if nice guy Ethan and his less-helpful partner have their differences along the way. Witness this one exchange:

Ethan: “I played Survivor different than Jenna played Survivor. And if Jenna wants to stab someone in the back and do something evil and mean, it’s going to be tough for me to do that. I’m okay with helping someone fix their flat tire.”

Jenna: “That’s not gonna happen.”

Ethan: “I’m okay giving people food.”

Jenna: “That’s not gonna happen. If we’re racing for first place and the person in front of us has a flat tire, I’m probably going to pass you by without a second thought. I mean, I’m not going to run them over in the process to make sure they’re never going to get up. I’ll safely pass, with my flashers on.”

The full cast list for season 19 of The Amazing Race is below. Also make sure to check out all the team pictures in our Amazing Race cast gallery.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/08/31/am...r-ethan-jenna/

* * * *

The 11 teams competing on season 19 of The Amazing Race:

Ernie Halvorsen
Age: 29
Hometown: Chicago
Current occupation: Project manager
Cindy Chiang
Age: 30
Hometown: Chicago
Current occupation: Brand manager
Connection to Teammate: Engaged
____________________________________________________________ ________
Justin Young
Age: 31
Hometown: Stone Mountain, Ga.
Current occupation: Doctor
Jennifer Young
Age: 26
Hometown: Stone Mountain, Ga.
Current occupation: Special education teacher
Connection to Teammate: Siblings
____________________________________________________________ ________
Liz Canavan
Age: 24
Hometown: Deerfield, Ill.
Current occupation: Marketing Assistant
Marie Canavan
Age: 24
Hometown: Deerfield, Ill.
Current occupation: Soul searching
Connection to Teammate: Twins
____________________________________________________________ ________
Ron Zeitz
Age: 44
Hometown: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Current occupation: Flight attendant
Bill Smith
Age: 49
Hometown: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Current occupation: Flight attendant
Connection to Teammate: Domestic Partners
____________________________________________________________ ________
Ethan Zohn
Age: 37
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Current occupation: Change maker
Jenna Morasca
Age: 30
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Current occupation: TV host/student
Connection to Teammate: Dating
____________________________________________________________ ________
Bill Alden
Age: 63
Hometown: Albany, Ore.
Current occupation: Farmer/rancher
Cathi Alden
Age: 62
Hometown: Albany, Ore.
Current occupation: College instructor/retired High
School principal
Connection to Teammate: Married for 40 Years/Grandparents
____________________________________________________________ ________
Andy Finch
Age: 30
Hometown: Truckee, Calif.
Current occupation: Professional snowboarder
Tommy Czeschin
Age: 32
Hometown: Crowley Lake, Calif.
Current occupation: Professional snowboarder
Connection to Teammate: Friends/Former Olympic Snowboarders
____________________________________________________________ ________
Amani Pollard
Age: 36
Hometown: Pine Mountain, Ga.
Current occupation: Business owner
Marcus Pollard
Age: 39
Hometown: Pine Mountain, Ga.
Current occupation: Retired NFL player/football coach
Connection to Teammate: Married
____________________________________________________________ ________
Kaylani Paliotta
Age: 33
Hometown: Las Vegas
Current occupation: Cocktail waitress
Lisa Tilley
Age: 32
Hometown: Las Vegas
Current occupation: Cocktail waitress
Connection to Teammate: Friends/Former Vegas Showgirls
____________________________________________________________ ________
Laurence Sunderland
Age: 48
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Current occupation: Yacht manager
Zac Sunderland
Age: 19
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Current occupation: Record setting boat captain
(Zac was the youngest person to ever sail around
the world alone)
Connection to Teammate: Father/Son Adventurers
____________________________________________________________ ________
Jeremy Cline
Age: 35
Hometown: Alamo, Calif.
Current occupation: Commercial real estate broker
Sandy Draghi
Age: 33
Hometown: Dublin, Calif.
Current occupation: Nurse practitioner
Connection to Teammate: Dating

Bumping thread up since it premieres this Sunday night at 8 (or 8:12 or 8:35 or 8:27 or whenever it ends up starting after the afternoon NFL game ends).

TV Notes
'Amazing Race' kicks off another season of travel porn
By Laura Bly, USA Today - September 26th, 2011

Ten years after launching the reality show that has inspired - or infuriated - millions of globetrekkers, Kiwi host Phil Keoghan is still peddling wanderlust on CBS' The Amazing Race.

The latest installment feaures four new countries (Belgium, Denmark, Indonesia and Malawi) and some travel-savvy competitors. Among them: Father and son sailors Laurence and Zac Sunderland (Zac was the youngest person to sail around the world solo, at age 17) and flight attendants Ron Zeitz and Bill Smith, who have 35 years of flying experience between them. ("They're not necessarily the fittest people, but certainly they've got knowledge of getting through airports and how travel works," Keoghan told TV Guide.)

All 11 teams survived Sunday's premiere, which took competitors from Los Angeles to Taipei, Taiwan for, among other location-specific challenges, a bit of dragonboat racing. And, in one stroke of suspiciously good luck, a Vegas showgirl who'd dropped her passport at a gas station on the way to LAX got it back courtesy of a good Samaritan who found it, tweeted about it, and delivered it in person.

As I noted in an earlier look at the Emmy award-winning show, I've got mixed emotions about its impact and message to world-be world travelers. I agree with Gadling's Melanie Renzulli that the show "sends the wrong signal that it is okay to speed through airports and train stations and villages," and "there's a certain hollow materialism to counting countries and treating cities like personal stats."

But the show has clearly sparked wanderlust: Being a featured location in 2005 "was like winning the lottery," Einar Gustavsson of the Iceland Tourist Board told me. The tourist office logged hundreds of new information requests a day after the show aired, and it worked with Icelandair on an eight-day "Trace the Race" package.The Amazing Race "is a lot more real than people give it credit for," adds Edward Hasbrouck, a veteran 'round-the-world traveler who blogs about the show."No matter how hokey the tasks, there's an underlying reality of what it's like to be on your own without the buffer of a tour," he says, "and it confirms the enduring hook of a trip around the world."

But it has clearly sparked bookings from entranced viewers: Being a featured location in 2005 "was like winning the lottery," Einar Gustavsson of the Iceland Tourist Board told me.

The Amazing Race "is a lot more real than people give it credit for," adds Edward Hasbrouck, a veteran 'round-the-world traveler who blogs about the show.

"No matter how hokey the tasks, there's an underlying reality of what it's like to be on your own without the buffer of a tour," he says, "and it confirms the enduring hook of a trip around the world."

THE AMAZING RACE
Sundays at 8PM ET/PT on CBS

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinati...-porn/548838/1

Was anyone else besides me laughing like an idiot every time the contestants got a 'WRONG' CG gong for not getting Confucius' saying right? I thought it was the funniest thing in ages, but then again I'm easily amused.

I'm still confused though: how exactly did the civilians that found the passport of the Vegas showgirl knew where to find them if this was just a taping of "TAR" that wasn't publicly announced? The New York Times has a story about this but I'm still not sure I get the timeline completely right. It would have been more interesting to see what would have happened if the Vegas chick's passport got lost and not returned. Would the "TAR" production have even bothered to let them fly a day or so later if it was already obvious they'd be last and thus eliminated (if not in this first episode most certainly on next week's double-elimination one)?

Overall I liked that the balloon red-yellow electronic sign clue stumped pretty much everybody (I honestly think it would have lost me too), especially the older couple. Had they not been stumped by this the elders would have easily jumped ahead of the blonde twins, who seemingly were stuck in that temple forever. And man, I'd really like to go to that mall that is big-enough to allow for indoor bungee jumping (that was freaking cool). So far the only teams that bug me are the Vegas showgirls and the blonde twins (the former more than the latter but they're both playing the 'cute chick perception' card way too much. Everybody else seems like decent-enough contestants (both civilians and 'special' teams, the last of which seemed to go on and on as the couples were introduced) to keep things competitive until the end.

Couldn't watch "TAR" until this morning on CBS' website (DVR acted out last night, messed up my "Dexter" and "TAR" recordings). Wow, those Vegas Showgirls (loved how Phil held on revealing they were safe until after the tears started flowing), Stoner dudes (is anyone else cracking up every time they smile? ) and Father-Son caught a major break by, you know, READING THE FREAKING SIGN RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM!. No sympathy at all for the eliminated couples (including the "Survivor" winners! ), there's no excuse on a freaking TV show everyone has seen to not read carefully a sign placed strategically to be noticed. And why exactly was Cindy (the Asian girl) freaking out at getting the clue wrong? They were the first to arrive with many teams behind them (and ended fourth after the three couples that handed the money promptly), why the self-immolation?

Justin and Jennifer (bickering siblings) are headed for a major implosion down the race unless they're putting on an act for the cameras (I got that vibe from them at the train station blow-up). Which, of course, will be a hoot-and-a-half and delicious to watch from the safety and comfort of my upside down couch.

^^^ I agree, playing along at home I feel I would have also not handed over my "TAR" money (leaving me at the mercy of my make-believe teammate to have noticed the sign, which he/she probably wouldn't have). Bill and Cathi (elders) also caught a break that the penalty task for them was so simple and easy (by "TAR" standards) which kept them well ahead of the pack when they inevitably also misread (or didn't see) the orphanage money sign. All and all it was a great equalizer because (a) teams can only blame themselves for not seeing/reading it, and (b) it blew up in "TAR's" producers' faces because it already sent packing prematurely one of the "star" teams they were counting on to goose-up the ratings (CBS would have loved to plug "TAR" on "Survivor" using the latter's winners as bait). Further proof that, unlike "Big Brother," "TAR" is not rigged.