‘The Amazing Race 22’ preview: What we know so far

Before we delve too far into “The Amazing Race 22,” let’s start out by conveying a rather simple message here: people are freaking out way too much when it comes to the end of season 21. While Chippendales Jaymes & James may have been the fan favorites, Josh & Brent were at least surprising winners who showed that you can have a terrible few legs and with a little bit of luck along the way, find a place in the final episode. We also don’t understand how it is worse having a team like Natalie & Nadiya over a boring / generic couple that you would never remember years down the road.

People are making way too big of a deal out of the fact that the show had its lowest-rated finale Sunday, as well, as it scored a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic. It was up against NFL football for one, and it was still the top-rated program on the night that was not a sporting event. How is this bad? This was hardly the best season, but it is expecting for ratings to slowly drop over time.

Now, let’s move forward: season 22 recently wrapped filming, and it was once again featured an entire season’s worth of episodes filmed in just a matter of weeks. The sleuths over at Reality Fan Forum have identified some of the contestants as hockey players  Jonathan “Bates” Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia, a pair of Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, and some doctors who also just so happen to be twins. (Thank goodness that no one put Shane & Danielle from “Big Brother” on this season.) The race needs to continue to improve their challenges, and possible consider introducing a few elements including the Salvage Pass from the Australian version of the show, which gives the team who wins the first leg an opportunity to either save the team in last, or to send them packing.

What do you want to see changed for season 22, and why do you think that the ratings for the finale this fall were down? If you want to read a full review from the fall finale, you can do so over here.

Photo: CBS