It's with a certain glee that I relish the return of The Amazing Race to the airwaves following the cancellation of the woefully dismal Viva Laughlin.It's been far too long since we've seen Phil Keoghan raise his eyebrow, describe for the umpteenth time what a Road Block is, or comment on what place some uber-competitive Americans with some unusually spelled names came in a race around the world. (Seriously, this time round there's a Goth vixen named Vyxsin.)
CBS has unveiled the contestants that we'll follow around the globe from the comfort of our living rooms as they make pit stops in such far-flung locals as Ireland, Lithuania, and Croatia (typically while sniping at each other and making ethnocentric comments about the locals).
So who's racing this time around? Let's find out.
Ronald Hsu, 58, and Christina Hsu. Father/daughter from Tacoma, Washington.
Kynt Cothron, 31, and Vyxsin Fiala, 29. Dating Goths from Louisville, Kentucky.
Lorena Segura, 27, and Jason Widener, 23. Dating couple from Sherman Oaks, California.
Azaria Azene, 27, and Hendekea Azene, 23. Brother/sister from Torrance, California.
Kate Lewis, 49, and Pat Hendrickson, 65. Married lesbian ministers from Thousand Oaks, California.
Shana Wall, 32, and Jennifer McCall, 32. Friends from Los Angeles, California.
Donald Jerousek, 68, and Nicolas Fulks, 23. Grandfather/grandson from Chicago and Wisconsin.
Jennifer Parker, 23, and Nathan Hagstrom, 23. Dating couple from California.
Rachel Rosales, 23, and TK Erwin, 22. Dating couple from Huntington Beach, California.
Marianna Ruiz, 25, and Julia Ruiz, 26. Sisters from Miami who now live in... (you guessed it!) Los Angeles, California.
Ari Bonias, 21, and Staella Gianakakos, 23. Best friends from California.
Gee, it is just me or did the casting directors for TAR go a little overboard this season with the contestants from California? Could sunny CA be the new Texas? You be the judge.
The Amazing Race premieres Sunday, November 4th at 8 pm on CBS.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: Survivor: China (CBS); My Name is Earl/30 Rock (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC)
9 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); The Office/Scrubs (NBC); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS); ER (NBC); Big Shots (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
8 pm: Ugly Betty.
On tonight's episode ("A League of Their Own"): Henry is not happy when Betty starts to enter the world of online dating; Betty meets a prospective beau at a bowling alley; Daniel and Alexis sit down to dinner with step-monster to-be Wilhelmina.
8:30 pm: 30 Rock.
What's on my mind grapes? It's the second season of the Emmy Award winning comedy. On tonight's episode ("Rosemary's Baby"), Liz is ecstatic when her idol Rosemary Howard (guest star Carrie Fisher) agrees to appear on the show but her radical beliefs lead Jack pressuring Liz to quit; Kenneth competes in a page-off; Tracy sees a therapist.
9 pm: The Office.
The disastrous one-hour installments of The Office are finally over so we can get back to the half-hour format we all know and love. On tonight's episode ("Local Ad"), Michael jumps at the opportunity to showcase his creative abilities when the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin is asked to participate in a local ad, while Dwight gets sucked into the virtual world of Second Life.
10-11 pm: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX.
FX's hilariously subversive comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues tonight with two back-to-back episodes. On the first ("Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender"), Dennis is mistaken for a recently released child molester but is more upset by how overweight the sex offender is. On the second ("Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad"), a repeat from last season, Dee gets a letter from a man (Stephen Collins) who claims to be her real father, leading her to confront her parents.
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