We’re getting cowboys, detectives, models, lesbians, a pro baseball coach a “Big Brother” winner and a grandmother-granddaughter team.
My notes on Sunday's “Amazing Race” premiere can be found below the pretty blue press release.
CBS ANNOUNCES THE 11 TEAMS RACING IN THE EMMY AWARD-WINNING SERIES, "THE AMAZING RACE," PREMIERING FEBRUARY 14
Eleven Teams Hit the Road for a 40,000-Mile Sprint around the Globe and Find Themselves in the Midst of a World War I Re-enactment, Retracing the Early Days of The Beatles and Come Face-to-Face with One of the World's Most Infamous Villains
CBS today announced the 11 Teams set to compete in the 16th edition of THE AMAZING RACE, premiering Sunday, Feb. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Emmy Award nominee Phil Keoghan is the host.
Contestants will travel nearly 40,000 miles across five continents and eight countries. Eleven Teams start off by navigating through the congested streets of Los Angeles and, for the first time ever, must rely solely on public transportation to make their way to LAX. The Teams' first destination lies in Chile where they will encounter one of the most daunting Roadblocks in the history of the series. In their ongoing battle for the one million dollar prize, Teams will participate in a grueling World War I reenactment in France, retrace the early days of the iconic rock group, The Beatles, and come face-to-face with one of the world's most infamous villains.
Season 16 features Teams from all walks of life, including couples, parents, siblings, friends, models, lawyers, detectives and even cowboys.
The Emmy Award-Winning THE AMAZING RACE received its seventh consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Program last year.
Following are the 11 teams, listed in no particular order:
Carol Rosenfeld
Age: 47
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Occupation: Consultant
Brandy Snow
Age: 40
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Occupation: Actress and Voice Over Artist
Relationship: Dating
Dan Pious
Age: 24
Hometown: Barrington, R.I.
Occupation: Financial Advisor
Jordan Pious
Age: 22
Hometown: Barrington, R.I.
Occupation: Strategic Consultant
Relationship: Brothers
Joe Wang
Age: 42
Hometown: El Segundo, Calif.
Occupation: Software Salesman
Heidi Wang
Age: 37
Hometown: El Segundo, Calif.
Occupation: Stay-at-Home Mom
Relationship: Married
* When CBS made the cast announcement for “Amazing Race’s” 16th season I was so focused on the confirmation that Jordan and Jeff from “Big Brother” had joined the show that I missed that another contestant, Caite Upton, was that lost-in-the-headlights Miss South Carolina from YouTube:
* If we’re to believe CBS, Caite’s an actress/model now. IMDb doesn’t list a lot of roles for her, so I’m guessing she’s been busy on the stage. Her model boyfriend teammate, who may or may not be as smart as she is, thinks “she doesn’t deserve the crap people give her.”
* Those who do not follow baseball (like myself) will learn contestant Steve Smith coached the Phillies to win the World Series.
* Only one of the brothers from Rhode Island turns out to be gay. And my gaydar did not correctly guess which from the photo below.
* The fat black guy poured his savings into a business that, in his words, “failed miserably.”
* Jeff and Jordan have “been together almost every weekend since we got out of the [Big Brother] house,” allows Jeff. (But didn’t they start “Amazing” pretty much immediately after Jordan won her half million?)
* Both halfs of the grandmother/granddaughter team are tri-athletes.
* The undercover detectives are apparently assigned to narcotics.
* 37-year-old stay-at-home mom Heidi Wang looks dang good in a bikini. I’m guessing 40-year-old lesbian Brandy Snow might as well.
* Host Phil Keoghan says at the starting line that the first three teams to reach Los Angeles International will move an hour ahead of the pack, but all teams have to get there from a downtown park during morning rush hour using buses and/or trains.
* The gay guy claims he almost “pooped” when he saw he was competing with Miss South Carolina. He seems to be able to recite her YouTube performance verbatim, which is creepy.
* The grandma could be in better shape than the cops. The granddaughter/grandmother team is nicknamed The Green Team. See if you can do better.
* The harrowing first road block is bad news for the contestants with acrophobia.
* I’m reminded you can’t spell funicular without “fun.”
* It was hard not to laugh repeatedly at the late-in-the-episode antics of the coach and his daughter.
* I think the Oklahoma cowboys take a little dig at Texas toward the end there.
* I don’t know why CBS usually chops the vote off its “Survivor” screeners, but I’m always grateful the network leaves the eliminations on its “Amazing Race” DVDs.
