‘The Amazing Race 29’: Should the American version incorporate these international twists?
Sure, we do realize that “The Amazing Race 29” technically filmed already, but we still don’t know too much about it. Therefore, we at least for the sake of this article claim a little bit of plausible deniability as we raise the question in the title once more.
Over the years, we feel like the CBS show has started to slide in quality in comparison to international versions, which tend to include more content and don’t rely on silly casting gimmicks in order to get it done. You get to see more real people, and at times there are also some interesting twists to the game that are worth considering. For the sake of this article, we want to spotlight in particular three twists that we’ve seen that producers for the U.S. show should consider, whether it be for season 30 or beyond. Maybe one or two of them already were for season 29, but we don’t get the sense that CBS takes too many cues from what other versions of the show around the world are doing.
The Salvage Pass – We really like this twist from “The Amazing Race Australia,” which allows the team finishing in first place to either receive an hour-long head start on the next leg or to save the team in last place from being eliminated. The head start is mostly useless given that so many legs have equalizers. The strategic ramifications of keeping a team around are most interesting, since maybe you can build an alliance from this. Or, maybe you want to keep a team around that you think you can beat in hopes that they can beat a stronger team on another leg when they start to struggle.
U-Turn voting – This also comes from the Australian version, where the other teams all had the opportunity to vote on someone else getting the U-Turn for a given leg. In theory, this was a rather fun idea since it created drama. Ultimately, though, this one can stay in Australia given that it also turns the show into a popularity contest and this sort of voting is better used on “Survivor.”
The Face-Off – The past two seasons of “The Amazing Race Canada” have included tasks that force one team to square off against another, with the loser then having to face off with the team behind them. In theory, it’s interesting, but it was poorly executed because many of the tasks that were assigned to this were sports like volleyball or golf, which relies on teams’ prior experience a little too much. With a fair concept, this could work; or, you could change it slightly so that the losing team simply has to wait out a certain amount of time rather than having to do the battle again. That way, you’re not overly penalizing one team who may not be good at something.
There’s no premiere date yet for season 29, but we expect it at some point in 2017.
If you do want to get some other news when it comes to “The Amazing Race,” be sure to head over to the link here. (Photo: CBS.)
Martin Pal
November 5, 2016 @ 6:44 pm
None of those “International Twists” have been that interesting, IMO. I liked the little subtle things that AR has done once in awhile. Like that one task where there was a sign on the table that you had to give “all your money” to them. Some didn’t read the sign…and had to go back. They should do something like that again.
So many times when they tear the strip off their clue envelopes they toss it away. Maybe one time they should put some clue info on that strip! Heh!
Maybe write the clues in a different language (the country they’re in?) once in awhile. Or one clue in each destination is done like that. After all, slowing teams down briefly seems to be something we all like.
Maybe teams can earn or receive a “rest pass” which they can use to make another team rest for a certain amount of time and can be used whenever they want to, even racing to the finish line.
Instead of Fast Forwards through a task, what about a fast forward, like you get the next taxi before anyone else.
Just brainstorming. I just want to watch the show.