Why does the Amazing Race suck so much?

I’m a sucker for reality TV. Don’t know when or how it happened, I hate the idea but I eagerly await Survivor and the Amazing Race. Or I used to. I don’t understand why they’ve destroyed the Amazing Race, it used to be one of my favourites.

The whole point of the Amazing Race was the…amazing…races they did all over the world to exotic locations, doing crazy things in strange and challenging cultures and testing the contestants abilities, often in front of some of the worlds best scenery.

This season for some reason they have decided not to bother with the “amazing” part of the race and just have families driving around the U.S. doing lame challenges. Recent “challenges” (I’m optimistic they’ll throw in a challenging one in any week now) include driving a bike around an oval track, sawing a piece of wood, riding a centrifuge, driving through mud, pushing Amish buggies and asking people in a park if they have a clue.

Of course it’s a family edition so we get even more of the obnoxious bickering than usual. And the crying! Why would I want to tune in to watch people crying? Seriously does anyone have a clue what the producers could possibly be thinking?

Anyway I suppose it’s a good excuse to stop watching—unless they go somewhere interesting—every less hour of TV is a good thing.