The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Chip and Kim won because they came in last on the events in Canada and so got on an earlier flight than Colin and Christie, and Brandon and Nicole who’s flight was delayed because the fog in Calgary kept their plane from landing the night before. So despite the maniacal efforts of C&Cs taxi driver in Dallas, C&K were able to hold the lead they got from the earlier flight. The two later teams also learned a lesson about airline safety — you can’t fly on a different flight from your bags (unless the airline goofs). 

I like Chip — he just seems like an easy going guy. My wife wasn’t happy with him because he lied to Brandon and Nicole, but I thought B&N were being lazy in letting Chip do all the work, and they shouldn’t have put that million dollar temptation in front of him. How hard was it to get out of the boat and jog over to the route marker? So my hats off to the big guy, and Kim, you’re along for the ride just like you were on the show (except for the hike up the mountain to the Continental Divide).

I was happy it just wasn’t Colin and Christie who won. Colin doesn’t think much of the editing of the show, but I’m sorry, it didn’t make up your multiple psychotic episodes. Colin proposed on the Early Show, and Christie accepted. Good luck to both of you, and I hope you never have the unrelenting stress that you experienced during the show.

I was bummed the Bowling Moms didn’t make it into the final three, but then they had to face the wall of death. OK, it wasn’t exactly that, but being strong and fit sure did help one scale that cliff. Is it just me, or have they increased the difficulty of a lot of the detours, roadblocks, and fastforwards? They always got your heart racing, but it seems that they also require strength, stamina, athleticism, all that stuff I have in such short supply. It was really nice to see a mature team keep up, play smart, and be such nice people.

The amazing thing in this episode is that my wife and I stayed in the hotel at the Calgary airport on our honeymoon. The one that the teams crossed the street from the terminal and then sacked out in some room. We went to Lake Louise for the honeymoon, and spent the first night of our marriage in Calgary.

I thought the finale was pretty taut, with good guys, villains (yes, Colin, I mean you), and some along for the ride (as much as my wife likes Brandon, I find him and Nicole a little, well, clueless). Jenspeaks also liked it, and has much more.

Tags: Amazing Race

Watching Colin rage while trying to plow up a clue in the Philippines was must see TV. I have to admit it was a guilty pleasure, since I know I can get pretty steamed when frustrated. In Colin’s defense (I never thought I’d write that), Christie sure didn’t help. If Kim could get down and dirty leading the Ox around (just like the other teams where both members worked together), why couldn’t Christie?

Watching them both fume at getting yielded was priceless, but what did they expect? The other teams aren’t going to do nothing to stop their string of first places. I have to wonder if the producers didn’t derail C&C in Singapore by asking (paying?) the airline to not board them. All that enjoyments was salve for C&C non being eliminated when they came in last. I guess they put those non-elimination legs in the race to pad the show out to the proper length while keeping the number of teams to a manageable level.

Next week we have the 2 hour finale to look forward to. I like 3 out of the 4 teams, and if Colin and Christie do win, at least they’ve provided a lot of the entertainment value of the show. I have to admit though, my wife is leaning towards the Brandon and Nicole team while I’m hoping for Linda and Karen AKA the bowling moms.

Tags: Amazing Race

Tuesday night I got back from working on the parade float (will Saturday ever come? — and will there be pictures?) and flopped down too dazed to realize that The Amazing Race was on. Lucky for me, my wife was on top of things and we got to see the twins come in last and get booted off. Yeah! Now I’m only rooting against half a team — Colin and Christie are the new Flo and Zach.

The most amazing thing this time around is how well the bowling moms are doing — Go Linda and Karen! The middle-aged lady teams never make it this far. No surprise from Chip and Kim though, when they got to the detour Kim told Chip “you’re doing it!” Come on Kim, do more than one thing the whole show. And what was this, Colin behaved himself? Colin was nice to Christie? No screaming fits, no stalking around glaring at people? The scenes from next week promise a big Colin meltdown, so there is that to look forward to. 

And what was with the fast forward on last week’s show? It just isn’t right to have people cut off all their hair as part of the show. At least they had the decency to make it a non-elimination leg, but what were they thinking? It is nothing like the other stuff contestants have had to do in the past and just seemed gratuitously cruel. I’m also getting tired of having the female contestants getting groped on trains in India, but at least that’s an unfortunate part of actual travel. Nobody’s using the fast forwards this time, so why discourage it with a stupid requirement like that?

It’s only a TV show. It’s only a TV show. It’s only a TV show. Yes, that helps.

Tags: Amazing Race

I have to admit I was disappointed that the last leg was a non-elimination leg on Amazing Race. Here was a chance to eliminate the twins, Kami and Karli, whose collective IQ seems to be lower than their independent IQ. Whenever they seem to just charge off and do something stupid, luck rescues them, whether in the form of Chip taking them where they need to go in Egypt or a non-elimination leg. 

Now that the truly obnoxious people are out except for Colin, he seems to be going out of his way to compensate. Maybe there was important footage left on the cutting room floor, but it sure looked like Colin tried to screw a poor taxi driver out of $50 – not a large sum to us, but I’m sure a large sum to a Tanzanian taxi driver. Getting into the taxi he agreed to a $100 fee, and happy to do so over the $150 demanded by the other drivers. Getting out of the taxi, he was inventing conditions like not driving on a spare and arriving in the same position he left. Not content with raving at the driver who went and got a police officer, he went ballistic at the police station and the police officers there. I think that without the camera’s rolling, Colin might have suffered a different outcome. What kind of lunatic risks jail in Tanzania over $50 that isn’t even his? What kind of women (that means you, Christie) puts up with someone as abusive as Colin? Colin and Christie just make me long for the days of Terry and Ian.

Last week I cheered when Mirna got the boot. It’s too bad Charla was partnered with her and so lost as well. Mirna was weak, whiny, bossy, obnoxious, a drama queen, in short, a Flo clone. Charla was the exact opposite. What helped them the most was the combination of Charla’s can-do spirit and their language ability. My cousin Linda should go on the show – I think there’s still one language out there she doesn’t know.

Two weeks ago I cheered when the brothers Marshall and Lance were eliminated, although Mirna and Colin came on strong in the obnoxious department after their departure. And it was too bad that they had to drop out due to one of them having a painful leg injury (OK, I couldn’t keep track of which was which). This week would have made it three in a row of teams I dislike being eliminated.

At this point, I wouldn’t mind a win by Brandon and Nicole, Chip and Kim, or Linda and Karen. Kami and Karli are too clueless and Colin is far too obnoxious — including being a complete jerk towards Christie after his meltdown at the police station. Given their track record, I don’t think Linda and Karen are going to pull out the victory, although if you get the right taxi driver in the final episode anything is possible. Chip has clearly emerged as the most likable of the contestants still in it, what with Bob and Joyce and Jim and Marsha gone. Kim is pretty quiet and seems content to let Chip do almost everything. Brandon and Nicole are too pretty, but otherwise pretty unexceptional.

Even on the fifth season, we’re still all hooked on Amazing Race in the Murphy Family.

Tags: Amazing Race

This week the latest Amazing Race debuted. In the first show, you’re just getting to know the contestants, but at an hour and a half, I think we got a good look at them. So of course my favorite is the father/daughter team of Jim and Marsha — they get along, Jim didn’t seem to be slowed by the injury to his knee he got from falling at the pier at the start that took 20 something stitches to close, and Marsha is a law student and NFL cheerleader. My least favorite — the evil humpty dumpty clones Marshal and Lance.

After the Teutonic partners, Reichen and Chip, won the last race, for the first time CBS doesn’t have any gays on the show. Instead, we have a little person, Charla, who’s certainly got spunk, and wears better than her cousin Mirna. In past shows, there were always some tough young male teams that did well, but this year forgoes that risk and gives us mostly male/female teams. So far, so good — only one really annoying team, and no powerhouses you know will be in the top three. But there is still time for a Flo or Ian to emerge.

Speaking of past Amazing Race contestants, the incomparable Kevin and Drew have a show on Discovery (thursday at 9PM CST). I saw most of the first half and it was good: the buddies are at an alligator wrestling farm. The second half they were harvesting cranberries. Apparently they travel around the country in an RV doing odd jobs — sounds like The Simple Life 2 with funny bald guys instead of annoying spoiled chicks.

Tags: Amazing Race