What Do The 'Amazing Race' Contestants Win?

In a recent comment, someone (you know who you are, Anon!) asked if the contestants on The Amazing Race who aren't the final team win anything.

Well, it's obvious that David and Mary won a lot from their appearance on The View, but that's not the norm for contestants. They seemed to just strike a chord with the folks on that show and reaped the benefits.

Of course, the true reward for being on The Amazing Race may be just the whole amazing whirlwind adrenalin trip. Contestants receive prizes for placing first, but do the others receive money?

Yes, but it's certainly not a get rich quick scheme. Not at all. The winners do welll with the million, but it goes drastically downhill from that point. I can't vouch that these figures are truly accurate, but here's the breakdown I found at answers.com:

1. $1,000,000
2. $25,000
3. $10,000
4. $7,000
5. $6,000
6. $5,000
7. $4,000
8. $3,500
9. $3,000

The lowest figure is probably more than a few would make at their day jobs for thirty days time. But, of course, the experience of being a contestant on the show is indeed priceless.

Tonight On The Box

Tonight, tonight, isn't like any other night...!

For starters, tonight is the last new Lost episode for the "fall season." Ah, yes, that seems to be something new out there in Television Land. A short taste of the series for the fall, then the rest starting in the winter running through into late spring. From what I've read, it seems to be formatted that way this season due to complaints about all the blocks of repeats during the actual season last year. I'm not sure which format bugs me more. With Lost, there's so much going on that a two or three month hiatus and my increasingly lost memory may make me forget what has happened before on the show. It will return February 7. I guess we'll see, and I most certainly will be watching tonight's episode and blogging it, too! ABC - 9 PM ET/PT

Before Lost, I'll be in Jericho. I've grown a bit iffy on this one, but continue to follow it. No, I haven't been blogging so much about it, but there are only so many shows I can cover in-depth before my head explodes. Or something. As we learn more about the background of some of the characters, I have to know what role they'll take on as the world of an isolated nuclear survivor town goes on. CBS - 8 PM ET/PT

Competing in that 8 PM time slot are Bones (FOX) - a show I enjoy but will really have to pick up in the reruns this season; The Biggest Loser (NBC) - a show I've never watched yet know a lot of folks really love it, and Dancing With The Stars (ABC) - a show I've caught now and then, but all I can really say is that I was relieved when Jerry Springer finally was voted off. I should note that The Biggest Loser is a two-hour episode tonight. (Thus noted!)

Up against Lost (though I'm a hands-down Lost watcher) is Criminal Minds on CBS. That's another one I really have to try to get into during reruns. I know I should like it, but I've only seen it once and it didn't jump out and grab me. The new season of The O.C. (FOX) also starts. Now, I don't watch that one at all.

At 10 PM ET/PT, the major networks have C.S.I.: NY (CBS), Dateline NBC, and The Nine (ABC). The Nine has lost me as I've become lackadaisical about watching it the past few weeks. I was excited when it first started, but the series took a nose-dive for me by the second episode. I actually enjoy many of the Dateline segments (I can be a newsy-hound at times), but I'll probably go with C.S.I.: NY for my hour.

In late night viewing, tonight is a new Letterman complete with Dustin Hoffman. Woohoo! I'll be watching while wearing my fuzzy bunny slippers and robe.

Um.

Maybe that was too much information.

What will you be watching tonight? Remember when Wednesdays didn't offer us such a great array of shows?

TV Newsy Bits - Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Well, tonight's a good night for the more political-leaning readers of the blog. But, not so much for me. Letterman is scheduled way late here and it's a rerun. Nothing really struck me tonight. I watched Law and Order: Criminal Intent, but kept getting distracted, so don't ask me what happened. Right now I have an rerun on Law and Order: SVU on the USA network on in the background.

Several blog readers mentioned today's The View with the appearance of David and Mary, the most recent team to be Philiminated on The Amazing Race. I was at work, so I missed it. But, thank you for filling me in! I found the show's official recap mention of it on the official website. I'm happy for the couple - if anyone could use a hand up, they can. I think the show has probably really changed their lives for the better.

The other day I wrote an article exclusive to Blogcritics about AOL's Gold Rush and its final rounds this week on Entertainment Tonight. I really had high hopes that one of the blog readers would have made it. It's not the same as if I were to win a chunk of money, I'd still get warm fuzzies. Maybe next time, eh?

Another article I wrote for there and didn't post here (because I really had no interest in the show - it was against Lost and Criminal Minds and one of those would snag me before yet another quiz show) was about The Rich List. Oops! Yanked from the schedule and even the FOX website after one episode as if it never existed!

By the way, the reason the articles were written for there was because they asked for them. I'm not really hiding stuff. If I write something specifically for them, I can post it here a few days later or link it, as I just did.

Welp, that's about it for tonight.

Did you watch anything interesting besides election coverage?

TV Newsy Bits - Monday, November 6, 2006

Ah, another good episode of Heroes tonight. Now Micah is turning into one of them, too. The teaser for next week was about whether the Horn-Rimmed Glasses Guy was good or evil. I've been thinking evil, but since they mentioned it, I'll change my vote to good.

If I were to have a superpower, I'd go for flying. I have no need to be the Incredible Hulk or certainly not the Beast. But, flying? Well, that would beat NJ traffic and be a heck of a lot cheaper, too!

In other television news:

• Yahoo! Top Stories - Virtual "Big Brother" to be launched in Second Life - Um, call me dense, but I'm just not getting this, not at all. Is it like Big Brother gone Sims? Help.
• Next Week's Amazing Race - Mild Spoilers
• Why Race outpaces reality - I really liked this article about how The Amazing Race is different from other reality television shows. I think you'll enjoy it.
• FOX Announces American Idol Season 6 Premiere January 17th - Last year had a different group of competitors, to put it mildly. I wonder what we're in for this season?

I watched How I Met Your Mother tonight, too. Oh, he's gay. He admits it. So what? It was a cute episode. I loved the name bit with Barney and I like the show more when Lily and Marshall are together. Are you watching?

Remember - 'The Bachelor' and 'Nip/Tuck' <-- join the discussion!

'The Amazing Race 10' - Ep. 8 -or- "Cow's Lips, They're Not Just For Breakfast Anymore"

Six teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?

In last week's non-elimination leg, David and Mary were once again saved, but marked for elimination. They must finish in first place tonight or suffer a 30-minute penalty which could very well cost them the game.

So, how did it all pan out?

The teams left Mauritius, the site of the seventh Pit Stop in the game, twelve hours after they arrived. Dustin and Kandice (Evil Beauty Queens) left first at 3:00 AM and the last team, David and Mary (Kentucky), departed at 4:08 AM. So, we're talking about a bit over an hour between first and last. That's not a huge time gap at all.

Having crashed their own car, the Evil Beauty Queens appropriated one of the cars belonging to another team. Their car was indeed drivable, but they apparently just didn't want to drive it. In the end, the ChoBros (Edwin and Godwin) ended up taking the damaged car.

The Six-Pack alliance between the ChoBros, Kentucky, and Alabama (Lyn and Karlyn) took an early hit when Alabama separated from the group heading for the airport. The ChoBros remained loyal to Kentucky, waiting for them and then leading the way. Of course, Kentucky is always loyal to their friends, but they're better for moral support than they are for leading the way.

The clue instructed them to drive to the airport where they would board a flight to Antanarivo, the capital city of Madagascar. Once there, they would have to find a statue entitled the Black Angel. Oh, there's a hitch. It was recently painted white. But the teams don't know that. All of the teams ended up on the same flight, so even the hour betwixt first and last no longer mattered.

Once on the ground, the teams all rushed about looking for a statue in a lake of a black angel. Too bad it's not black. I got a few smiles when Mary was so excited about being in Madagascar - "I've only seen the cartoon. I never thought I'd be here!" And, Lyn (Alabama) didn't know why they even had to look for a black angel - "I'm right here. Look no more!" On the other hand, Rob and Kimberly went on about exhaust fumes ruining the minds of the locals. Okay, if they say so. Have they never been to NYC or Los Angeles?

It took a while, but the teams finally figured out that the Black Angel was the white statue in a lake they kept passing by. Once there, we found out another new twist to the game. This is in addition to the surprise elimination of Bilal and Sa'eed and the changes for non-Philimination legs. It's an Intersection. What it means is that two teams must work together to perform the next clue's task. In the clue, there was also a Fast Forward.

Tyler/James (Rehabbed BoyToys) and Rob/Kimberly (Bickering Couple) were the first two teams at the clue and they jumped on the Fast Forward. If they successfully complete the FF quickly, they can go directly to the next Pit Stop, so I don't blame them. They also mentioned that they didn't really trust the Beauty Queens.

When the Evil Beauty Queens came along and realized that their "friends" had teamed up and left them behind they were miffed. They begged the ChoBros to team up with them as the Six-Pack Alliance arrived. And, so it was to be... Evil and the Shining Light of All that is Good and Kind, teamed together on a Detour.

Although Mary really wanted to give the Fast Forward a shot, no one knew how long ago the first team of four had been at the clue. It was a given that the first group would probably go for it as the numbers are dwindling and this would be the final Fast Forward in the race. So, the remaining teams headed to a Detour.

A Detour is choice between two tasks relating to local culture or practices. This Detour had the teams choosing between Long Sleep or Short Letter. In Long Sleep, teams had to cover, then deliver eight mattresses on foot through the city streets. In Short Letter, they would have to produce and decorate 28 ornate sheets of paper following a particular design. No one chose the latter.

As the teams struggled with unwieldy mattresses on busy streets and through narrow alleys, what were the FF bunch doing? Well, they had to eat a local delicacy. Cow lips. You heard me. I'm talking cow's lips with some hair and teeth for even extra fiber and texture! At least they looked fried and they had plenty of water to wash them down. The task turned stomachs and turned it into one of the slowest Fast Forwards ever seen on the show.

As they gagged their way through their unexpected gastronomical goody, the mattress-haulers had two different approaches to the task. The ChoBros/Evil Beauty Queens broke down the load to four each team of two and helped each other. Kentucky and Alabama tied all eight mattresses together with the straps from their fanny packs and tried to lug them all at once.

Once the mattresses were delivered, the Intersected Teams could once again split up. Dustin/Kandice made quick work of snagging a cab and getting ahead of the ChoBros. Kentucky and Alabama were desperately trying to keep their stacked mattresses moving towards the delivery point, but neither the mattresses nor the local street traffic was cooperating.

Oh. And the cow lip eaters were still eating and gagging. But they were so cocky about getting that Fast Forward, boasting how far ahead of the other teams they were and how they could take their time. Little did they know, a few teams were really making time.

Dustin/Kandice hit the next clue first. It was a Roadblock, a task only one member of a team can complete. This one wasn't all that physical unless running around like madmen looking for rubber stamps of a boat, plane, train, and car qualifies as physical. In a crowded marketplace, it was more exasperating than anything else.

The non-participating team members in the Roadblock waited for their partners right at the Pit Stop with Phil. The Evil Beauty Queens finished the task first and even beat the Fast Forward crowd to the Pit Stop. Then the FF group finally made their way to sneak on in before my favorites, the ChoBros.

The Pit Stop arrival in Madagascar was:

1. The Evil Beauty Queens, Dustin and Kandice - They also won a trip to Hawaii for placing first in the leg.
2. Tyler and James
3. Rob and Kimberly
4. Erwin and Godwin Cho
5. David and Mary - However, they had to wait out their 30-minute penalty as they were marked for elimination.
6. Lyn and Karlyn - Knocked David and Mary out of the race ten minutes into the penalty.

So, David and Mary, saved twice, couldn't be saved thrice. They took it well and Alabama cried over their departure. I knew this team couldn't make it to the end, but it was refreshing to see a team approach strange lands with the joy and thrill they showed throughout the race. They argued and yelled at each other, but I could tell they're a perfect match for each other. They had the time of their life and did their family proud.

Okay, I've switched my least-favorite team. Instead of the previous Rob/Kimberly, I now want Dustin and Kandice gone next. They're sneaky and they're strong - this is the second week in a row they've placed first in a leg. It's time for them to stumble and fall. Oh, perhaps not literally, but fall from the ranks of the racers.

Make it happen.