Amazing Race Watchers: Do Rob and Amber have a built in advantage?

Despite my initial decision to not watch this season's version due to the casting of Rob and Amber (does TAR really need tie-ins to other CBS shows?) I did tune in yesterday.

And, as I suspected would happen, R&A managed to utilize their celebrity to overcome a horrendous beginning that had them dead last and allowed them to pull ahead and finish in the top three.

For those who didn't see the episode, a pedestrian in the first locale recognized the two from Survivior and proceeded to assist them by convincing buses to leave ahead of scheduled departure times and not make any normal stops.

If this plays out the same way over the next couple of weeks I will be severely disappointed in the producers not forseeing this happening or if they figured it would happen, not caring for the sake of ratings.

Last year showed that the producers are now willing to go for drama and ratings when they opted not to ban Jonathan and Victoria once the abuse got physical (yes, I realize the show is shot months ahead of air-time but they could have still kicked them off the contest while they were initially filming.)

Any other takes on how having Rob and Amber may affect the actual race results?

surely good for ratings! Unless it's honest (what shows are honest?)

episode a couple of seasons ago

I wasn't even aware the girl was in Big Brother until some newspapers and magazines groused about the recycling of reality show contestants and how some apply for all the shows in an effort to extend their notoriety and spotlight time.

Plus, those two just played stupidly from get go and killed their own chances without any outside assistance.

That was because they couldn't even work together. They broke up right after the show.

Every team is going to be gunning for them. They are the team most likely to get yielded.

The advantage of their "celebrity" will probably fade as they travel farther from the US. At least I hope so. I find them extremely obnoxious.

would be the first to yield them. I think that everyone there will get an agreement and decide that whoever has the power to use it will use it on them.
I hate the Romber!

Having never seen any of the Survivor episodes that they appeared in, my initial distaste was totally due to the stunt casting vs them in particular.

However, after observing the smugness they displayed after their lucky break any ambivalence I had towards them initially was completely gone.

on Survivor.
He self-proclaimed himself "The Robfathah" on the show. And she hid behind him so that he was always the target.

However, I think everyone knows not to trust them. I don't think any team has ever one AR without at least a short alliance. Wait until Rob and Amber go to third world countries with no TV, then let's see how they do.

helped them in Peru may have been on the plane with them, and they had an opportunity to talk and maybe offer him an incentive for the help - not necessarily a cash incentive right then and there but a promise of something down the line. They were lucky to have hooked up with the guy because he obviously knew how to work the system.

Many Americans along the way will recognize them, but the locals surely won't, so unless they continue to get lucky and meet the right people, I don't think their celebrity will matter much.

The producers love having Rob and Amber on board. After last season's freak show (with some exceptions), they seem normal.

I read somewhere that Survivor is now seen in 22 countries and is a Top 10 show in 12. They might be recognized in a few countries. Every country they film in picks up the show and it has now been on for 10 seasons.

Maybe soon? Is this publicity for that event?

Professional game show contestants, just like the real world/road rules crowd!

Can you believe that mom and son got $10k EACH for being first! Remember when you used to win a digital camera? lol

The red head and the blonde who initially allianced up with the mother/son.

The mother/son came in second.

What killed me was watching the farm boys come in one step behind the POW/Beauty Queen team at the end. I can't see the self-appointed "All American" couple making it much further given the problems they had communicating with the locals in Peru.

I'm gonna' quiz my mom to see if she remembers, as we watched together while trying out her Glenmorangie (sp?) birthday scotch!

On edit: she TOTALLY recalled correctly! Lord, it's just ME then who's got no short term, er....whatchamacallit.

than Rob and Amber. I wasn't sad to see the hillbillies go either. I doubt that they're going to find a lot of situations where their celebrity is going to help them. I bet that was just a one time deal. Besides there is so much more to winning than just the bus or taxi rides.

I thought it was funny how at the beginning Rob wanted to get something to eat. Remember a couple of seasons ago those two guys who kept stopping for Starbucks and food.. they were all calm and enjoying themselves.. then they'd just happen to catch up to the rest of the crowd that had been killing themselves. It eventually caught up to them.

Mark Burnett produces Amazing Race and Survivor.. that's why the cross network pollination.

I'm sorry we never learned why that one hillbilly spoke fluent Portugese. (or did they say?)

Those kissy friends are local (to my area) so I guess I have to like them. Tho I don't like them too much. So far the mother and son annoy me most. That dude with the scarf on his head (kung fu couple---mr. "suck it up" and "quit complaining") is jonathan-esque.

my neighborhood - yuck. Very representative of the airheads in this LA suburb. The up side is they won't last long.

The blurb started out with the writer detailing his attempts to chat up a girl from his gym that he ran into in a bar. The girl was receptive and started chatting back when a "friend" butted in and shut the conversation down.

The writer was able to later pry from his initial target that her friend is one of the contestants on this edition of TAR and it turns out that the friend is the blonde kissy girl.

I actually thought it was kind of funny when the blonde told the "son" contestant that he reminded her of a former boyfriend and the "son" said something along "so did he turn out to be gay as well". The look on the blonde's face as she went "uhhhh, no" was priceless.

That suck it up- couple *is* jonathan-esque I agree. I was thinking oh no not again dammit! Hopefully they won't get as much airtime.

Burnett has nothing to do with Survivor.

I don't think he is involved with amazing race.

Survivor, Apprentice, and several others, but not TAR.

Amazing Race? He doesn't. It was that Eco-challenge show that he produced.. I got confused.

So I have no explanation for why they wanted Rob and Amber other than the obvious ratings.

"American Airlines vacation which you can enjoy after the race." As if these people are anxious to get back on an airplane. Makes sense too, and will make for a greater push to be number one at each of the pitstops instead of simply trying not to be eliminated.

Very cool! Cash is king.

Isn't the contest 30 days long? That will wipe out most vacation time for a while as is.

Cash does seem much better since it allows you to benefit on a greater level after the event as well.

is a friend of Phil, the host. He tells us that the race is 10 days long, which is pretty intense.

Remarkable they're able to do that, since there are 11 legs, many of which last 2 days or more.

told Paul. Make of it what you will.

may have misunderstood. It's widely acknowledged that the Race takes several weeks.

Now I'll have to have my partner slap Paul around. Which is too bad 'cause I like Paul, plus he's old.

Don't give him my name, I don't need someone else ticked at me. :hi:

Most people in this thread have pretty much summed up what I think of Rob and Amber so let me go a bit off topic by saying that the "beauty queen" married to the Desert Storm veteran gets right on my nerves. If I hear her describe her and her husband as the "all-American couple" one more damned time...

"Operation Iraqi Freedom." At least that's what he told the other contestant before they even left LAX. I thought that was a little strange - walking up to a fellow racer and announcing that you were a former POW. I didn't know quite what to make of it.

...I thought the previews said that he was a POW during Desert Storm. I don't have a problem with him (so far) but a "beauty pageant" queen cooing that they are the all-American couple just gets under my skin.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race7/teams/ron/

The link above from the page about the POW/Beauty Queen couple states his age as 28 so he'd have to be serving during the recent Gulf conflict.

I did hear him mention that he wanted to use his winnings to help disabled soldiers so at least he's looking to do something worthwhile with it.

The beauty queen proved to be pretty worthless last night and I expect that she'll lead to the team's ultimate elimination.

Has there ever been a remotely attractive female on that show that proved to be more than a totally superficial airhead or a burden on her team? If so, I haven't seen one in the three seasons I've watched.

...where he said who he'd like to help disabled soldiers if he wins the money. I remember thinking that is a real shame that there is even a need for some veteran to go on a reality TV show in hopes of winning money to help disabled troops. It's a great thing that he wants to do but it kinda hilights the shitty treatment that our injured troops are getting.

and he was rescued with that bunch who was captured with Jessica Lynch. I have vivid memories of him wearing blue pajamas and walking onto the plane.

If I hear that one more time, I'm going to snap. I think it's nice that he is going to donate it to charity if he wins.

I wasn't quite sure what to do with that. Maybe it was poor editing?

I vaguely heard him say something of "I don't want it to get around but I was in Iraq...."

The editing wasn't all that clear but I have to go with he mentioned it in response to a direct question. Perhaps the other contestant asked what the military guy was planning on doing if he was the winner.

We never see the ten minutes or whatever before when they were getting to know each other. However, the guy he was talking to is a freak. He and his partner are the new Johnathan and Victoria.

Rob was the guy with the New England/Boston accent that kept running off during their commentary that they were going to dominate the show. Amber was the prop (in that I didn't detect any personality coming from the form) standing next to him the entire time.

If you saw the finish R & A came in third.

I'd deliberately make things more dificult for them. ("I pointed toward where I thought your cab should wait for you, but the driver must've thought I was waving my hand telling him to go ahead and go.") I thought Boston Rob was a dick on Survivor. I hope they don't even come close to winning.

and what is up with the kissy "lifelong friends?"