Ready, Set, RACE!

CBS is getting ready to introduce a brand new race! No, not another tribe on the controversial race-divided season of "Survivor: Cook Islands"... but the latest running of "The Amazing Race" that kicks off on Sunday, September 17th. This time it kicks off in Seattle, and will take us to... who knows where?! That's one of the reasons that "The Amazing Race" is such a popular show. It's an adventure for all of us, even those of us watching from the comfort of our own home. I know there are spoilers out there, folks that have already uncovered what corners of the world the race will be taking us this time. But for this journey, I like to discover it along with the racers. I find out with them, when they tear open their clues... and look forward to seeing each location through their eyes and struggles. As much as the locations are a part of the show though, the real reason we come back week after week is the participants. Everyone comes to this race with a story and a relationship, and everyone leaves it with a story that is amended, and a relationship that is changed. How and why it is changed is what we get to discover as we travel along with them through each leg of the race. Just like pottery in a kiln, the race puts these pairs through tremendous pressure and heat. Some bond together and are even tighter and closer by the end of the race. Others, that may have entered the race with a small fracture or crack between them, are split apart even further by the end. This is something that this summer's run of NBC's "Treasure Hunters" was missing. I think the producers of that show focused so much on the clues and the locations and the history, that they missed where the real story was... the people. I did watch that show (every damn episode), and although I liked the history lesson... I noticed that I felt the same about every team on the last episode as I did on the first. They were two-dimensional to me, and they never seemed to grow or change. I didn't really care who won or lost... but by the end I did want to crack open my American history book again, so kudos for that! "The Amazing Race" however, is a bonding experience for everyone... the ones that run it, and those of us that simply watch it. We get to know and care about these teams by the end, and we are truly sad each week to see one of our favorites eliminated. So join me as we find out what "The Amazing Race" has in store for all of us this season. Have your world map ready, and your box full of push pins close by. Let's see where they go, and what they do... and watch in amusement and dismay as they do whatever it takes to win!