Television Review: The Amazing Race Season 16

Could you imagine walking a tightrope the length of a football field in Chile?

That’s what 11 teams did on the 16th season premier of The Amazing Race (CBS-Sunday February 14 from 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm ET/PT). The one team to finish first after 12 legs of the race will win $1 million dollars.

The show starts in downtown Los Angeles where the 11 teams were introduced. The teams included:

* Caite and Brent – Dating models (by the way, Caite was Miss South Carolina and was the beauty who said that there are many people in the US who don’t have maps and that’s why they can’t locate the USA on a map. A Youtube video with Caite’s answer went viral across the Internet – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww)

* Louis and Michael – Detectives

* Steve and Allie – Father and Daughter team

* Jeff and Jordan – Dating (they were both contestants on Big Brother and now are dating as a result of the show)

* Monique and Shawne – Momtrepreneurs (the two are mothers and attorneys)

* Jet and Cord – Cowboys

* Andrian and Dana – Childhood sweethearts now 17 years married

* Jody and Shannon – Grandmother/granddaughter team (interestingly, both ran in half marathons and the grandmother is 71 years old)

* Carol and Brandy – Lesbian couple

* Dan and Jordan – Brothers (one is gay the other isn’t)

* Joe and Heidi – Married couple

The couples were told that their first challenge was to take public transportation to LAX airport where they would get on a flight to Santiago, Chile.

Jeff X the show’s host told the teams that only three will get on the first plane and all the remaining teams will go one hour later. It was exciting to watch as the 11 teams made their way to the airport.

At the airport, the cowboy team decided to change their money over. They exchanged it for Brazilian money instead of Chilean money, thinking it was the same thing. When they got to Chile they were surprised to learn that they were not allowed on the bus with Brazilian money and had to change it over to Chilean.

The teams took a bus to Valpariso, Chile, which is the San Francisco of South America and were told to walk across a thin cable the size of a football field. As I watched this, I was on edge. Some teams made it across like a breeze, but others were shaking and actually fell off the cable! It was frightening. You almost felt as if it could have been you on the cable!

When that challenge was completed, the teams were told to ride a Funicular to a residential area where they were to paint the outside of homes before getting their next clue.

I never laughed so hard when I saw one of the teams walking into a home and actually painting the interior. The Chilean painters were laughing and saying that they didn’t know what they were doing… It was hysterical!

I’ve been watching the Amazing Race with my family since it first went on the air. It’s one of those rare reality shows that we actually watch. We all enjoy it for the excitement and to get a sense of other cities around the globe. I’ll tell you one thing, after watching this show, I’m thinking that my next vacation will be in Chile!