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Totally unofficial blog for "The Amazing Race 13" and other television news & views. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:55:00 +0200 Final same day ratings for the 3rd episode of "The Amazing Race 13" were confirmed as being the lowest of the season to date. The numbers were adjusted upward from original fast national estimates but the 2.9 mark for key age 18-49 viewers and the 9.0 million overall viewers still mark season lows.
It should be noted that "The Amazing Race 13" ratings numbers jump up and down largely on the strength of its "60 Minutes" lead-in, which itself varies wildly based on whether there's a widespread football overrun. Without the football overrun for the most part last Sunday, "60 Minutes" came in very weak among the key viewers at a 1.9 rating, which TAR13 to its credit then built back up for its 2.9. What is undeniable (and a little concerning) is not the week to week variance but an overall year to year drop from last year's TAR12 to this year's TAR13. Part of that drop is just the trend of increased DVR usage which is lowering same day viewership across the board. Some of it may be a statement about "The Amazing Race" itself. The program doesn't seem anywhere near the danger point but I would just as soon not see the numbers not go any lower than they did this Sunday.
CBS via The Futon Critic, PIFeedback.com Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:37:00 +0200 Preliminary Nielsen ratings for the third episode of the "The Amazing Race 13" took a sharp week to week downturn, nearing the show's Sunday low points.
Without the benefit of pro football funneling in viewers to the CBS lineup, TAR13 slid to a preliminary 2.8 rating (down from 3.2) in the age 18-49 demo and dropped to 9.1 million estimated overall viewers from an estimated 10.8 mill the previous week. (#'s from PIFeedback.com It should be granted here that TAR13 did have to work with a much poorer "60 Minutes" lead-in than the previous week, building its 2.8 demo rating off of the news-magazine's 2.0 mark. "The Amazing Race 13" also scored the best demographic number of CBS' Sunday night lineup. All that said, anytime that TAR's demographic number falls below a 3.0, that's not a sign of encouragement. For a network that has few obvious holes elsewhere in its lineup, one wonders if CBS will be tempted to fix its Sunday night configuration... not to cancel TAR so much as to adjust its scheduling. ____________________________ PIFeedback.com Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:30:00 +0200 Leg thirteen of "The Amazing Race 13" started with one of the more bizarre accusations in memory. Apparently, Christy of the divorcees team accused sibling Starr of dumping her sports bra off a ledge. Starr denied the charge, claiming she didn't do it because it wouldn't gain her team any kind of advantage on the race.
I have no bloody idea what to make of such a bizarre allegation except to hope that the offender (if there was one) was Starr if only because the alternatives would be a whole lot creepier. ---- Whether Starr did anything wrong or not, the episode revolved in large measure around the new Kelly & Christy vs. Nick & Starr rivalry. With both teams wanting to avoid being victimized by the other via the U-Turn feature, the pressure was on to complete the Detour before there counterpart. Both the Nick/Starr and Aja & Ty teams passed Kelly & Christy during the Detour task of riding "locally crafted" bicycles. Christy seemed to have particular trouble handling her bike, wrecking along side the road at least once. While the sports bra allegation remained unproven, we did see Nick & Starr try to convince Aja & Ty to use their U-Turn against Kelly & Christy. The long distance daters ultimately declined as did Nick & Starr themselves. Aja later let Kelly know about Nick and Starr's failed surrogate U-Turn scheme. For a team that claims not to want to make enemies, Nick & Starr were making them all over the place. ---- The third leg of TAR13 seemed a breakthrough for Marisa & Brooke. The southern belles gained an extra pep in their step, gathering band musicians together for their Detour challenge and leaving much the less enthused Andrew & Dan in the dust in the process. The frat bros dropped from first place to fifth during the course of the Detour. Why do people like Team Superbad again? Also without much pep for more understandable reasons were Toni (of the mother/son team with Dallas) and Mark (of the geek team) who both suffered exhaustion from the high altitude of host city La Paz, Bolivia. Fortunately, Dallas took up the slack for his mom this week, succeeding in the wrestling simulation Roadblock to lead his team to second place. Succeeding more thoroughly was the Ken & Tina duo as Ken handled the pseudo-wrestling Roadblock for his team which scored a second straight leg win. ---- As to that Roadblock, it involved one member of each race team learning to perform a series of six basic moves in a simulated match with a female "cholita" wrestler that would conclude with the racer and cholita teaming together to defeat an outside interloper. Racers who couldn't execute the sequence correctly were whistled out and sent back to relearn the moves. While the lead racers did well, others struggled including Mark whose physical ailments made the wrestling a struggle and newbie dater Sarah who initially couldn't get the taunting right. Yes, knowing how to incite the crowd is an absolutely essential skill of pro wrestling. Taunting seemed to go against Sarah's real-life personality. ---- On a side note, I'm jealous beyond words of the nine racers who actually got to play act at being pro wrestlers. As someone who has a sister wrestling blog and a longtime wrestling fandom, I've gained some appreciation over the years for the people who spend their lives doing that kind of entertainment. I was particularly impressed that the show depicted the pro wrestling by its true nature as a choreographed presentation. Professional wrestling is a strenuous, highly physical form of dance. It takes the cooperation of all the parties involved to make such an over the top form of entertainment successful. Maybe more people can appreciate that just a little more now. ---- Back to business. While Mark & Bill suffered physically from the altitude, their ultimate doom occurred by the loss of their greatest strength. The master game-players simply made the mistake of not reading a Detour clue card correctly, taking a taxi to their Detour site instead of going by foot as required. (Terence & Sarah made the same mistake but self-corrected in time.) Mark & Bill eventually arrived at the Pit Stop in 8th place but were assessed a 30 minute penalty, more than enough time for the trailing Kelly and Christy to arrive and take their places on the next leg. I don't know what's more ironic... that the Mark & Bill were eliminated by a mental mistake or that the players saved by that mistake were the most chronic clue misreaders in Kelly & Christy. Go figure. ____________________________ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:28:00 +0200 The following are the results for the third leg of "The Amazing Race 13."
(START: Fortaleza, Brazil.) (PIT STOP: La Paz, Bolivia.) ----
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:27:00 +0200
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:12:00 +0200 "The Amazing Race 13" episode/leg three has concluded for most viewers. Full results are now linked here off the main page. A recaplette with my brief thoughts is now linked here. Both are SPOILERS for those who haven't seen the weekend episode yet.
The normal "grade the episode" poll is up on both sidebars on each TARbloob page. The earlier expiration message was in error and has been corrected. My plan to put more polls up last Monday didn't work due to bad timing, so extra polls will be posted later this Monday. Last week's "grade the episode" poll result will be posted later tonight. ____________________________ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:09:00 +0200 Ken & Tina
Relationship: separated Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:08:00 +0200 Mark & Bill
Relationship: best friends Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:07:00 +0200 Terence & Sarah
Relationship: newly dating Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:06:00 +0200 Aja & Ty
Relationship: dating long distance Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:05:00 +0200 Toni & Dallas
Relationship: mother/son Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:04:00 +0200 Nick & Starr
Relationship: Brother/sister Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:03:00 +0200 Kelly & Christy
Relationship: divorcees Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:02:00 +0200 Andrew & Dan
Relationship: frat boys Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:01:00 +0200 Marisa & Brooke
Relationship: southern belles Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:15:00 +0200 "The Amazing Race 13" will be seen on-time in the vast majority of the United States. FOX network holds the football doubleheader this week so most viewers will not get a late afternoon CBS game.
A minority of viewers in selected Eastern and Central time zone markets including but not limited to Norfolk, Charlotte, Detroit, Jacksonville, Orlando, Minneapolis and St. Louis were fed the late telecast of the Jacksonville/Denver football game. In those markets, the delay will be about 15 to 20 minutes. Additionally, TAR13 will not be delayed anywhere in the Mountain, Pacific and other Western U.S. markets regardless of any late football broadcasts. The506.com contains specific information about which markets will receive the late afternoon CBS pro football airing. ____________________________ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:23:00 +0200 "The Amazing Race 13" will go wrestle-wacky for tonight's third episode of the run.
CBS has heavily promoted a pro wrestling-themed task for the nine remaining teams on this week's leg, a promotion already widely publicized across the internet's wrestling-based forums including my own sister WrestlingBloob blog. Though the order of finish differed, three teams continue to dominate the spotlight of TAR13 to date... the ludicriously needy and controlly Terence with girlfriend Sarah, separated couple Ken & Tina's with their ongoing attempts at reconcilation and brother/sister team Nick & Starr's quick descent into the uber-low road. For interest to hold up in TAR13, we should probably hope that one or more those teams can last till the final bell. With the possible exception of Eastern U.S. Jacksonville/Denver game viewers, "The Amazing Race 13" returns to an 8 p.m. EDT/PDT, 7 p.m. CDT start on CBS & CTV. ____________________________ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:46:00 +0200 The separated couple Ken and Tina is a difficult couple for this blogger to cheer for, though not necessarily a difficult couple for other readers of this blog.
The estranged husband and wife continued to try to work through their own issues, Tina seemed somewhat less abrasive this week towards her previously unfaithful husband. In fact, Tina actually came through in seemingly convincing a Brazilian airline to upgrade the plane for their flight. Unfortunately for the couple and alliance partners Nick and Starr, the maneuver also helped the other teams in the process leaving no net gain. After falling behind initially in Fortaleza, Ken & Tina made up ground on the physical Detour boat moving to fifth place and later moved up to second when Tina.... "acquired" the correct strategy for the destination finding Roadblock. The pair was then left to beat Mark and Bill in a foot race to win the race leg. The one major disagreement in pure tactical terms was over whether to help the wayward Terence and Sarah. Tina wanted to help in hopes the favor could be repaid later, Ken succeeded in getting the cabbie to pass Terence and Sarah on by. I'd tend to prefer a more helpful strategy at least in early race legs. There's no need to be too disagreeable too early. While the team is as well-traveled and physically smart as ever, such intrateam team tension will obviously remain an ongoing concern however far they end up going on TAR13. Terence and Sarah could literally fall anywhere along the race spectrum. ____________________________ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:32:00 +0200 "The Amazing Race 13" best friends/self-described geeks Mark and Bill put their analytical minds to good purpose on the run's second leg, scoring a strong second-place finish that one wished could be a first place one.
The basic intelligence of this team is well apparent at the start, being the only one to successfully complete the computer/warehouse search Detour task. The task's completion allowed Mark and Bill to take the lead throughout much of Fortaleza, Brazil. Bill also came through in the Roadblock by realizing that one could simply write all the potential place names down and reading them one by one until the correct one was named. The only strategic error was in letting Tina getting close enough to figure out and copy the plan. That error left Mark and Bill's weakness exposed for the second straight week as they were simply outrun by the more athletic Ken and Tina to be left in second place. The key for this team is whether basic intelligent game play will be enough as the race goes on to counter the physical abilities of most remaining racers. ____________________________ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:11:00 +0200 The mother/son team of Toni and Dallas continues to exceed the early expectations of this blogger to date on "The Amazing Race 13." At least in terms of character, the pair turned out in episode two to actually be exceptional.
Toni and Dallas were among the front tier teams to leave Fortaleza, Brazil's airport en route to the eventual Detour. Despite choosing a strong person ship moving Detour, mom Toni managed to keep up with the super strong Dallas. Of course, the defining moment for Toni and Dallas to date occurred after that Detour when riding on taxi by Terence and Sarah, they clued the wayward daters in on the location of the taxi stand. It was an act of pure unselfishness that we don't necessarily see all too often on "The Amazing Race." I wish we did. Toni and Dallas remained competitive with Toni completing the Roadblock in due order for a 5th place finish that could have easily been a third place one. It doesn't really add up in traditional race terms but one imagines that a team like this one that's aggressive, unified and not prone to obvious mistakes should continue to do well. ____________________________ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:01:00 +0200 The Kelly and Christy team of divorcees is certainly one of the more determined teams to tackle adversity on "The Amazing Race 13" but episode two proved their capacity to create adversity for themselves.
The all-female friends emerged as a top tier team from Fortaleza Airport all the way to the completion of a demanding physical Detour. The problem of course is that Kelly and Christy didn't realize when they had actually completed the Detour. In a howler of a mistake, Kelly and Christy misread their clue and ending up digging through a sandy beach for a shipping container associated with the opposite Detour task. The delay was costly to the team, a delay only compounded when Kelly and Christy misread their Roadblock clue, failing to instruct their taxi cab to stay in place as required. Christy completed the Roadblock in due order only for the divorcees to be delayed searching for a cab that turned out to stay in place anyway. Kelly and Christy can do better, one has to believe that. "The Amazing Race" is a hard enough challenge for a duo of competitors, there's no need to make the challenge unnecessarily worse. ____________________________ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:51:00 +0200 The so-called Team Superbad, frat boys Andrew and Dan had another not so super leg of "The Amazing Race 13," bemused and bemuzzled on the way to a 8th place leg finish.
Andrew and Dan did have a strong start in Fortaleza, emerging among the top group of racers departing the airport. Events proceeded downhill from there, the pair was soon lost looking for a clue box. The boat moving Detour subsequently left Andrew and Dan in 5th place of 10 teams. The truly frustrating exercise though was the Roadblock where Andrew was being fed all kinds of nonsense by sibling Nick about the correct result being color-coded or other such inanity. Nick them promised Andrew to feed the correct answer if he found it, only to be betrayed. I want to see generally well-intentioned racers like Andrew & Dan do better on the race than to be the life of their own party, So far, it just hasn't happened. A little more watchfulness would severe them better on leg three. ____________________________ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:41:00 +0200 Long-distance daters Aja and Ty remain one of the harder teams to pin down to date on "The Amazing Race 13," coming in with what seemed to be a mixed performance.
After being equalized by the plane trip to Fortaleza, Brazil, Aja and Ty had the chance to take the lead only to screw up by leading the chase to the international arrival dept. of Fortaleza airport instead of domestic. The couple never saw a chance at the lead after that, delayed further by a subsequent too long search for a clue box. The pair did recover some ground on the tail end of the leg though excelling together ion the boat moving Detour and Aja excelling singularly on the destination reading Roadblock for a 4th place photo finish. On a side note, Aja & Ty remain highly competitive to the point of ignoring Terence and Sarah's plight, though that didn't factor into the leg result for either team. The relationship dynamic remains strong despite the difficulties of the previous long distance setup. If the pair can avoid the simple mental mistakes, there's the potential for a much stronger team here. ____________________________ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:29:00 +0200 Brother/sister team Nick and Starr more than fulfilled my intuitive expectation as the team that would go the low-road of "The Amazing Race 13." Nick in particular took the low-road with gusto during leg two.
What isn't low-road but simply smart about the team is their alliance with separated couple Ken and Tina. The strategy could have given both teams an advantage had the replacement plane to Fortaleza, Brazil not had enough room to fit in every race team. Where Nick and Starr excelled in terms of legitimate skill again was on the physical side as the pair blew through the boat moving Detour to take a temporary run in first place. The pair was delayed in transit to the Roadblock preventing a leg win repeat. The Roadblock did allow an opportunity for Nick to show his scuzzy side, promising to share the correct Roadblock answer with frat boy Andrew only to then abandon the guy. Clearly, this team has the skill set and the strategy set to win, there only clear and present danger is that they could infuriate so many competitors that they could become radioactive to the Race. ____________________________ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:19:00 +0200 Southern belles Marisa and Brooke struggled more than they would have expected in leg one of "The Amazing Race 13," the same ultimate held true for leg two.
The team was slow off the pace leaving Fortaleza airport, despite not making the international arrival mistake. They also failed to follow the correct directions to reach their chosen Detour task, leaving them to do the more physical "Beach It" boat moving that played to their literal physical weaknesses. Marisa and Brooke survived for another leg, mostly because Anthony and Stephanie were done in by bad taxi cab luck. The belles do have a natural likability with local people, that likability should probably be applied towards building links to stronger teams. Otherwise, there isn't much yet to indicate this team can go long-term. ____________________________ |
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