The Amazing Race 8: Fun for the whole family

[crazytimes]

The eighth season of The Amazing Race begins on September 27 on CBS. This season there will be teams of 4 and the age limit has been lowered to include children.

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"Amazing Race," Family-Style By Julie Keller

It's all in the family for The Amazing Race.

CBS has revealed the lineup of contestants for The Amazing Race: Family Edition, the latest incarnation of the two-time Emmy winning reality competition. This year, 10 four-member clans will trek around the world in a battle for $1 million. In the past, friends, lovers, spouses and/or coworkers have paired up, for better or worse, on two-person teams.

As they race around the globe, the four-person family teams will be pitted against each other in a series of mental and physical challenges, presumably testing the bonds of sibling-hood, parent-hood, couple-hood, in-law-hood step-family-hood.

"Anytime you put a family of four together, you get interesting dynamics. It's a pretty humorous and explosive mix," executive producer Bertram van Munster tells USA Today.

Also new this year is the addition of younger competitors. This change meant some adjustments to the grueling Amazing Race schedule. First, there are fewer non-elimination episodes, and the teams only traveled about 30,000 miles total, less than half the 72,000 miles logged by contestants in season six. Less crowded competition sites were also chosen in deference to the kids.

Still, producers see the addition of children as a possible plus for the teams.

"Kids have major advantages just by size," says van Munster. "They can climb through something with more agility, and they're very fast in a crowd."

Plus, they're also, well, childish, so amusing playground antics are likely to ensue. Nine-year-old Carissa Gaghan from Glastonbury, Connecticut, threw down the gauntlet to on Tuesday's The Early Show, which introduced the competitors. "Either you'll be a zero or you'll be a hero," she told her fellow racers.

The family gimmick hopes to build on the show's record ratings last season. Fueled by the antics of Survivor couple Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich, the seventh installment of The Amazing Race averaged 12.5 million viewers a week. The show could also win its third straight Emmy in the Reality Competition category at next month's awards.


Here's a rundown of the teams:

Godlewski sisters from Des Plaines, Illinois: Michelle (42), Sharon (39), Christine (37) and Tricia (26)
Weaver family from Ormond Beach, Florida: widow Linda (46) and her three children, Rebecca (19), Rachel (16) and Rolly (14)
Gaghan family from Glastonbury, Connecticut: Bill (40), Tammy (42), Billy (12) and Carissa (9)
Black family from Woodbridge, Virginia: Reggie (42), Kim (40), Kenneth (11) and Austin (
Linz siblings from Cincinnati: Nick (24), Alex (22), Megan (21) and Tommy (19)
Rogers family of Shreveport, Louisiana: Denny (46), Renee (42), Brittney (22) and Brock (19)
Schroeder family from New Orleans: Mark (40), stepmom Char (39) and daughters Stassi (16) and Hunter (14)
Bransen family from Park Ridge, Illinois: dad Walter (51) and daughters Elizabeth (25), Lauren (22) and Lindsay (20)
Aiello family from Mansfield, Massachusetts: dad Tony (57) and sons-in-law Kevin (31), Matt ( 31) and David (26)
Paolo family of Carmel, New York: Tony (52), Marion (52), DJ (24) and Brian (16)

Hosted again by Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race: Family Edition kicks off with a two-hour premiere Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.

I don't know about have a 9 and 12 year old on the show. I'd hate for them to "dumb down" any of the challenges. Other than that, keeping 40 contestants straight is going to be hard!

[kayemjay]

It should be a good show as usual. I am very ready to watch. Summer TV is very boring.

[chippers21]

I better get my thinking cap on. Looks like two contests at one time. Mayor has given the okay.

I like the looks of most of these teams, but I really wonder about the two teams with really young children. I was thinking they would all be at least teen-agers.
The all male team and the team of 3 young men and 1 young lady seem pretty tough to me. But maybe with the addition of small children, and the changes that forces, every team will have a good chance of winning.

[crazytimes]

I know they are traveling a LOT less and I have a feeling they may visit a lot more places in the United States; possibly historical sites? I think the challenges will have to be "kid-friendly" in some aspect. I still think this is going to be a fun change to the show, but we'll see.

[momof3girls]

I read somewhere that they only traveled in the US and possibly Canada. It will be interesting with the kids.