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Original Message
"Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Estee on 03-08-10 at 10:52 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-08-10 AT 11:05 AM (EST)

For notes on leg construction, task design, course layout, camera work, and the other elements which go into the actual assembly of the Race. Last night's episode had a few positives and negatives -- enough to push this thread into existence. It's sort of a behind-the-scenes GUFU with occasional praise, so it shouldn't take more than six seconds to die.

In Hamburg:

Clap The return of last season's highly entertaining All Night Long leg, only conducted in a region with more nightlife to get lost in. Does anyone really know what time it is? Do we have any idea how long people have been awake? No, just that it's still night and they're going to keep running until they find a Pit Stop or fall over. We should have one of these every season.

Slap What time is it, anyway? The giant bunch point of the cross-continental flights might have negated any initial temporal lag between teams, but it always helps to know what the gaps were on the last finish. Last night's opening refused to give us any help at all: here are Jet & Cord opening their clue, and here we are at the airport. Oh, and here's hoping you weren't listening for a money count. Similarly, flight arrival times could have been hours or years apart for all we knew, and the trains? Yeah, right: the trains... Did the money spent on the Intersection graphics knock out the onscreen clock budget?

Slap So who wants to watch multiple teams of desperately sick Racers staggering around the course, clutching at their stomachs and looking for a quiet camera-ready place to die? Overdosing on sauerkraut and beer on top of upset body rhythms triggered by the flight? Sure, that's going to make for a pretty picture in the morning. This had better be a thirty-six hour Pit Stop, because twelve will only bring us to the middle of the dry heaves.

Slap For some strange reason, I don't think that was non-alcoholic beer. It would have been the responsible way to go, not to mention the most careful one -- but what were the odds? Low. Really low. Lower than everyone's blood alcohol level leaving the bar, because that much beer in a short time will send you into the Soused Zone. Admittedly, the placement of the drinking within the leg was done with an eye towards saving the world from the teams: right near the end, no driving yourself after, and nothing more complicated than finding an address left to do -- but you never want drunk Racers. Drunk Racers are a recipe for disaster, and the producers were lucky not to get one.

However, if that was non-alcoholic beer, then the only problem is drinking that kind of liquid volume in a hurry -- still not good for your health. (It's a question I'd love to see asked in an interview.)

Clap The camera work in the red-light district made the area look beautifully surreal: Wonderland with an adults-only access requirement. Taking the time to show the area's link to the Beatles was a major plus (and the statues themselves were a fantastic piece of work). Most of the Racers get a Slap for not seeming to notice or appreciate the area, and no one appeared to recognize the historical significance of their location -- but for Production to include that piece of music lore was a classic way to finish the leg.

Slap Can we get a Beatles tribute band that knows more than one song? And can that song be a little more appropriate to the setting? Not a good time to be singing about minutes...


Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by vince3 on 03-08-10 at 11:01 AM
Have they done the time gap at all this season? Because I remember they did the exact same thing on the second leg: They tell us Jeff/Jordan's departure time, and then we're instantly at the bus station where they were instructed to head to next with most to all teams already there!
"Departure times"
Posted by popeave on 03-08-10 at 03:33 PM
I'm not too upset about missing all the departure times, especially because there is almost always a bunching point that gets everyone back together. Unless there's some kind of drama like needing to go get an IV because you've been barfing (and maybe we'll get that next episode after Kraut und Bier), there's not really much to see with every team ripping open the envelope. So go ahead and fast-forward to everyone getting ready to get onto airplanes or buses or whatever mode of transport is next.

I am interested in knowing how much money they get for each leg, so I do wish they'd keep that in.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by BrassFan on 03-08-10 at 11:14 AM
>Slap What time is it,
>anyway? The giant bunch
>point of the cross-continental flights
>might have negated any initial
>temporal lag between teams, but
>it always helps to know
>what the gaps were on
>the last finish. Last
>night's opening refused to give
>us any help at all:
> here are Jet &
>Cord opening their clue, and
>here we are at the
>airport.

I guess they figure that it would be a waste of valuable screen time. The show is 44 minutes long or so. Spending 30 seconds on each team as they depart is 4 minutes. That's 10% of the show spent showing us something that doesn't affect anything, since they are all on the same flights.

>Similarly, flight arrival times could have
>been hours or years apart for all we knew,

Didn't they show the arrival times as the showed the planes landing? I thought I recall the first flight landed about 12:00ish, and the second one landed around 1:00ish. In fact, I'm almost positive it did, because when they said something about the 1:37 train, I knew the teams wouldn't be able to clear customs and still make the train in 30 minutes.

>Slap For some strange reason,
>I don't think that was
>non-alcoholic beer. It would
>have been the responsible way
>to go, not to mention
>the most careful one --
>but what were the odds?
> Low. Really low.

Yeah, I thought that, too...and when I saw the detectives at the pit stop, one of them looked fairly well lit up.

>Clap The camera work in
>the red-light district made the
>area look beautifully surreal:
>Wonderland with an adults-only access
>requirement. Taking the time
>to show the area's link
>to the Beatles was a
>major plus (and the statues
>themselves were a fantastic piece
>of work).

So true. That was amazing to watch.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 03-08-10 at 11:22 AM

>Yeah, I thought that, too...and when
>I saw the detectives at
>the pit stop, one of
>them looked fairly well lit up.

And I wonder how sauced Jet and Cord were at the end, considering they allegedly haven't had a beer before. Just how much stuff was left on the cutting room floor?

Know what might have been funnier? Try getting them to do the Kafka roadblock after quaffing that beer.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by olathejoe on 03-08-10 at 12:27 PM
The beer task bothered me for a couple of reasons. #1 it means I'll never be able to be a tar contestant as alcohol is like poison to me. I used to drink *a lot*, but the hangovers were starting to last 2 days or more. That was enough for me to quit for good. That much beer, after not drinking for 25+ years, would put me out of commission for at least 24, probably 48 hours.

#2 what if there was a contestant with a serious drinking problem, you know, like a recovering alcoholic? Imagine the long term concequences of that one.

As far as the start times, I'd like to see them at least print the times on the screen, even if it's in list form all at once.

Although I do have to clap for way less airport drama. To me that's about as exciting as watching people wait in line. Oh, what,that's what it is.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by jbug on 03-08-10 at 03:35 PM
I thought too of someone who might be a recovering alcoholic....
but then, I imagine they ask a lot of questions in the interviewing process and surely wouldn't put anyone in that kind of situation.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Max Headroom on 03-08-10 at 03:39 PM
Caite is only 20. In the US, she'd be underage to legally drink beer.
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by PsychoKitty on 03-08-10 at 04:38 PM
Part of me wants to say that having non-drinkers drink alcohol is just like having a meat eating challenge for the vegans/vegetarians. Yet we do know it's a drug and maybe could start someone on a dark road. . . Don't know the answer to that one. Maybe the cowboys just never have had a drink YET, vs avoiding it for health, etc. reasons. Again, as someone else said, there probably are extensive interviews before the show so if a challenge is going to be a health risk MAYBE they would change the task.


Not that I have an opinion one way or another ;)
Signature by tribephyl

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Starshine on 03-08-10 at 04:58 PM
I would like to think so, and then I remember the Weavers going to the Talledega speedway and I'm not so sure that they would drop this task.
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by featherfish81 on 03-09-10 at 09:58 PM
I think only one of them said he hadn't ever had a beer, so maybe the other one had. And they could have had something other than beer - like many of the contestants said, beer is yucky.
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Colonel Zoidberg on 03-09-10 at 06:09 PM
To add to it, this isn't the first season alcohol's been included in a task - if you recall, a Speed Bump last season forced Brian and Ericka to drink absinthe, which is effing strong, and Brian pointed out that he drinks about as much alcohol as I do (which is to say, none.)

I would love to go on TAR, but if I had to drink alcohol, I'd rather take the time penalty - alcohol is foul, and I have a family predisposition to alcoholism. Plus, I'd rather be able to walk to the Pit Stop in a straight line.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by BrassFan on 03-10-10 at 09:47 AM
>To add to it, this isn't
>the first season alcohol's been
>included in a task -
>if you recall, a Speed
>Bump last season forced Brian
>and Ericka to drink absinthe,
>which is effing strong,

That's true..but, the absinthe was a fairly small amount, compared to the amount of beer in that boot.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Earl Colby Pottinger on 03-17-10 at 09:04 PM
Does not mean you can't be in the race, it just means you need far enough ahead of the other teams that time you spend sitting on the bench at the pitstop does not put you in last place.

Remember J of J&V? He could not eat the meat but by using his brains (and his mouth) he still made that leg. And there have been other examples in TAR.

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by olathejoe on 03-18-10 at 08:12 AM
I think that refusal to eat meat deal was started by Rob of Rob and Amber. He decided to take the penelty and then after about 1/2 hour or so he conviced several other teams to take the penelty. Smart move becuase they all started their 4 hour penelty 1/2 hour after Romber.
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Earl Colby Pottinger on 03-19-10 at 09:24 PM
You are right. J&V however is burnt into my brains.
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 03-21-10 at 01:35 PM
You have more than one brain? *runs*
"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by Earl Colby Pottinger on 03-23-10 at 12:00 PM
My college professors said I had a good one on my shoulders.

My ex-girlfriend said I had one lower down. ;)

So I guess I must have two!

"France."
Posted by Estee on 03-16-10 at 09:54 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-16-10 AT 12:28 PM (EST)

Clap I guess moving Racers in the middle of the night is one way to save us from thrilling scenes of airports...

Clap Departure times! (How sad is it for this to earn a clap?) Not only were they helpful and initially informative, but it let us know approximately how long Jeff & Jordan were canjacked in Hamburg -- and how large a gap they had to close before meeting Joe & Heidi.

Slap The explosions at the battlefield, some of which seemed to go off very close to the teams. Sure, it adds something to the atmosphere. Something called 'a risk of injury'. All you need is one blast-propelled rock into the face for a special Roadblock: which eye do you want to lose? And how much would the show like to pay out for setting up the situation where it was taken away?

Clap But otherwise, it was a pretty decent recreation of trench warfare. (If only we'd had a few people who knew what was going on...)

Slap (Provisional) We'll need a few words from Joe & Heidi to confirm this one -- but in the same general category, you try making out Morse code with bombs going off in the background. Those headphones may have had some degree of soundproofing to let a team work, or they may not: we're waiting to find out. But the weaker the shielding, the worse the design on that Detour branch -- which helped to put a team out.

Clap Seasons upon seasons of Racers talking about how impossible it is to get any food while on the course, and you finally stooped to letting them have a little bread. What's next, water?

Clap No, Jordan is Barry White in August!

Slap Either the Roadblock was so minor as to be edited out in favor of all the mental errors or we're now on track for a very weird season. So which is it?

"France II: wine country."
Posted by Estee on 03-22-10 at 09:32 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-22-10 AT 10:25 AM (EST)

Slap Two bloody search tasks in one episode?

Clap Nice touch on the clues this time around: if it didn't force thought (which is a lost cause with several teams), we at least had a little more interaction with the locals, as long as they were attractive enough to interact with. But...

Slap ...when you laid out the course, did you know there were two destinations with the same name and whether teams were directed to the right one was basically going to be a coin flip? Without knowing there were a pair of options on the table or exactly where they were headed, no one could say 'Is that the one with the vineyards?' Having luck rearrange the field during fortune-based tasks is bad enough: this was producing the same results during travel -- and that's worse.

Slap I'm presuming there were enough glasses for each team to make multiple attempts and that you hadn't stuck everyone with a 'get it right the first time or switch' design. But given how long setup took for one attempt, you might as well have. And a pure luck searcher versus a skill-based task which will take time is always going to favor luck for the first teams to tackle the searcher: extra grapes, extra chances.

Slap It's a beautiful Gothic cathedral and I'm sure we all appreciated the chance to see it. I'm also sure we would have really appreciated the chance to see it from the inside.

Clap Interesting wine cellar, that: good job scouting it out. (I'm presuming the 'rappel' tunnel was actually the hand-powered wine lift, to avoid taking the stairs every time you found a bottle.)

Slap Casting department, line up in order of height.

This may take a while.

"RE: France II: wine country."
Posted by Seana on 03-22-10 at 10:13 AM
Slap Two bloody search tasks in one episode?

Yes! What the hell! Search tasks are bad enough by themselves.

Slap ...when you laid out the course, did you know there were two destinations with the same name and whether teams were directed to the right one was basically going to be a coin flip? Without knowing there were a pair of options on the table or exactly where they were handed, no one could say 'Is that the one with the vineyards?' Having luck rearrange the field during fortune-based tasks is bad enough: this was producing the same results during travel -- and that's worse.

I kind of liked this. If it weren't for the search tasks (luck, as you said), this little bump in the road would have been interesting.



Sig by tribephyl

"RE: France II: wine country."
Posted by BrassFan on 03-22-10 at 10:28 AM
>Slap ...when you laid out
>the course, did you know
>there were two destinations with
>the same name and whether
>teams were directed to the
>right one was basically going
>to be a coin flip?
> Without knowing there were
>a pair of options on
>the table or exactly where
>they were headed, no one
>could say 'Is that the
>one with the vineyards?'

Actually, the clue specified that it was the vineyards. Unfortunately, some of the locals simply saw the Tattinger name and directed them to the factory.

"RE: France II: wine country."
Posted by Estee on 03-22-10 at 10:31 AM
But for all the teams know, the grape orchard and processing plant are ten feet apart. (The smoke pollution adds that woodsy flavor.) So they're not going to question any answer they receive.
"RE: France II: wine country."
Posted by BrassFan on 03-22-10 at 12:25 PM
>But for all the teams know,
>the grape orchard and processing
>plant are ten feet apart.
> (The smoke pollution adds
>that woodsy flavor.) So
>they're not going to question
>any answer they receive.

I agree, but that's the nature of the race. The clue told them a specific location to go to. If the locals got it wrong, so be it.

"Seychelles."
Posted by Estee on 03-29-10 at 01:22 PM
Slap We've never been here before and given the problems in getting there and back, we'll probably never be here again. Since this is our only trip, could we have five seconds to learn about the place? Get tasks immersed in local history? Learn a little something? Or would you rather spend that time catering to this episode's sponsor?

Slap Okay, seriously: what repeating theme of seven? You had the bottles, which was only spotted by the first team to arrive -- and that was it! (And they could have been super-sized brand bottles. Why weren't they?) I suppose you could argue for the cart color reflecting the can, but it was the wrong shade of green...

Clap Camera people had a lot of fun this week, huh?

Slap So the first three helicopters all leave at the same time -- no. Okay, so the first three helicopters leave at an unknown stagger of time apart, and then we have an hour, and then the next three all leave at once -- no. What was the time division on the departures again? Does anyone know? The clues sure didn't -- so neither do we.

Clap The turtle task was pure low genius. In fact, it was such pure genius that it should have been the Roadblock. Every last team should have been forced to go through interacting with the wise old cuties. (Turtles are cute. Anyone got a problem with that?) So this isn't as loud as the applause could have been -- but at least you got it on the course.

"RE: Seychelles."
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-29-10 at 02:01 PM
What's the rules for bringing your entire clue to the Pit Stop? Louie & Michael broke their bottle on the boat, grabbed the map and swam to shore. They were not shown putting together a map - they just followed Caite & Brent. Seems likely they may have lost a piece of their map swimming to shore which is why they climbed on Brent & Caite's coattails. No penalty and they weren't required to prove they had the whole map or had used it to get to the Pit Stop. Jet & Cord were asked how they found Phil and had to go back. Was there a double standard?


Capn2patch put me in motion!

"RE: Seychelles."
Posted by BrassFan on 03-29-10 at 03:18 PM
>What's the rules for bringing your
>entire clue to the Pit
>Stop? Louie & Michael broke
>their bottle on the boat,
>grabbed the map and swam
>to shore. They were not
>shown putting together a map
>- they just followed Caite
>& Brent. Seems likely they
>may have lost a piece
>of their map swimming to
>shore which is why they
>climbed on Brent & Caite's
>coattails. No penalty and they
>weren't required to prove they
>had the whole map or
>had used it to get
>to the Pit Stop. Jet
>& Cord were asked how
>they found Phil and had
>to go back. Was there
>a double standard?

No, no double standard. Jet and Cord found the pit stop, essentially, without the clue. It's just like what happened to Brent and Caitie the last two episodes. This week, both Brent and Catie/Mike and Louie had the clue. Mike and Louie hadn't "decoded" it. That's the same as if you had a clue that told you to head to the pitstop, which was located at the tallest building in the world, and the team next to you said, "Oh, that's the Burj Dubai," and you went with them. As long as you have the clue, you're ok.

"RE: Seychelles."
Posted by Snidget on 03-29-10 at 03:21 PM
I agree the turtles should have been a Roadblock. I wanted to see more of them.

Much better than 475 shots of one lone coconut left behind.

"RE: Seychelles."
Posted by Seana on 03-29-10 at 09:23 PM
Much better than 475 shots of one lone coconut left behind.

And the accompanying jarring chord to indicate that a screw-up had been made. That certainly never gets old.


"Malaysia."
Posted by Estee on 04-05-10 at 00:31 AM
Clap Beautiful visuals on this leg everywhere you looked, from the march up the temple to the streaming flags -- and finishing in one of the most scenic (indoor category) Pit Stops we've ever had. Whoever scouted the locations for this one has a raise coming, or at least a coconut floated in their honor.

Clap This probably was the ideal time to let the Racers express their deep-seated need for coconut killing...

Slap I think the Speed Bump is still very much a work in progress, and I'm not sure this one was a step in the right direction. What bothered me more than the simplicity of the task (and at least to me, it was pretty simple) was the taxi involvement. All teams get the same cash outlay for a given leg: sending Jet & Cord to a new location increased their penalty by giving them an extra taxi fare to cover. Which is fine -- if that's a mandatory part of an NEL aftermath. But it doesn't always hit. The degree of pain inflicted by hitting the Last Place Lottery needs to be standardized, and the ideal sits somewhere above total torture and way below 'make this soup.'

Slap Any time a leg is this heavily dependent on taxi travel, it takes too much control away from the teams. They need more chances to make their own mistakes -- not having a third party screw up for them.

Slap We're not seeing much in the way of mental challenges lately. Both branches of the Detour were physical, and the Roadblock was luck-based with a little touch of image matching at the end. At some point, you need to ask this group to think again, if only to see how it goes horribly wrong.

"RE: Malaysia."
Posted by featherfish81 on 04-06-10 at 07:24 PM
Speed Bump - I hadn't thought about the cab fare aspect of it. I thought it was a little tougher than the first one, only because they had to travel and it took up more time. But you're right, the task itself was pretty easy. Even if they got it completely wrong, there were only three choices. Though we didn't see exactly how far they had to carry it to get to the guru.

And I agree with you about the lack of mental challenges - they're pretty much all physical, which makes it hard for me to choose which one I'd do.

"Singapore slapfest."
Posted by Estee on 04-12-10 at 07:44 AM
Slap The U-Turn has become an 'eliminate one team free' card. This. Is. A. Problem.

Slap With all of the area's ultra-rich cultural heritage to draw on, you make people sell ice cream wrapped in bread?

Slap I'm not sure about having a Fast Forward on the same leg as a U-Turn: it basically lets one team completely escape the chaos with no worries. Admittedly, if the FF team got to use the U-Turn, this would be totally broken -- but as-is, it's at least majorly bent.

Slap Speaking of the Fast Forward... Given that this was the only one for the entire course, I'm not sure it was hard enough. Yes, it's a heart-pounder -- but it's a fairly quick task to accomplish, and it didn't look as if reaching it meant covering that much extra distance for a turned-away team. It almost felt as if this one would have been better off as a number-puller, forcing every team to go through it -- except that it would have created too much of a time gap. Detour branch? Speed Bump? Maybe... but as a Fast Forward, it seemed to lack something.

Clap The drum branch of the Detour was exactly frustrating enough to be workable -- plus having the teams taught by kids added a nice touch. (I can think of at least a dozen Racers who would have had breakdowns at the concept.)

Slap Was that zip line really necessary? This was a very crowded leg in terms of team activity: lots of scrambling for a large number of locations, Sure, it's fun for the Racers -- but you could argue there was already enough going on.

Slap Arguably the weakest Roadblock of the season. Yes, there are Racers who would have had trouble with that, and you really would have figured a few of them were currently on the course. But all things considered? Not as hard as you tried to make it look. Annoying, but not delaying -- or critical.

Clap Very pretty marina. I appreciate getting a chance to see it. But...

Slap ...I think I saw more of it than I did of Allen Wu. What a total waste of a crossover. Seriously: you're going to admit to the existence of the Asian TAR, you're going to bring in the host, and all he's going to do is hand a clue out? Why not play When Races Collide and have the Eastern edition running through the same spot? How about an Intersection with teams you've never seen before? At the absolute least, you could have had Allen waiting at the mat with Phil to do a double greet. But no -- he handed out a clue, and that was it. (I'm amazed Brandy & Carol knew who he was: most people wouldn't.) My only hope is that this is the cue for that particular TAR to finally reach American TV -- and it's a faint hope at best. Way to blow what could have been an all-time moment. I hope you're ashamed of yourselves, but if you're somehow not, I've got plenty for everybody...

I may be in a bad mood.

"RE: Singapore slapfest."
Posted by Snidget on 04-12-10 at 07:56 AM
I know timing wise it would have been really hard to set up, but it would have been fun if Allan Wu was at the Asian TAR Pitstop for the leg. The where is Phil and why is there a Pitstop before we did any tasks and who are these other people with backpacks and camera crews running for the mat could have been fun.

Could even have done it as a minor cross over where Asian TAR was on an extended leg and the task right after was done by both shows.

What could have been...

"RE: Singapore slapfest."
Posted by jbug on 04-12-10 at 10:25 AM
Slap Was that zip line really necessary? This was a very crowded leg in terms of team activity: lots of scrambling for a large number of locations, Sure, it's fun for the Racers -- but you could argue there was already enough going on

I was thinking that it is possible that there are often these kind of things done that are not RB or Detours, but just extras before they go to the PS; and that time does not always permit us to see everything that happens. With the rather dull RB & nothing much to show there, there was time to show this step.

"RE: Singapore slapfest."
Posted by Starshine on 04-12-10 at 03:24 PM
If you haven't seen TARA you have really missed a treat! Sadly they didn't run one this year, a cross TAR intersection would be fun, but I think having the two shows on TV at roughly the same time would have been tricky.

Sunning with the Cap'n

Just another Sleeperbloke

"RE: Singapore slapfest."
Posted by Molaholic on 04-12-10 at 03:52 PM
Slap Who told the cops to bring along a little clicker-counter thingie? Sure, we've had various count-em tasks along the way, but sheeesh.

ClapThe brothers on the FF. "Almost peed my self" indeed!

Slap Yea, I'd like to see a TARA crossover -- or at least some shots of teams in the USA dealing with taxi drivers who don't speak Thai...

"RE: Singapore slapfest."
Posted by louislam on 04-13-10 at 09:03 PM
Well, I have to say for the ice-cream task. I think that one is really good because ice cream sandwich is really what you can find in Singapore (not set up by producers for the show) and it is the unique thing you can find there, so I am ok with the task about them selling ice-cream.

Agree on the U-turn thing, it becomes too powerful to eliminate a team, I think that is the more concerned part. If you have a U-turn in one leg, at least make the leg longer so that the U-turned team still got a chance to catch up. I know the zip line is going to fit in for that, but the problem is the clue is too direct so what teams have to do is just let taxi driver to take them to the exact spot, no skills/luck required and no way to have possible catch up. Also in a leg with Fast Forward it just puts the U-turned team strict to elimination as there's one less team to catch up with.

The Amazing Race Fan from Hong Kong!

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by jbug on 04-12-10 at 10:41 AM
SLAP: Caite - for being obsessed with the other B & C. She has really thin skin; if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
I do wonder tho how much more interaction we didn't see between these teams.

SLAP: Brandy & Carole - wow! really ugly attitudes. From the reaction at the U-Turn, I'm thinking there has been a lot of editing. Not only did they continue to mock the other B & C, they were ugly to each other as well; & that was back at the drums even before the u-turn.



Crusin w/ Tribe

"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by olathejoe on 04-12-10 at 11:05 AM
I'd like to....

Slap: Brandon and Caite because it would be so, so gratifying.

Slap: Caite, just one more time. Ok, two more times.

Slap: Michael, because he really deserves to be put in his place. What the world needs less of is arrogant cops

Slap: Brandy and Carol are probably slapping each other repeatedly about now. And not in a sexy way either.


"RE: Production: claps & slaps."
Posted by MaryKat on 04-12-10 at 02:20 PM
I want to slap Michael too. Is there a line forming?
"China."
Posted by Estee on 04-26-10 at 08:50 AM
Clap The tribute card at the end was both necessary and needed.

Clap A pair of Roadblock ideas which weren't overused, had some ties to the area, and weren't luck-based search tasks? Gosh. And here I was sure you'd have them searching the dough for the one noodle that was a sort of off-cream.

Slap There were two major design flaws in the puzzleboard Roadblock. First, it's essentially a take-a-number when players finish one-two: there was one group of people watching and waiting to hold pieces. Two groups would have been nice. Four couldn't have hurt. You managed to round up a lot of tourists once...

And then there was the wind. Wouldn't this have been a great Roadblock for an enclosed stadium? Pity it didn't take place in one. Sure, some of the Racers managed their own improvised weights -- but they never should have had to do so. When you're working with a task which the weather can stop cold, you need some kind of protection or tool to fight back with. Without those, it's a disaster waiting to happen -- and it didn't wait long.

Clap It's been a course filled with good locations. The streak continues.

Slap While my personal reaction to a fashion-based challenge is to kill everyone involved, this slap isn't about my little quirks. The task itself felt off. Should there have been more clothing to choose from? Multiple floors full of sample pieces? Rummage bins filled with leftover glasses from the Danny Hokey Collection? All hose in knots, untangle your own? Or how about just forty skirts, but they're all almost the same shade and only a micron of color refraction separates the group... For some reason, this felt like a work-in-progress. And maybe a little too close to the Toronto Shoes for comfort.

"RE: China."
Posted by BrassFan on 04-26-10 at 01:24 PM

>Slap There were two major
>design flaws in the puzzleboard
>Roadblock. First, it's essentially
>a take-a-number when players finish
>one-two: there was one
>group of people watching and
>waiting to hold pieces.
>Two groups would have been
>nice. Four couldn't have
>hurt. You managed to
>round up a lot of
>tourists once...

Was there? I thought there was a group for each puzzle.

"RE: China."
Posted by Estee on 04-26-10 at 01:32 PM
The long shots of the stadium made it look as if there was but a single group waiting for someone to finish. I could have missed someone in a corner, but it would have meant a lot of carrying.

And as long as I'm posting, here's an editing slap: could they have made it any more clear that this was a non-elimination leg?

"RE: China."
Posted by HistoryDetective on 04-26-10 at 01:54 PM
C'mon, Estee. We've all watched enough seasons of TAR to know that when only four teams remain that nobody goes home in that episode.

That was the way it worked in Season 1.
That was the way it worked in Season 2.
That was the way it worked in Season 4.
That was the way it worked in Season 5.
That was the way it worked in Season 6.
That was the way it worked in Season 7.
That was the way it worked in Season 8.
That was the way it worked in Season 9.
That was the way it worked in Season 10.
That was the way it worked in Season 11.
That was the way it worked in Season 12.
That was the way it worked in Season 13.
That was the way it worked in Season 15.

Hmmm, I think I see a pattern.

There have only been two seasons during which the first leg run by the four remaining teams was not a non-elimination leg. In Season 3 there were two non-elimination legs with five teams remaining (which I suppose the producers thought gave those left more than enough chances to be non-eliminated). In Season 14 there was a non-elimination leg when five teams remained, but not when four remained. I don't know what could have possibly inspired such creativity from the producers at that point since they seem so comfortable with this formula that causes this particular leg to lack suspense because it is nearly inconsequential (because you know there will be a bunch point on that next leg).

I always consider this leg the "get out of jail free" leg.

For consistency alone, it deserves a Slap.

"RE: China."
Posted by Estee on 04-26-10 at 02:23 PM
In this case, I was just thinking about the tone of the approach to the Pit Stop. 'Oh, the countries we've seen. Oh, the things we've done. Oh, the people we didn't get to shoot.' Too much mourning before they had a chance at the official dismissal = idiot quota remaining overfulfilled!

However, rather than ask you if you have an official degree in American Reality Show Studios, much less how you could possibly be qualified to teach the subject without ever have gone on a show yourself, I will accept your analysis and remit it to the Stats department for further study. And having done that, I will report to the student psychs so they can get some practice in, 'cause this is just depressing.

"RE: China."
Posted by BrassFan on 04-26-10 at 03:18 PM
>In this case, I was just
>thinking about the tone of
>the approach to the Pit
>Stop. 'Oh, the countries
>we've seen. Oh, the
>things we've done. Oh,
>the people we didn't get
>to shoot.' Too much
>mourning before they had a
>chance at the official dismissal

Not to mention the fact that they showed every team reading "Warning, the last team to check in MAY be eliminated..."
"RE: China."
Posted by mrc on 04-26-10 at 03:30 PM
Don't the clues always say that? "MAY be eliminated?"
"RE: China."
Posted by samboohoo on 04-26-10 at 03:51 PM
They have for a while. I remember at one point they didn't.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: China."
Posted by BrassFan on 04-26-10 at 02:47 PM
>The long shots of the stadium
>made it look as if
>there was but a single
>group waiting for someone to
>finish. I could have
>missed someone in a corner,
>but it would have meant
>a lot of carrying.

I thought I saw a group right in front of each contestant's puzzle.

"RE: China."
Posted by Molaholic on 04-26-10 at 03:42 PM
Yea, I saw different groups for each puzzle. They were cheering for their solver, afterall.
"RE: China."
Posted by samboohoo on 04-26-10 at 03:53 PM
I thought the same thing but didn't think to think otherwise. Not sure if I still have it on the Tivo to look at.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: China."
Posted by featherfish81 on 04-26-10 at 06:29 PM
I thought I did, too, so I went back and checked. When Phil is describing the task it pans the stadium and you can see all four groups of people. (It's at about minute 25 on the cbs.com version if you want to check for yourself)
"RE: China."
Posted by Estee on 04-26-10 at 06:51 PM
Gee.

Well, I picked a rotten time to blink.

"RE: China."
Posted by BrassFan on 04-26-10 at 07:54 PM
Yep...just double checked. Here's a shot as one of the cops runs to do it. There were two stations on either side. You can see the two groups for the other side in the background.

"RE: China."
Posted by Molaholic on 04-26-10 at 03:46 PM
I'm calling this a pre-slap.

Cops are a couple of hours (based on darkness @ check-in) behind, plus have to deal with a Speed Bump. So what are the odds that there'll be a major bunch-point at the beginning of the leg?

"RE: China."
Posted by kidflash212 on 04-26-10 at 03:56 PM
The previews appeared to show them still in China so I can still hope there will be no bunching.

I'm a Met fan, I'm used to hoping for the impossible.

"RE: China."
Posted by Molaholic on 04-26-10 at 06:10 PM
Sure, they can still be in China --- the Cowboys leave the Pit Stop at 2:45 pm and the first task has a sign that says "Opens at 20.30". So much for being nimble on the puzzle!
"RE: China."
Posted by emydi on 04-27-10 at 11:49 AM
I also have sort of a pre-slap. I got my TV Guide for next week and they are still in China and there's a pic of Phil and a really tall Chinese man holding 2 canes...so this coming week I guess they have the tallest person as opposed to smallest person He PingPing

I guess I'll wait and see what they do with this tall guy but I thought they exploited He Ping Ping a bit, or at least put him a situation where he was the subject of condescending behavior.

"RE: China."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 04-28-10 at 04:35 AM
Hope he doesn't die after a toxic exposure to Caite & the other Racers like Pingping prolly did.
"China II"
Posted by Estee on 05-03-10 at 09:33 AM
*!SLAP!* Go ahead. Call that a Speed Bump again. (Discuss this one here: http://tinyurl.com/324otu4)

Slap There may have never been a better opportunity to publicly explain The Twenty-Foot Rule (except during Roadblocks and Pit Stops, Racers must stay roughly within that distance of each other at all times) than we had during Brent's bathroom emergency. And it still didn't make the air. It's a pretty significant piece of TAR information: shouldn't you eventually tell the public about it?

Clap When an opening clue freezes two teams for extended periods, you may have accidentally done something right. Or you just may have been casting some really stupid teams. Which do you think it was?

Slap At this point in series history, Racers are terminally terrified of any task that involves delivery. Either make them mandatory or stop making them, because choosing one freely just ain't gonna happen. You wouldn't have gotten a taker if the other branch had been offering the chance to search through stonefish livers with your own bleeding hands.

Slap No distractions at the counting Roadblock? Just walking around without music playing or an annoying visual display or imported goulash? Gee. Good thing about that casting, huh?

*!SLAP!* Really, what happened: ran out of soup?


"RE: China II"
Posted by Max Headroom on 05-03-10 at 10:28 AM
Clap Having been to China several times, including a solo sightseeing trip, the tasks captured the essence of nobody-speaks-English China very well. It was refreshing watching the teams trying to figure out where to go and how to get there.

Clap Caite's comments about people trying to sell stuff to her in the market also rang true. I've not been to Shanghai, but the market must've been a touristy one for that to happen.

Clap No bunch point after a non-elimination.


Capn2patch spring 2010

"San Francisco"
Posted by Estee on 05-10-10 at 06:54 AM
Slap For repeating a finish line host city. There's still plenty of US out there -- and who says you have to finish (and start) in the States, anyway?

Clap The spinning words which concluded the ILM task were a good touch: you know it's working when it holds up every remaining team. The task itself was more than a little corny (and you're telling me ILM had to prepare twenty-two avatars?), and had all the drama of someone very slowly walking around a room. Plus we all had to resist breaking the PG-13 barrier. A lot. But having Racers mindlessly turn in place? Generally a good time. And finally, Caite got a task in her comfort zone...

Slap Another bloody memory challenge? Sure, Jordan saw that coming. And so did absolutely everyone else. (Possibly not Brent & Caite). Time to either switch this up or complicate it. If they absolutely must arrange teams in order of elimination, maybe they should work with the actual teams. I'm certain Brandy would have been happy to cooperate. Up to a point.

Clap Great art on the posters, though.

Clap While the scene between B&C and C&B was ugly -- earned ugly, but ugly -- it had to be shown. This was the sort of thing we would have heard endless distorted reports on in post-race interviews: getting to see an edited version of it provides some idea of what actually happened.

Slap Did anyone ever read aloud the part of the GAMH clue which said they had to carry the trunk on foot? For a moment, it just looked like Dan & Jordan had made their fatal mistake.

Slap Some great locations were wasted. The Tonga club could have used some more attention, Coit Tower's always a nice place to linger, and if you're going to refer back to the 60s at the Great American Music Hall, there's a lot more which could have been done. Two-hour finales may not be in fashion for this series, but taking so many good locations and pushing them through the fast-forward mode in exchange for more time watching people slowly walk around a room? Crime.

"RE: San Francisco"
Posted by LibraRising on 05-10-10 at 11:26 AM
I thought the same thing about walking with the trunks, but judging from my experiences in San Francisco, cabs are VERY difficult to find (without calling for one at least), so if it wasn't a long distance, walking might have been the fastest method anyway.


A kyngsladye klassic with an IceCat chaser

"RE: San Francisco"
Posted by BrassFan on 05-10-10 at 12:01 PM
>Clap The spinning words which
>concluded the ILM task were
>a good touch: you
>know it's working when it
>holds up every remaining team.

I thought that was cool, but I had a problem with the fact that they were all in the same room. Jet and Cord made up time, and caught up with Dan and Jordan, but had to stand there waiting for them to finish it.

Seems like a poor design element that one team can't pass another team in the last real challenge of the race.

"RE: San Francisco"
Posted by Estee on 05-10-10 at 12:15 PM
Good slap-worthy point: it's hard to believe ILM has only one motion-capture room. Spreading the Racers out should have been easy.
"RE: San Francisco"
Posted by sportsjoe on 05-14-10 at 09:28 AM
ok then, clap or slap for overall season worthiness:

SLAP for lame challenges and not enuff bunching up to make it more interesting

"RE: San Francisco"
Posted by Starshine on 05-14-10 at 11:37 AM
Well I am giving them a Clap for the teams, I think that whichever way it went we would have had interesting teams.

And a Slap for the tasks, I just don't remember any task that made me go wow!

Sunning with the Cap'n

Just another Sleeperbloke

"RE: San Francisco"
Posted by featherfish81 on 05-16-10 at 00:11 AM
There were a few - balancing the flagpole was different. I liked the idea of the WWI tasks, though one was much better than the other.