# Expedition impossible Season Thread



## omnibus (Sep 25, 2001)

Since it's a Mark Burnett (survivor) production I was looking forward to tonights premiere episode.

It did not disappoint. I'm pretty sure there will be a thread here every week.


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

omnibus said:


> Since it's a Mark Burnett (survivor) production I was looking forward to tonights premiere episode.
> 
> It did not disappoint. I'm pretty sure there will be a thread here every week.


It's basically the Amazing Race with a dab of Eco Challenge. (which Burnett had the rights to quite a while ago) We'll see how well it works, but I think it's much to derivative of the Amazing Race for it to be wildly successful.


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

I thought it was funny how Ryan from the "Fab 3" discussed how people had this stereotypical view of homosexuals and how wrong that was...and then his teammate AJ talked about the football players and said: "There's a lot of muscle there, but generally we've found that when you find a lot of muscle, there's not a lot up here [taps head] to back it up"


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

I really enjoyed this. It's basically The Amazing Race on steroids. Take away the boring parts of TAR (the airports, the bunch ups, the taxi rides) and beef up the challenges to the extreme and that's this show. I loved that the first episode was basically a 10+ hour hike in the desert with different checkpoints and challenges along the way. It will be interesting to see how these teams hold up.

I was SOOOOOO glad to see team Latina finish last. By midway through the show, I was already fast forwarding through their segments because they were so annoying.


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## caslu (Jun 24, 2003)

Love the Amazing Race but hated this show... way too derivative of things that have come before (i.e. Amazing Race and Eco-Challenge). The characters were uninteresting for the most part and I deleted my SP half-way through.


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## KMan (Dec 24, 2001)

I wish they'd tell us more about the navigation aspect of it. For example, leaving the snake pit, were they told a bearing and a distance? Given a location on a map? Told to follow the yellow flags? That was always the interesting part of eco-challenge to me: the navigation choices.

I heard mention of a GPS device (Latino team?) ... does anyone know if they are allowed to use GPS?

Also, why have a challenge (dig for water) where one team does all the work, and the rest of the teams just use that hard work.


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

Recorded but haven't watched. I'm sure we'll get sucked in.


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## SurvivorFan (Mar 9, 2011)

sushikitten said:


> Recorded but haven't watched. I'm sure we'll get sucked in.


Same here.


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

I love 'racing' shows, but this one, I don't know.

People complaining about how hard it is, and people wanting to quit before reaching the first flag makes me think they signed up just because they can be on TV.

And I hate it in TAR and I hate it here, where people can just follow you.

Everyone stole the water from the one team that was actually digging. I think they all were supposed to do it because of all the tents around.

With the snakes, the people would yell out their numbers and the other teams that were there were like 'yeah it is 11'.

And at the camel part, the Latin team didn't even read the map, they just followed team in front of them. Ugh.

I'm giving it one more week to grab me.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I watched a little and since I am interested in Morocco, I may continue.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Donbadabon said:


> I love 'racing' shows, but this one, I don't know.
> 
> People complaining about how hard it is, and people wanting to quit before reaching the first flag makes me think they signed up just because they can be on TV.
> 
> ...


I don't like that stuff either, but how do you suggest they prevent that from happening, yet still make the show TV friendly? They could stagger start the teams and just time them, but then watching on TV will be meaningless because seeing teams miles apart from one another won't necessarily mean that one is ahead or behind.


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## MNoelH (Mar 17, 2005)

I was amazed that those people were trekking across sand dunes without a bottle of water in their hands. I don't think I saw anyone drinking anything. Even the southern guy that sat down for a bit. You'd think they'd be dousing him with water to help him find his get up and go.

I can't imagine that in all that geat they're carrying they don't have water. I just think it's weird that I never saw anyone drinking water.

I also thought that the one member of the Fab 3 was utterly delirious when he suggested digging for water. My bad. Didn't one team wander off when they saw him digging? I can't remember which team it was and didn't notice when they came back to discover the oops. I thought the Gypsies were the ones that offered to help dig with the Fab 3, but somehow the Football players filled their jug before them. Wonder how that happened.

I like it so far and will keep watching. I think they'll reveal more of HOW they're getting from point A to B as the season progresses.


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## Shaunnick (Jul 2, 2005)

MNoelH said:


> I was amazed that those people were trekking across sand dunes without a bottle of water in their hands. I don't think I saw anyone drinking anything. Even the southern guy that sat down for a bit. You'd think they'd be dousing him with water to help him find his get up and go.
> 
> I can't imagine that in all that geat they're carrying they don't have water. I just think it's weird that I never saw anyone drinking water.
> 
> ...


Concerning water, if you will notice they all were carrying Camelbaks that they were drinking from.


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> I don't like that stuff either, but how do you suggest they prevent that from happening, yet still make the show TV friendly? They could stagger start the teams and just time them, but then watching on TV will be meaningless because seeing teams miles apart from one another won't necessarily mean that one is ahead or behind.


Let's say at the part where they get on the camels and are supposed to follow their map, they all have to head in different, but equal distance, directions.

When they reach their own destination, they find a tent and have to find water.

This makes them all read the map, and makes them all find water, without just watching everyone else.

Then they can meet up again at the snake pit, where they just have to learn to whisper and not yell out their answers.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Donbadabon said:


> Let's say at the part where they get on the camels and are supposed to follow their map, they all have to head in different, but equal distance, directions.
> 
> When they reach their own destination, they find a tent and have to find water.
> 
> ...


Sounds great if you're simply producing a race. But when you're producing a TV show, you can't have 13 teams going in 13 different directions. That becomes a logistical nightmare to arrange, and it then trying to keep it exciting on the screen is virtually impossible when none of the teams can be filmed in the same shot.


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## jbernardis (Oct 22, 2003)

I have it recorded and haven't watched it yet, but it was on while I was on my PC so I "sort of" know what happened, but I wasn't looking at the screen.

Did I hear Mark Burnett do an obnoxious car commercial in the middle of the program? I forget the brand, but he was talking about how "the first thing all the teams would do when they got in the car was ..."

I hope there's not too much of that. It's getting more and more annoying with all the product placement we see in shows anymore.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

jbernardis said:


> I have it recorded and haven't watched it yet, but it was on while I was on my PC so I "sort of" know what happened, but I wasn't looking at the screen.
> 
> Did I hear Mark Burnett do an obnoxious car commercial in the middle of the program? I forget the brand, but he was talking about how "the first thing all the teams would do when they got in the car was ..."
> 
> I hope there's not too much of that. It's getting more and more annoying with all the product placement we see in shows anymore.


Mark Burnett wasn't in the show (that I know of), and I don't remember any overt product placement. The teams did arrive to the starting line in some kind of Ford SUVs, and there were a couple prominent shots of the cars as they were parking, but I don't remember anything being said about the cars.


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## MNoelH (Mar 17, 2005)

It was announced at the beginning that the winning team will receive $150,000 and three Ford Explorers (at least I think it was Explorers, could be another make).


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> Mark Burnett wasn't in the show (that I know of), and I don't remember any overt product placement. The teams did arrive to the starting line in some kind of Ford SUVs, and there were a couple prominent shots of the cars as they were parking, but I don't remember anything being said about the cars.


Towards the end of the show there was a segment with Mark Burnett that was an obvious car commercial disguised as a behind the scenes segment. I normally would have skipped past it but noticed that Burnett was in it.

Curious to see if staying in one country the whole race will help, hurt or have no impact on the show.


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

TV Guide has a good write up on the show:

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Expedition-Impossible-Amazing-Race-1034521.aspx


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Azlen said:


> Towards the end of the show there was a segment with Mark Burnett that was an obvious car commercial disguised as a behind the scenes segment. I normally would have skipped past it but noticed that Burnett was in it.


Was that during a commercial break? We definitely didn't see that. Must have FF'd through it with all the other commercials.


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## gschrock (Dec 28, 2001)

KMan said:


> I heard mention of a GPS device (Latino team?) ... does anyone know if they are allowed to use GPS?


Must have been, because at one point I saw one prominently hanging from the one guy's gear (don't know if it was the same guy that mentioned it). Looked like it was a garmin 60 series, or 62 series.


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## FireMen2003 (Apr 1, 2004)

DevdogAZ said:


> Was that during a commercial break? We definitely didn't see that. Must have FF'd through it with all the other commercials.


No. It was part of the show, I believe. I think, it was a behind the scenes tour of the show with him in the truck driving then using SYNC to speak to someone else who had just arrived in Morocco.


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## Squeak (May 12, 2000)

If you paused the TV when they showed the one team reading the first clue (about the camels), you can see where it tells them they can use either their compass or GPS.


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## cheerdude (Feb 27, 2001)

Shoot - I think we missed recording this; Any chance it will be shown again or will we need to get the episode through iTunes (or other means/devices)?


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

FireMen2003 said:


> No. It was part of the show, I believe. I think, it was a behind the scenes tour of the show with him in the truck driving then using SYNC to speak to someone else who had just arrived in Morocco.


Difficult to call it part of the show because it had nothing to do with the race. They made it seem like a behind the scenes segment but it was really nothing but a commercial.


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## Andrew_S (Nov 12, 2001)

Azlen said:


> Difficult to call it part of the show because it had nothing to do with the race. They made it seem like a behind the scenes segment but it was really nothing but a commercial.


It was an ad pure and simple. Tied to the show and more interesting than a standard commercial, but it was not "part of the show".


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

This is not the first show that a commercial like that has been shown. This is like the sneaky things that I have seen on local news and on the radio that sound like news articles and are actually commercials.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

cheerdude said:


> Shoot - I think we missed recording this; Any chance it will be shown again or will we need to get the episode through iTunes (or other means/devices)?


I watched it for free on abc.com


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

FireMen2003 said:


> No. It was part of the show, I believe. I think, it was a behind the scenes tour of the show with him in the truck driving then using SYNC to speak to someone else who had just arrived in Morocco.


Went back and found this. It was during a commercial break, which is why we didn't see it originally. Definitely just an ad designed to look like a behind the scenes segment. There wasn't really any bts-type info provided.


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## etexlady (Jun 23, 2002)

I loved Eco-Challenge and kept it on auto record forever hoping it would come back or be rerun. That show's participants were "professional" adventure racers who had to navigate to checkpoints and were usually in very challenging terrain such as mountains and/or jungle. Expedition Impossible participants are just people off the street but still interesting. I did enjoy the show and will keep watching.


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## cheerdude (Feb 27, 2001)

I also liked Eco-Challenge ... and thought about that show when I saw the previews for this one.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Donbadabon said:


> TV Guide has a good write up on the show:
> 
> http://www.tvguide.com/News/Expedition-Impossible-Amazing-Race-1034521.aspx


The review was spot on. My first thought after watching this was...can the producers of TAR sue? This was TAR with a few tweaks. I HATE that it's all in one location, which after a couple of weeks will get pretty boring. I can't imagine 13 weeks in Morocco. The teams are pretty boring, and there's just too many people to really learn all of the player's foibles. I'll probably watch a few more weeks (my daughter liked the show, so I'll watch with her), but otherwise, I was highly disappointed.


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

KMan said:


> Also, why have a challenge (dig for water) where one team does all the work, and the rest of the teams just use that hard work.


Bunch-up factor to make it more exciting. 

When the late teams came in, there was some sort of framework down in the hole... don't know when that was added to the plain dug hole.

I was laughing when the guy started digging under the tent. Um, you really think they're going to have a well in the room where they sleep? I figured digging was the right answer (what else would it be?) but just not there.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I enjoyed the show but c'mon.....the winning team gets $150k (to split) and a Ford Explorer? Make the prize at least a million so the teams actually have an incentive to stay in the race!


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

For many people, $50K (+ TV exposure + travel) is more than enough reason to stay in...


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Amnesia said:


> For many people, $50K (+ TV exposure + travel) is more than enough reason to stay in...


to me, it says that the network has no faith in the show.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Steveknj said:


> The review was spot on. My first thought after watching this was...can the producers of TAR sue? This was TAR with a few tweaks. I HATE that it's all in one location, which after a couple of weeks will get pretty boring. I can't imagine 13 weeks in Morocco. The teams are pretty boring, and there's just too many people to really learn all of the player's foibles. I'll probably watch a few more weeks (my daughter liked the show, so I'll watch with her), but otherwise, I was highly disappointed.


I like that it's all in one place. TAR has lost a lot of its appeal due to all the travel that takes up a good chunk of each episode. Seeing the different locales is great, but having to watch the teams in airports or train stations is getting really old. So if this show has more challenges and fewer travel-related issues, I think that's a big plus.


pmyers said:


> to me, it says that the network has no faith in the show.


To me it says that it's a summer show and they had no idea how well it would perform, so they made the prize small enough that they'd be able to cover it even if the show tanks.


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## andyw715 (Jul 31, 2007)

martinp13 said:


> Bunch-up factor to make it more exciting.
> 
> When the late teams came in, there was some sort of framework down in the hole... don't know when that was added to the plain dug hole.
> 
> I was laughing when the guy started digging under the tent. Um, you really think they're going to have a well in the room where they sleep? I figured digging was the right answer (what else would it be?) but just not there.


Or the tent could have been for shade. I have a large golf umbrella with a clamp on the end to attach to stuff when im working outside in the sun and heat.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

cheerdude said:


> Shoot - I think we missed recording this; Any chance it will be shown again or will we need to get the episode through iTunes (or other means/devices)?


It was shown again on Saturday, when I recorded it. Do a View Upcoming when you miss a show (in the same week). Networks seem to be using Saturday as a rerun spot for some of their shows (but unfortunately not consistently for the same show).


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

BTW, I thought this one wasn't that interesting. Boring is probably too strong, but it wasn't great.. I love Amazing Race, too.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Have to root for the local boys No Limit. Pretty amazing the blind guy hasn't knocked himself unconscious already. He's in the dark all the time! j/k


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Ment said:


> Have to root for the local boys No Limit. Pretty amazing the blind guy hasn't knocked himself unconscious already. He's in the dark all the time! j/k


I immediately recognized Erik as Erik Weihenmayer. I own this dvd that covers his ascent of Mount Everest.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

I like the Amazing Race and the Eco-Challenge, so I will give this a whirl. But we'll see what they do with bunch ups and such. I am already pretty disappointed by the water challenge. Other teams should not have been allowed to just re-use the same hole. Hell, I am upset they could even "steal" the idea. But I will watch for a while.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

eddyj said:


> I am already pretty disappointed by the water challenge. Other teams should not have been allowed to just re-use the same hole. Hell, I am upset they could even "steal" the idea. But I will watch for a while.


I blame the teams. Why would you leave your hole open? I'd sure as h*ll fill it back in once I was done.


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## jbernardis (Oct 22, 2003)

pmyers said:


> I blame the teams. Why would you leave your hole open? I'd sure as h*ll fill it back in once I was done.


I said the same thing - especially for the last team in any grouping - why wouldn't you want to open up more space behind you to the next team?


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## Squeak (May 12, 2000)

pmyers said:


> I blame the teams. Why would you leave your hole open? I'd sure as h*ll fill it back in once I was done.


Because you never know when you might need the help of another team (remember, they don't know the way this game will play out yet). So, to purposively spite another team might come back to bite them.


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## Ruth (Jul 31, 2001)

I will keep watching this . . . but it's no eco-challenge (which I _loved_). I appreciate that the tasks are actually challenging -- a pet peeve of mine about TAR -- but the people are so horribly ill-prepared for them, it was kind of hard to watch. And for the same reason you know there must be a lot of behind-the-scenes support we're not seeing, or else people would be in real danger.

Eco-challenge was great because the racers actually knew what they were doing and it wasn't super contrived -- they really were racing on thier own under adverse conditions, and had to make real choices with meaningful consequences.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Squeak said:


> Because you never know when you might need the help of another team (remember, they don't know the way this game will play out yet). So, to purposively spite another team might come back to bite them.


I don't think he's suggesting that they fill in the hole while the other teams are standing there begging them to let them get water. He's saying that once all the teams currently at that location have filled their water jugs, they should have filled in the hole before any other teams arrived, so that those teams would have to solve the puzzle and dig on their own and perhaps be farther behind.


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## Squeak (May 12, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> I don't think he's suggesting that they fill in the hole while the other teams are standing there begging them to let them get water. He's saying that once all the teams currently at that location have filled their water jugs, they should have filled in the hole before any other teams arrived, so that those teams would have to solve the puzzle and dig on their own and perhaps be farther behind.


Between the time the first team arrived and the last team arrived at the watering hole, was there ever a time when there was no team there?

I honestly can't remember, but I thought it was pretty much a continuous stream of teams there once it started.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Squeak said:


> Between the time the first team arrived and the last team arrived at the watering hole, was there ever a time when there was no team there?
> 
> I honestly can't remember, but I thought it was pretty much a continuous stream of teams there once it started.


there must have been because there were multiple holes dug.


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

Amnesia said:


> For many people, $50K (+ TV exposure + travel) is more than enough reason to stay in...


I'm guessing that the $50 grand is just about enough to cover the taxes on the Ford and the cash, with just a bit left over. They're basically playing for a tax-free new vehicle. Nothing to spit at, but not much otherwise.


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## Mikeyis4dcats (Oct 2, 2003)

couldn't make it through ep 2....SP deleted. such a bore.


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## bryhamm (Jun 30, 2004)

Mikeyis4dcats said:


> couldn't make it through ep 2....SP deleted. such a bore.


I'm getting there myself.


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## Bob Coxner (Dec 1, 2004)

As a huge TAR fan I want to like it but it's difficult. The host seems to be on Valium. The "prize" for winning a leg is a 5 minute head start the next day. We don't seem to get to know players like we do on TAR or Survivor.

The host alone is almost enough to make me drop it.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Bob Coxner said:


> As a huge TAR fan I want to like it but it's difficult. The host seems to be on Valium. The "prize" for winning a leg is a 5 minute head start the next day. We don't seem to get to know players like we do on TAR or Survivor.
> 
> The host alone is almost enough to make me drop it.


I don't think this is in TAR's class, but i'm liking it ok. It's definitely a tougher competition. But the problem I'm having is there's WAY too much hiking and stuff like that and not enough real competitions. I know that's a complaint about TAR, but at least TAR the scenery is different with each location they go. Here, it's all the same.


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## David Platt (Dec 13, 2001)

Mikeyis4dcats said:


> couldn't make it through ep 2....SP deleted. such a bore.


I'm right there with you. I was excited about the first episode, forced myself to watch the second, and the third is just sitting on my TiVo. I have no real desire to watch it. I think I'm just going to cancel the SP.


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## tonestert (Nov 15, 2007)

Seems to me there is no incentive to win each leg of the race. Wow a 5 min head start. If that's all you get no point in trying to win each leg until the last leg or the second to last leg. To me it just seems so anti-climatic when they dont' get anything for coming in first.

I am impressed with the blind guy Erik.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

tonestert said:


> Seems to me there is no incentive to win each leg of the race.


Disincentive: expenditure of energy and risk of injury.

Plus the aggravation of having to "solve" the puzzle segments when you're ahead, for the benefit of your competitors.

Stay in the middle of the pack for the prelims.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

Bob Coxner said:


> We don't seem to get to know players like we do on TAR or Survivor.


And yet, ironically, it seems that the players on this show get way more personal camera time. What I mean is I've noticed the show's modus operandi is to show 10 or so seconds of the 'competition', then cut to 10 or so seconds of one of the contestant's talking to the camera during an 'interview', then cut back to the competiton for 10 seconds, then 10 seconds of interview, rinse, and repeat.
Yeah, TAR and Survivor edit in interview snippets, too, but no where near as much. With all that interview time we're being shown, you'd think we'd get to know the contestants some. But I think we'd get to know them better if they'd cut down on the interviews and let us just watch the actual competition more... just let us watch the contestants compete and interact with each other, and quit with the relentless interview opines every few seconds.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Personally, I am really enjoying this show. So much more challenging than Amazin Race (which I love). They are into the snowy mountain ranges next time which may benefit the No Limits team, who should be used to thin air and navigating snowy regions. 

We may get to know contestants better as we go along but it has got to be hard with 12 or 13 teams of 3 people each and only one hour of TV.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Strange, others are finding it boring.. and I said it was _almost_ boring first ep, but it's slightly growing on me. (Then again, like _most_ reality shows, I don't watch it realtime.)

Though wasn't this the same bridge that was in a previous ep? So they're circling around to the same spot multiple times?

I applaud ABC for doing reruns on Saturdays.

While they certainly make the pre-commercial bits make it seem more dangerous than what really ends up happening, they do seem to be doing more dangerous stuff than The Amazing Race. (Dangerous camels.. blind guy could drown in the water..)


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Don't know if anyone is still watching but I have to say Erik Weihenmayer is amazing! 
And Jeff is just cool.

I know it is a long, long shot for Team No Limits but it is hard not to root for them.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I'm still watching. It's probably summer doldrums, but the show grew on me.. Still one of the FAR weaker reality shows, but watchable.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Erik is hella brave. Jumping off cliff, zipline, kayaking. Geebers.


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## NatasNJ (Jan 7, 2002)

Yeah. I am amazed on how this guy is kayaking down rapids BLIND! Very impressed and agreed that he is amazing.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

If you are interested in learning more about Erik you can check out some of the following DVDs

Farther Than The Eye Can See - Documents Erik's climb up Mt Everest. It is a pretty amazing DVD with great footage of Everest. I owned this DVD long before this show premiered and it is how I immediately knew who Erik was.

Blindsight - the story of a 2004 expedition when Erik and his Mt. Everest team, attempted to guide six blind Tibetan teenagers to the 23,000 foot Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Mount Everest

Touch the Top of the World - A feature film about Erik based on his memoirs. 

I think these are available via netflix.


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

Still watching. I really like this show, more than The Amazing Race. They don't spend all their time in airports and airplanes, or looking for taxis, etc. Expedition is much tougher than TAR... by miles. There also seems to be less regard for the competitors safety. All those people getting thrown from camels a few episodes back, and that one girl (was it one of the Cali girls?) getting stomped by one? Yikes.

Erik is truly amazing. Just walking through some of the rock fields that he has... look at the one gypsy, who can see, who sprained an ankle. And the kayaking? Wow.

I don't see anyone beating the Gypsies. Team Football may have some awesome athletes, but they don't have the experience of the Gypsies. The kayaking from the last episode really illustrates that. So far, none of the challenges have really been brute strength, except maybe the plowing one, and the one carrying the water buckets.

No Limits could match the Gypsies in experience, but, I hate to say it, Erik is a liability in a race like this. I don't think Fab 3 has what it takes - when the going gets tough, they start whining.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Yeah, without a doubt the Gypsies are the favorites. They have only lost a single leg of the race so far. 

I think if No Limits were not slowed by Erik's blindness we would be looking at a whole different dynamic. Even in dealing with Erik's blindness these guys are consitantly in the to 3 or 4 teams every week.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

You guys realize this is the "premiere" thread right? Perhaps it should have been a season-long one (despite the detractors to those type of threads).


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

I started an episode thread last week and it drew 1 reply. I vote we just make this the season thread. Might be a mod would change the thread title for us.


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## cybeleoc (Nov 24, 2010)

I am enjoying this show as well. Eric is absolutely amazing to watch - I cannot imagine the feelings he had when he got knocked out of the kayak or zip lined across the river. The only team I am annoyed by is the Fab 3. The brother is very obnoxious. 

My real complaint about the show is the interview portions. They have wasted the opportunity for us to get to know the participants. The interviews are just recaps of the task. Like last night when they were going through the rugs. The guy from the Fab 3 says, "We grabbed a rug and tossed it to the side.. Blah blah blah." Well, I can see that is what you are doing from the video, I don't really need a play by play of it.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

cybeleoc said:


> My real complaint about the show is the interview portions. They have *wasted the opportunity for us to get to know the participants*. The interviews are just recaps of the task. Like last night when they were going through the rugs. The guy from the Fab 3 says, "We grabbed a rug and tossed it to the side.. Blah blah blah." Well, I can see that is what you are doing from the video, I don't really need a play by play of it.


My wife complained noticed the same thing.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

cybeleoc said:


> My real complaint about the show is the interview portions. They have wasted the opportunity for us to get to know the participants. The interviews are just recaps of the task. Like last night when they were going through the rugs. The guy from the Fab 3 says, "We grabbed a rug and tossed it to the side.. Blah blah blah." Well, I can see that is what you are doing from the video, I don't really need a play by play of it.


Yup, this is my complaint, too. I think I posted about it earlier. Besides the play-by-play, the interviews also just bunch of "We're gonna persevere! We're gonna win this thing!" pep talk. These interviews are like every 10 seconds, too. When they're showing the actual competition footage, you can almost always count to around ten and, wham, another interview. Rinse, repeat.


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## wendiness1 (Jul 29, 2005)

It's not unwatchable to for me but it's also not impressing me too much. I think there's too much repetition for me (location, tasks, etc.) I realize the objective is to remain in Morocco but it has become tedious. I also miss watching teams interacting with locals, dealing with unforeseeable and unexpected glitches, interacting with each other, etc. The increased danger bothers me. I really don't want to see people getting hurt.


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

I still watch and find Erik to be pretty incredible but I don't find the show itself to be all that compelling. It looks like I'm not alone in thinking that, the audience has dropped off pretty significantly from the premiere episode, going from 7 million to about 4.6. For all that the Amazing Race does wrong, I still find it to be a much better show.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

I would find it much more compelling if all the teams were of a higher-caliber strength. It just seems very lopsided. There's 2 strong teams, maybe 3 ok teams, and the rest are bound to always be at the back. If they were all of Eco-challenge strength, it'd be a lot more interesting.


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

heySkippy said:


> I started an episode thread last week and it drew 1 reply. I vote we just make this the season thread. Might be a mod would change the thread title for us.


I didn't even see the ep thread. I 'reported' your post to a mod asking that they change the thread title to Season Thread since that's how it's being used. Hopefully they will get it changed before someone is accidentally spoiled.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Looks like a done deal. Hopefully Steve won't mind that we hijacked his thread.


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

I must have missed the weekly thread post. When I come to TCF, I usually click on "New Posts". Sometimes I get lazy and don't make it past the first page. So... if nobody responded to that post soon enough, it may have been bumped below my radar.


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

I just caught up on the season this week. It's fun for a summer show, but I doubt I'd watch in the fall when there are so many other things to choose from.

I really don't like any of the teams, and so I'm not really rooting for anyone in particular. I do have great respect for No Limits, but not really rooting for them. I cannot believe the Cali girls are still around. Really sucks that they are still there and the firemen, who stayed back and got them through the grappling hook challenge, are gone.


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## zordude (Sep 23, 2003)

The voice overs are really jarring to me.

Normally I don't mind in voice overs in these reality shows, but they seem to be doing the cuts and writing the dialogue to make it sound like he is still talking directly to the racers at the start/finish and it is so obvious he's not.

Z


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

wendiness1 said:


> It's not unwatchable to for me but it's also not impressing me too much. I think there's too much repetition for me (location, tasks, etc.) I realize the objective is to remain in Morocco but it has become tedious. I also miss watching teams interacting with locals, dealing with unforeseeable and unexpected glitches, interacting with each other, etc. The increased danger bothers me. I really don't want to see people getting hurt.


That's how I see this. I like the show more than I did at the beginning, but the one location theme is killing me. It doesn't work that well for a show like this. How many more times can they hike up a mountain or try and traverse a river?  For all it's problems with taxis and airports, the thing that makes TAR interesting is the interaction with the culture. In reality, this show could have been filmed in Arizona just as easily as Morocco with very little having to have been different.


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## Mr Flippant (Jan 2, 2009)

I like it alot. Reminds me of Eco Challenge that I always looked forward to the challenges. I think this show has some things to iron out. The competitors seem better fit in many cases but there is still too much whining going on, pf course with notable exceptions. I also o not like the fact that each leg seems to be an individual race as everyone is bunched up at the beginning. I understand the logistics make it so that they cannot let anyone get too far ahead. At the same time if the Gypsies somehow lose it will be a travesty. I hope they have a chance to re-work it a bit and improve things.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

From watching the The Amazing Race I know that people hate bunch ups when there favorite team is in first place. They love them when they are in last place.


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## NYHeel (Oct 7, 2003)

This is one of those shows that I watch but can't figure out why. I find it to be dreadful. It's basically an endurance test. It consists of hike to point A and then do some random needle in the haystacks challenge that usually required little skill. Then hike to point B and do some other pointless challenge that requires little skill or athleticism. Then hike to point C. At least this last episode had Kayaking so it wasn't just hiking.

And I just don't get Erik, the blind guy. It's absolutely fascinating that he's doing this but he contributes nothing for his team. It's just kind of stupid to have him on. He can't do any of the challenges and he just holds them back on the hikes. If they win they'll probably say, "wow! Look what a blind person can do", but in reality his team would win in spite of Erik. Again, I think it's awesome that he can do this stuff and climb Everest, but it's kind of pointless to have him in a competition like this.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Who knows maybe there will be a challenge where not being able to rely on vision would be beneficial. Spelunking challenge?


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Does Erik hold his team back some? Yeah, I am sure he does but honestly I think he is performing better than some of the sighted contestants in the physical aspects of the show.

I think it is also possible that Erik is the one that wanted to do the show and the others agreed. It is also highly likely that without Erik the team would not even be on the show. He has a little bit of celebrity on his side being the only blind man to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

I think without Erik, the blind guy, this show would be really boring.

Watching him jump off a cliff into running water, kyak, climb slippery rocks, all while blind is an amazing feat! Unless the show makes the other teams more interesting to root for/against, once No Limits gets evacuated I might stop watching, at the very least it will be background noise while I do other things.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

Erik does help his team. He inspires them. He also is a good soldier. He trusts his buddy not to let him get seriously hurt and tries everything. WITHOUT WHINING!!!!!!!!!!


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## NYHeel (Oct 7, 2003)

Maui said:


> Does Erik hold his team back some? Yeah, I am sure he does but honestly I think he is performing better than some of the sighted contestants in the physical aspects of the show.
> 
> I think it is also possible that Erik is the one that wanted to do the show and the others agreed. It is also highly likely that without Erik the team would not even be on the show. He has a little bit of celebrity on his side being the only blind man to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits.


To me it's not really about how he performs but that he just "comes along for the ride". Clearly this team probably wouldn't be on the show without him but his presence gives off a "let's see if the blind guy can do this" impression as opposed to an actual competitive presence. As a sports fan who likes competition it annoys me. But hey, he is inspiring and hopefully is really enjoying it. However, he tends to have a "what did these guys get me into" look on his face.

But Erik is the least of this show's problems. I find it incredibly difficult to get through these episodes. But I want to see who wins so I fight on.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Wow, we saw the previously rarely seen member of the No Limits show his stuff today. Glad to see Ike get some screen time but did not like seeing the circumstances that surrounded it.



NYHeel said:


> To me it's not really about how he performs but that he just "comes along for the ride". Clearly this team probably wouldn't be on the show without him but his presence gives off a "let's see if the blind guy can do this" impression as opposed to an actual competitive presence.


So he can't do the sighted challenges? I am guessing that there are members of other teams who have been equally unhelpful in the sighted challenges. Part of this competition is physical and, despite unfriendly terrain, he has been outperforming many folks on that front.

If Ike's ankle gets worse it could end up being possible that he is the one to cause No Limits to be eliminated and not Erik.


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## omnibus (Sep 25, 2001)

Talking about holdng a team back! What about that country boy who can't climb hills!!!


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

Ugh, I was so hoping Fab 3 would go home. I'm so tired of listening to them whine. 

The tea break was stupid. In a race like this why would you stop like that even if you are ahead. That can change at any moment.

No Limits continues to impress. I really hope Ike can continue.


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## Hansky (Nov 17, 2005)

MNoelH said:


> I was amazed that those people were trekking across sand dunes without a bottle of water in their hands. I don't think I saw anyone drinking anything. Even the southern guy that sat down for a bit. You'd think they'd be dousing him with water to help him find his get up and go.
> 
> I can't imagine that in all that geat they're carrying they don't have water. I just think it's weird that I never saw anyone drinking water.
> 
> ...


I just watched the first episode, but having spent a lot of time hiking the region, and just looking at a basic map, it is not possible this was a continuous hike.

I can't imagine they were not provided all the water they needed, but had they really spent hours in the Sahara, several would have been burned to a crisp. Gym shorts, tank tops, There is a reason people cover up, even in the hottest of temps. Here, i did not see a sign of any sun on any of them by the end of the show. Absent the best sun block available, all over their bodies, they would have been burned after a few hours. For an average group of people, they looked awfully good after (allegedly) a few hours in the desert.

You can check the Todra Gorge on a map to check its location relative to desert-type area. It appears they may also have taken liberties in calling it the Sahara. There is a Sahara region, but the true desert is further east and south, and mosly not in Morocco. Even getting a few miles in the Todra area is an entire day of hard hiking. There are small areas of desert-like terrain around, but it is not really the Sahara desert.

Of course, digging the "well" was not a random choice.

Only my guess, but I'd say each leg was an hour or two, they had transportation to the next one, and it was filmed over multiple days.

I don't know how these shows work, beyond taking liberties with timelines and other things, so for all I know it could be the norm.


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## omnibus (Sep 25, 2001)

Hansky said:


> I can't imagine they were not provided all the water they needed, but had they really spent hours in the Sahara, several would have been burned to a crisp.


 I'm pretty sure they are wearing water bladders (hydration packs) on their backs with a drinking tube passed over their shoulders.


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## Hansky (Nov 17, 2005)

omnibus said:


> I'm pretty sure they are wearing water bladders (hydration packs) on their backs with a drinking tube passed over their shoulders.


They were. They would not have done this without plenty of good water. Had it actually been several hours in the desert, they would have needed much more than 100 or so ounces in a Camelback.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

This is not a survival challenge so I suspect they are being well fed and watered. They don't depict the overnight camps but they seem to stay clean and look well rested so this is definately not a challenge that tests their health.
I noticed the camelbacks and have seen them drink from the tubes. I suspect that those are kept filled by a team from the crew.


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

I am impressed by Erik's performance in this as well. However, I believe that more important than his contributions to his team is his contribution to the TV aspect of this show. I'd be willing to bet that at least a moderate share of the ratings can be attributed to people interested in his storyline/aspect of the show who may not otherwise be interested enough in the other participants to watch.

Would anybody else not be surprised at all if we were to find out that Chad (? the tail-dragging country boy) had some undiagnosed disease or condition that explained why an otherwise seeimingly healthy (and apparently rather physically fit) person would have so much trouble with physical exertion? I am aware of nothing of that sort, but I'm also pretty dumbstruck as to why he seems like such a wimp!

As for the _TAR-lite_ feel to this show that some allude to, that's really kind of what this is. The prize at the end is similarly _TAR-lite_ish. And with Mark Burnett behind this one, too, I'm guessing it was pretty much designed that way. If it had turned into a ratings juggernaut, then things may have ramped up in future seasons, but I kind of doubt we'll see much of a change.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

This weekend I watched Touch The Top of the World, an A&E movie about Erik and re-watched Farther Than The Eye Can See about his summit of Mt. Everest (along with Jeff). The A&E movie was good but very TV Movie Like in it's presentation. It's depiction of his summit was not as interesting as the other film which actually shows it.


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## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

They should just change the name of the show to "Who will come in second?".


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

fmowry said:


> They should just change the name of the show to "Who will come in second?".


Every team has had their slip-ups, even the Gypsies. One bad decision/task and you're at the back of the pack. The Gypsies should win this, but I don't think it's a done deal. Any team has a chance, since they release teams in the order they arrived, but not on the schedule.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

martinp13 said:


> Every team has had their slip-ups, even the Gypsies. One bad decision/task and you're at the back of the pack. The Gypsies should win this, but I don't think it's a done deal. Any team has a chance, since they release teams in the order they arrived, but not on the schedule.


Any team does have a chance, as long as the Gypsies don't mess up.


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## Unseen Llama (Nov 29, 2005)

hummingbird_206 said:


> Ugh, I was so hoping Fab 3 would go home. I'm so tired of listening to them whine.
> 
> The tea break was stupid. In a race like this why would you stop like that even if you are ahead. That can change at any moment.
> 
> No Limits continues to impress. I really hope Ike can continue.


When the penalty for coming in second is being held up 3 mins...I think the Gypsies would still survive even coming in 2nd after a tea break. At least it would be some kind of reward 

That's the annoying part of the show, the 3 min / 5 min "head starts". There is no incentive to come in 1st place until the very end so teams start to slack off.

My wife's team is the Fab 3, but she wanted to change it after the last episode. My team has always been No Limits. Now if they can just beat the Gypsies.... :up:


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

I like the Gypsies the most. They have a great camaraderie and they've earned their spot every time.


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## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

One of the California chicks works at my company. The 3 of them attended an event yesterday. They took a few questions from the audience. Here are some of the things I remember:

* It was freaking hard (of course)
* During the personal interviews, they were never fed lines, but they were asked leading questions
* The production crew was over 200 people
* They had a week of orientation before the competition started. They had the opportunity to become familar with the equipement. Once the competition started, there weren't given any instructions on how to use the gear.
* There were a lot of challenges that didn't make it on the air
* They started having some days off between competitions because all the contestants complained that they were dying. "If you don't give us time off, you're not going to have any contestants left" 
* The cameramen would protect their cameras with their lives. When they fell, they would protect the camera first and their bodies second. One cameraman had to be evacuated with broken ribs. No idea what happened to the camera. 
* The camp was just a tent. They still slept on the ground. 

Forgot to ask about food/water.

There were no spoilers.

They also said that if you ever want to get on TAR or Expedition Impossible, do it with an all female team (sorry guys.) If you really want to be chosen, get your Mom to join with you.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

^^ Thanks for the background info!


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

200 production? Wow, that sounds like a lot.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Wow, I thought No Limits was going to be out there for a second. I can't see them hanging in much longer with Ike's ankle so bad.

Actually, at this point the only team that I would *HATE* to see win it is Fab 3. They need to go. Gypsys. No Limits, Football Players and Cops I can't really complain about.


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

Maui said:


> Wow, I thought No Limits was going to be out there for a second. I can't see them hanging in much longer with Ike's ankle so bad.
> 
> Actually, at this point the only team that I would *HATE* to see win it is Fab 3. They need to go. Gypsys. No Limits, Football Players and Cops I can't really complain about.


I really hate that the Football players (I think it was the football players) helped Fab 3 with the last clue. I expected that Cali girls and Fab 3 would still be struggling when No Limits got there. I was half right, but I don't think Fab 3 would have gotten the last clue on their own. Glad Cali girls when home. Would have been happy to either Fab 3 or Cali girls gone.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Unless Ike gets a miracle salve No Limit is going down. Will still root for 'em tho, that group of guys are just awesome.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Ment said:


> Unless Ike gets a miracle salve No Limit is going down. Will still root for 'em tho, that group of guys are just awesome.


Yeah, no way they can keep up, with the guy in a cast, no matter how high his pain tolerance is. You just cannot jog/run in those.  But I will root for them to the bitter end.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

The Cali Girls must have still been confused by that task even after seeing No Limits do it. I thought for sure they were gonna outrun them to the finish.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

loubob57 said:


> The Cali Girls must have still been confused by that task even after seeing No Limits do it. I thought for sure they were gonna outrun them to the finish.


It seems like they were using some bad numbers too. Not horribly off, but enough to make it harder.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

eddyj said:


> It seems like they were using some bad numbers too. Not horribly off, but enough to make it harder.


I wondered how badly you would be off if you were a few degrees off over the relatively short distances they had to work with.

Apparently No Limits were still visible to the Cali Girls when they finished because one of the girls mentioned seeing them up ahead. I do remember a few of the earlier teams going up some major hills towards the finish. I think that may have helped No Limits as the hills probably slowed down the girls making it harder for them to catch up.

I still hated to see them go. They were cute. 

The teams just need to band together now to get rid of Fab 3.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Maui said:


> I wondered how badly you would be off if you were a few degrees off over the relatively short distances they had to work with.
> 
> Apparently No Limits were still visible to the Cali Girls when they finished because one of the girls mentioned seeing them up ahead. I do remember a few of the earlier teams going up some major hills towards the finish. I think that may have helped No Limits as the hills probably slowed down the girls making it harder for them to catch up.
> 
> ...


If no one helps them, they will self destruct on their own.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

The California Girls had the number of teeth almost 10 degrees off. That may have really goofed them up but they must have found the last clue or followed No Limits in.

I love No Limits but am rooting for them to lose so that Ike can get some treatment for his leg.


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## HIHZia (Nov 3, 2004)

I thought for a minute No Limits was going to wait at the mat and not check in, saying, they knew they couldn't compete the next leg, but wanted to finish this leg if they could, and let the Cali girls check in before them.


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## stellie93 (Feb 25, 2006)

The Cali girls would never have gotten it if they had to do it on their own, so it was fitting that they didn't use spying on No Limits to beat them.


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## Tracy (Mar 12, 2000)

I really really love these sorts of shows, so we are sticking with it, but it is definitely not one of my favorites. I think they could improve it by pushing it one more notch toward Eco-Challenge by not giving them the halfway point overnight camp stops. If they had to decide whether to push on or get some sleep, I think that would add a lot of drama.

I was very surprised when the medical team gave the hurt-ankle-guy the okay to continue with the race. They aren't so lenient in Survivor.

This show reminds me of a show from 10 years ago that I think was called "Lost"....not that Lost. They dumped teams in the middle of nowhere and they had to find their way back to the somewhere in the U.S. with no help. I think they started them off in a desert in Mongolia. It was interesting, but very bleak and I found myself uncomfortable with American contestants constantly begging for money from very poor locals.


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## omnibus (Sep 25, 2001)

I'd like to know how many pages there are in the "release from liability" contracts they had to sign.


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## Bob Coxner (Dec 1, 2004)

Tracy said:


> This show reminds me of a show from 10 years ago that I think was called "Lost"....not that Lost. They dumped teams in the middle of nowhere and they had to find their way back to the somewhere in the U.S. with no help. I think they started them off in a desert in Mongolia. It was interesting, but very bleak and I found myself uncomfortable with American contestants constantly begging for money from very poor locals.


I remember that one. The problem with it, in addition to the begging, was that one team would get several DAYS ahead of the others. Not much drama in that case.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Tracy said:


> This show reminds me of a show from 10 years ago that I think was called "Lost"....not that Lost. They dumped teams in the middle of nowhere and they had to find their way back to the somewhere in the U.S. with no help. I think they started them off in a desert in Mongolia. It was interesting, but very bleak and I found myself uncomfortable with American contestants constantly begging for money from very poor locals.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0292816

Though I forget if it was this or a different reality show that *also* premiered right before 9/11 had them end up at the WTC. (Both were condensed/shelved quickly.)


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Wow, what a finish!! 

No Limits are incredible!! I think it is fairly safe to say that no member on any other team could have Ike's injury and make it this far.

Rooting for No Limits (of course) and Gypsys. The football players stock has dropped by buddying up with Fab 3. Hard to believe a team can dominate like the Gypsys have and that I would still be rooting for them.

AJ has truly been the most annoying contestant of the season. My biggest disappointment of the night is that Fab 3 is in the finals.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

No Limits FTW!! By luck, by determination by shear force of will to the end!


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

Ment said:


> No Limits FTW!! By luck, by determination by shear force of will to the end!


Physically, the No Limits team has no business still being there. But they didn't give up, so when the team in front of them (in each of the last two stages) made a mistake they were close enough to take advantage.

So, they wouldn't be in it without the mistakes, but they deserve great credit for not quitting when they were in last place and hurting bad.

And, if the producers have been fair with us in the presentation of the last two stages, they actually outran the the last team over rough terrain the last couple of hundred yards, despite one member blind and another lame.

Dislikable though they are, you have to have some degree of respect for the Fab 3 team. In at least 3 of the stages they had illness to overcome, and they did.

Hard to root for the Gypsies. The tea thing. Hubris. Ready for a fall.

But if I were calculating odds (though I'd like to see the order exactly reversed):
Gypsies
Fab 3
FootballPlayers
No Limits


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## sburnside1 (Jan 28, 2009)

Wil said:


> Physically, the No Limits team has no business still being there. But they didn't give up, so when the team in front of them (in each of the last two stages) made a mistake they were close enough to take advantage.
> 
> So, they wouldn't be in it without the mistakes, but they deserve great credit for not quitting when they were in last place and hurting bad.


You make it sound like No Limits is only there because others made mistakes. I think that is far from the truth. True others made mistakes, but they are in it because Ike is still pushing full steam even with his injury. If he were not doing that, those mistakes wouldn't have mattered for the other teams.

I had a hard time liking this show the first couple episodes, but now its one of my favorites of the summer. I like No Limits and the Gypsies.

I would like Fab 3 more, if the brother never ever spoke. When he said that Gypsies were helping No Limits just to keep a weaker team in the game... Is that any different than what they are doing with the Football players? They have become friends. And really, I could see No Limits and Gypsies actually being friends after the show, I don't really see that with them and the Football players.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

I'm pulling for the Gypsies all the way. Best of the bunch by far.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

sburnside1 said:


> And really, I could see No Limits and Gypsies actually being friends after the show, I don't really see that with them and the Football players.


In fact Jeff, Erik and Ike are hosting a finale party next week in Boulder and they said that they Gypsys would be attending along with the host Dave and the Executive producer. They are having the party to raise money for Erik's and the Gypsys charities.

Both Jeff and Erik have blogs where they have been discussing the show as it airs.

Here is a quote from Eriks recent blog.



> One of the things that makes me proud about being involved with Expedition Impossible is the message it sends. I wont let my kids watch other reality shows because I dont want them thinking the way to get to the top is by backstabbing. The cool thing about this show is its a bunch of teams competing as hard as they can, trying to do their best. And once you get to camp, nearly everyone is a buddy; talking and laughing, sharing cramped goat herder tents, fighting windstorms together.
> 
> For the most part, everyone was into the spirit of a traditional adventure race. Only one team was trying to do some of the alliance silliness, the rest were content to compete on their own merits. In the end, good teamwork is what defines success.


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## stellie93 (Feb 25, 2006)

Kind of unfair at the "banks" challenge that 2 teams were given the answer, and then the last team actually got it right away themselves. They should have been ahead of the other 2 who were struggling. 

Even when the fab 3 brother is trying to be nice, he is so patronizing to his sister and friend. Funny how they showed him saying he couldn't yell at his sister when she was sick, and then showed him doing exactly that. 

Eric really doesn't get the attention now that they have a cripple on the team. He doesn't seem to be an attention hog like I had suspected at first. Seems like a great guy. :up:


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Interesting statement about Fab 3 in Jeff's (from No Limits) blog..



> So...even though we weren't in to the "alliance" aspect of the game, it was taking place organically simply because we truly respected and enjoyed spending time with the Gyps...slightly less with Football and honestly, not at all with the Fabulous Crew.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Well, that was a satisfying ending. Sure, it would have been even nicer to swap 1 and 2, but that was not gonna happen.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Nice ending and IMO the right team won. Those guys are a really terrific team.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Yeah, given their domination, it would have been a travesty to have anyone but the Gypsies win. And it was great to have Fab 3 get lost. If they had been working together better instead of fighting with each other all the time, they would have done a lot better, IMO.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

eddyj said:


> Well, that was a satisfying ending. Sure, it would have been even nicer to swap 1 and 2, but that was not gonna happen.


I agree completely If No Limits could not win then the Gypsys were who I was rooting for. They certainly made you think it was going to be close when Jeff showed up and said "I know how to do that".

I wonder what the time difference was between teams and how much time No limits lost by originally missing that checkpoint, because it definite seemed to me they got through that map challenge faster than the others.


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## omnibus (Sep 25, 2001)

Absolutely, that guy who was the spokesman for Fab 3 was really annoying. No limits had not one but two handicapped team members and still eeked out a close second.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

I don't want to minimize their accomplishment, but No Limits was hugely fortunate that so much of the last couple stages took place in boats and even cars. 

As for Fab 3, I liked them too. Yeah, they didn't handle stress as gracefully as the other teams but they weren't that bad and they were consistently strong competitors. 

If this comes back next year, I'll watch. Now, bring on Survivor and TAR!


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

No Limits in second is fine by me. Hope this show is enough of a success that if it comes again next year they have the budget to move to more varied geography.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

heySkippy said:


> I don't want to minimize their accomplishment, but No Limits was hugely fortunate that so much of the last couple stages took place in boats and even cars.


I am not sure if it is more true that No Limits was fortunate because of the boats or the Football players were unfortunate because of them. No Limits made to the final and finished second mainly due to other teams mistakes. The cali girls and the puzzle, the cops not looking at their clue, Fab 3 getting completely lost this last episode.

Wish I could have been in Boulder last night where No Limits hosted finale viewing party for charity. The Gypsys were there along with the shows host and producer.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

No Limits was very lucky...but they also made their own luck. They did not give up, they made few mistakes, and they busted their tails, even when all seemed lost.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

The right team won. Quite an enjoyable season.

Not sure if I would have been as interested in this if Erik (blind guy) hadn't been on the show. IMO he made the show a lot more interesting. Ike hurting his leg compounded the drama of their team and their struggles just to stay in the race. They did get awfully lucky avoiding elimination, but as one of the Gypsies said "how can you not root for them?"

No Limits and Gypsies seemed like the only 2 teams with any experience with with a lot of the adventure type obstacles. I hope if they do this again they add a few more teams with experience, but of course keep the "jock", "couch potato", "under dog team", and "girl" teams.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I think the producers told the teams what equipment they would be using and gave them some chance to practice with it. But that is a lot different than experience.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Jeff from no limits is stating in his blog that we may see more of him and Erik on TV next year

http://mountain-vision.blogspot.com/2011/08/2nd-place-never-felt-so-good.html



Jeff Evans Blog said:


> It's not over folks. We are in development right now with some very creative and influential folks that want to showcase us taking on challenges and adventures around the world for a new show next year. Stay tuned and thanks for your support.
> Be Strong. Work Together. And Never Give Up!!!!


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## sburnside1 (Jan 28, 2009)

That's cool. I really liked their team. They worked thru a lot to finish second.

I still cant believe how many miles Ike traveled on that ankle.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I almost gave up on this show, but it grew on me to be an ok summer show. Still doesn't have the charm of TAR, and they need to vary things, so that every episode doesn't consist of the same thing...hiking, and some water thing. The problem I had with the show is that there was TOO much time on those things and not enough actual tasks. I'll give them a pass being that it was their first season.

I also agree, if No Limits had been eliminated early, I might not have stuck with the show. The Gypsies were dominant, but lacked any kind of charisma.


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## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

sieglinde said:


> I think the producers told the teams what equipment they would be using and gave them some chance to practice with it. But that is a lot different than experience.


That's correct. Search for my post where I give some background on the show.

Basically they had 1 week in Morocco before the competition started when they could practice, get used to the equipement. Once the competition started, they didn't receive any training/guidance/help regarding their equipement.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

This show was a delicate balance. I originailly only wanted to watch it because I was interested in Morocco. I saw enough stuff to make it interesting but if they did not have No Limits make it to the last episdoe the human interest would not have been there. The Gypsies just made it look too easy.


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