Discover

'''The Amazing Race 8''' (titled '''The Amazing Race: Family Edition''') was the eighth installment of the popular reality television show, ''The Amazing Race''. ''The Amazing Race 8'' differed from previous installments of ''The Amazing Race'' in that instead of pairs of adults with a pre-existing relationship, this race featured families of four and allows the participation of minors as young as the age of 8. The ''Race'' returned to the original teams of two adults for ''The Amazing Race 9''. In addition to also having easier challenges, the Race also placed less emphasis on international travel as numerous legs were contained within the continental United States, and only two race locations were outside North America - Panama and Costa Rica in Central America.

Contents

Results & Teams

Episode title quotes

Notable race events

General

Pre-Race

In-Race

Post-Race

Prizes

Race locations

Leg 1 (New York → Pennsylvania)

Leg 2 (Pennsylvania → Virginia)

Leg 3 (Virginia → Alabama)

Leg 4 (Alabama → Louisiana)

Leg 5 (Louisiana, USA → Panama)

Leg 6 (Panama → Costa Rica)

Leg 7 (Costa Rica → Arizona, USA)

Leg 8 (Arizona)

Leg 9 (Arizona → Utah)

Leg 10 (Utah → Wyoming → Montana)

Leg 11 (Montana, USA → Montréal, Canada → Toronto, Canada → New York, USA)

Criticisms and reactions

References

External links

Results & Teams

The following teams participated in the Race, with their relationships at the time of filming. Placements are listed in finishing order:

Team	Position (by leg)											Roadblocks performed
	1<>	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	101	112
'Linz' ("Cincinnati")Nick, brother, 24 Alex, brother, 22 Megan, sister, 21 Tommy, brother, 19	9th	2nd	2nd	3rd	4th	2nd	4th	2nd	1st>	2nd	1st	Nick 5, Alex 4, Megan 2, Tommy 3
'Bransen' ("The Brady Bunch")Walter (Wally), father, 51 Elizabeth (Beth), daughter, 25 Lauren, daughter, 22 Lindsay, daughter, 20	7th	6th	1st	1st	3rd	3rd	5th	4th	2nd	1st	2nd	Walter 4, Elizabeth 5, Lauren 3, Lindsay 2
'Weaver' ("Team Florida")Linda, widowed mother, 46 Rebecca, daughter, 19 Rachel, daughter, 16 Rolly, son, 14	3rd	1st	5th	5th	2nd	5th<	2nd	3rd	4th<	3rd	3rd	Linda 2, Rebecca 3, Rachel 2, Rolly 6
'Godlewski' ("Desperate Housewives")Michelle, sister, 42 Sharon, sister, 39 Christine, sister, 37 Tricia, sister, 26	1st	3rd	4th	4th	6th	4th	1st	1st	3rd	4th		Michelle 4, Sharon 5, Christine 2, Tricia 1
'Paolo' ("The Cleavers")Tony, father, 52 Marion, mother, 52 DJ, son, 24 Brian, son, 16	6th	8th	6th	2nd	1st	1st>	4th	5th				Tony 1, Marion 1, DJ 2, Brian 2
'Gaghan' ("The Rugrats")Bill, father, 40 Tammy, mother, 42 Billy, son, 12 Carissa, daughter, 9	2nd	7th	7th	6th	5th	6th						Bill 2, Tammy 2, Billy 1, Carissa 0
'Schroeder' ("Louisiana")Mark, father, 40 Char, stepmother, 39 Stassi, daughter, 17 Hunter, son, 15	5th	4th	3rd	7th								Mark 2, Char 0, Stassi 1, Hunter 0
'Aiello' ("Boston")Tony, father, 57 Kevin, son-in-law, 31 Matt, son-in-law, 31 David, son-in-law, 26	8th	5th	8th									Tony 0, Kevin 0, Matt 1, David 2
'Rogers'Denny, father, 46 Renee, mother, 42 Brittney, daughter, 22 Brock, son, 19	4th	9th										Denny 0, Renee 0, Brittney 1, Brock 0
'Black'Reggie, father, 42 Kim, mother, 40 Kenneth, son, 11 Austin, son, 8	10th											Reggie 0, Kim 0, Kenneth 0, Austin 0

★ Red means the team was eliminated.

★ Blue means the team was the last to arrive at a pit stop in a non-elimination leg of the race. This means that while the team was not eliminated, they were forced to give up all their money and belongings, and did not receive any money at the beginning of the next leg.

★ Green means the team won the Fast Forward clue.

★ A yellow > means that team chose to use the Yield; < indicates the team who received it; <> indicates a leg where the Yield was available but not used.
Leg 10 was double-length, with two detours and two roadblocks, and shown over two episodes. Unlike Seasons 6 and 7, however, this was the first double-length leg that did not feature a Fast Forward.

Leg 11 was also double-length, with two detours and two roadblocks, and shown over two hours.

Episode title quotes

Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers.
# Go, Mommy, Go! We Can Beat Them! - ''Billy Gaghan''
# How Do We Know We Aren't Going to Get Shot? - ''Carissa Gaghan''
# I Don't Kiss I Make Out
# Think Like An Office Chair -''Rachel Weaver''
# We're Getting Out of the Country, Girls - ''Tommy Linz
# I'm Sick of Doing Stuff I Can't Do - ''Linda Weaver''
# You Look Ridiculous - ''Phil Keoghan''
# How's That Face Feel? - ''Megan Linz''
# Don't Talk To Me Like I Was An Animal Or Something - ''Christine Godlewski''
# The Family Christmas Card - ''Wally Bransen''
# 25 Days, 50 Cities, And More Than 600 Consecutive Hours Together as a Family - ''Phil Keoghan''

Notable race events

General

Teams for Season 8

★ Route Markers were colored yellow, white, & black, similar to the yellow & white Route Markers of Season 1 (and in contrast to the yellow & red of all other seasons).

★ The show said there were only two Yields, but there was another Yield on Leg 1 that didn't make it to air since it was not used.

★ As with Season 7, the winners of the race were revealed in an online betting scandal well before the airing of the final episode. [1]

★ In Australia, the 9th Season was shown before this season in early 2006. This series was premiered on Thursday the 9th of November at 9:30pm on the Seven Network.

★ According to Wally Bransen, an 11th Family (Flanders) were supposed to be on the race but were axed the last minute. The cause for this remains unknown.

Pre-Race

★ In March 2005, host Phil Keoghan toured major cities in the United States (Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Los Angeles) to scout contestants for the race. Final casting interviews took place in Las Vegas.

In-Race

★ For this race, the supplied credit card covers not only airfare, but also gasoline. Previously, gasoline had to be purchased with the supplied cash. The rule change was made necessary by the fact that most of the transportation takes place in cars rather than airplanes.

★ The limits on individual Roadblock attempts, found in seasons 6 and 7, did not apply to this season. Furthermore, some roadblocks in this edition required the participation of two team members. Also, for the first time since season 5, a mid-race leg (4) was aired without a Roadblock.

★ Kevin and Drew from Season 1 appeared in the first leg of the race handing out clues for teams in New York at a hot dog stand.

★ In 'Leg 1', Renee Rogers fell at the starting line and suffered a concussion. The Rogers family didn't realize the severity of the injury until they had gone to a hospital after being eliminated from the race. [2]

★ In 'Leg 4', The Paolo family, after finishing a task involving partybikes, rode on their vehicle and saw a thunderstorm associated with the remnants of Hurricane Dennis outside Talladega Superspeedway.

★ At the end of 'Leg 4', the Schroeder family was eliminated in New Orleans, their hometown. One month after the end of the race, their home was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina (see below).

★ In 'Leg 6', at Poás Volcano, the clue envelope appeared to contain Fast Forward instructions; however, this was not mentioned or described, perhaps because no team took advantage, or because plans for the task fell through. The Fast Forward in Leg 5 was introduced as the only one in the race when the show was televised. An online source [3] claims that the task was simply not used, and all references were excised.

★ According to an interview with Wally Bransen on RFFRadio, Hurricane Emily forced producers to cancel a leg in Belize. Teams had an extra day off in Costa Rica after 'Leg 6'. (''See External links'')

★ A camera error occurred in 'Leg 9' (not shown) causing the Godlewski Family's car battery to fail, moving them into last place at the time. Another error, exactly the same as the one in Leg 9, occurred in 'Leg 10' (also not shown) affecting the Linz Family, also causing them to move into last place at the time.

★ Linda Weaver wore a t-shirt with the name "Chris" on it for many legs of the race. Contrary to popular belief, Chris was not the name of her late husband, but her fiancé. ^[1]

★ In a RFF Radio podcast interview with Wally Bransen, he said that the Linzs beat them to the finish mat by one or two minutes in the final leg therefore making it the third closest finish ever. The Weavers finished in third place an "hour or two" later.

★ Linda Weaver reluctantly participated in two challenges directly related to racing. One was a go-kart race in Arizona, and the other involved traveling around Talladega Superspeedway in a bicycle. Weaver's husband, Roy, was killed in an accident when he was run over by a race car at Daytona International Speedway in 2004.

Post-Race

★ After the Linz family were named the official winners, it was revealed that the Bransen and Weaver Families would compete in the "Final Amazing Challenge". The two families would race back and forth between the last roadblock of the race (a map of North and Central America) and a set of 12 clueboxes, each of which contained an icon, representing something the families did on the race. The object of the challenge was to race (as a family) out to the clueboxes, get the icons one at a time, and then place them on the appropriate place on the map. Whichever team finished this challenge first would win a brand new GMC Yukon XL, the same vehicle that had been used on the race. The Bransen family won the challenge and the vehicle.

★ The Schroeder family evacuated their New Orleans home due to Hurricane Katrina and stayed with the Rogers family in Shreveport, Louisiana for a short period of time. The Schroeder home was seriously damaged and was being rebuilt at the time of the show's airing.^[2]

★ Production staff visited a Moab, Utah diner during the shooting of Leg 9. They inadvertently left behind papers including the full text of that leg's clues; see External links below.

★ Billy and Carissa Gaghan wrote introductions for "My Ox is Broken", a book about the Amazing Race.^[3]

Prizes

Individual prizes were awarded to the first family to complete each leg.

★ 'Leg 1' - $20,000 cash

★ 'Leg 2' - Trip to the Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda provided by Travelocity

★ 'Leg 3' - Gasoline for life for each team member from BP and ARCO.

★ 'Leg 4' - Universal Orlando Resort package at Orlando, Florida provided by Travelocity

★ 'Leg 5' - Gamboa Rainforest Resort package at the Panama Canal, Panama provided by Travelocity

★ 'Leg 6' - Individual "wild rides" with a choice of a Segway HT, a Vespa, a jet ski or an all-terrain vehicle, courtesy of the Wild Bean Cafe at BP.

★ 'Leg 7' - Trip to Belize from Travelocity

★ 'Leg 8' - A Jay-Flight 27 B.H. Travel Trailer compliments of Jayco.

★ 'Leg 9' - Trip for four to the Teton Mountain Lodge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming provided by Travelocity.

★ 'Leg 10' - A new 2006 full-size Buick Lucerne luxury sedan.

★ 'Leg 11' - $1,000,000

★ 'Final Amazing Challenge' - A GMC Yukon XL SUV

Race locations

@ ''denotes an additional task''

The Bransen family receives a clue from Kevin and Drew of Season 1.

Route map

Leg 1 (New York → Pennsylvania)

★ New York City, New York

, 'USA'

(Brooklyn Bridge) (Starting Line)

★ New York City (SoHo – Eastern Mountain Sports) @

★ New York City (Hot Dog Stand on East 91st Street)

★ Titusville, New Jersey

and Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania

(Washington Crossing State Park and Washington Crossing Historic Park) (''Unused; Unaired'') @

★ Philadelphia (Fairmont Park – Belmont Plateau) @

★ Mount Joy (Brubaker Family Farm)

★ Lancaster (Rohrer Family Farm)
@ Teams had to pick up camping gear.

@ Teams had to choose a rowboat to cross the Delaware River into New Jersey, retrieve a 13-star flag, and row the boat back to the Pennsylvania shore to observe a flag folding ceremony.

@ Teams had to pitch tents to receive a departure time.
The first Detour of the race was Build it or Buggy It. In Build It, teams needed to use the materials provided to build a miniature, working watermill. Buggy It required teams to transport a traditional Amish buggy along a 1.5-mile course with two members riding in it.

Leg 2 (Pennsylvania → Virginia)

★ York (Haines Shoe House) @

★ Washington, D.C.

(United States Capitol – Reflecting Pool)

★ Washington, D.C. (Tidal Basin)

★ Middleburg, Virginia

(Welbourne Manor)
@ Teams had to search the giant shoe for their next clue.

The Roadblock required a racer to whisper a code phrase ("The sky is blue") to ''spies'' walking in the area around the Tidal Basin. Of the fifty spies, ten would reply with another phrase ("The sea is green"). Once the racer had found one of the ten spies, they would receive their next clue. The Detour choices, Heat of the Battle and Heat of the Night, were both part of a full scale American Civil War reenactment. In Heat of the Battle, teams had to transport five ''injured'' people to a tent. Heat of the Night told racers to take a keg of kerosene to a table. Once there, they had to fill 20 lanterns with the kerosene and light them. After completing the Detour, the teams had to grab a Civil War flag and take it to the nearby pit stop.

Leg 3 (Virginia → Alabama)

★

Flight:

Dulles (Washington Dulles International Airport) to Charleston, South Carolina

(Charleston International Airport)

★ Charleston (The Battery)

★ Charleston (Charleston Visitor Center)

★ Huntsville, Alabama

(United States Space & Rocket Center)

★ Huntsville (Rocket Park)
The Detour choices for this leg were Forrest Gump or Muddy Waters. In Forrest Gump, teams had to de-head 200 pounds of shrimp. In Muddy Waters, teams had to drive through a 3X4 SUV obstacle course which was filled with mud. In the course, if they got stuck, they would have to wait to be towed out. Once towed out, they would have to restart the course. In the Roadblock, two racers from each team rode a centrifuge at 3.2''g''.

Leg 4 (Alabama → Louisiana)

★ Anniston (World's Largest Office Chair) (''This was not portrayed as a Roadblock.'')

★ Talladega (International Motorsports Hall of Fame)

★ Talladega (Talladega Superspeedway) @

★ Hattiesburg, Mississippi

(Southern Colonel Mobile Homes) @

★ Richland (BP station)

★ Madisonville, Louisiana

(Fairview Riverside State Park)

★ New Orleans (French Quarter – Preservation Hall)
@ Teams had to make a lap around the Superspeedway on a partybike.

@ Teams had to search the mobile homes for a departure time. The teams would have to "rough it" in the mobile home where they found their time.
In the Roadblock, teams had to climb to the top of the Worlds Largest Office Chair. The Detour was Work or Play. In Work, Teams used a two-person handsaw to cut four slices off a log 12 inches in diameter. In Play, Teams made their way to a riverboat where they played 21 against a professional dealer. To win a round, the hand of each team member needed to total more than the dealer’s hand. Once the Teams won three rounds, they would earn their clue.

Leg 5 (Louisiana, USA → Panama)

The Paolos win the Fast Forward

★

Flight:

New Orleans (Louis Armstrong International Airport) to Panama City, 'Panama'

(Tocumen International Airport)

★ Panama City (Barro Colorado Island – Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

★ Panama Canal (Pier 14)

★ Panama City (Estadio Juan Demostenes Arosemena)

★ Panama City (Mira Flores Locks)
In the Fast Forward, team members had to jump in tandem off a 140 foot drop. The Detour was Rhythm or Coos. Rhythm required teams to deliver four musical instruments to a local club. Coos required racers to use binoculars and search within the rainforest canopy for wooden replicas of five local bird species. They have to circle the correct bird species on the provided bird identification card. When all five were circled, they present the card to the ranger who would confirm their choices. The Roadblock for this leg of the race required one team member to hit one baseball pitched by a local little leaguer.

Leg 6 (Panama → Costa Rica)

★ San Jose, 'Costa Rica'

(Public Parking Adrian)

★ Poás Volcano National Park (''Unused; unaired'')

★ Alajuela (Doka Estate)

★ Jaco (Roca Loca Surf Shop)

★ Quepos (Malecon)
In the Roadblock, one person from each team searched for a red bean among 800 pounds of coffee beans. The Detour was Relic or Ripe. In Relic, teams had to recover four Mayan relics. In Ripe, teams had to harvest 15 bushels of bananas.

Leg 7 (Costa Rica → Arizona, USA)

★ near Quepos (Playa Maracas) @

★ Grecia ()

★

Flight:

San Jose (Juan Santamaría International Airport) to Phoenix, Arizona

(Sky Harbor International Airport)

★ Chandler (Boundurant Go Kart Racing School)

★ Fountain Hills (Fort McDowell Adventures)
@ One team member had to swim to a buoy that had their clue attached to it.
The Detour on this leg was Brush or Barrel. In Brush, teams painted two cartwheels with the same design as the sample they were given. In Barrel, teams loaded and transported sugar cane to a plantation warehouse, where they would find a hidden clue among dozens of rum barrels. The Roadblock had one person from each team compete in a 50 lap Superkart race.

Leg 8 (Arizona)

★ Mesa (Williams Gateway Airport – Fighter Combat International)

★ Grand Canyon (Lipan Point)

★ Page (Glen Canyon Dam, Colorado River)

★ Lake Powell (onboard a Houseboat)
In the Roadblock, one team member had to perform a 360 degree loop in an airplane. The Detour choices were Bearing or Bailing. In Bearing, teams had to locate three locations on three different islands, using a compass bearing. In Bailing, teams had to bail water from a submerged boat and carry it onshore.

Leg 9 (Arizona → Utah)

★ Monument Valley, Utah

(John Ford's Point) @

★ Arches National Park (Elephant Butte)

★ near Moab (Gemini Bridges)

★ Green River (Green River State Park)

★ Heber City (970 Little Sweden Rd.) @

★ Park City (Utah Olympic Park)

★ Salt Lake City (Rooftop of City Library)
@ Two team members had to fly by helicopter to Elephant Butte to retrieve their clue.

@ Teams had to find Bart the Bear, who had their next clue in his mouth.
The Detour on this leg of the race was Drop Down or Ride Down. In Drop Down, teams completed a two-stage rappel 270-feet down into Bull Canyon. In Ride Down, Teams selected bikes and rode a six-mile course down into Bull Canyon. The Roadblock featured a ski jump challenge, where racers had to perform a trick going down a 60 foot ramp.

Leg 10 (Utah → Wyoming → Montana)

★ Park City (Park City High School) @

★ Heber City (Heber Valley Railway)

★ Bonneville Salt Flats (Tree of Utah)

★ Garden City (Bear Lake Rendezvous Beach) @

★ Big Piney, Wyoming

(Dunham Ranch)

★ Yellowstone National Park (Old Faithful) @

★ near Highway 287 (Ranch at 15200) (Leg mid-point; teams are told there is no pit stop and must continue.)

★ Dubois (Turtle Ranch)

★ Dubois (Open Plateau)

★ Cody (Irma Hotel) @

★ Red Lodge, Montana

(Red Lodge Mountain Golf Course – Tenth Tee)

★ Absarokee (Larry Arnold's Green Meadow Ranch)
@ Teams had to help inflate and then ride a hot air balloon.

@ Teams had to get to Garden City as quick as possible, because they would receive departure times 15 minutes apart.

@ Teams had to watch Old Faithful erupt.

@ Teams had to dress in period clothing, then take a picture with Buffalo Bill.
On the first half of the leg, the Detour was Spike It or Steam It. In Spike It, teams used old-time materials and tools to complete a 20-foot section of railway track. In Steam It, teams used buckets to fill the tender of an old-time steam locomotive with 400 pounds of coal. The first Roadblock of the leg featured two team members riding horses to corral six cattle from a holding pen.
On the second half of the leg, the Detour was Pioneer Spirit or Native Tradition. Pioneer Spirit had teams attach wheels to a covered wagon, hook up a team of horses, and drive along a quarter mile course. Native Tradition had racers build a teepee with traditional tools. The second roadblock of the leg featured two team members riding a golf cart while searching for colored balls on the back nine of a golf course. They searched for balls that matched the color of the flag of the cart they picked.

Leg 11 (Montana, USA → Montréal, Canada → Toronto, Canada → New York, USA)

The Linz family winning the Amazing Race 8

★

Flight:

Billings (Billings Logan International Airport) to Montréal, Québec

, 'Canada'

(Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport)

★ Montreal (Underground city) (Slide It or Roll It)

★ Montreal (Expo 67 American pavilion)

★ Montreal (Trapezium)

★ Montreal (Olympic Stadium) @ (Ostensible leg midpoint; overnight rest)

★

Flight:

Montréal/St-Hubert Airport to Toronto City Centre Airport (Toronto, Ontario

)

★ Toronto (CN Tower) (Ship or Shoe) @

★ Queenston (Niagara River – Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours) @

★ Lewiston, New York

, 'USA'

(Davis State Environmental Park) (Finish Line)
@ Teams had to ride on a golf cart to Parc Olympique and enter it through the one door large enough for them to drive through. Once there, teams had to search through 56,000 stadium seats for one of three departure times, five minutes apart.

@ Teams had to search trough the city streets from the highest window on the tower for a route marker.

@ Teams had to make their way by jet boat to a buoy in the Niagra Gorge. Teams were instructed by the clue to take their same boat to Lewiston, New York, their final destination city.
The Detour on the first half of the leg, Slide It or Roll It featured curling and log-rolling challenges, respectively. The Roadblock required a racer to successfully complete a flying trapeze maneuver known as a catch. The Detour of second half of the leg was Ship or Shoe. In Ship, teams sailed across Toronto Harbour and one racer climbed the 100-foot mast of the Kajama to retrieve a nautical flag. In Shoe, teams searched through 100 pairs of shoes that were on people walking around to match the pair they had chosen. The final Roadblock of the Race required one person to complete a giant jigsaw puzzle of North America.
In a special challenge, after the race ended, titled "The Final Amazing Challenge," the second and third place teams competed for a new GMC Yukon. Using the maps they completed, all team members ran out to twelve clueboxes, one cluebox at a time. In the clueboxes were miniature cutouts of things they had done on the race. They then ran back to the map and placed the cutout on the state or country they had done the thing in. They than ran back out and continued the same pattern. Once done, teams asked Phil if they were right. If they were right, they won. The Bransens won the challenge. This post-race challenge was shown only at CBS.com.

Criticisms and reactions

Fans, critics, and racers were lukewarm over the format changes implemented in this edition of The Amazing Race. The main issues were the lack of international travel and watered down challenges tailored to families. The expanded cast also made it more difficult to develop individual story lines. ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented that "Half the fun of ''The Amazing Race'' has always been watching the inter and intra-couple bickering that goes with being chronologically late and lost in a foreign land. Seeing parents yell at their children in exotic New Jersey? Not so fun".^[4] ''USA Today'' shared similar opinions, adding that "the idea of being trapped in the back seat for a forced cross-country family drive comes closer to a nightmare relived than a dream come true."^[5] Racers were also disappointed that they did not have a chance to travel to more exotic locations; in one episode Marion Paolo commented "Why are we going to Phoenix, Arizona for? I want to go to New Zealand!", a statement that also summed up the general opinion of the season.
In hindsight, the production team has admitted that the concept of a Family Edition "looked good on paper" but failed in execution, since child racers limited foreign travel for that season.^[6] Creators Bert Van Munster and Jonathan Littman doubt that the family format will be revived in the future.

References

1. [4]
2. A Family Beyond The 'Race'
3. Amazon.com - "My Ox is Broken!"
4. What's wrong with ''The Amazing Race?''
5. 'Amazing Race' is not family friendly
6. Amazing Race 10 Teams Announced

External links

★ Official CBS The Amazing Race Family Edition Website

★ TARFlies Times (Season 8)

★ USAToday.com - Families compete in new 'Amazing Race'

★ Lancaster County farm plays host to TV's 'Amazing Race'

★ Toronto Star - Amazing Race exposes city's good side

★ The Early Show - Linzes Land $ 1M Race Prize

★ Wally Bransen interview podcast (hour long)

★ RFF Radio's 2nd Interview with Wally Bransen