Season 14: Tradition and Changes

Changes abound this season. The traditional format of the race remains, but the style of the show has been tweaked. The classic decision making was present, the inter-team bickering made its appearance, and the haranguing of team mates reared its ugly head. But for all the classic moments, this was a decidedly different episode from previous years.

The most striking change this season is the absence of the Amazing Yellow Line. Instead, it has been replaced by the new Amazing Red and Blue Lines on a new higher definition globe. It’s a cool graphic, but I’m holding out hope for the return of the AYL.

It looks like they’ve got a new batch of editors for this season. The split screen transitions are an interesting choice. I’ll have to see how I feel about them as we get further into the race, but they do provide a sense of time and what’s going on at different points. I also notice that they made more use of the on screen time stamps. The last of the bungee jumpers each had the time of their jump displayed on the screen, something they haven’t done in the past.

Not sure I care so much for the remixed theme song. Drum track is too pronounced, and the electric guitar just don’t do it for me. I prefer the more acoustic version from previous seasons.

Episode 14.1: Don’t Let a Cheese Hit Me

The first episode of the season starts with a bang as the teams leave Los Angeles and head straight for Switzerland. It was obvious that the episode was going to be a full one when the usual airport flight jockeying was reduced to a few short clips and a VO from Phil explaining which flight everyone was on.

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Looking Ahead to Season 14

Season 14 of the Amazing Race is just over a month away. I’m looking forward to it being back on the air. It’s been a dismal month for TV since it and Survivor went off the air. So, to introduce some spice into all our lives, I’m looking for suggestions on where you think the race is going this time around.

No spoilers, please. I and many others like to watch the episodes fresh without knowing what will happen.

I’ll start the speculation: They’ll start and end somewhere in the United States. I’m going to guess San Diego.