TAR All-Stars discussion thread

[earendel]

Well, since no one else has started one, I'll do it.

I didn't get a chance to see the first episode when it aired (my DVR ate it and it doesn't show up on my "On Demand" programming) so I caught it online. I found it very hard to believe that Bopper only found out the night before the race that he couldn't participate and that they were able to get Mallory from Kentucky to the starting line in time. Yeah, it's tear-jerking television but CBS should give viewers some credit. I suppose there could have been a health issue that had been developing and the show had Mallory available on a stand-by basis.

One would think that after being on the race once (or in some cases twice) people would have learned how to think calmly and rationally and analytically. The "twinnies" certainly didn't seem to have learned much from their previous experience, and Mallory's forgetting the backpack (and then suggesting that it wasn't her fault even after she was told to remember the backpack) seems inexcusable. I can't say that I was surprised that Team Kentucky was eliminated early on - a change in the team "at the last minute" is certainly likely to disrupt the chemistry. I predict, however, that Mark and Bopper will be back for the next edition of all-stars.

[MarleysGh0st]

You don't believe TPTB? How cynical!

I wonder how well Mallory would have done is she had continued on the race with only the clothes on her back, as she was so willing to have Mark do? Particularly when the race got to some snowy country.

[geoffil]

In all of China the kicking of an object was the most interesting detour they could come up with? That was so boring.

[earendel]

In all of China the kicking of an object was the most interesting detour they could come up with? That was so boring.

I couldn't understand why no one attempted the "cupping" side of the detour.

[melleon]

What were those cowboys thinking?! Those girls were gone for sure, why wouldn't the boys want a strong team (in comparison to say the Kentucky's) early on?

[a1mamacat]

What were those cowboys thinking?! Those girls were gone for sure, why wouldn't the boys want a strong team (in comparison to say the Kentucky's) early on?

Because the Boob Queens are NOT a strong team, and the other two teams that they knew were still there were stronger. They know that they can easily beat the Boob Queens later on. They didn't know that Mark and Mallory were so far behind because of the backpack fiasco, and they also wanted to be done with the pass.

[earendel]

This week my annoyance is with the editors of the show. They kept showing these ominous black clouds, leading me to believe that a storm was going to break out while the teams were rafting, but no, all that happened was that some of the teams made it to the mat in the rain.

I can't believe that Dan and Connor won the leg after missing the place where they were supposed to unload the supplies, walking back with the heavy box, and then walking back to where their raft was. I would have thought it would have been a better strategy just to say "we're switching" and do the "run through the jungle" since they were already there. But, since they came in first anyway, I guess it didn't matter.

[tanstaafl2]

This week my annoyance is with the editors of the show. They kept showing these ominous black clouds, leading me to believe that a storm was going to break out while the teams were rafting, but no, all that happened was that some of the teams made it to the mat in the rain.

I can't believe that Dan and Connor won the leg after missing the place where they were supposed to unload the supplies, walking back with the heavy box, and then walking back to where their raft was. I would have thought it would have been a better strategy just to say "we're switching" and do the "run through the jungle" since they were already there. But, since they came in first anyway, I guess it didn't matter.

That was rather odd. I suspect it wasn't all that far and the editing just made it seem that way.

[jaybee]

On alternate contestants:

Way back on Survivor Australia - Where Tina Wesson won. Tina lived in my town so there was a lot of extra info floating around out there. She was originally an alternate and replaced someone who had to drop out (can't remember the reason). However, the process was that Survivor actually starts before they hit the island - I got the impression that all cast members were out in LA from one to two weeks in advance - Although all were in the same place and could see each other, there was no direct interaction between contestants. But I digress - my whole point being that in addition to those that actually made the show, there were several alternates who did the Survivor 'training' but never made it on the show.

So if somebody has to bow out - even at the last minute - all they have to do is pull in the #1 alternate who is all prepped to go.

While this was for Survivor I would bet that it is a similar process for TAR. It would be difficult to be able to find a contestant at the last minute who could arrange their life so that they could compete on TAR. I'm sure that a part of being approved is that you can arrange the time - that's a no-brainer. Still, there is some advance time needed for most people to arrange things like a leave of absence from work, child-care etc. More telling is the fact that reality TV does not take chances on not having enough players. The whole game-show process is way to complex and way too expensive to risk a delay - the reality is that there are no delays.

Speculation but I'd bet that this seasons unused alternates could easily be next seasons contestants.

[earendel]

On alternate contestants:

Way back on Survivor Australia - Where Tina Wesson won. Tina lived in my town so there was a lot of extra info floating around out there. She was originally an alternate and replaced someone who had to drop out (can't remember the reason). However, the process was that Survivor actually starts before they hit the island - I got the impression that all cast members were out in LA from one to two weeks in advance - Although all were in the same place and could see each other, there was no direct interaction between contestants. But I digress - my whole point being that in addition to those that actually made the show, there were several alternates who did the Survivor 'training' but never made it on the show.

So if somebody has to bow out - even at the last minute - all they have to do is pull in the #1 alternate who is all prepped to go.

While this was for Survivor I would bet that it is a similar process for TAR. It would be difficult to be able to find a contestant at the last minute who could arrange their life so that they could compete on TAR. I'm sure that a part of being approved is that you can arrange the time - that's a no-brainer. Still, there is some advance time needed for most people to arrange things like a leave of absence from work, child-care etc. More telling is the fact that reality TV does not take chances on not having enough players. The whole game-show process is way to complex and way too expensive to risk a delay - the reality is that there are no delays.

Speculation but I'd bet that this seasons unused alternates could easily be next seasons contestants.

I'm quite sure you're right; what I objected to was the way the show staff tried to make the audience think that this was a "spur of the moment" switch.

[jaybee]

[quote="earendel"][/quote]

There is no spur of the moment in TV production.

[earendel]

Last night's show seemed to be lacking for drama.

Spoiler

And I predicted that it would be a non-elimination leg.

[geoffil]

If they keep doing such lame roadblocks and detours, the viewers will start tuning out. I enjoy learning about the culture of the countries and want to see tasks that are specific to a country. Spinning records are you kidding me?They must have such lazy producers to come up with that. The show spent so much time on the cocktail pouring. I would rather see the country then red and yellow liquid poured into glasses.

[tanstaafl2]

Last night's show seemed to be lacking for drama.

Spoiler

And I predicted that it would be a non-elimination leg.

Lacking for drama is something of an understatement!

It also appeared to be a pretty quick leg. First team started about 0900 in Kota Kinabalu and flew to Kuala Lumpur which is apparently the same time zone. They finished the last task in the night club that same evening although it appeared to be well after midnight for the last team.

[MarleysGh0st]

They finished the last task in the night club that same evening although it appeared to be well after midnight for the last team.

I wonder if the nightclub advertised the fact that an American reality show would be filming there, that night? And how long did it take their customers to go from "that sounds interesting" to "this is really boring"?

Interspersed, perhaps, with an occasional "back away, I think he's going to become violent!"

[earendel]

Last night's results were pretty predictable.

Spoiler

Margie and Luke decided not to take the gamble on the connector flight through Singapore and it cost them 10 hours. Even with the designated queue up at the monastery, there wasn't any chance that they could make up that time. As for the detour, I wonder if they brought in some fish in order to make sure that there would be some to be caught. On the other side, that seemed tailor-made for Flight Time and Big Easy. And I hope the workers at the shirt factory were compensated for the time they lost watching the contestants (I suspect they are paid piecework).

[MarleysGh0st]

Thanks for that report. TAR started 40 minutes late, because of the basketball games, so I missed everything after

Spoiler

Margie and Luke missing their flight. What was that about the shirt factory? Were the contestants to make some cheap, foreign imports to bring back home?

It still annoys me when a team takes a big gamble and wins, but it means nothing because they all get bunched up waiting for some venue to open. That's the opposite of "racing".

[earendel]

Thanks for that report. TAR started 40 minutes late, because of the basketball games, so I missed everything after

Spoiler

Margie and Luke missing their flight. What was that about the shirt factory? Were the contestants to make some cheap, foreign imports to bring back home?

It still annoys me when a team takes a big gamble and wins, but it means nothing because they all get bunched up waiting for some venue to open. That's the opposite of "racing".

The shirt factory was a Road Block. One of the team members had to assemble a shirt using a particular pattern. It involved putting the pieces together and using a sewing machine to attach them.

[tanstaafl2]

Last night's results were pretty predictable.

Spoiler

Margie and Luke decided not to take the gamble on the connector flight through Singapore and it cost them 10 hours. Even with the designated queue up at the monastery, there wasn't any chance that they could make up that time. As for the detour, I wonder if they brought in some fish in order to make sure that there would be some to be caught. On the other side, that seemed tailor-made for Flight Time and Big Easy. And I hope the workers at the shirt factory were compensated for the time they lost watching the contestants (I suspect they are paid piecework).

Hard to "bring in some fish" in the ocean! They are either there or they aren't! The underwater camera showed that fish were present. I suspect there was an element of technique to it in order to hook the little scaly bastiges.

I was really surprised they had a flight situation where there wasn't a second flight, other than the really crazy short layover in Singapore, that didn't allow the teams not making the flight to have a better option than a 10 hour delay. Maybe they thought nobody was dumb enough to try to make that connection in Singapore and that two teams would end up going H2H for last place.

But apparently they still don't know "Brenchel" well enough yet...

[MarleysGh0st]

I was really surprised they had a flight situation where there wasn't a second flight, other than the really crazy short layover in Singapore, that didn't allow the teams not making the flight to have a better option than a 10 hour delay. Maybe they thought nobody was dumb enough to try to make that connection in Singapore and that two teams would end up going H2H for last place.

I often wonder about the airline flights, which typically have just enough seats left over for half the teams. Is this another situation where the producers leave nothing to chance by reserving exactly the number of seats they desire, which the teams can claim with a special group code? If not, you'd think there'd be times when the desirable flights are totally booked up and everyone has to wait longer than planned for, or there'd be seats for one lucky team only, or...

[earendel]

I was really surprised they had a flight situation where there wasn't a second flight, other than the really crazy short layover in Singapore, that didn't allow the teams not making the flight to have a better option than a 10 hour delay. Maybe they thought nobody was dumb enough to try to make that connection in Singapore and that two teams would end up going H2H for last place.

I often wonder about the airline flights, which typically have just enough seats left over for half the teams. Is this another situation where the producers leave nothing to chance by reserving exactly the number of seats they desire, which the teams can claim with a special group code? If not, you'd think there'd be times when the desirable flights are totally booked up and everyone has to wait longer than planned for, or there'd be seats for one lucky team only, or...

I always thought the producers bought the specified number of tickets depending upon whether they wanted to separate the teams or keep them together - assuming that the rest of the seats would fill up normally.

[earendel]

I liked this episode.

Spoiler

There was a lot of actual (instead of contrived) drama in this one, with teams racing to the mat. Of course there was the obligatory queueing up at the beginning, but I can overlook that. The Road Block was funny, and it's a good thing there weren't any smokers around, given the amount of gasoline that spewed out. Rachel's misreading of the clue didn't prove to be a total disaster. This was the 2nd (and last?) non-elimination leg so Caroline and Jennifer were saved by that.

[MarkBarrett]

The Twinnies are coming back next week as a replacement team due to one team breaking a local law and getting detained. Natalie and Nadiya were nearby in Sri Lanka vacationing and were the closest team ready at a moment's notice.

Spoiler

April Fool's

[MarleysGh0st]

I missed the last 20 minutes due to another basketball game going overtime. So it was another non-elimination leg?

Spoiler

There were at least two bunching ups in a row this week: first, waiting for the museum to open and then again, when they had to wait for the train. And every time that happens, it makes the preceding part of the show meaningless.

Well, I guess someone could have screwed up the gas-pumping challenge badly enough to miss that train, but even failing to read the clue wasn't enough for that. And how does an "all-star" fail to read a clue???

[elwoodblues]

It was another non-elimination leg. And when they say "All-Stars" they are referring to the teams they think we want to see again, and even then you have to wonder what they were thinking in some cases.