Amazing Race 13 in Media

From http://www.wral.com/entertainment/story/3398259/

Meet the new teams on 'The Amazing Race'
By DERRIK J. LANG
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES — An ex-NFL player and his estranged wife, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother, recent divorcees, a pair of Southern belles and fraternity brothers are among the 11 two-person teams hurrying for the finish line - and the $1 million grand prize - on the upcoming 13th edition of CBS' "The Amazing Race."

"I love the fraternity brothers because they're so young and such a contrasting team," host Phil Keoghan recently told The Associated Press. "One takes his time to think things out. The other one loves to rush and go at a million miles an hour. There's definitely tension between the two of them while they're making decisions during the race."

Another team competing is geeky best friends Mark Yturralde, 41, and Bill Hahler, 42. The Comic-Con treasurer and student aid administrator from San Diego have been pals for over 20 years and have auditioned for "The Amazing Race" since the long-running reality series' third season. The superhero and gaming aficionados said they left their toys at home during the race.

"We've got really teeny backpacks," said Hahler. "They are small. We wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything to prevent us from putting that pack underneath the seat in front of us when we got on a plane. We didn't want something to happen where we got delayed because of our luggage. We thought that would help us go faster."

"We did extensive research on what to wear - what was lightweight and would help us move the fastest," added Yturralde. "I think it was the longest I ever went without wearing a logo on my T-shirt. If you see me on the street, I'm usually wearing a Superman, Bizarro or Batman T-shirt on a constant basis, but we had to utilize more multi-use clothing for 'The Amazing Race.'"

Married beekeepers Anita, 63, and Arthur Jones, 61, from Eugene, Ore., are the oldest - and perhaps most colorful - team on this season of "The Amazing Race." Among the self-described hippies' mottos: "Don't worry, be hippie" and "The hokey pokey is what it's all about." Before the race, the Joneses worked out in hopes of keeping up with the other teams.

"We both tried to do some training, along the lines of going down to our little gym, but that was pretty much it," said Anita. "We have an emerging farm, so we do a lot of work out there, splitting wood and taking care of the horses. We're pretty physical, so we thought, 'Hey, we can be in there with everybody else. It'll be fun.'"

Ken Greene, a former St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers defensive back, now 51, will race with estranged wife Tina.

Starting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the 13th season of the Emmy-winning reality competition (premiering Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. EDT) will follow the teams as they travel over 30,000 miles in 23 days to countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Russia, India and Kazakhstan. It's the first time the series visited the landlocked country lampooned by Sacha Baron Cohen in "Borat."

"We shot most of that episode in the capital," said executive producer Bertram van Munster. "People were a little afraid we were going to pull a 'Borat' on them. I told them we weren't doing 'Borat,' but what happened there is very, very funny. It's not easy to shoot in places like that because they practically have no television industry."

Van Munster, who is currently scouting locations in Asia for the 14th season, promised the 13th season will include a series of firsts for the reality competition, including a mistake that ultimately prohibited one team from joining their fellow racers at the finish line, as well as a memorable first-ever stop for "The Amazing Race" in Cambodia.

"The teams have no idea how to get from Point A to Point B there," said van Munster. "They don't know the language. It's very difficult to get through this country. They get so stuck, but they find so many fascinating solutions of how to get through everything. One of the things the teams do there is go to a real-life floating village. It's insane."

Viewers shouldn't expect to witness the around-the-world shenanigans in high definition, according to van Munster. While the upcoming Gabon-set season of CBS' "Survivor" will be broadcast in HD for the first time, "The Amazing Race" co-creator said the network hasn't decided on a similar stance for the often on-the-bubble show.

"I don't think it's a priority," van Munster said. "We're just happy to continue making the show as it is."

You may also want to read this from tvwatch.people.com


The Amazing Race 13 Teams Are Unveiled
August 19, 2008


Lucky 13? Participants in The Amazing Race’s new season have been named, CBS announced Tuesday. This year’s Race, premiering Sept. 28, features 11 teams, including a pair of 60-something hippie-dippy organic farmers, the CFO of San Diego’s Comic-Con Festival and his aid administrator BFF, a brother and sister from a family of morticians and several couples with rocky chemistry looking to the competition to help their relationships. –Nicholas White

Meet this year’s Racers:

Team 1: Terence (35, running coach) and Sarah (31, Wall Street exec)
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Relationship: Dating for one year, considering marriage
Who are they?: Free-spirited Terence and Sarah, a Wharton grad who works 12-hour days in an all-male financial firm, call themselves Team Purple for solidarity in their purple shoelaces worn on their wrists. The Race will test their relationship. “It’s a good way for us to show our friends and family who we are and why our relationship works so well,” Sarah says. “We’re so different, and there are a lot of skeptics in our lives and relationship. Let’s see how we do with anxiety, fatigue and hunger.”

Team 2: Marisa (22, broadcast journalism student) and Brooke (24, graphic designer)
Hometown: Columbia, S.C.
Relationship: BFF
Who are they?: Self-described “Southern belles,” they like to travel, relish adventure – and could double for Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. “We’re probably going to shock a lot of people,” Marisa says. “Everyone is going to perceive us as these dumb blondes. That’s fine. We can use that to our advantage!” Their biggest fear: The Race’s physical challenges. “It’s definitely going to test our fear, like bungie jumping,” she says.

Team 3: Andrew (22, student) and Dan (23, student)
Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
Relationship: College fraternity friends from Arizona State University
Who are they?: Tenacious competitors and geography experts, the brainy duo (Dan is intensely talkative, Andrew is subdued) are quick to assert that they are underestimated and not vulnerable to the charms of beautiful women, despite their young age. “Duh,” says Dan of the Southern Belles team. “We know you’re going to do that. They probably assume we’re trying to hit on them because they have a high opinion of themselves.” Their goal: to win money to go to Vegas for “decadent and wasteful spending,” Dan jokes.

Team 4: Aja (25, makeup artist) and Ty (25, banker)
Hometowns: Los Angeles, Calif., and Southfield, Mich.
Relationship: Long-distance couple, dating for nine months
Who are they?: Living in separate cities, the couple has spent 2 ½ weeks at most together since they started dating. Contacted by the show’s producers who saw them on Facebook, the couple is treating the Race as a challenge to their cohesiveness. “We already care about each other, but this is an opportunity to spend a lot of time together and see what each other is made of,” Ty says.

Team 5: Mark (41, CFO of Comic-Con) and Bill (42, Aid Administrator)
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Relationship: Friends of more than 23 years
Who are they?: These intense gaming aficionados, who first met at a sci-fi club and work together, are diehard Race fans. Mark is a veteran of extreme adventures (climbing volcanoes, skydiving, scuba diving), while Bill is the strategy expert. “The Amazing Race is this ultimate game,” says Bill. “I can’t think of a game that has been a bigger game board. We want to play.” Mark explains.

Team 6: Toni (51, accounting consultant) and Dallas (22, student)
Hometown: Woodside, Calif.
Relationship: Mother and son
Who are they?: Toni, a longtime Race fan, talked her son into doing the show. Dallas, an aspiring entrepreneur, started a mobile DJ business in 7th grade. “Ever since he was younger, his sense of direction has been phenomenal,” Toni says, adding that her greatest accomplishment is raising him. “I’m looking forward to trusting his visions. I’m working at it.”

Team 7: Nick (22, actor) and Starr (21, NFL cheerleader) (Photo left)
Hometowns: New York, N.Y., and Fort Worth, Texas
Relationship: Brother and sister
Who are they?: Starr says she and her brother have been pining to do the Race for years. “When Nick was 18, and I was 17, we went online to see what the ages were, because we thought we would be a great team,” she says. Besides sharing a sense of adventure, the brother-sister duo also share a dark sense of humor, coming from a family of morticians. “We know each other better than anyone else,” Starr says, adding that they’re not above deception. “I think we’re going to be very underhanded.”

Team 8: Anita (63, retired paralegal) and Arthur (60, playground maintenance) (Photo right)
Hometown: Eugene, Colo.
Relationship: Married for 13 years
Who are they?: These tie-dye-wearing seniors run an organic blueberry farm, making honey and keeping bees. Their motto: “Don’t worry, be hippie,” Anita says, laughing. Anita suspects the younger teams will underestimate them because of their age, but their biggest asset–and challenge–is their communication. Says Anita: “It’s fun to show people how happy people can be. It’s fun to share that–the joy and fun that we have together.”

Team 9: Kelly (26, pharmaceutical representative) and Christy (26, business development)
Hometown: Houston and Austin, Texas
Relationship: Best friends and sorority sisters
Who are they?: Both successful saleswomen and recent divorcées, Kelly and Christy talk openly about unfulfilled marriages and shouldering financial burdens (paying their way through college, buying their own homes). “We were really wanting a break from our lives,” says Kelly. This intense duo is gunning to be the Race’s first all-female pair to win. Adds Christy: “We’ve got the best dynamic there is. I look at the guy/girl teams, and I feel bad for them.”

Team 10: Ken (51, homebuilder/ex-NFL player) and Tina (48, BioPharmMed president)
Hometown: Tampa, Fla., and San Diego, Calif.
Relationship: Married but separated for five months
Who are they?: Living on separate coasts, the volatile couple sees the Race as a reason to stay together. “The only thing that holds us back is our relationship,” Tina says. “We’re still working on that.” Ken explains, “I think we’ve made a lot of strides coming in to the race. This is a make-or-break situation.”

Team 11: Anthony (32, mortgage broker) and Stephanie (32, financial saleswoman)
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Relationship: Dating after a year-long break-up
Who are they?: Anthony and Stephanie, both Race fans, met four years ago at a dive bar. Since then, their relationship has weathered many rough patches. In fact, Race producers recruited the pair after seeing them fight in public at a Dave Matthews concert. “We know this is going to bring us together or tear us apart,” Anthony says.