Amazing TV!

I'm feeling a little under the weather today, but I want to say just a little bit about my favorite competitive reality show.

The Amazing Race is consistently one of the best shows on TV. If you haven't seen it, there are 11 teams of two people with a previous relationship, who race from one point to another trying to beat the other teams. The last player to the pit stop will have to leave the show.

The pairings often seem to be done to create tension and drama. This season features a newly dating couple with a super-overbearing guy, a long-distance dating couple, and a long-term married couple trying to get over the devastation of a cheating husband. All engineered to be exciting and dramatic. My favorite couples to watch, however, are the ones who work really well together. Altough, I guess we need bad guys to root against.

Each leg of the race has different challenges that the teams muct get through. On one challenge per leg they get to choose. Often between brains or brute strength. On another, one member has to face the challenge alone. These choices are often the source of fighting on the show and Mrs Titan and I always try to figure out what we would do if we were on the show.

I also love the show because we get to see all kinds of unique places in the world. It is always fun to see how other people live and how Americans react to it. It is great to see these other cultures and many of the challenges focus on some cultural aspect of the places the teams visit.

My only complaint with the show is that the episodes are too short. I would love to see two hour episodes, so they could focus a little more on the locations, and not just on the infighting. This would be especially helpful in early episodes where we have 22 people who we have never seen running around. It is hard to really get a feel for many of the earlier castoffs. UPDATE: Okay, seaching the CBS website I found Phil's Video Diaries. Check them out for some of exactly what I was talking about. (And see Phil Keoghan get whooped by a girl!) Check this show out! You can also rent past seasons on Netflix!