Season 9
The Amazing Race returns for its ninth season with eleven new teams racing around the world for the million dollar prize.
The race begins with a two hour premiere episode and racers set off from Denver, Colorado. From Denver, racers head off to São Paulo, Brazil and the battle begins.
The eleven teams racing are (in no particular order):
Lake and Michelle Garner
Married parents
Lake & Michelle are a close-knit married couple from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. They met as freshmen in college and have been married for 13 years.
Lake is a dentist who has limited travelling experience outside of the United States. While he describes himself as energetic and motivated, Michelle notes that he's your typical Type A personality, very impatient and always looking for ways to do it better.
Michelle is a stay-at-home mother of three who works part-time in Lake's office. She claims that she's much more laid back than her husband and hopes this won't cause friction between the two while taking part on The Amazing Race.
Michelle sees herself as being loyal, kind and loving and is running the Race to prove to herself and Lake that she's capable of accomplishing things.
While Lake & Michelle are both aware of their personality differences, they feel they work well together and hope their differences will actually help them as they travel the world on the Race.
Danielle Turner and Dani Torchio
Childhood friends
Danielle & Dani are childhood friends hailing from Staten Island, New York. The two beauties met over 10 years ago and have been inseparable ever since.
Outgoing and talkative, Danielle, who recently graduated from St. Johns University with a degree in Speech Pathology, has limited experience when it comes to traveling abroad and is eager to see what this globetrotting adventure has to offer.
Dani recently graduated at the top of her class from Wagner College. She describes herself as being fun-loving, wild and eager to get out of Staten Island. Like her teammate, Dani also hasn't traveled very much. She hopes the Race will provide her with the chance to explore all the different cultures in the world.
Armed with bold personalities and a fearless attitude, the duo believes that anything is possible with good looks and thick accents, which they aren't afraid to use if it helps them to win the $1 million prize.
BJ Averell and Tyler Macniven
Best friends
BJ & Tyler are bohemian best buds who first met four years ago during the Semester at Sea program, where they shared the experience of sailing around the world.
One of their most memorable moments was starting a dance party in the streets of downtown Guilin, China, which turned into a mass gathering of hundreds of Chinese men. They have been friends ever since, whether bouncing on trampolines at Burning Man or spontaneously swimming in the San Francisco Bay.
BJ is a graduate of Harvard University, while Tyler graduated from UC Santa Cruz after completing two semesters abroad - one in Hungary, the other in South Africa. Both have travelled the world extensively and speak several languages including Spanish and Japanese.
Both BJ & Tyler share a love of adventure, travel, and good times. After graduating from college, BJ moved to California to pursue surfing, karate and frisbee. Meanwhile, Tyler fell in love with a Japanese girl and decided to impress her by walking the 2000-mile length of Japan.
Their primary motivation for taking part in The Amazing Race is to share in the adventure of racing around the world, meeting new people and, of course, winning $1 million.
Yolanda Brown-Moore and Ray Whitty
Dating
Ray & Yolanda have been dating for five years. An accomplished athlete, Yolanda ran track with Ray's cousin at the University of Florida.
One day while visiting his cousin at the track, Ray was introduced to Yolanda, but it wasn't until later that the two were reacquainted and exchanged phone numbers.
Natives of Florida, Ray & Yolanda now reside in Chicago, Illinois. Yolanda grew up in Gainesville, Florida and was a math and science teacher in Miami before she recently moved in with Ray, who is originally from Jacksonville. After receiving his law degree from the University of Miami and practicing law in South Florida, Ray accepted a position as an attorney in Chicago.
While Ray is said to be the more disciplined of the two, both describe themselves as opinionated and stubborn. Yolanda admits that she has a bit of trouble finishing what she's started and Ray claims that she often runs late. Nevertheless, Yolanda & Ray enjoy working out together and are looking forward to the adventure of the Race and the thrill of competition.
John Lowe and Scott Braginton-Smith
Lifelong friends
John & Scott met in high school and have been friends for more than 25 years. The men differ in that John admits to being too controlling at times where Scott is not controlling at all.
John, who is single, lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he works as a wealth manager and artist. He also plans to pursue a career in real estate one day.
When he's not working, John enjoys spending time on Cape Cod with his two Great Danes, Hector and Percy. His proudest accomplishments include purchasing and renovating his 1883 brownstone and completing the Boston to New York AIDS 250-Mile Bike Ride.
Scott, who is in sales, currently resides on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He describes himself as a fun and gregarious person whose personal motto is "live, live, live." He claims that the most exciting moment in life has yet to happen.
The lively duo share memories from road trips they've taken to New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. However, you won't hear of any far off places that they've traveled to because John has a fear of flying and hasn't been on a plane in over eight years.
One of the main reasons for going on the Race is John's hope that he will overcome his fears while both friends will be able to see the world together.
David Spiker and Lori Willems
Dating
David & Lori are a couple from Manhattan, Kansas who have been dating for three years. Although Lori is ready to get married, David would like to get his career off the ground before he ties the knot.
Describing himself as intelligent and compassionate, David has done little traveling, but is eager to explore the world. He received Bachelor's of Arts and Science degrees from Kansas State University.
A musician who is very involved with his local underground music scene, David's many bands have released three full length CDs and have played in several local music festivals and venues across the country. His one phobia is heights.
An assistant manager at Pizza Hut, Lori says she is energetic, understanding and willing. She also believes herself to be more spontaneous than her partner, who is more reserved and likes to have a plan. Nevertheless, they look forward to working together as they travel around the world and learn about different cultures on the Race.
Eric Sanchez and Jeremy Ryan
Friends
Jeremy & Eric, best friends from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, met while running college track at Johnson County Community College.
Both are admittedly cocky, very competitive and strong athletes. They are avid volleyball players who frequently compete in local tournaments.
Sarcastic and patient, Jeremy is well-traveled and ready for the adventure of a lifetime. He works as a valet and is hoping the Race will help him to make something of his life.
Eric, who works as a waiter and a bartender, has little experience traveling outside of the United States. A two-time NJCAA Track and Field All American in the pole vault, Eric describes himself as being athletic and outgoing. His biggest pet peeve about his teammate is that Jeremy won't take criticism.
The former collegiate athletes hope their physical abilities will help carry them past the competition to the $1 million prize.
Fran and Barry Lazarus
Married 40 years
Fran & Barry have known each other for 45 years and have been married for over 40. The proud parents of two children, this adventure-loving couple makes their home in Summit County, Colorado.
Although they travel a lot, the word "vacation" is not a frequently used term in their home. They prefer to refer to their trips around the world as "adventure travel."
Fran, who is 61 years old, is a retired accountant who describes herself as having a positive outlook on life. Fran enjoys skiing, biking, and hiking and has climbed all of Colorado's 54 14ers, which are the Colorado mountain peaks that exceed 14,000 feet. Fran admits that she's running The Amazing Race to show that "old people" can compete just as well as most 25 year olds.
Barry, who is 63 years old, thrives on challenging himself and loves to compete. A retired urologist and former battalion surgeon with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, Barry describes himself as outgoing and dependable.
His biggest disappointment with regards to Fran was that she refused to bungee jump from a bridge in New Zealand. Although he does point out that she made good by agreeing to skydive.
Having travelled to more than 45 countries together, these high school sweethearts are hoping their previous traveling experience will give them an advantage over the other Teams.
Lisa Hinds and Joni Glaze
Sisters
Lisa & Joni are sisters who have lived apart from one another for almost 20 years. After their father passed away, Joni opted to stay in Texas with their mom, while Lisa moved to Florida.
The sisters hope their experience on The Amazing Race will help them to reconnect with one another and make up for lost time.
Lisa, who lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, is also a mother of two and has been married for seven years. Several years ago, Lisa accomplished her longtime goal of opening her own art gallery. She's an avid artist who enjoys anything creative and describes herself as smart, determined and competitive.
Joni, who resides in Katy, Texas, is the mother of two and has been married for 10 years. She has never traveled outside of the United States and is quite eager to see what the world has to offer. Funny and headstrong, Join claims to be a people person who is much more patient than her teammate.
This outgoing twosome are loud, rambunctious, and each stand over six feet tall. If they win the $1 million prize, both Lisa & Joni admit that they would like to get some plastic surgery.
Joseph Meadows and Monica Cayce
Dating couple
Joseph & Monica have been dating for the past three years. This fun-loving couple met at a local bar in Fayetteville, Arkansas during college when Joseph claims he "just about broke his neck when Monica walked through the door."
After a brief separation for a few months, they missed each other tremendously and decided to give their relationship a second try. They've been together ever since.
Joseph describes himself as confident and funny, while Monica is independent and tenacious. Born and raised in the South, the couple shares a love of country music, wakeboarding and traveling. Joseph's proudest accomplishment has been building and selling his first home.
Although Monica's primary motivation for taking part on The Amazing Race is to pay off her student loans, both she and Joseph are eager to take part in an experience that will bond them for life.
Wanda Lopez-Rochford and Desiree Cifre
Mother and daughter
Wanda & Desiree are a mother and daughter Team with a close-knit bond. Both women have a great sense of humour and enjoy shopping, traveling and cooking.
Wanda, a corporate trainer, is married and lives in Smyrna, Georgia. Fluent in Spanish, Wanda has previously lived in New York and Puerto Rico. One of the accomplishments for which Wanda is most proud is earning two college degrees while raising her daughter. More recently, Wanda was able to share in the excitement of watching Desiree graduate from NYU.
Desiree resides in New York City where she works as a writer. Currently in a steady relationship, she describes herself as passionate and artistic. An only child, her biggest pet peeve about her mother is that she tends to be overprotective.
Although they are definitely playing to win, Wanda & Desiree also hope to expand their knowledge of different cultures while seeing the world on the Race.
Concept
The original idea for The Amazing Race began as a bet between current producers Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, with van Munster challenging Doganieri to develop a concept for a TV show in less than five minutes while both were attending a trade convention.
With Doganieri's suggestion of a race around the world, the two refined the concept and sold it to CBS.
Format
The present form of The Amazing Race, for the most part, has not changed from the first season. The race utilizes progressive elimination: the last team to arrive at a designated checkpoint (Pit Stop) leaves the game.
The race starts in a US city. Teams must then follow clues and instructions and make their way to checkpoints in places around the world, eventually racing back to the finish line in the US.
Along the way they perform tasks that represent the culture of the present country or city.
Tasks include Detours (an option between two tasks of various difficulty) and Roadblocks (a task that can be done by only one member of a team); additionally, other optional markers, if reached first, can provide a team with a Fast Forward (allowing a team to skip remaining tasks and go to the checkpoint), a Yield (the ability to delay another team for a short amount of time) or a U-Turn (the ability to force another team to do the other detour they didn't choose).
Teams race with limited possessions and are given a fixed amount of money for all travel purposes save for airline tickets, which are paid for by production-issued credit cards.
Production
The production of The Amazing Race is an extremely difficult aspect, given that unlike other reality TV shows, the show continues to move about the world all the time.
Despite such difficulties, the show has been nominated twenty times for Primetime Emmy Awards, winning ten times.
Pre-race
Production will scope out several locations for the race and will send people to investigate potential tasks and activities to be performed in the tasks. Production also must work with the local governments to acquire filming rights and allowances for the race.
Most of the tasks are attempted by production to determine the difficulty and timing with each task as well as to determine how to shoot that task.
Teams are selected through a multi-step interview process, usually starting with country-wide interviews at a few major cities. Once teams have been selected, teams are given a list of countries that they will need to apply for visas for.
To avoid spoiling too much of the race, this list includes more countries than are planned to be visited, so that teams cannot plan on where they will be visiting.
For clothing, teams are generally asked to plan for coordinating clothes, at least in the first few legs, to help with team identity and differentiation.
Some teams have taken it upon themselves to procure custom clothes with their personal team moniker or names (examples include Joe & Bill from Season 1, Ken & Gerard and Aaron & Arianne from Season 3, Marshall & Lance and Linda & Karen from Season 5, Joseph & Monica from Season 9, and Erwin & Godwin from Season 10), though these are not required.
A few days before the race, teams and last minute replacements are flown into the same city (usually not the same as the actual start city) and sequestered in a hotel.
Teams are asked to prepare their bags for the race, and production verifies the contents, removing any items prohibited by the race. On the day before or the day of the race, teams are then flown to the actual starting city and to the start line.
Prior to actually starting the race, teams are asked to take off by foot from the starting line several times in order to get several shots of the teams both in close-up and while racing away.
During the race
Each team is accompanied by a two-person camera crew (camera operator/sound mixer), who must stay with the team at all times, except at Pit Stops and during certain Detours or Roadblocks. The crews rotate between teams at Pit Stops to avoid any possible favouritism that may develop between a team and its crew.
The camera crew must be able to ride with the team when they take transportation such as cabs or planes.
Even though the program shows teams asking for only two tickets, they actually have to purchase four tickets to account for the camera crew; what usually happens is that teams first ask the agents for four tickets, and then the camera crew re-shoots the request, this time only asking for two.
Similarly, the camera crew will often ask teams to redo certain actions during a leg in order to get a better camera angle (such as getting into and out of taxis), or to adjust the wireless microphones that each team member is wearing.
These events can lead to "production difficulties", which are usually credited to the team when they reach the Pit Stop.
Many Detours and Roadblocks use special cameras to get more dramatic shots of the racers as they complete the task, such as helmet-mounted cameras for climbing, rappelling, and sky-diving stunts.
The producers may also use helicopters and high overhead cranes to get wide-area camera footage when appropriate.
There are also special camera crews known as 'Zone' cameras that are used near clue boxes, Detours, and Roadblocks, which take over for the team's assigned camera crew in order to get more dramatic shots.
If a team should engage with a non-Race participant, they will need to have the camera crew get the consent of that person to be used on camera via agreement forms. Footage of people that have not consented is either not used, or is used with the person's face pixelized out.
The production team tends to arrive in a country a day or a half-day before the racers themselves arrive; however, there have been times that the lead production crew, including Phil Keoghan, has flown along with the racers into that country.
While the teams are racing, production sets up shots of Phil describing the various tasks, and then prepares for the arrival at the Pit Stop. In a few cases, production had barely arrived just before the teams started to arrive at the Pit Stop.
While in a country, the various production crews keep apprised of the status of each team in order to prepare the location for the arrivals. For example, clue boxes are only set up minutes before the first team arrives to prevent non-racers from getting involved or stealing clues.
Additionally, any obvious penalties or missed tasks are relayed to the Pit Stop crew so that Phil can inform teams appropriately of these.
Once teams have arrived at the Pit Stop, production checks with each camera crew to identify if any additional penalties or time credits are necessary.
When teams check in, they are usually requested to move to the lodging area for the Pit Stop, though during Season 1 this usually did not occur, as teams can be seen hanging around the Pit Stop to greet the other teams as they arrived.
The eliminated team usually gets a chance to say goodbye to the remaining racers. Teams eliminated early in the race are then flown to a common location known as "Sequesterville" where teams are allowed to relax and sight-see (though with restrictions), until they are then flown to the final city for the very end of the Race.
The 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams do not necessarily go to Sequesterville; instead, they may either accompany production through the last few legs and meet up with the rest of the eliminated teams at the finish line (in order to cut down on travel costs), or they may be asked to perform "decoy runs", usually flying into the final city or a different city with a camera crew, a day or so before the final three teams arrive, in order to throw off potential spoilers for the final teams.
The finish line is usually located in an isolated spot, and planned so that teams will arrive mid-day during a weekday, or early on a Saturday or Sunday, in order to reduce the amount of potential sightings of the final teams.
Post-race
All teams are compensated for the time missed from their jobs, though the amount is undisclosed and confidential.
As with most reality TV shows, teams are not allowed to reveal their performance on the race until the episode with their elimination has aired (or, in the case of the final three teams, until after the season finale).
Even after their elimination episode has aired, teams are not allowed to reveal any events, eliminations, or the ultimate winners of the race.
In the past, eliminated teams have typically been asked to appear for an interview on The Early Show on CBS on the day after the airing of their elimination episode, though this practice has been hit-or-miss in later seasons.
Each episode is worked on by a separate team of editors as soon as the race starts; as such, there are usually no "story arcs" unless they develop naturally over the course of the season (for example, the dislike of most of the teams in Season 1 towards Joe and Bill, or the so-called Six Pack/Backpack alliance in Season 10).
Complete tasks have been known to be cut from an episode, usually due to the lack of impact on race standings for that task.
Roadblocks are most commonly edited out should teams depart in the same order as they arrive, though evidence for these Roadblocks can be found from footage still shown, interviews with racers, or from spoiler information.
The opening credits for the first season used a combination of pictures of locations in the race and teams, both posing as well as performing tasks during the race. However, many fans were able to identify the elimination order simply based on these task shots.
Since then, the introduction sequence has used only a combination of location shots from both the current race as well as past races, and only teams posing at their residence or home city, reducing the amount of spoiler content within the introduction.
In two instances of the race, a natural disaster occurred in an area after the race was filmed going through it, but prior to the first episode of the season airing; specifically the 2004 tsunami which struck Sri Lanka during Season 6, and Hurricane Katrina which struck New Orleans during Season 8.
In the latter case, one of the teams racing, the Schroeder family, lost their home in the disaster.
In both cases, the episodes which included race legs within these areas were preceded by a message, read by Phil, which addressed the situation and expressed solidarity with the people in the affected regions.
Glossary
Detour
A choice between two different ways to accomplish a goal or reach a destination. On the surface, one may seem easy but involves some sort of twist; the other may seem difficult but in the end may be the quicker choice.
Pitstop
The final destination for each leg of the Race, at which point a Team must clock in. The last Team to arrive at most Pitstops is eliminated from the Race. A Team will leave the Pit Stop 12 hours after they clock in. For instance, a Team that clocks in at 9am will leave at 9pm.
Fast Forward
Two pre-determined legs have one Fast Forward, which allows the Team that completes the Fast Forward task first to proceed directly to the next Pitstop without having to do any further tasks, including Detours or Roadblocks on the way.
The trick is that only the first Team to find and complete the Fast Forward on the leg may use it; any subsequent Team that finds it will have wasted their time and must go back and complete all tasks.
In addition, a Team may claim only one Fast Forward during the entire Race.
Roadblock
A task in which only one member of the two-person Team may participate. In most cases, the non-participant must wait for the participant to accomplish the goal.
Route Marker
Yellow and white flag that marks the locations of further instructions.
Yield
Each leg of the Race has a Yield point. Teams must stop at the Yield location to do two things before continuing along the course: 1) They must check to see if they have been Yielded by another Team; 2) If no Team has been Yielded, they must decide whether to use the Yield or not.
If a Team is Yielded, they must turn over the hourglass and wait until all the sand runs out before they may continue with the Race.
A Team may use the Yield to stop another Team only once throughout the entire course of the Race. However, there is no limit to the number of times that a Team can be Yielded by the other Teams.