The Amazing Race (U.S. TV Series) - Overview

Overview

The Amazing Race is a reality television competition, typically involving eleven teams of two, in a race around the world. The race cycle is divided into a number of legs, normally twelve; each episode generally covers the events of one leg. Each leg ends with a Pit Stop, where teams are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg twelve hours later. The first team to arrive at a Pit Stop is often awarded a prize such as a trip, while the last team is normally eliminated from the race. Some legs are non-elimination legs, where the last team to arrive may be penalized in the following leg. Some races have featured double-length legs, where the teams meet the host, only to be told to continue to race (with no prize awarded, as the clues do not mention a "Pit Stop"); recent seasons have introduced a twist on this, having a Pit Stop and prize awarded, but with teams told that the next leg begins right then and there. The final leg of each race is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins the show's prize, one million dollars. The average length of each race is approximately 25 to 30 days.

During each leg, teams follow clues from Route Markers—boxes containing clue envelopes marked in the race's red, yellow, and white colors—to determine their next destination. Travel between destinations includes commercial and chartered airplanes, boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Teams are required to pay for all expenses while traveling from a small stipend (on the order of one hundred dollars) given to them at the start of each leg. Any money left unspent can be used in future legs of the race. The only exception is air travel, where teams are given a credit card to purchase economy-class fares. Some teams have used the tactic of begging to replenish lost monies.

Clues may directly identify locations, contain cryptic riddles such "Travel to the westernmost point in continental Europe" that teams must figure out, or include physical elements, such as a country flag, indicating their next destination. Clues may also describe a number of tasks that teams must complete before continuing to race. As such, teams are generally free and sometimes required to engage locals to help in any manner to decipher clues and complete tasks. Tasks are typically designed to highlight the local culture of the country they are in. Such tasks include:

• Route Info: A general clue that may include a task to be completed by the team before they can receive their next clue.
• Detours: A choice of two tasks. Teams are free to choose either task or swap tasks if they find one option too difficult. There is generally one Detour present on each leg of the race.
• Roadblocks: A task only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue about the task before fully revealing the details of the task. Later editions of the program have limits on the number of Roadblocks one team member can perform, that both team members perform the same amount. There is generally one Roadblock present on each leg of the race.
• Fast Forwards: A task that only one team may complete, allowing that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly for the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race. Fast Forwards were absent in seasons 18 and 19, but it is not known if they were simply not shown on air or not included in the race.
• Intersections: Tasks that require two teams to work together until otherwise instructed.
• Yields: A station where a team can force another trailing team to wait a predetermined amount of time before continuing the race. Teams may only yield any other team once per race. The Yield was last used in season 11 and has since been supplanted by the U-Turn.
• U-Turns: A station, located after a Detour, where a team can force another trailing team to return and complete the other option of the Detour they did not select. Teams may only U-Turn any other team once per race.
• Speed Bumps: A task that only the team saved from elimination on the previous leg must complete before continuing on the race.
• Switchbacks: A task that is based on an infamous task performed on an earlier season of the Race, typically at the same location that was previously used. Examples have been a Roadblock that held a team back for several hours leading to their elimination and a Fast Forward that presented a difficult choice but the team who took it ultimately won the race.

Teams are penalized for failing to complete these tasks as instructed or other rules of the race, generally thirty minutes plus any timed gained for the infraction. Such penalties may be enforced while teams are racing, when they arrive at the Pit Stop, or at the start of the next leg.

The events of the race are generally edited and shown in chronological order, cutting between the actions of each team as they progress. More recent seasons have be edited to show split-screen footage of simultaneous actions or two or more different teams in the style of 24. Footage from the race is interspersed with commentary from the individual teams or members recorded after each leg to give more insight on the events being shown. The show helps to track the progress of racers through a leg by providing frequent on-screen information identifying teams and their placement.