LAST EDITED ON 12-24-07 AT 12:29 PM (EST)>But I thought there were no Non-Elimination leg and now we
>hear it is the first of 2??
I have no idea why they chose to deceive the media about it, but yes, two different producers -- Jonathan Littman and Bertram van Munster -- had previously stated there would be no non-elimination legs:
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-amazing-race-12-run-shorter-drop-non-elimination-pit-stops-5562.php
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-amazing-race-producer-upcoming-twelfth-edition-is-nail-biter-6023.php
We didn't originally publish it in transcript form, but the following exchange is from Reality TV World's van Munster interview
RTVW: Littman has previously stated that the show's twelfth installment dropped non-elimination legs. Is that in fact the case?van Munster: That's exactly the case, yes
After that, van Munster continued:
van Munster: The audience and ourselves, we're not crazy about non-eliminations. It's exciting to see people eliminated at the end of every episode.
and:
van Munster: Penalties just make it murky. This is just such a clean-cut concept, it's not about finding more penalties and hurdles for people. That's not what this thing is about. I think the audience and our fans like eliminations from what we understand.
CBS hasn't responded to our message requesting an explanation of Littman and van Munster's earlier comments so far.