Reality show stumbles to finish, but has head start on next season

12:50 PM EST on Monday, December 12, 2005

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer

It seemed like an intriguing idea for The Amazing Race, CBS's Emmy-winning reality show, which has its two-hour season finale tomorrow night at 9 p.m. (Ch. 4 and 12).

Instead of couples racing around the world for a $1 million first prize, the current edition of the show features four-person families -- some with children as young as 8. (Among the families racing this season was the Aiello clan of Mansfield, Mass., which includes Johnston police officer David Alverson.)

But critics, and many fans, have widely panned Amazing Race: Family Edition. Somehow, the dynamics between couples were far more interesting than the relationships among four family members.

"Personally, I can't wait until The Amazing Race gets back to the business of showcasing pairs," wrote Marc Berman, of the broadcasting trade journal Mediaweek.

The racers rarely ventured outside the United States this season. For viewers who liked seeing Americans tiptoeing through rat-infested temples in India, this Amazing Race seemed less amazing than tame.

Bertrand van Munster, co-creator and executive producer for the show, is well aware of the criticism.

"Part of the problem we had as producers was that we had to introduce four people to the audience instead of two -- times 10," he said in a phone interview last week. "That's 40 people, and that's a difficult thing for the audience to absorb."

But Munster said the show didn't suffer in the ratings. (Last week about 11 million people watched the show.)

"I'm grateful that CBS was willing to try something different. . . . this was a very family-friendly show. And the show was a great calling card for the U.S. We had always wanted to do an 'Americana' version of the race, for us to show the beauty and diversity of the U.S. We become jaded in a way," said van Munster, who was born in Holland.

Van Munster didn't want to give much away about the next season of The Amazing Race, which is already in production. But he did say that it would go back to the original couples format -- and he promised audiences would not be bored.

"You'll all be sitting on the edge of your seat -- I guarantee it," he said.

When it first appeared, it took some time for The Amazing Race to find its audience. Its premiere aired right after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

"Suddenly, no one was interested in seeing Americans on airplanes traveling around the world," van Munster said. "I thought it was all over. But CBS was very patient."

Slowly, Race's combination of far-flung adventure and personal conflicts caught on, and its production values won the admiration of the industry. (The Amazing Race has won the Emmy for best reality show three times).

Van Munster said there are some obvious security concerns when you're producing an international race, but by and large the world is not as dangerous as some might think.

"Everybody in this country is brainwashed about how bad the world is," he said. "We've been to 80 countries. Yeah, we're not flying to Afghanistan or Iraq, but almost everywhere we go we're treated with kindness and respect and hospitality."

Van Munster said the show continues to surprise him -- nobody can predict who will win.

In a bit of stunt casting last year, The Amazing Race recruited Survivor winners Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich.

CBS photo

Members of the Linz family get their next clue after completing a challenge in Utah on The Amazing Race, which ends its season tomorrow night.

With a mix of charm and amoral cunning, the pair almost won -- but got caught when competitors Uchenna and Joyce Agu persuaded a nearly departed plane to open its doors and let them on the flight.

That raised some eyebrows. But van Munster said The Amazing Race crew had nothing to do with it. "The whole idea is that they are inventive people, and they're able to persuade people to do things for them."

The previous season saw probably the show's most notorious contestant, Jonathan Baker, who appeared nasty to the point of abuse with his wife, Victoria Fuller.

Baker, who has grandparents in Rhode Island, said in interviews that the show's editing made him look worse than he really was.

"Jonathan's not a bad guy, don't get me wrong," van Munster said. "But I could have gone into the editing room and replaced everything we used with something else he did that we didn't use. It is what it is."

The television pendulum appears to have swung away from reality shows at the moment, with the hot shows scripted programs such as Desperate Housewives and Lost.

"Everything is cyclical," van Munster said. "There was a bit of a gold rush there for a while. Everybody thought they were a reality producer, and they could make a quick buck. The best [reality] shows will still survive."