I am a loyalist when it comes to my TV shows. The cases where I’ve stopped watching a long-running show are few and far between, and no matter how routine and mundane The Amazing Race gets season after season, I stick with it just in the hope that there will be some interesting tasks like in the early days or even some interesting teams to root for (seeing the locations in HD was a nice bonus this season). But the show has jumped the shark several times with its own brand of stunt casting.
As someone who has applied to be on the show, it really irks me when they cast well-known celebrity types and sports figures, like the Globetrotters. I could care less if these people who almost certainly have earned more in their careers than they’ll make by running the Race take home another million dollars. I much prefer seeing “real” people — like myself — doing this because of the adventure and because they could genuinely use the money. I haven’t heard any of the more well-off folks say they would donate their winnings to charity, but if they did I could give them a pass. Still, I’d prefer the show cast the “Average Joe,” the middle-aged husband and wife, the grandmothers … anyone but a celebrity.
Worst of all, however, is this trend to cast the show with couples from other CBS reality shows. It all started with Alison and Donny from Big Brother. No one liked them on that show and viewers were besides themselves with glee when they imploded during the Race and were eliminated on the second leg. A couple of years later, we were subjected to Rob and Amber who used their Survivor notoriety to advance them further and further in the game (they finished in second place). They were followed by another Big Brother couple, Jeff and Jordan. While they were “America’s Sweethearts” on BB, Jordan had just won their season, so let’s spread the CBS wealth around a bit, shall we? (But I guess it could be worse if this were NBC and we were subjected to Real Housewives crossovers!)
Now comes word that another Survivor couple will be participating in the upcoming season of The Amazing Race — Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca. As much as being snubbed yet again by the casting directors hurts, I have to say that I am pretty much okay with Ethan and Jenna running the Race. Ethan has always been one of the most likable participants of Survivor and his battles with cancer over the past several years (he’s now cancer-free) have been heartbreaking and inspiring. He even ran in the New York marathon a year after being treated for lymphoma. Through it all, Jenna has been by his side supporting him through all of the good and bad times. Ethan is also the co-founder of Grassroots Soccer, an organization that uses soccer to educate and mobilize people to stop the spread of HIV. I don’t know how anyone is going to be able to run against these two and not feel guilty for, say, U-Turning them and knocking them out of the Race. If it came down to my team and them, I’d still go for the win … but I’d have to donate some of my winnings to their charity too.
So best of luck to Ethan and Jenna as they run The Amazing Race (which started shooting this week). I will definitely be tuning in to cheer them on! At least it’s not Rob and Russell, right?
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Jun 23, 2011 @ 12:01 EST5EDT
Not to mention Rob & Amber competed twice.
It’s a mixed bag but I really like Ethan so good for him :-)
What a small minded petty article. The writer of this article really needs to stop the envy trip.
Globetrotters do not make a lot of money. Rather than assuming you should check out their payscale.
*POST AUTHOR*
Petty? You are focusing on one paragraph and missing the point of the entire post. It’s about how the producers feel the need to cast “names” now instead of just real people to draw in viewers. There have been other sports figures on the show besides the Globetrotters, and maybe they do or don’t make $500,000 a piece during their careers (I didn’t say per year). The point of the article is that it’s lame when CBS and the producers continue to dip into their own former contestant pool to cast another show. BUT, I like Ethan and Jenna and I’ll be rooting for them. I just wish that the producers could come up with maybe some better tasks and challenges than they have recently to draw people in instead of relying on stunt casting.
I’m sure there might be some Globetrotters who have made that type of coin over the years, I doubt if you plucked two guys off the middle of the bench, as these contestants are sure to be, and 1m would be a big impact.
*POST AUTHOR*
Like I said to the guy above, the post wasn’t really about that, it was about how CBS keeps dipping into its own pool to cast The Amazing Race instead of casting “real” people like they used to. There has also been a reliance on either well-known names, like the Globetrotters as an example, to draw in viewers instead of having the confidence in the challenges of the show to get people to watch (because the tasks have been pretty lame in recent seasons). They were just the most recent of the well-known names that I could think of, and they may or may not make $500,000 each during their entire career (I didn’t say “per year,” mind you), but that wasn’t really the point of the post. I guess that was just some misplaced judgment on my part … but at least I didn’t call Christopher Nolan a hack!
I guess I just think the Globetrotters are a bad example. They’re not that well known.
I mean, quick name two current Globetrotters (that haven’t been on the show).
But I still say MC is a vastly overrated actress!!!!
*POST AUTHOR*
Well, Flite Time and Big Easy are not the well-known names, however the Harlem Globetrotters in general IS a well-known name and one that would draw in some viewers. But, again, the post wasn’t really about them specifically, it was about the former Survivor and Big Brother contestants that get cast on The Amazing Race.
And the Bat Voice was totally over-done in the second movie!
Well, I can count the complete seasons of any reality TV show competition on 1 finger, so I wouldn’t know Adam from Eve.
And the damn thing isn’t nearly as good as you think it is. (Inception, not TDK (actually that IS my opinion)).
. . . . .
Michael <——- has started an Excel spreadsheet