The Amazing Race 1, originally broadcast as The Amazing Race, is the inaugural installment of The Amazing Race (US) and the reality television franchise The Amazing Race. It ran from September 5, 2001 to December 13, 2001. The entire season was released on DVD on September 27, 2005.[1]
Development
The inaugural season of The Amazing Race traveled 35,000 miles (56,000 km) within 39 days, through 4 continents, 9 countries, and 24 different cities.
The first race was marred by several production difficulties such as filming delays due to an airport strike at the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome and a sandstorm in Tunisia, with the latter prompting production to prolong the teams' stay in the Pit Stop for 36 hours instead of the standard 12 and eventually moved to Gabès to commence Leg 6.[2]
It was originally going to premiere in between May and July 2001, but was held back for the fall once CBS saw the final product in order to obtain a larger viewing audience.[3] Broadcast was postponed a further week due to the September 11 attacks, which occurred six days after the premiere.
Teams
|
Rob & Brennan
Best Friends/Lawyers |
Frank & Margarita
Separated Couple |
Joe & Bill
Life Partners |
Kevin & Drew
Fraternity Brothers |
Nancy & Emily
Mother/Daughter |
|
Lenny & Karyn
Dating |
Paul & Amie
Engaged |
Dave & Margaretta
Married 40 Years |
Pat & Brenda
Working Moms |
Kim & Leslie
Roommates |
|
Matt & Ana
Married |
Route Map
Episodes
| Episode | Air Date | Leg | Destination | First Place | Last Place | Finish | Viewership (millions)[4] | Ratings/Share (18-49)[4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Race Begins" | September 5, 2001 | 1 | United States → South Africa → Zambia | Rob & Brennan | Matt & Ana | 1st Eliminated 11th Place | 11.80 | 5.1/13 |
| 2 | "Divide and Conquer" | September 19, 2001 | 2 | Zambia → France | Pat & Brenda | Kim & Leslie | 2nd Eliminated 10th Place | 10.00 | 4.6/12 |
| 3 | "Home for Some" | September 26, 2001 | 3 | France | Kevin & Drew | Pat & Brenda | 3rd Eliminated 9th Place | 8.60 | 3.6/9 |
| 4 | "Colossal Showdown" | October 3, 2001 | 4 | France → Tunisia | Joe & Bill | Dave & Margeretta | 4th Eliminated 8th Place | 8.70 | 3.9/10 |
| 5 | "Desert Storm" | October 10, 2001 | 5 | Tunisia | Kevin & Drew | Paul & Amie | 5th Eliminated 7th Place | 8.30 | 3.7/9 |
| 6 | "Whatever It Takes to Win" | October 17, 2001 | 6 | Tunisia → Italy | Frank & Margarita | Lenny & Karyn | Non-Elimination Leg | 8.40 | 3.6/9 |
| 7 | "Triumph and Loss" | October 24, 2001 | 7 | Italy → India | Frank & Margarita | Lenny & Karyn | 6th Eliminated 6th Place | 9.20 | 4.0/10 |
| 8 | "Competition to the Fullest" | October 31, 2001 | 8 | India | Kevin & Drew | Nancy & Emily | Non-Elimination Leg | 8.40 | 3.6/9 |
| 9 | "The Unexpected Twist" | November 14, 2001 | 9 | India → Thailand | Rob & Brennan | Nancy & Emily | 7th Eliminated 5th Place | 9.40 | 3.8/9 |
| 10 | "To the Physical and Mental Limit" | November 21, 2001 | 10 | Thailand | Rob & Brennan | Joe & Bill | Non-Elimination Leg | 8.20 | 3.1/9 |
| 11 | "Fight to the Last Minute" | November 28, 2001 | 11 | Thailand → China | Frank & Margarita | Kevin & Drew | 8th Eliminated 4th Place | 9.50 | 4.1/10 |
| 12 | "Race to the Finish (Part 1)" | December 5, 2001 | 12 | China → United States | Rob & Brennan | Joe & Bill | Non-Elimination Leg | 9.40 | 3.7/9 |
| 13 | "Race to the Finish (Part 2)" | December 13, 2001 | 13 | United States | Rob & Brennan | Joe & Bill | 3rd Place | 13.70 | 6.0/15 |
| Frank & Margarita | 2nd Place | ||||||||
Leaderboard
This chart shows each teams ranking per leg according to their official check in at the Pit Stop. However, time penalties issued before the start of the next leg due to improperly performed tasks are not reflected here.
| Place | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 | Leg 3 | Leg 4 | Leg 5 | Leg 6 | Leg 7 | Leg 8 | Leg 9 | Leg 10 | Leg 11 | Leg 12 | Leg 13 | Average | 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob & Brennan | 1► | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2.46 | 5-7 |
| 2 | Frank & Margarita | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1► | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2.38 | 9-3 |
| 3 | Joe & Bill | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4► | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.77 | 7-4 |
| 4 | Kevin & Drew | 9 | 5 | 1► | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.36 | 5-5 | ||
| 5 | Nancy & Emily | 10 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5.78 | 2-7 | ||||
| 6 | Lenny & Karyn | 4 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6.43 | 2-5 | ||||||
| 7 | Paul & Amie | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6.60 | 3-1 | ||||||||
| 8 | Dave & Margaretta | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6.50 | 3-1 | |||||||||
| 9 | Pat & Brenda | 5 | 1► | 9 | 5.00 | 2-0 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Kim & Leslie | 6 | 10 | 8.00 | 2-0 | |||||||||||
| 11 | Matt & Ana | 11 | 11.00 | 0-0 | ||||||||||||
| Notes | [1] | [3] | [4] | [5] | [6] | [7] | [8] | [9] | ||||||||
Legend:
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Notes:
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Reception
Pre-Production
- Zap2It (09/13/2000): "Bruckheimer, CBS join for new reality 'Race' "
- Zap2It (07/24/2001): "Amazing Race Kicks Off CBS Fall Season"
Pre-Season Reviews
- Gary Levin at USA Today (08/02/2001): "CBS trouts out Amazing Race"
- Warren Berger at New York Times (09/02/2001): "A Long Trip, With Someone You Know"
- John Levesque at Seattle P-I (09/03/2001): "Amazing Race has plenty of gumption"
- Anita Gates at New York Times (09/05/2001): "Bungee Jumping to Save Minutes: It's Called Reality"
- Rob Owen at Post-Gazette (09/05/2001): "TV Reviews: 'Lost' and 'Amazing Race' both leave starting line -- best bet on CBS's 'Race' "
- John Carman at SF Gate (09/05/2001): "Reality TV thinks globally / Players roam the world"
- Matt Roush at TV Guide Online (09/05/2001): "Two for the Road"
- Andy Dehnart at realityblurred (09/05/2001): "Amazing Race debuts tonight"
Post-Season Reviews
- Gary Levin at USA Today (12/13/2001): "Momentum carries Race to finish"
- The Trades (12/25/2001): "Roundtable Discussion on The Amazing Race"
- Andy Dehnart at realityblurred (09/05/2011): "The Amazing Race is 10 today"
- Joe Reid at Decider (09/05/2015): "Today In TV History: The Amazing Race First Sent Americans Careening Around The World"
Trivia
Franchise
- First season to visit the United States, South Africa, Zambia, France, Tunisia, Italy, India, Thailand, and China.
- First season to start and finish in the same city.
- First season to feature eleven teams.
- First season to have four Non-Elimination Legs.
US
- This is the first season to have team(s) that made it to the final leg, but never finish the race, as Joe & Bill were too far behind the other two teams that already made it to the Finish Line.
- First season that the Finish Line was located in the contiguous United States.
Season 1
- Coincidentally, the top three teams in the first leg happened to be the final three teams of the season.
- Host Phil Keoghan did not greet teams upon arrival at the Pit Stop other than the last placing team.
- No teams of siblings were on this season.
External links
References
- ↑ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Amazing-Race-1/3711
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Race_1#Development_and_filming
- ↑ http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/09/05/tem_one_amazing_show_one.html
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.spottedratings.com/2011/12/spotvault-amazing-race-cbs-fall-2001.html
- ↑ https://youtu.be/NJDcp7gSMz8?t=2811
| The Amazing Race Season Index | |
|---|---|
| United States | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 |
| Asia | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 |
| Australia | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 |
| Brazil | 1 |
| Canada | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 |
| Central Europe | Canceled |
| China | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 |
| China Rush | 1 · 2 · 3 |
| France | 1 |
| Israel | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 |
| Latin America | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 |
| Norway | 1 · 2 |
| The Philippines | 1 · 2 |
| Ukraine | 1 |
| Vietnam | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 |
