TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 1

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Vacation videos that won't put you to sleep.

Cons: Bickering teams

The Bottom Line:

Trip around the world

Doing some amazing things

An armchair journey

Watch What These Teams Did on Their Vacation

Jumping in on the reality show bandwagon, Jerry Bruckheimer brought us the first season of The Amazing Race in 2001. The premise is simple, teams of two who already know each other will race around the world for a million dollars finding clues and completing tasks along the way. Most legs, the team to arrive last will be eliminated from the race.

And it works. The editing in this show, while at times does drive me crazy, works wonders for the final segment. I find my heart racing waiting to see who comes in first and who gets eliminated. And yes, I've been known to yell at the TV when the outcome isn't what I wanted.

As with all these shows, there are heroes and villains along the way. Team Guido took the title of team we most loved to hate in this season with their cutthroat playing. There were lots of teams to root for here, including mother/daughter Nancy and Emily and frat brothers Kevin and Drew.

I've grown to have a healthy respect for those who take this show on. While I think it would be fabulous to do and love watching the countries and events unfold, I can see how this competition would strain relationships. If the pressure gets to me sitting at home, how much worse must it be when you actually have a stake in it? Not that I don't get frustrated with the contestants who spend leg after leg doing nothing but fighting with each other and yelling words that get bleeped out.

For those who can't get enough of this show or missed this season the first time around comes this get set. There were only 13 episodes, so they are compiled on four discs. Picture and sound aren't up to modern DVD standards, but are great considering the situations under which the show is filmed. Two of the teams recorded commentaries for a total of four episodes. And we get 90 minutes of added footage, although the way it's added into the episodes only is a bit annoying.

There is no better reality show then this - edge of your seat excitement and exotic locations. You don't want to miss The Amazing Race Season 1.