Amazing Race Canada

In this space, I'll be writing about Amazing Race Canada. It's about time Canada got one , but I understand why it took so long. The Amazing Race: The Original Series (TAR:TOS for those of you who like Star Trek), was and is such a popular show in Canada. Even without Canadians competing, CTV was getting amazing ratings (Three ings in a row, a new record!) with TAR. So why pay for their own series, especially since TAR is expensive to shoot compared to other reality shows, when you get the US one once you pay the Canadian broadcast rights.

But now we have one, and I'm excited. I won't be writing much about ARC (Amazing Race Canada) until the series begins. But I will probably write something when they announce the teams. Like many fans, I'm curious about the make-up of the teams. And why they were chosen. Like many fans, I and a friend applied to be on ARC, but didn't get in. Still, we didn't feel bad because I've heard that they got over 70,000 applications, that over 140,000 Canadians, just a bit more than the population of Moncton, applied. So don't despair if you didn't get chosen.

That said, those that did get chosen better be interesting teams, better represent a decent cross-section of Canadians instead of a whole bunch of Mactors (model/actors), blond twins, Canadian reality show cast-offs or Canadian celebrities. A few of those are fine, but I hope they didn't stack the whole show the way the Asian version did. In that version, almost every single team was made up of some kind of celebrity (Bollywood actresses, TV sports hosts, pop singers, pro athletes, etc.) from whatever country they were representing. Interesting, but only to a point. I also hope they don't take the easy way out and have stereotypical representations such as Alberta cowboys, stoner Vancouverites, prairie farmers, Toronto banker-types, Maritime fishermen, you know what I'm talking about. And as an aboriginal person, there better be at least two players with native blood or I'm going to kick some ass.

The choice of the host, Jon Montgomery, bodes well. He's not the typical host, not the Ben Mulroney type or some local chat show host looking to step into the national spotlight. Despite being an Olympic champion, Montgomery comes off as an average Joe. The sight of him with a jug of beer after being given an Olympic gold medal is classic Canadiana. And I've seen him commentate on the Crashed Ice series, and he's decent. Hopefully he doesn't try to emulate Phil and instead tries to find his own voice and take on ARC.

That's it for now; see you at the starting line.