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Topic: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article) (Read 207 times)

smash
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Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article)
« on: May 10^th, 2005, 8:53am »

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http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-05-09-amazing-race_x.h tm
Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

Win or lose, it's Rob and Amber's Race.

And that's the whole problem.

There's no denying that Survivor transplants Rob and Amber have brought a sharper edge and energy to The Amazing Race, which sprints to the finish line Tuesday night with a two-hour finale (CBS, 9 ET/PT). From the opening episode, they've been the team to beat and the team everyone wants to beat.

Like it or not and I can't say that I do in the reality world, Rob and Amber are stars. And like many stars, they've done more than just attract fans and detractors. They have reshaped the show in their image.

In the short term, that's fine. Ratings are up for this Emmy-winning series, long the best of the reality crop, and the show has never been a hotter topic. But if the change is permanent, watch out. Even if you love them, do you really want to see an entire Race contingent made up of mini-Robs and Ambers?

What Rob and Amber did was transplant to Race the tactics, strategies and snippy attitudes they used on Survivor. This around-the-world Race has always attracted competitive people; races are, after all, competitions. But where previous racers mainly focused on finding a way to win, Rob and Amber devoted considerable energy to making other teams lose. That particular form of bad-sport ugliness is their gift to the Race. My fear is that it's a gift that will keep on giving.

The flaw in their approach is that many of their more blatant efforts to undermine the other players fiddling with bus doors, tying up computers, planting seeds of doubt used up more time than they gained. Some of their tricks were even counterproductive, which is the price karma extracts for deviousness.

Oddly enough, they were far more successful when they just sat back and relied on the kindness of star-struck strangers, who either recognized them from Survivor or were drawn to the cameras and offered their services as guides and aides. We can question whether the show should have allowed them to take such help, but we can't blame them for accepting it.

We can, however, blame them for the dismissive insults they hurled at their helpers behind their backs. And that behavior illustrates the danger of contestants drawing on the reality-TV well once too often: Eventually, we're going to see more of them than we like.

Yet somewhat to my surprise, the show's virtues as a game and as a travelogue have managed to compensate for newfound flaws, particularly in the home-stretch scramble from India to Istanbul to London. And after all, Rob and Amber isn't the only team left.

True, we've lost Meredith and Gretchen, a delightful older couple who, given the chance to make a wrong choice or turn the wrong way, invariably did so. But we still have Ron and Kelly, who were responsible for one of the season's most amusing "What can you be thinking?" moments: her insistence that his stint as a POW somehow reflects poorly on his ability to commit.

Best of all, we have the married couple Uchenna and Joyce, who have taken great joy from the race and brought amazing grace to it. I'm hoping they win, but even if they don't, they may prove that it is possible to make it through the Race without embarrassing yourself or annoying a watching nation.

That's a victory right there.

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Genius
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #1 on: May 10^th, 2005, 9:56am »

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What a biased article. Roll Eyes

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smash
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #2 on: May 10^th, 2005, 11:00am »

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I just posted it, didn't say I agree with it

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Kendra
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #3 on: May 10^th, 2005, 2:58pm »

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Thanks for posting smash..! The article is an interesting read..Gotta say though that some of the stuff said in that article is very much true. i.e The part about whether or not producers should allow Rob and Amber to have so much help.

I agree, they shouldn't be allowed so much help, and I really don't think they would have made it as far as they did without the extra help...seriously...If they do win TAR, no matter how much people love them (lol which is me too!) I still think it's wrong..1 million dollars is enough...2million? A little too much!

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JP
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #4 on: May 10^th, 2005, 3:35pm »

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Thanks for posting smash!

Now I finally get it! The reason why Rob is different from other great Racers is that the others do everything for their team to win, while Rob do everything for their competition to lose.

Locals helping Racers is as old as the first season. It's just that Rob and Amber do it more often than the others. They use their fame to get the locals help them. It's just like Charla using her handicap to get sympathy from the locals, but Charla I think didn't use it in every Leg.

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ilovemymariners
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #5 on: May 10^th, 2005, 7:45pm »

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I saw Rob and Ambers Race and Didn't even finish it becasue it's not htere race! It's anyones race!

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The Amazing Race 6: ROCK ON FREDDY AND KENDRA! I KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU!

The Amazing Race 7: RON AND KELLY ARE MY FAVORITE TEAM! THEY ROCK MY SOCKS! GO RON AND KELLY! #1!!!!!!!!!!! I'M THE #1 FAN!

GO LYNN AND ALEX AND UCHENNA AND JOYCE TOO! YOU GUYS ROCK ALSO!

Tarynng
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #6 on: May 11^th, 2005, 8:18am »

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Great Article

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amazingracelover
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #7 on: May 11^th, 2005, 8:27am »

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:lbf

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nemo
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #8 on: May 11^th, 2005, 8:58am »

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It's a game of luck this time, unfortunately Rob & Amber lost it to Uchenna & Joyce as they close in on the finish line.

And let us not forget CBS creative, yet sometimes evil Editing Team. For sure they had something to do with Romber being NOT the most popular team this season.

IMHO, Romber played the game decently. Their ways may have not been always favorable but hey, that's post editing. And it is a race for $1M.

Karma? I don't know. I only see it as a well ran Amazing Race Season 7.

Congratulations to Uchenna and Joyce.

« Last Edit: May 11^th, 2005, 8:59am by nemo »

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ilovemymariners
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Re: Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'(article
« Reply #9 on: May 11^th, 2005, 9:32am »

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And like I said, It's anyones game...Look who won and look who the aritcal is mostly about!

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