It was good to see "The Amazing Race" back in action tonight -- my wife and I are already caught up in it, picking teams we can't stand and the few that we're rooting for.
Aaron Barnhart e-mailed me this afternoon to predict that I'd be cheering for BJ & Tyler, "the hippies" who provide -- as Tony Shalhoub referred to Sam Rockwell in "Galaxy Quest" -- the plucky comic relief. But I'm kinda pulling for David & Lori the self-described "nerd" couple from Kansas that Aaron mentioned Monday afternoon on my KMOX show. It's nice to see some real people among the beauty queens and beach bums.
We also like Wanda and Desiree, the mother-daughter team who have a Rita Moreno/Natalie Portman thing going on. We were glad to see John & Scott finish last in the first leg and be eliminated, and hope that Lisa & Joni ("the frosties") are the next to go.
Lake & Michelle look like the new villains (a la Jonathan & Victoria), but Fran & Barry don't seem to have enough oomph or personality to pull off an older-couple coup (a la Teri & Ian). As for the rest, take your pick from the hot young babes to the buff young studs, all of whom are interchangeable.
Add your thoughts on the teams to the comments below.
Anyway, it's good to have Phil Keoghan and the whole TAR team back for another season. I'm sure at some point Phil will come back on my show to talk about it. In the meantime, you can hear several "Amazing Race" interviews from my KMOX show archives:
- Phil talks about the Family Edition they wrapped up last fall.
- Gretchen & Meredith talk about their adventures on "TAR 7"
- Brian & Greg, the brothers from Ellisville, MO, talk about wrecking and rolling their race vehicle in the African desert during "TAR7."
