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Original Message
"Production: claps and slaps."

Posted by Estee on 02-20-12 at 07:43 AM
For notes on leg construction, task design, course layout, camera work, and the other elements which go into the actual assembly of the Race. (This is not for commenting on Racer actions unless said actions were directly caused, influenced, or sabotaged by Production.) It's sort of a behind-the-scenes GUFU with occasional positive notes, and it's one thread per season. Sort of like how it's one retread per CBS reality show per season. Minimum.

As for what those retreads had to run through...

Slap The show should know better than to leave from LAX by now -- and everything that goes with it.

Slap Another total randomizer to open the course, where the order you left the field in was a lottery shot draw with no brainpower involved beyond keeping track of where you'd been. Can you prepare for it? Do you have any real chance to recover if you're at the back of the back? No and no: once the division is created, all you can do is hope someone else makes a mistake which negates your bad luck. But gee, at least this time they didn't throw in an automatic penalty for leaving last. Progress! Oh, and as long as we're talking about recycling, these aren't exactly the first Racers to tandem-jump...

Clap The opening bicycle shots were a new way to introduce the teams and worked out well. (The clothing change prior to hitting the field cost continuity, but running through LAX wearing TAR uniforms... would have pretty much led to the same result.)

Slap So what's the usage slot fallout from that Roadblock? Who has one chance taken off, the direction follower (who was chosen initially), the one who jumped, or is this a no-effect because both members participated?

No hand movement Worth noting as a neutral sighting: we saw a lot of camera operators in this episode -- well, their hands. (Look closely during the jump shots: they're holding onto Racers for a few seconds after departure.)

Slap Only one judge for the empanada stations. If multiple teams need a check, toss a coin -- which can put someone out all by itself.

No hand movement The slap is built-in above: there was no way to check that the teams were getting the empanada contents right. All that could be examined was the exteriors, and a taste test could have had caviar-worthy results.

No hand movement It is not Phil's fault when people leave their bags in odd places (and didn't need them anyway), fail to see him about a hundred feet away, and miss the chance to view his immortal WTF? Face.

Slap 'Coming up this season' footage. Are they that desperate to construct a storyline? Because they just took some of the suspense out of the whole thing, and that could cost them...

It's not a happy opener, but they seldom are.


Table of contents

Messages in this discussion
"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by Max Headroom on 02-20-12 at 09:04 AM
Clap For not showing the teams running around the airport when it had no impact on the race.

Clap For making the teams drive themselves in Argentina. (And a team-specific slap to the Jersey Boy who couldn't drive a manual transmission.)

Slap *cues Clara Peller voice* Where's the Detour?

Slap An opening search task is not a good way to start the race.

Slap I don't watch Big Brother and have no idea who Brenchel is, but Rachel's voice is very annoying and I expect to hear it a lot. I'm going to need a quick-trigger mute button this season.


"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by CTgirl on 02-20-12 at 11:03 AM
(And a team-specific slap to the Jersey Boy who couldn't drive a manual transmission.)

Especially since his mother offered to teach him before he left! What was he thinking. I hope they're gone soon.


"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by Molaholic on 02-20-12 at 03:32 PM
Slap Stoopid opening task. Why not just divide the teams in two with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS LIZARD SPOCK and have that determine who gets the earlier flight?

Clap In fact, make it a HIGH FIVE to the evil thinkers that came up with the Detour twist. We all 'knew' that 'best sense of direction' meant you were jumping -- but Noooooooo!

Slap Was it just me or did the Empanada judge go easier on the later teams? (I even thought I saw her give a hint about pinch/twist...)

Clap Great camera work on the parashooters.


"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by jbug on 02-20-12 at 03:44 PM
CLAP: the empanada Nazi - tough cookie!
Thanks to her Brenchel had to do a few over & didn't win the EP!

"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by BrassFan on 02-20-12 at 09:24 PM
> Oh, and as long
>as we're talking about recycling,
>these aren't exactly the first
>Racers to tandem-jump...

True...but at least they turned that on it's head with the whole "person who does the detour *ISN'T* the one jumping" aspect.


"Argentina."
Posted by Estee on 02-27-12 at 07:31 AM
There wasn't a whole lot going on in this leg. Well, not a whole lot that was production-related. If you happen to enjoy death glares, that's a separate thread...

Slap Using the buses. Come on: sending the teams on an eighteen-hour self-drive would have been fun. You can't tell me you haven't wanted to see that many Racers rounded up at the end. From Peru. (They could have done it. Don't ask me how, but with this crew...) The creation of three packs would have pretty much determined the second half in advance, but as it turned out -- not so much.

No hand movement Well, obviously they weren't on the first-class bus.

Clap The solar oven was a refinement on the dinosaur skeleton: same kind of construction challenge, but without the need to run back and forth every two pieces to check your model. And it still froze teams up for hours.

Slap You'd think they would have learned to predict Racer patterns based on past behaviors. Any time the teams have to deliver something on foot while working with an animal and have the option to do anything else, most of them are going to take Anything Else. That fire branch of the Detour was designed to be abandoned.

Slap Only the participants made that Roadblock anything close to difficult. Casting may have provided people who can't work basic division, but most of the planet would have only had trouble tracking moving cattle backs. And even that's not much of an issue once you realize they can't really shift in there and you're just accounting for wriggling. Once you've successfully ignored the auctioneer, it's over. Bad design overall, especially as it was the only thing to do in the city.



"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by qwertypie on 02-27-12 at 04:51 PM
no hand moment - and the TAR curse strengthens with the train crash in Buenos Aires

"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by Molaholic on 02-28-12 at 11:25 AM
No Hand Movement - Obviously, EPBvM planned this ho-hum episode to go head-to-head with the ho-hum Oscars.

"Paraguay"
Posted by Estee on 03-05-12 at 06:53 AM
Slap That 'coming up next season' footage officially backfired on you. Since we hadn't seen Rachel confront Vanessa yet, Vanessa wasn't out. This turned the only possible results into a third-leg NEL or the departure of the twins. Way to kill your own suspense.

Clap Catch-up between flights was possible by speeding through tasks, meaning the finishing order of the leg wasn't predetermined by planes. It's become increasingly hard to make up time and this was a welcome exception.

Clap So sarcastic closing credits music is now standard?

Clap This season's first Helltour. Three hundred and eighty-five perfect placements or start over versus only thirty-six which somehow managed to be a factor of ten over their own starting number. By the end of the leg, multiple teams were probably wishing they could have just taken a watermelon to the face. And this was followed by --

Clap -- bottle to the head ground! You know you've got a good Roadblock when you have to include a penalty for not completing it in the opening text...

No hand movement It might not have made much difference in the final standings, but I'm not sure the penalty for Epic Fail at a Roadblock should be shorter than the one for quitting on it.


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-05-12 at 10:13 AM
Slap - That was a lot of broken glass.

"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by HobbsofMI on 03-05-12 at 09:02 PM
LAST EDITED ON 03-05-12 AT 09:03 PM (EST)

Did it seem that a lot of the bottle broke very easily or was it just me?

I hope that was water and not wine in them.

Edit: I need to read the whole thread before posting *slap* to my head.


sig Syren, bouncy by IceCat, bobble head by Tribephyl, and snoglobe by agman


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by Molaholic on 03-05-12 at 11:04 AM
Slap - to my own noggin Was it my imagination, or didn't Rachel/Dave use their "Get Out of Jail Free" FF (senior moment here -- what is it called now?) -- so why weren't they 2nd?

Clap - Production staff for not taking the obvious NEL option.

Slap - What was with those bottles -- the bottom breaking out just by picking it up off your head.


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-05-12 at 11:13 AM
I did notice that bottles broke very easily. The twin barely touched one and it broke.

"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by Estee on 03-05-12 at 06:21 PM
I was guessing stunt glass, similar to what was used in the Detour where partners smashed bottles over each other's heads.

"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by featherfish81 on 03-05-12 at 03:39 PM
They had an Express Pass, which only allows you to skip the task you are on, not skip to the end of the leg.

I was surprised they weren't allowed to practice the dance moves without a bottle on their head, especially since they were limited in the number of bottles.


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by Max Headroom on 03-05-12 at 11:57 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-05-12 AT 11:59 AM (EST)

No hand movement The task completion timeline is out of whack if the producers have to use a car's headlights to allow Vanessa/Ralph to finish the watermelon stacking task.

Slap For a two-hour penalty for failing to complete the bottle-dance task instead of the standard four-hour "didn't finish the task" penalty. The difference in penalty made a viable option out of deliberately breaking the bottles immediately to avoid wasting time on the task.

Clap What a challenging episode. There were no easy-way-out options anywhere to be seen throughout the leg.

ETA:

Slap Could they be more blatant about manipulating the start times to ensure airport bunching? The previous leg didn't end in the middle of the night, so why did the teams start at 12:25 am?


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by popeave on 03-05-12 at 02:45 PM
The difference in penalty made a viable option out of deliberately breaking the bottles immediately to avoid wasting time on the task.

When I saw how difficult the task looked, my first thought was you could just tip over the table, breaking all the bottles immediately, and take the two hours. I expected someone to try that.


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by BrassFan on 03-05-12 at 11:45 PM
>ETA:
>
>Slap Could they be more blatant
>about manipulating the start times
>to ensure airport bunching?
>The previous leg didn't end
>in the middle of the
>night, so why did the
>teams start at 12:25 am?
>


Aren't the pit stops supposed to be 12 hours? If so, that would have meant that they checked in at 12:25PM (Or just after noon).


"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by jbug on 03-07-12 at 01:45 PM
I seem to recall pit stops being in increments of 12 hours periods;
so 12 hours
or 24 hours

"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by popeave on 03-07-12 at 11:50 PM
For many seasons each episode would start with something like, "Boris and Natasha, who were the first to arrive at the Pit Stop at 2:37 pm, are the first to depart at 2:37 am." But that seems to have changed lately. Now there's rarely (never??) any mention of the arrival time - only statement of the departure time. So who knows how long the pit stops are any more.

"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by Max Headroom on 03-08-12 at 09:25 AM
That was my point, that the duration of pit stops has become arbitrary. Having the teams leave in the middle of the night ensured some airport bunching the next morning.

"RE: Paraguay"
Posted by popeave on 03-08-12 at 09:56 PM
... and absolutely slap-worthy. It just makes production much easier for them.

"Italy"
Posted by Estee on 03-12-12 at 06:12 AM
Slap Unbalanced Detour. In series history, I can think of roughly five contestants who would have been able to taste all fourteen salami samples and then identify them on a single trip to the cart. And the series in question would be Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef. Combined. Expecting your typical Racer to pull out that kind of palette? Yeah, right. The statue cleaning was slow and steady with the occasional beheading: the salami was back and forth and back and forth and repeat and throw up and repeat.

Slap The 'coming this season' footage just keeps right on hitting you, doesn't it?

No hand movement Fundamentally boring Roadblock. There was nothing really wrong with it in terms of design and everyone had a fair chance to execute it properly. It was just -- boring.

Clap Stick shifts plus unreliable street sign presence plus Italian pronunciation vs. American equals win.

Slap Not enough time spent at the museum. If you were going to do a hunt task, that was one of the best places in the world to run one -- and you sent them after a single Model T. A waste of a perfectly good site.

Slap View and interesting architecture/scary elevators aside, any 'ride up grab something and then ride down' sequence does nothing except burn episode.

No hand movement Gee, who was sponsoring this episode again? Well, it could have been worse -- 'Here's five hundred cups of motor oil, representing forty different brands. Start tasting.'


"RE: Italy"
Posted by Molaholic on 03-12-12 at 10:01 AM
Slap DIRECTED AT A PARTICULAR FACE Quit the frellin' whining already!

Clap High Five and Whoo! Whoo! to Art/JJ for doing right by the Kentucky boys.

Clap Statue beheadings!


"RE: Italy"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 03-12-12 at 10:30 AM
!Slap! The salami wasn't big enough to shut Rachel up.

"RE: Italy"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-12-12 at 10:58 AM
No Hand Movement - The Fast Forward. At first it seemed way too simple a task but it did take Art & J.J. several tries. Would have been better if they had the Fast Forward performed in sight of the other racers - then other teams could have seen Art & J.J. were struggling and they might have tried to go for it and create some suspense as to which team would win the Fast Forward.



Capn2patch put me in motion!


"RE: Italy"
Posted by jbug on 03-12-12 at 11:12 AM
You never know with a FF if the teams will have to wait out the first team trying to see if they give up & if they have a chance at it;
or if several teams get to try at it at the same time.
On this one, it appeared that several could have tried this at the same time.

"RE: Italy"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-12-12 at 11:29 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-12-12 AT 03:16 PM (EST)

I noticed their was more than one helmet sitting there when Art & J.J. arrived. That's why I thought it would have made it more interesting if the other teams could have seen it was possible to go for the FF at the same time. Would have made that part of the leg more suspenseful. And the FF should be more than the first to arrive at the box wins it.


"RE: Italy"
Posted by popeave on 03-12-12 at 01:46 PM
Totally agree, kidflash212. I hate it that FF is almost never contested - teams just let the first team to the box try it. My opinion is that FF should be something that you could get multiple teams trying simultaneously, and is challenging enough that a team may need multiple attempts to complete successfully. A task like this one with the helicopters would have been great to see two or more teams attempting at the same time. The stress of seeing competitors who may be getting close to success would make this kind of task that much tougher.

"RE: Italy"
Posted by Earl Colby Pottinger on 03-12-12 at 03:05 PM
What happens if you land on the wrong helmet/landing pad?

"RE: Italy"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-12-12 at 03:21 PM
I agree, would have been great TV to see two teams battling it out for FF.

"RE: Italy"
Posted by Earl Colby Pottinger on 03-12-12 at 03:04 PM
Plus it would be fun to see if the helicopter pilot could do as good as he boast. Mind he would have a good excuse for failing if his partner never shut her mouth while he was trying to land on her head.

"RE: Italy"
Posted by Earl Colby Pottinger on 03-12-12 at 02:59 PM
LAST EDITED ON 03-12-12 AT 03:02 PM (EST)

While I agree about you comment of who could do the salami test in one go, the racers made it harder on themselves by not taking notes about the diffirent types ie colour, salty, garlic, texture, etc.

With some notes I bet most teams could have halved the time needed.

As for the model-T, what type of Americans are they not to know this car? At the local car museum the Model-T and the Stanley-Steamer are the two biggest draws.


"Bavaria"
Posted by Estee on 03-19-12 at 07:12 AM
Clap 'You can't hardly move for remote castles!'

Clap The series has never seen anything like the beard-styling branch of the Detour. And if Bruck is merciful, we will never see it again. That one shot of independently-moving spikes... yergh.

No hand movement I was set to criticize the wisdom of asking teams to find gingerbread pieces under snow. Yes, the flurry couldn't have been predicted, but heavier fall would have taken out the branch. As-was, however, none of the teams who tackled that half seemed to have any trouble with finding things, light coating or not. So consider this a lucky escape -- but next time, be more careful with outdoor search tasks in winter.

Slap Kind of a boring Roadblock. As the teams themselves noted, it was essentially curling with gnomes. The luck element wasn't too heavy -- it was clearly possible to eventually range in on the effort required. But as far as the actual minigame? Boring.

Clap Okay, who put that cow patty in front of Brendan's foot? You? Fine. Here's your bonus check. Now never do it again unless we're not looking.

No hand movement It feels like the episode was designed around multiple potential bunch points (trains & hours of operation), but the results on the previous leg served as a partial natural foil.

Clap 'Phil, I'd like to answer your mat questions, but I have to go throw up now.'


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by Starshine on 03-19-12 at 08:04 AM
My feeling is that there was a production elf with the gingerbeard trail to replenish the path if too many teams had removed all trace of it.

clap Didn't like seeing Bopper have his asthma moment, but dash-it-all the race should be hard, we need these physical tasks and there haven't been enough lately.

clap Long train journey, long drive = less sharp teams = quite fun leg

No hand movement I thought it was wonderful that two teams signed up for a guided tour of the castle, but c'mon it's a race!


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-19-12 at 08:54 AM
Must have had a person replenishing or the first team would have just collected all the visible gingerbread leaving nothing for teams behind them.

Slap - Smelliest Pit Stop ever.


Capn2patch put me in motion!


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by Molaholic on 03-19-12 at 10:03 AM
Clap Finally, a TAR event in a foreign place that I've actually visited (the Hansel & Gretel House in Oberammergau, Bavaria). The "wrong" castle may have also been Lindorf Castle, another spot I saw during my 2010 trip. I think there was a quick ID, but I couldn't read it.

Clap Yes, we have bananas on our Pit Stop Mat.

Slap To the Beirmeister at the beard challenge for not offering anything to the racers.

Slap "Bolivia/Bavaria"

Slap Next week's previews -- more hair.


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by stlouisfan76 on 03-19-12 at 02:09 PM
Clap - the unison head turning and mooing by the cows - every time someone new came to the mat...to funny.

Slap - Vanessa & Ralph - please stop whining...it's annoying.

Clap - the locals in this episode - the bearded men, the witch, the cows - loved it.

Slap - the sliding gnome - really - the product placement in AR is getting old.


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by jbug on 03-20-12 at 10:01 AM
Welcome StLouisFan; always happy to see new faces & hear from new peeps.

Except of course that you beat Memphis. That was not nice



"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by moonbaby on 03-19-12 at 04:04 PM
Clap Finally, a TAR event in a foreign place that I've actually visited

YES! I was so excited, hooray! Such a beautiful place-I toured both castles and I do recall those climbs being a bit of a steep walk, nevermind running. I think the show was in Austria or Germany another time and I missed the episode. Salzburg?

Clap: the yodelling guy. Looked like he was having a whole lotta fun


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by FFantasyFX on 03-23-12 at 11:39 PM
Molaholic - I'm pretty sure the other castle that some teams mistakenly went to is Hohenschwangau. I visited Neuschwanstein when I was young, so it was cool to see it again.

"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by udg on 03-24-12 at 03:14 AM
It was definitely Hohenschwangau. It's just down the mountain from Neuschwanstein. I suspect that the cloud cover & snow had hidden the higher castle from view, leading to the confusion for those later arriving teams.


Thanks to tribephyl for the sigpic!
Linderhof is much fancier than either of the other two.


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 03-19-12 at 10:04 PM
!Slap! That the cow patty was placed under Brendon's foot instead of Rachel's foot.

Multiple !Slaps! for Rachel just because of who she is and for that "I don't know what a beard is" comment.

Hand Wave I thought that curling gnome thing was decent enough and the scenery was nice & challenging enough on this leg.


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by Colonel Zoidberg on 03-24-12 at 03:27 PM
Clap Two cool Detours in one episode - the evil witch coupled with Bavaria's version of ZZ Top. Not sure if Racers are allowed to consume alcohol outside of assigned tasks, though this would have been a good leg for it.

Clap The Speed Bump was actually kind of neat. No, it's not super-difficult, but they don't need to be.

Facepalm Rachel has a Master's degree or something and doesn't know what a beard is. I'd laugh even harder except I'm pretty sure Brendon's straight.

Slap Did they waste Austria on purpose or was there really no better way into that part of Bavaria?


"RE: Bavaria"
Posted by PsychoKitty on 06-01-12 at 03:40 PM
I just LOVED this episode!!!! All the beauty AND the hilarity! The beards were a scream and I loved all the "macho guys" duding up the Bavarians. And the Bavarians just standing around drinking pint after pint killing time. Too funny!!! The witch was totally into it - she was great too and the yodeling was wonderful!

I'm late to the party - my siggie gives me away re how long it's been since I last visited the boards Hi everyone!!!

Not that I have an opinion one way or another ;)
Sigs by Cig


"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by MissMyth on 03-19-12 at 03:46 PM
Slap: (backhand and forehand) "I don't even know what a beard is." What?!? I mean, she did say that, right? It wasn't a hallucination? And apparently Brendan didn't know either.

"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by kingfish on 03-19-12 at 04:04 PM
Knee Jerk Closed Fist Punch. BR Rachael. Just because I heard the laugh again.

"Azerbaijan"
Posted by Estee on 03-26-12 at 06:51 AM
Clap Where are we? No, seriously: where are we? Somewhere we've never been before? Excellent. And -- how do you pronounce it? Don't ask the teams...

Slap Double bunch point: airport and waiting for the temple to open at the other end.

Clap Having something to do while waiting for the temple to open, creating what might have been the only moment this season when we didn't have teams openly hating each other.

Slap So we're heading for $6.00/gallon gas and you thought this would be a good time to show us a country with so much oil, people take baths in it for supposed spa treatment benefits. Yeah, that's gonna foster some great international relations.

Clap Playing off Typical Male Phobias. 'We have to clean off a guy? Eeuuwwww!' That is, if men could be bothered with a hearty 'Eeuuwww.' This arguably kept some teams away from the faster Detour branch.

No hand movement As noted by PepeLePew on the ECST, the race 'leaves' on the target apple during the search task Detour branch (and any task like that is generally a Slap all by itself) were easier to spot in a car loaded with something other than red. On the one hand, it rewards intelligent Racers with a split-second advantage. On the other, it's a search task. And who wants to bet every target apple was in the approximate same spot within the car?

Slap Poorly-designed Roadblock. Making someone confront fears is one thing and using a design that allowed multiple players to go at once helped, but unless someone had a gigantic phobic reaction, no one was going to take long enough to lose any time -- and in that gear, there wasn't a Racer who could swim fast enough to gain any.

Slap You want multiple teams going after the Fast Forward. You do not want the team(s) that fail(s) to automatically be in last place and stay there for the rest of the leg. There should be a chance to come back from a missed attempt, or else we're back to one team running for it and everyone else saying 'Well, we didn't run first. Next?' Oh, and while we're here: helmets.

Slap The first-place prize was too much. I know Ford's a major sponsor this season and you want to keep them happy, but that's the sort of giveaway you save for the next-to-last leg or just add to the million. For a midcourse handout, it's overwhelming.


"RE: Azerbaijan"
Posted by byoffer on 03-26-12 at 04:06 PM
Slap The first-place prize was too much. I know Ford's a major sponsor this season and you want to keep them happy, but that's the sort of giveaway you save for the next-to-last leg or just add to the million. For a midcourse handout, it's overwhelming.

Especially when that particular leg involved the FF. Basically win the FF and get the cars.


"RE: Azerbaijan"
Posted by Toban on 03-26-12 at 05:52 PM
Though I guess it fits with the high risk/high reward aspect of the FF.

"RE: Azerbaijan"
Posted by Molaholic on 03-26-12 at 11:23 PM
Slap - Yep, double bunch point really svcks.

Slap - Oil baths? Really? What old KGB file did that come from?

Slap - Overall, a very slappy episode. Makes me wish I was on the east coast and the basketball games went octuple overtime.


"Tanzania"
Posted by Estee on 04-09-12 at 07:36 AM
Slap Ridiculously obvious NEL. I knew no one was heading out the instant the task was explained. 'Every team is going to set up their overnight campsite. One of them isn't going to use it'? Not bloody likely. Having the last-place team stick around was a forgone conclusion and a none-gone result. A relatively strong NEL should sneak up on everyone: this didn't.

Clap The airplane tour and everything that went with it. (Forgiveness for not pushing certain teams into the volcano can be sought in another section of the board.) We need the occasional reminder that being on the course is an honor, and that was it.

Slap Should have played up the altitude a bit more on the jumping task: as-was, it came across as the easiest challenge since Throwing A Coin Through The Really Big Hole. For that matter, one target each on the weapons branch seemed like a wimp-out.

Slap I hate to agree with Vanessa, but Miss Common Element had a point: having every bicycle designed for the same height created problems across the board. At the very least, someone should have paid for something with an adjustable seat. I realize it's possible the bikes were borrowed from natives and this is what was locally available -- but in the name of avoiding Racer injury, this was the time for an incredible simulation.

Clap You don't have to drive yourself, but you do have to navigate. Badly. (What happened to the semi-tradition of buying a map on the way in?)

Slap Artificial dividing point after the giant bunching on the way in. The teams were essentially split up by taxi lottery.

Clap While criticism would normally be launched for the repetitive nature of that last challenge (think of the Keys and heavy wind gusts), this variation was complicated enough to present a major obstacle and actually shifted the order. Plus they literally have to live with (and in) the results. Also, this time, someone brought stakes. Now aim for the heart. If you can find it.


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by jbug on 04-09-12 at 09:18 AM
CLAP: The pit stop mat music played for Bopper & Mark. Funny but fitting.
SLAP: If the music for the other teams was supposed to be fitting to them, I missed whatever references there were.

"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by Max Headroom on 04-09-12 at 12:40 PM
Slap Detour tasks were ludicrously easy. Jumping for one minute?

Clap For showing the teams' verbal sniping. I found it odd that nobody expressed issues with Major Dave, but then again, he's only been unpleasant to his wife, not other teams.

Slap (cumulative) As a group, this is an unlikable cast. Name a team you're actively cheering for. Anyone?


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by kidflash212 on 04-09-12 at 12:57 PM
Not rooting for any of them, at this point it's just who I hope doesn't win.

Just want to add another SLAP to the ridiculously easy detour tasks. Despite Phil's attempt to spin it as more difficult than it seems due to altitude, jumping for one minute was not a tough task. And the target Detour didn't seem that hard either. Certainly there was no chance for any team to catch up and pass.


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by jbug on 04-09-12 at 01:05 PM
I'm rooting for the good ole boys
Surprised? LOL

They've made a few comments, and yes, they've said some dumb things.
Have they been mean or rude or talked down to other teams?
I might have missed something.


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by lauralea on 04-11-12 at 12:02 PM
I'm a frequent lurker, but finally decided to post after this episode (so bear with me if I ramble!)

I agree with the obvious NEL, but loved this episode anyway. Hubby and I spent 2 weeks in Kenya and Tanzania and LOVED the crater. It was so beautiful and our favorite stop of all.

As far as a map, it would have done them no good. None of the "roads" have signs or names and they are all dirt and gravel. Hubby made our whole vehicle laugh by asking when we would get to the highway!


CLAP - Even though it was way too easy, the joy of watching Bopper and Mark jump with the Masaai was great

CLAP - to Nary and Jamie for stopping to look at the elephants instead of racing to the pit stop. Good for them to take a minute and enjoy and appreciate where they were.

SLAP - also thought it unfair to have bikes with non-adjustable seats (however you have to roll with what they give you and make the best of it)

SLAP - wish they had done a more complex and fun task with the villagers. I really hate it when the tasks are so easy that the order of arrival is the same as departure


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-11-12 at 01:29 PM
Hi lauralea and welcome to the boards! How wonderful you were able to spend 2 weeks in that area.

"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by jbug on 04-11-12 at 02:32 PM
I agree Qpie.
a great big welcome Lauralea.

what a wonderful time to de-lurk. I love hearing personal experiences of places where the TAR racers go.


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by lauralea on 04-11-12 at 03:43 PM
Thanks for the welcome! This was the first time TAR has ever gone somewhere we've been. It was so fun watching it and remembering our adventures! All the green safari vehicles and the masaai walking along the roads really took me back.

"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by MissMyth on 04-11-12 at 07:41 PM
Welcome lauralea! And thank you for sharing your memories with us. I'll second your clap for Nary and Jamie. I thought it was very cool that they chose to enjoy such a special moment. So I was really happy that it was an NEL.

And a slap to the border patrol for telling Phil that they were trying to stay out of the drama when they'd been big ol' spoons trying to stir things up.


"RE: Tanzania"
Posted by emydi on 04-12-12 at 03:33 PM
Yep!

We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals Kant


and the time they spent really won't matter next leg because SLAP there's a double Uturn ahead and N/J are so UTR no one (well except for Art and JJ) will UTurn them


"Tanzania II"
Posted by Estee on 04-16-12 at 06:33 AM
Slap A Speed Bump and Double U-Turn on the same leg still basically amount to an Eliminate One Team Free card if anyone thinks to use it on the pair starting in last place. If the idea of the Speed Bump is to make things more difficult while still allowing some chance of recovery, the U-Turn wipes out the last part of that statement. As-was, that team was just too far back to recover all the way: the Speed Bump dropped behind the U-Turned teams -- but it remains a bad combo.

No hand movement Since Alison Grodner is not on this staff, I will presume there's a spot on the application for listing all allergies.

Slap The water supply branch of the Detour provided virtually no chance for shortcuts. Allowing teams to think their way through a challenge is a good thing, and this task ultimately amounted to -- waiting in line. For a very long time. About the only hope anyone had was bribes, and that's too risky a move when you don't know if you're facing taxis later.

Clap There's always time for a safari. (But that would have been the perfect place to include a camera sponsor.)

Clap A decent amount of foot travel in this leg. You don't always need to get lost on the map: stranded inside a dot works just as well.

Slap At this point, I think we can safely assume standard Pit Stop rest times as we know them are dead. And without knowing what the replacements are...


"RE: Tanzania II"
Posted by Max Headroom on 04-16-12 at 08:10 AM
Clap Though Estee's point about correct strategy for the double U-turn is valid, this is still the only time I can remember where the recipients of a U-turn weren't automatically Philiminated. Petty grievances, anyone?

Clap For another first, the Speed Bump made a difference in the outcome of the leg this time.

Clap Loved the camera work of the mini-safari.

Slap The only thing worse than a random search task is a random wait-in-line task.

Clap The producers have realized how disagreeable this bunch of teams are, and they've softened the editing accordingly. As a result we were limited to brief glimpses of JJ's petulance and Rachel's weekly meltdown.


"RE: Tanzania II"
Posted by popeave on 04-16-12 at 08:52 AM
Slap On the Double U-Turn, Brendon/Rachel should not have been allowed to U-Turn the other team until they had first finished their own U-turn (finished the other half). A team should not be eligible to post someone else's picture until they are eligible to move past the U-Turn sign.

"RE: Tanzania II"
Posted by newsomewayne on 04-16-12 at 11:38 AM
That would be my thoughts on allowable U-turn rules, as well. I thought it totally unfair they could just U-turn without completing their own second detour.

Of course, that would just have meant that the Feds would've recieved the U-turn from Big Brother, instead of the Harpy and her boyfriend.


"RE: Tanzania II"
Posted by Starshine on 04-16-12 at 09:41 AM
Clap Forcing the teams to take a mini safari was a wonderful idea, it took me back to TAR 2 (I think) where teams had to photograph the "big five" game animals. More tasks linked to locations please.


"RE: Production: claps and slaps."
Posted by MissMyth on 04-17-12 at 08:47 PM
Now I'm wondering just how much time N and J spent between finishing the tent and checking in to the pitstop. At the time, I approved of their choice to enjoy the time and place. But Sunday's episode seemed to show that there was a real window of opportunity for the feds. Their interview said it only took them 15-20 minutes to complet the speed bump. So would it have made a difference if they'd checked in earlier?

"India."
Posted by Estee on 04-23-12 at 09:03 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-23-12 AT 09:16 AM (EST)

Slap India again? There are other countries in that region, y'know. Some of those are safe for Americans. A number haven't been visited yet. And still we keep winding up back here...

No hand movement But for best results, the driving test should have been conducted under actual combat conditions: a thousand cars around you piloted by people who flunked their driving test, all changing lanes with no warning, moving over the speed limit, and getting ten dollars off their insurance if they kill you. Oh, and the gas pedal should have been hooked up directly to the horn. Just for giggles.

Slap Go ahead, convince me this was a designated NEL when the course was initially plotted out. Yes, this is the part of the race where they tend to show up a lot -- but this still felt suspiciously like a producer's saving throw. (Yes, I know what a saving throw is. And so do you.)

Clap Even in a half-hearted amateur form, it was good to get cricket on an American stage. Next up: the dreaded googly-bowler, also known as The Knuckleball That's Allowed To Bounce And Come In From Behind You. You ain't seen nothing yet...

No hand movement More than one way to get to India and plenty of buses, but it all worked out to 'still can't get through customs' time at most. Still, it technically wasn't a pair of bunch points, so call it a neutral.

Clap Did you notice the lone dancer on the mini-stage, right in Racer eyeline, doing the moves for an instant visual reference?

Slap Wearing that outfit at the Roadblock for that long in that heat, huh? Must have sounded like a really good plan at the time, at least until the first signs of heatstroke began to set in...


"RE: India."
Posted by Molaholic on 04-23-12 at 10:10 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-23-12 AT 10:55 AM (EST)

Slap - Ditto on the "India again?" slap from above.

Clap - The Philster gets to show off his cricket batsman skills.

Make mine a Clap - I beg to differ with the Big E, I think the Rescue NEL was the right thing to do. And the up-coming Speed Bump should be something like "Solve this puzzle -- what state hosts the Kentucky Derby?"

But it is a Slap - there was too much of an arbitrary nature to the dance judge's judging. He could have given The Big Guy a break after attempt 7 or 8 and not affected the outcome.

Clap "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", sitar version.

Holy Carp -- I just noticed the SWOOP eligibility...


"RE: India."
Posted by MissMyth on 04-23-12 at 08:45 PM
"He could have given The Big Guy a break after attempt 7 or 8 and not affected the outcome."
Hear, hear! I was ready to stomp on the director's toes.

"India II"
Posted by Estee on 04-30-12 at 06:53 AM
*!SLAP!* And with that final preview cell, you just entered a realm of editing stupidity known as The NBC Zone. You know that Emmy you're so proud of? Kiss it goodbye. Oh, I'm sorry: did I hit you in the face with it as you were leaning in? Pure accident. Let's try again. Well, maybe on the third take...

Slap I know you were desperate to create the illusion that Mark & Bopper still had a chance, but the editing didn't manage to conjure in up. No real sense of how much time is passing on the ginger task may seem to you as if it's putting them back in the race, but all it does on this side is mean there's no way to tell if they're catching up or not. Speaking for those who don't do false hope, this was a fail.

Clap One of the better Helltours (and extra points for not placing it on a U-Turn leg). The elephant task was made to weed out the squeamish -- yes, Art & J.J, go ahead and take that as an insult, just be aware that I've called you much worse and all of them were accurate -- and the ginger punished them for it. However...

Slap ...you're telling me the show's budget no longer includes work gloves? Racers were cutting their hands up left and right (literally) and most of the injuries could have been prevented by the normal application of fabric. The manure teams got some protection, but the rope Roadblock and ginger packaging had nothing. The show will be lucky if everyone escapes this without infection. How lucky do you think the show is?

No hand movement Really not sure about bringing that particular Fast Forward back -- yet again. But then, you keep bringing this country back, so...


"RE: India II"
Posted by Molaholic on 04-30-12 at 10:01 AM
SLAP - What was the stop at the barber all about? Did EPBvM need a shave and decided to highlight this guy in order to get one for free??

semi-CLAP - Agree, the elephant task was neat, but we could have seen some more of work involved (and frustration/failures).

Possible answer to No Hand Movement ^ above. Produers knew we had several "princesses" on board and were counting on one going into hissy-fits. Which brings me to my final

CLAP - Mark and the hair-shaver (didja notice he still got some clipper action?)

can we issue our first ever pre-clap? -- A Finale matt "You're the first team to arrive, however..."


"RE: India II"
Posted by jbug on 04-30-12 at 10:24 AM
SLAP: Phil (I hate to do that to you hon; hope it doesn't hurt too much). Giving me false hope when you asked the Brenchel & Ranessa teams if they had completed everything according to instructions. I really thought you were going to give both teams a penalty time out for not taking off their shoes at the temple. And you SHOULD HAVE!

"RE: India II"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-30-12 at 03:12 PM
CLAP! to the cameraman who 'accidently' tripped Vanessa. (And you can't convince me otherwise). I am sorry he didn't do a better job, but I am hoping Karma is in a real pi$$y mood and they are the screw-ups at the final leg.
Gentle, loving SLAP - to Phil trying to play school consellor to Vanessa and Rachel at the mat and making them play nice. I forgive him, because I could see he was regretting it as soon as he said anything.
SLAP - to the casting department for casting Vanessa and Rachel in the first place.

"RE: India II"
Posted by Molaholic on 04-30-12 at 03:53 PM
Special additional Clap - The look on the face of the Native Greeter as Vanessa and Rachel were having their second-grade playground moment. As they say in the credit-card game...

*** PRICELESS ***

"RE: India II"
Posted by Max Headroom on 04-30-12 at 08:27 PM
Slap After 20 seasons of TAR, I've had enough of India, thankyouverymuch.

Slap Too many easily-prevented injuries in this leg. Well, except for Vanessa's big tumble, which didn't need to be prevented.

Slap Yet another leg where the last-place team has zero hope due to the absence of a bunch point. Suspense, begone!


"RE: India II"
Posted by garibaldi on 05-02-12 at 01:54 AM
SLAP - Again what would be the harm in having a timer on at least some roadblocks? Yes it would give you clues on the finishing order but you still wouldn't know the travel times. The ginger packing challenge looked excruciating.

SLAP - Agree. Enough of India already.

POSSIBLE ADVANCE SLAP - If we do not get roadblock requiring bikinis in the finale after carrying Vanessa and Rachel for so long.


"RE: India II"
Posted by jbug on 05-02-12 at 09:41 AM
POSSIBLE ADVANCE SLAP - If we do not get roadblock requiring bikinis in the finale after carrying Vanessa and Rachel for so long.

LOL


"Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by Estee on 05-07-12 at 06:05 AM
Clap Thank you for stopping at the Hiroshima memorial. For the history. For not forgetting. For making them all shut up for five minutes.

Slap Bunches And Bunches Of Bunch Points.

Slap Appropriate protective equipment for being on a Japanese game show is as follows: helmet, elbow and knee pads, full torso armor, wrist reinforcements, shin guards, mouthpiece, extra cranial cap, genital coverage, safety goggles, optional force field, and just being somewhere generally safer, like, say, North Korea.

No hand movement Where in that sushi restaurant were the offerings identified? At a guess, the teams were seated with locals so someone could help them figure out what they were looking at -- but we don't know. It looked like everyone turned into an expert over the course of about fifteen minutes.

Slap No real sense of time passing for either Detour branch at a crucial point, plus anyone want to remember what happened the last time we had sushi sitting around all day? At least this looked like it might have once seen a fridge...

Clap Shaved ice! (Can I have some?)

Slap Go to high place. Retrieve clue. Go back down. Twice.

Mo hand movement You could argue the final trail to the Roadblock wasn't well-marked. You could also argue that if you're this far down the course, you should be taking more care to look for the markers.

Slap Speaking of not providing protective equipment, let's talk about the sleds. Better yet, let's not. Ever.

No hand movement The ascenders were unbalanced towards the male teams, but the sleds (well, so much for ever) favored the thinner females. Do two wrongs make a right? It's not easy to balance out the entire course, but...


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by byoffer on 05-07-12 at 10:26 AM
Slap: Safety equipment. As you said, the chicken game looked deadly, despite that they did have some safety equipment. I would have hoped that production would have provided a doctor to at least tape up the sprained ankle. Doing that challenge on a sprained ankle must have hurt a lot, but more to the point done a lot more damage.

Slap: I will ditto your safety concern with the sleds. Although the Hawaiians would laugh at needing safety for that, one broken collarbone would have been a bad end to someone's trip around the world.

Clap: At least the sled challenge had the bowling one, to give someone some chance to regain some of the time lost on the sledding.


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by Molaholic on 05-07-12 at 11:46 AM
Clap - Another TAR visit to a place that I've been to. Being at that point in Hiroshima is indeed a moving experience. (I know I've told the story - but when I was there there, I could see a cat calmly curled up, sleeping inside the Peace Dome.)

Clap - The Sledding Monk judge's reaction was beyond priceless.

Slap - Shaved Ice without colored/flavored stuff? Yuk.


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by Max Headroom on 05-07-12 at 01:15 PM
Slap For making the racers play Taxi Lotto. Teams should have to drive themselves everywhere when on US soil, and especially during the final episode.

Loud laughter The look on Phil's face was priceless when Rachel and Dave showed up prematurely.


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by PsychoKitty on 06-01-12 at 03:43 PM
That was amazing!!!! The stark realization slowly coming over them! And they did the paddleboarding twice and STILL beat everyone! Whew!

"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by featherfish81 on 05-07-12 at 01:34 PM
I was a little confused by the detour. Did they have to put the correct sushi on the square? I thought they just had to put one with the appropriate letter on the name that he called, not that it had to match?

"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by byoffer on 05-07-12 at 02:23 PM
There were 5 kinds of Sushi, and each was labeled with one of the 5 letters of SUSHI. Thus 25 total combinations on the SUSHI bingo board.

All they had to do was get enough to get a straight line bingo on their board. I am not really sure what the caller was calling - maybe the new pieces being added to the conveyor belt? So the trick was to grab the ones they needed, and as we saw many people were just grabbing many extra pieces.

To make the challenge better, rather than eating the 5 in a row, they should have had to eat all the extra pieces they picked off the conveyor!!


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by Bursar on 05-07-12 at 04:45 PM
SLAP: No Memory Task in the final leg. Although with *this* group, the producers probably realized early on that there were simply not enough hours in the broadcast day to show it.

"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-07-12 at 05:02 PM
They should have made BB Rachel count up all of her meltdowns in order. They'd still be in Hawaii today, five months after filming ended.

"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by BrassFan on 05-07-12 at 10:18 PM
> I am not
>really sure what the caller
>was calling

I think he was calling a letter and the type of sushi. I just assumed it was random (kinda like bingo), so he might call "U Misago" and you'd have to find a piece of Misago with the little U flag and put it on the right spot


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by garibaldi on 05-28-12 at 04:12 AM
Sorry to be so late on this one. Just returned from holidays and watched our recording of the finale. Art and JJ started losing it about two-thirds of the way through the season and just never regained their sharpness. It was theirs for the taking.
I'm betting we will see at least two of these teams again: Rachel and Dave on the next All-Star edition and Miss Kardashian and her big....beau on the next "Second Chances" edition, plus the 'Bama boys may make it back on at some point as sentimental favourites.

CLAPS: Overall, a very entertaining season with some great challenges and timeout moments such as the African safari, Hiroshima monument and Hawaiian coast, though I do hope we have seen the last of the "drama queen" casting or TAR risks going the way of "Survivor". I'd like some behind-the-scenes stuff as well (how much sleep do the teams really get, do they all eat or interact together at pit stops, Phil's comments on the stresses of keeping one quick step ahead of the teams etc). That would work well in an additional eposide "The Making of TAR" or it could be dropped into regular episodes from time to time.

SLAPS: Agree with poster above that there should be no taxis allowed in the final leg. Bad drivers have spoiled too many seasons.

SLAPS: Too many major bunch points in the finale and throughout the season. Likewise, too many instances of "go to this location solely to pick up a clue", with no related task.


"RE: Osaka & Hawaii."
Posted by Starshine on 05-28-12 at 06:31 AM
LAST EDITED ON 05-28-12 AT 06:32 AM (EST)

Regarding too many instances of "go to this location solely to pick up a clue", with no related task

Two small points, firstly getting somewhere can be a challenge in itself, for example this season in the "go to the castle" task, two teams went to the wrong castle, had Nary & Jamie not done that they might have survived the leg (gnome allowing)

Secondly, I generally agree, which is why I prefer TAR Asia to TAR, the problem with additional tasks though is that the show can be a little rushed.

TARA fixes this by generally not having team drama, which is good IMO