| TV Review of "The Amazing Race" Ever since I started at my new job just over three months ago, more than a fair share of people have been asking me what I occupy myself with after hours. To be fair, I work anything from ten to twelve hours every weekday, plus the seven to eight hours that I�m unconscious to the world, it doesn�t really give me much time to do much else. I do try and catch the occasional movie from time to time, but as some of you who rivet yourselves to my Reviews page might well know, it has been quite a while since I�ve watched anything. Well, to be fair, I did watch about half a dozen shows in a European Film Festival we had here about a month ago, but to write about that would be too much effort on my part, given the limited readership for reviews of, say, Dutch movies. I also watched �My Big Fat Waste Of Time� � I mean, �Greek Wedding�, and I am still horrified by the amount of good reviews and the box office success surrounding that predictable pile of horseshit. Did I mention the runaway box office success on that one? And that I�m still horrified? So, with the French Film Festival in full swing (say that ten times fast � did you say �French Film Festival in full fwing� at any point?) where I am, it means I�m sating myself with another half a dozen movies for which reviews no one would be interested in. Okay, I do plan to thoroughly enjoy myself watching �Sweet Home Alabama� at some point. But, until we get there, you�re just gonna have to count your blessings (and I shall do the same) that you didn�t have to read about that abomination of a movie I saw a couple of nights back. I once wrote a cheeky e-mail to some friends about how French movies should not be considered arty-farty since they are either so slow-moving to the point of sleep-inducing or, you know, porn. (And with that single word, my readership for this piece will instantly rocket.) Well, the French flick that afflicted me last night was a combination of those two, plus it was also impossible to understand, to the point of being ridiculous. I mean, this isn�t me trying to understand the plotline of a porn flick, but this film actually won acclaim. Anyway, I�ve just about digressed far enough, to the point where if I were a waiter and you had asked for an apple pie, I had pretty much recounted the entire Snow White fairytale up to the point of the poisonous apple, and you are sitting there pretty much wishing that I was choking on a poisonous apple. The point, really, is that I haven�t got that much leisure time in the weeknights, and so, like so many working people out there, I either spend time reading or watching TV. Now, most days I spend enough time at work reading things (and this is the part where my boss interjects and tells you that I sometimes don�t bother to read the whole thing � wait, am I channeling my boss now? This is sad.), so I end up spending most of my time at home watching television. Now, before you start thinking of me as some couch potato (I would appreciate the chips and dip though � e-mail me and I�ll give you my address), I have to stress that I only end up watching TV about 2 to 3 times a week, as I often have other things to do. Like, you know, overtime. Over the past 3 months or so, I have been delighted by the quirky goings-on in Stuckeyville, on �Ed�, gasping at the latest cliffhanger on �Alias�, laughing at the gags and the hairstyles on �Scrubs�, valiantly attempting to solve the latest crimes on �CSI� and �Law & Order : Special Victims Unit�, chuckling to myself as I witness the incompetence on �Survivor : Thailand�, as well as collapsing through sheer boredom while sitting through the �plotlines� on �Smallville� (I�ve since stopped watching). But none of these shows has captured my attention and turned me into a crazy-obsessed fan the way �The Amazing Race� has. And I�m going to do my first review of a TV program by talking about this amazing show. Now, the thing is, living in Singapore as I am, we don�t get the TV programs at the same time as that in the States (and, of course, Canada). Due to the crazy scheduling of TV shows over there and the frequent pre-emptions or reruns, we tend to be a season behind on most shows. (For instance, the first season of �Snoreville� just started here; I understand it�s into its second season in the US.) However, we do get two TV shows the same time that they air in the States. The two are �Survivor� and �The Amazing Race�, which are two of the highest-rated shows in Singapore right now. So, I pretty much witness everything on these two shows the same day that it airs in the US. I guess the fact that they are reality shows means that it�s quite pointless to delay the telecast to the point where everybody already knows who got voted out, or eliminated. Well, the telecasts of �The Bachelor� and �Temptation Island� are delayed (and thank God we don�t get �Big Brother�) � but I guess the same-day telecast is only limited to shows that people actually care about. Now, I consider myself a late entrant to the �Amazing Race� fandom. This is due to the fact that in the previous seasons, I was away in England, and they never had that on TV over there. So, I only got in on the action during �The Amazing Race 3�. But I was hooked from the first episode on. Maybe it�s �cos I love travelling. Maybe it�s �cos it�s difficult to predict, at the beginning of each episode, who will get eliminated at the end of it. Maybe it�s �cos the show, more than any other reality show, has a lot more reality to it because you actually see people who know each other interact, behave under pressure, and battle the odds. Maybe it�s �cos putting up a fake front, backstabbing people, and playing a group against another will get you nowhere most of the time. It�s all about the game, and how streetsmart and daring you are in playing the game. For those of you who have never watched this show (oh boy you don�t know what you�re missing), here�s a quick recap on how it works. Teams have to race around the world on a specified number of legs. On most legs, the last team to reach the pit stop will be eliminated. Teams depart from their pit stop in the order in which they arrived, after 12 hours of mandatory rest time for each team. On each leg, teams will have to perform a series of tasks. Apart from the usual navigating, catching various forms of transport, and finding places (which often bring out the unintended comedy), there are three types of tasks. The first is the Detour, which is often a classic choice between two tasks, each with their own pros and cons. One task invariably takes more time, but will surely get you there. The other task is fast, but involves a certain amount of risks. For instance, in a recent episode, teams had to decide between rappelling down a steep cliff, or taking a long walk down. The second is called the Roadblock, which is a task only one member can perform � as is often the case, teams should compare the relative suitability of the two individuals in the team in performing the task, and go with the more (relatively) skilled one, whatever the task. The third task is called the Fast Forward, which is something each team can only perform once in the entire Race. The Fast Forward enables the team that wins it (by performing some rather challenging task) to skip all other tasks and head straight to the pit stop � helpful if you�re the last team and chasing everyone else�s dust trail. And to those of you reading and who have a chance to catch this fabulous show, here�s me pitching for next week�s episode. It�s a two-hour special and the teams will be travelling to Singapore, which is where I�m staying now and where I call home. This island is often misunderstood (some people think we�re all zombies here who are cloned to obey rules, some people think being caught chewing a stick of gum here will equate to a good spanking plus a life sentence � well, it�s all wrong), so if you haven�t ever had the chance to come down here where the sun shines and well, doesn�t stop shining for 12 hours every single day of the year, then here�s your chance to sneak a peek. Let your TV transport you, and let�s race along with �The Amazing Race�. R.D.�s Rating : �Race� is RAWKING!! It�s a RAWKING DAWG for sure! (What�s a RAWKING DAWG? Check out R.D.�s rating system here.) Sound off!! Just how amazing is �The Amazing Race� � very amazing, or pretty damn amazing? How chuffed are you that the �Race� will be making a pit stop in Singapore? And to all the Singaporeans who are reading this, how does the idea of watching the season finale together in a pub or restaurant sound? � Amazing? Tell me here. |