VIEWS ON TARA

ALL ABOUT CASTING

Well, I don't think you could say that TARA1's cast was entirely composed of "regular people" - but TARA2'S cast the producers really have ramped the mactor factor up to 11!

That's not necessarily a terrible thing, but watching Michael McKay attempt to find something interesting to say about why each team was picked (apart from the fact that most of them have flexible work arrangements from working in the entertainment business) was very amusing.

The success of TARA1 was principally because of its diverse cast. It had a few mactors(Francesca, the Indian guys and to some extent Zabrina), but it won me over because of people like Mardy and his brother Marsio, Sandy, Howard and Sahran. I don't see those kind of people in TARA2 except for Henry and Teri and maybe Daichi and Sawaka and the malaysian moms as well. Those were the most interesting applicants for TARA2? I doubt it, they were clearly chosen for other attributes.

I agree with your opinions people, they should cast regular people with normal lives.

I think the class issue is exacerbated TARA2 by the mactor factor. All the 'hi-so' teams other than, maybe, the Moms are semi-celebrities/TV personalities/models and/or relatives thereof - and that calls a much greater attention to their class background. Rather than representing their societies, they represent the type of people that are always seen on TV in those societies - usually light-skinned, rich and care-free.

It's unavoidable that the the better-educated and the better-off are going to apply to TAR in Asia in greater numbers than the 'common folk' - they have English, many were educated abroad and they are far more likely to be familiar with the show itself, as most people in Thailand, for instance, don't actually have cable TV where they could watch TARA. But the show can do better in not making 80% of the cast seem like they just walked off a local commercial for hair shampoo.

Secondly, there are plenty of middle-class - and quite a few working-class folks in Southeast Asia who have decent enough English to compete. While the 'hi-so' crowd is a sure-bet for English-language ability, they're not the only game in town. And having all said that I just feel like, almost anyone else from Southeast Asia was simply ignored.

Wth the exception of Terri and Henry, all Philippine contestants of TARA 1 & 2 were either mactors or celebrity socialites. (TheLopezes in TARA 1 are scions of the country's largest broadcast network.) Not just because they're better educated or more exposed to TAR, but also because they have the financial freedom to take off forweeks at a time.

Working class folks are also limited, precisely, by their work. In the Philippines, employees (even those from the upper middle class) rarely take off work for more than three or four days. And the fear of losing one's job far outweighs the possible rewards of joining TARA.

How about Adrian and Collin?
I dont know them before TARA 2?
In fact nobody knows them....hehehe

camomile wrote:How about Adrian and Collin?
I dont know them before TARA 2?
In fact nobody knows them....hehehe

Sorry i mean

I didnt know them before TARA2.

camomile wrote:How about Adrian and Collin?
I dont know them before TARA 2?
In fact nobody knows them....hehehe

I gotta say Collin & Adrian saved the awful season from a total disaster by having a very satisfying finish in the race. Collin & Adrian /Pam & Vanessa /Marvils was my best-case scenario and I was dead sure it was never gonna happen - so I'm really psyched it actually did. And to think that Marvils had never finished lower than second place throughout the race, and having put up with the nonsense from these 2 for the past 12 episodes, it makes the ending so much sweeter. You could almost forgive the producer of show for some of the bad leg planning and brainless tasks.

I will say that Michael McKay and the TARA2 leg designers did a poor job on some of the tasks. Having a huge disparity between Slimy and Deliver was the worst, but not having enough disparity with the locks was also bad. No team appeared to take more than 5 minutes to do that.

I thought that the 1st season stood up very well to the original TAR, with a little inexperience from the host and the producers showing through. The 2nd season does not compare as well (IMO) due to the casting and some of the leg design (which may have been due to inexperience in planning or improvising to the teams' performances).

On the other hand, Allan Wu (the host) has definitely improved, almost to a Phil Keoghan level, I'd say (notice that I said almost--after all, he has yet to master the classic Phil eyebrow pop, and he doesn't have Phil's vestigial Kiwi accent or Amazing White Pants going for him! ) He's much more relaxed and polished than he was the first season, and he also seems to enjoy interacting with the teams more at each Pitstop. He also seems to be quite a bit more comfortable explaining the race to viewers.

I really do think that TAR Asia will get better as time goes on. Even the original TAR took a few seasons to really find its voice, and that version is even now experiencing something of a Renaissance this time around. And TAR Asia is definitely better than the hot mess that was TAR Brazil.

I find TARA more amateurish overall than TAR, and gotta say that TARA1 was generally not worse than an average season of TAR. TARA's eps are longer than TAR's & their times vary - something I prefer to the inflexibility of the set time for each TAR ep. However, I find TARA does more product placement - annoying, but so far, tolerable. The jury is out on this season, and they've had a mixed bag of good & bad planning. But I think the key problem for season 2 (of course!) unbalanced casting. I think TAR12 has done pretty well with casting, but TARA2, not so much.

I gotta agree Allan Wu's got a bit better, but he's still got a way to go.

One thing that TARA stands out the most among other amazing race franchise and its original version is that they know how to spoil their viewers.

The "Sony Ad Theory" proved to be correct. Collin & Adrian were endorsing the higher profile full HD handycam and LCD TV whereas Rovilson & Vanessa were promoting Cybershot cameras. The sponsors had better not repeat this the next season. It will be way too obvious.

REGARDING THIS ISSUE




Not direct to the point, but good enough to confirm the rumor.

Well. I don't mind the mactor factor as long it's in control or they know the word "MODERATION" (like 1-2 teams). Natalie Glebova might turn out to be a competitive racer - and my only concern is how many of the contestants have been stunt-cast this way for the upcoming season? If they repeat what they did for TARA2, I honestly don't know if the show would be worth watching.

One thing I am really sure of....MACTORS ARE HERE TO STAY FOR SEASON 3!

Saw this at AXN forum board sharing the same sentiments that we have.

click me

Hi Freakshow. I saw your comment on McKay's page and here is what he can say:



Did he confirm Geoff's and Tisha's participation on TARA3? I guess so. What else can you ask for with a photo as an evidence? lol

I've said this time and time again MACTORS ARE HERE TO STAY. I lurk @ the axn forum and there is a topic "Why do you hate Mactors?" I was surprised how forumers reacted, they just simply don't get the point that it's not about who competes well or mactors are human too, the main point of why mactos were such a big issue will just lead you to a very simple question: How many equally or much eager competitive teams were ignored during the application process simply because they are unknown.

nice opinions..