Call me crazy, but I like this show. It's a hybrid of Lost, The Amazing Race, and SportsCenter. I hope it has a long run, but I get the feeling that the second one will be the last one.

My complaints (some of them minor) are several:

1) Too many rules
2) Too much Rich Eisen (sir, you're no Phil Keoghan)
3) Rewards too heavily connections & contacts over physical skill, charisma, risk-taking and intelligence
4) Too much time spent trying to get around, find a place to stay, or look presentable - as opposed to doing tasks and moving from state to state

How would I change the game around to make it even more interesting? Try these on for size:

a) Add another team. It should be easy enough to fit in with this format, and it would add greatly to the competition factor for both the teams and for the viewers (all 16 of us).
b) Add two more rules - teams must succeed at 20 points of tasks, and do at least two tasks in each point category. This would make the points actually mean something.
c) Add an elimination rule - once one team (or two if we're going with three) performs a task, the other team CAN'T perform the same task. This would give even more bite to the smack calls.
d) Ditch the 12 hour rule (mostly) - if someone is fool enough to give you something, you should be able to keep it and use it wherever and whenever you want. The 12 hour rule would still apply to private transportation and the ROTH.
e) Give 'em a backpack - one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen is one of the ladies going into a drug store and trying out the samples to make herself look and smell pretty. It's bad that a game show would make them do that. So, give 'em a small backpack where they can put whatever they want - change of clothes, toiletries, journal, reading material, etc. This is subject to the usual limitations - no cell phones, PDAs, computers... you get the idea.
f) Give 'em some money. With some hesitation, I'd keep the prohibition against getting money from others. But I would start them off with at least a token amount of money - $100 would be OK, $300 would be generous. This would add an extra element of strategy, other than banking on the kindness of strangers

Whew! That was longer than I wanted it to be. Thanks for reading.

• RE: BB&D: Comments and my tweaks,ELCinOhio, 10:01 AM, 10-10-02
• RE: BB&D: Comments and my tweaks,SherpaDave, 12:01 PM, 10-10-02
  • Thanks but no thanks,realitybites, 02:50 PM, 10-10-02
• RE: BB&D: Comments and my tweaks,survivorscott, 12:10 PM, 10-10-02
• BB&D: Strategy,realitybites, 03:45 AM, 10-11-02
• RE: BB&D: Comments and my tweaks,Ahtumbreez, 08:40 AM, 10-11-02
  • RE: BB&D: Comments and my tweaks,realitybites, 10:06 AM, 10-11-02
    • RE: BB&D: Comments and my tweaks,SherpaDave, 12:12 PM, 10-11-02

As the other watcher of the show. I agree with most of them

The 12 hour rule is Stupid. Why would a team want to spend more than 12 hours at a house anyways. As far as transoprtation, okay for a car ride, or borrowing a car, but that they had to exit the bus in Toledo, not Detroit because 12 hours had expired? that's absurd.

The money thing, I think it's great that they have no money. Maybe give them 2 free Greyhound passes, helps them a little, but not all the time

Hey bites! Glad to know someone else watches the show (even if I did only catch one episode). We're still looking for a few summary writers for the rest of the season. Interested?

Criminals From the Neck Up

Thank you for the offer, but I have too many other things I need to do. Perhaps things will clear out by the time BB&D 2 comes along (big if).

They could use the old Lost gimick and give them each a coupon good for a big mac anywhere in the world

Come in a stranger,leave a little stranger

One of the fun things about this show is that it's something I can imagine doing from the safety of my sofa (if they offered prizes of real value - the standard CBS million, for example - I might apply for real). This is an abbreviated version of my strategy (I'm assuming a NYC-Alcatraz trip):

1) Figure out where my strengths are. I know no pro athletes - zero, but I have relatives & friends all over Michigan, some in Chicago, lots in Arkansas (near Memphis), a few in Florida, and onesies and twosies in other places.
2) Discuss the strengths of the other teammates. Where do they live? What athletes do they know? Who do they know on PR staffs? Who can we charm into borrowing a car? A house?
3) Plan a route. The task list skews heavily toward professional big-4 teams, so subject to detours to take advantage of my teammates' strengths, this would be the general route:

NYC -> Washington -> Cleveland -> Chicago -> Kansas City -> Denver -> Reno -> San Fran

There are plenty of colleges and pro teams along that route, and it's the quickest one I could come up with.

4) Try to stay cool. It's a long race (2500 miles and 30 days, though I don't think it will take all 30 days - closer to 3 weeks, I think) with plenty of highs and lows on the way.
5) Keep moving. There are TWO races in the game - get to Alcatraz, and do the tasks. Every waking hour should be spent doing, or planning to do, one of those two things.

Team Cobi has done the better job so far, of course - though it looks like they go the wrong way next week (I'm sure they have their reasons). Team Contact? Ick. Two detours and two dry holes. They can't afford too much more of that. They need to head west ASAP.

Any other strategy tips for this silly game?

Ok you have me intrigued, when and where is this on? Who knows I may become the 17th viewer, but beware, my interest is the kiss of death. Just ask Under One Roof and No Boundaries.

>Ok you have me intrigued, when and where is this on?
> Who knows I may become the 17th viewer, but
>beware, my interest is the kiss of death. Just
>ask Under One Roof and No Boundaries.

Perhaps there's another show I can interest you in on ABC called "Who's Desperate Enough to Marry a Media Whore" - er, I mean "The Bachelor"

"Beg, Borrow & Deal" is shown on Tuesdays at 8 PM ET on ESPN. It's rerun at various other times thoughout the week on ESPN and/or ESPN2. The link to the official site is here, where you can get summaries, rules, task lists, and other good stuff.

Not to mention summaries right here on this site. Just sayin'.

Criminals From the Neck Up