Silk Willow Talk

David Conley is a coal miner from Kentucky. He and his wife Mary are shaping up to be the popular team from The Amazing Race, based on viewers voting habits.

You know how while you are watching these reality tv shows now, how they keep popping up these silly text or web contests that viewers can participate in, to get some interactivity out of the viewing experience? Well, in these such little trivia quizzes or polls or what not, David and Mary aka Team Kentucky are scoring pretty high as viewer favorites.

So much so that when they were in last place last week, they were the first to NOT get eliminated in a non-elimination leg. Somehow I thought it was fishy… I know it’s a ploy by the network. When a popular team is up on the chopping block by finishing last, they save those non-elimination legs for these people so they are kept in the game. I don’t believe they have those special exemptions predefined in advance. I believe the producers see how the race goes then decide at that moment when to bestow the immunity upon whoever lags.

How clever it is. That’s why they have those interactive questions for the audience littering commercial breaks. By taking the pulse of the tv watchers then employing surprises in the show by bending the rules just a little bit here and there to keep the team favorites around, they’ll be able to keep more of the audience around.

Of course, I could be all just spouting hogwash and things behind the scenes aren’t really run that way. But it’s my theory. If anyone can argue otherwise, I’d love to hear about it!

This game play is actually cool by me since I am one of those viewers who are steadfast fans of the coal mining couple from the Bluegrass State. Their alliance with the single mothers from Alabama and the Asian brothers from San Francisco is an interesting demonstration of human dynamics involving very unlikely partners.

Go Kentucky, Alabama and Cho Bros!

So the race for ratings has prompted yet another show to drum up more interesting contestants for their competition. This time, The Amazing Race has a new class in attendance, representing the world more than it does the United States. In the past, the Amazing Race had representation from various demographics — a couple here and there — but would mostly maintain a homogenous feel to their head count. This time, it’s as diverse as they probably will ever get.

Check this out:

I added some team nicknames floating around the internet that I thought were “cute”.

Team #1: A married couple of East Indian origin, living in Florida. Eliminated (Team Karma)
Team #2: Brothers of East Asian descent, from San Francisco, CA.
Team #3: A white gay couple from New York City.
Team #4: A pair of lovely cheerleaders who are friends from South Carolina. Eliminated
Team #5: A pair of lovelier blonde beauty queens who competed in the Miss America
pageant - one is Miss California, the other is Miss New York. (Team Barbie)
Team #6: African-American best friends who are single mothers from Alabama.
Team #7: A coal miner and his wife from Kentucky. They come across as “country”.
(Team Hillbilly)
Team #8: African-American best friends who are Moslems from Ohio. Eliminated
Team #9: A very athletic pair of friends, one of whom is a prosthetist, while the other is
his erstwhile client (yes she has an artificial leg) from California.
Team #10: The token bickering dating couple, residing in Los Angeles, CA.
Team #11: Male models who are best friends and former drug addicts who live in
Los Angeles, CA. (Team Himbo)
Team #12: A man and his gay daughter from Rhode Island.

Is this a gimmick? Well even if it is, it’s working as far as I’m concerned. I find the mix more than welcome, after 10 seasons. These were overhead or seen in the last episode, while the group was in Mongolia, from which I got more than a few chuckles:

• Beauty queens are seen galloping on mountain horses to a challenge’s end. Their composure is atrociously marred by one of them falling off the horse, with her foot caught on a stirrup, and being dragged through mud and slush.
• Host Phil Keoghan talks about how a nomad was going to help the contestants with a challenge, and once they complete the challenge, this nomad would present them with their next clue. Somehow, I thought it was funny how the audience was being treated to a sight of a grinning nomad.
• This came from the utterly nice redneck pair (okay, the pair from what I am assuming is rural Kentucky) with utmost sincerity, referring to the Asian contestants from San Francisco, CA: I’ve never seen an Asian person in my life!
• From the rednecks again: I’ve never been around gays before, and I like ‘em!

But the most stunning thing I heard so far this season was when someone asked whether the African-American Moslems prayed to Buddha….

Ooooh Yeah, it’s building up to be one colorful season.
Watch The Amazing Race on CBS, Sundays @ 8 PM ET/PT.

 
 
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Now that Treasure Hunters has aired almost all its episodes, it is clear that this dozen-team-race-to-the-finish-for-a-gazillion-dollars reality show has bested its original cousin. The National Treasure meets Murder In Small Town X atmosphere of the show was what clinched it for me. If you can imagine The Amazing Race done in a creepier way minus the anti-climactic clump ups (when all the teams aggregate) at midpoints of a particular leg of the race, plus some truly mind-bending, intellectually rich challenges thrown in, then you’ve something for the awards bodies to consider. Unfortunately, I’m not sure Treasure Hunters has caught on in the same way so who knows if it comes back next season. I kind of like the Geniuses trio during this season. Reminds me of how clueless I was way back when. Speaking of “Murder In Small Town X”, now that show was undoubtedly the strangest, eeriest show that I’ve ever come across. The gist of it was for contestants to solve some murders at some fictitious place. As contestants get whittled down to the final winner, they get eliminated by getting knocked off themselves. The unsettling epilogue to this season, which ended in September 2001, was that it’s winner, NY city firefighter Angel Juarbe, got killed while serving during the September 11 attacks. What an epilogue.