Well, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who doesn't think this season of The Amazing Race: Family Edition isn't quite up to par with the other seasons. On the official website, there is a section where former players blog about the episode (there is a similar blog for Survivor which I love!). They have noticed that there just isn't a lot to this season. They have toned it down to accomodate the families, and in doing so, have taken a lot of the fun out of the show. Now, don't get me wrong -- I still am enjoying the race. And it's still way better than most things on television. But it's just not as good as it could be.

Part of it is the fact that the majority of the race is taking place in the United States. I understand it would be a nightmare to send familes around the world. But the language barrier (especially in taxis and other forms of transportation) is a huge part of the race. And speaking of transportation, I hate the fact that the teams are given transportation (and, if I recall correctly from the beginning of the race, gas money). Where is the challenge? And when they lose all of their money, what does it matter? The Weavers lost their money on the last leg, but they haven't needed any money yet. So where's the penalty? The other part of going country to country is that great equalizer known as the airport. There isn't really that great equalizer this season -- no place for the teams to bunch up.

The tasks are also way easier than usual. I understand that they can't have kid doing some of the things that have been done in past seasons (remember walking in the tiger pit?). But finding places that are on any map isn't but so much of a challenge. And the clues aren't even tricky -- they have the addresses on them. Go back and watch season 1 (they replay them on GSN...I think it's on DVD as well) -- each clue was actually a clue -- they had to figure them out to decide where to go. The clues have been getting easier each season, but this is a huge leap.

I also question what on earth is going on with the production crews using the car batteries to run their equipment. This is the second episode where a team fell behind because a camera crew drained their battery. Why on earth does that happen? (and happen twice??) You would think that they would know better. And why haven't the teams received a time credit.

Oh dear. Even the previews aren't as good -- last week the preview for tonight's episode made it look like there was going to be a hot air balloon crash; it was really just a "nudging." So I'm hesitant to get excited that the previews for next week's show have the Weaver's being pulled over by a cop. It just might be too good to be true.

Anyways, I really did enjoy tonight's show...I guess I'm just still cranky that the Weavers are still there (message to Mrs. Weaver -- you are now a single mom -- please be a ROLE MODEL for your children!). Maybe they'll spend part of the next episode in jail...