The Amazing Race 12 is the twelveth season of the reality television show, The Amazing Race. It premiered on November 4, 2007 and ended on January 20, 2008 on CBS. The entire season was released on DVD on March 24, 2014.[1]
Production[]
Applications for The Amazing Race 12 were due on January 16, 2007. Semi-finalist interviews were held in February 2007 or March 2007 and final casting interviews took place in April 2007.
Filming began on July 8, 2007 and concluded on July 29, 2007. This season traveled a total of 30,000 miles (48,000 km), across ten countries on four continents. This was noted to be due to a shorter-than-normal course, featuring only 11 single-length legs (from the standard 13 single-length legs in the first 11 seasons) filmed over 21 days.[2]
Producers stated that Non-Elimination Legs would be removed,[2] [3] which was initially interpreted by media outlets as resulting in the complete removal of Non-Elimination Legs. However, it turned out that there would only be less Non-Elimination Legs that in previous seasons, in part due to the shortened course.
Executive Producer Bertram van Munster also stated that penalties would be removed for this season.[2] This manifested in both the Yield and the Marked for Elimination penalty for teams that come in last place on Non-Elimination Legs being removed. In their place, the U-Turn and the Speed Bump penalty were introduced, respectively.
The season was initially scheduled to air mid-season,[4] but was bumped up to November 4, 2007 due to low ratings for Viva Laughlin.[5]
Travelocity and Yamaha were the official sponsors during this season and would provide the prizes awarded to first place teams on certain legs, while BlackBerry sponsored a task in the seventh leg.
Twists/Changes[]
- 11 Legs: Following a series of budget cuts, the Race was shortened to 11 single-length legs.
- Roadblock Limits: This season featured 11 Roadblocks, leaving for a maximum Roadblock split of 6-5.
- U-Turn: In place of the Yield, U-Turns are available on certain legs of the Race. A team that uses their U-Turn power may force another team to complete both sides of that leg's Detour. However, a team may only use the U-Turn once.
- Speed Bump: For this season, the penalty for a team coming in last place on a Non-Elimination Leg was changed. That team would encounter an additional task in the following leg that only they would have to perform.
- Rules and Penalties: The following rule and penalty were revealed on this season:
- A team that hitchhikes from one Route Marker to another would be turned away, required to return to the previous Route Marker, and take a legal form of transportation to the next one.
Teams[]
TK & Rachel
Newly Dating |
Ron & Christina
Father/Daughter |
Nicolas & Donald
Grandson/Grandfather |
Nathan & Jennifer
Dating |
Kynt & Vyxsin
Dating Goths |
Azaria & Hendekea
Brother/Sister |
Shana & Jennifer
Friends |
Lorena & Jason
Dating |
Marianna & Julia
Sisters |
Kate & Pat
Married Ministers |
Ari & Staella
Best Friends |
Episodes[]
| Episode | Air Date | Leg | Destination | First Place | Last Place | Finish | Viewership (millions)[6] |
Ratings/Share (18-49)[6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Donkeys Have Souls, Too" | November 4, 2007 | 1 | United States → Ireland | Azaria & Hendekea | Ari & Staella | 1st Eliminated 11th Place |
13.72 | 4.3/10 |
| 2 | "I've Become the Archie Bunker of the Home" | November 11, 2007 | 2 | Ireland → Netherlands | Lorena & Jason | Kate & Pat | 2nd Eliminated 10th Place |
10.48 | 3.2/8 |
| 3 | "Please, Lord, Give Me Milk" | November 18, 2007 | 3 | Netherlands → Burkina Faso | Azaria & Hendekea | Marianna & Julia | 3rd Eliminated 9th Place |
11.86 | 3.8/9 |
| 4 | "Let's Name Our Chicken Phil" | November 25, 2007 | 4 | Burkina Faso | Azaria & Hendekea | Lorena & Jason | 4th Eliminated 8th Place |
11.80 | 3.6/8 |
| 5 | "We've Really Burned Bridges, for Sure" | December 2, 2007 | 5 | Burkina Faso → Lithuania | TK & Rachel | Shana & Jennifer | 5th Eliminated 7th Place |
11.26 | 3.5/8 |
| 6 | "Cherry on Top of the Sundae That's Already Melted" | December 9, 2007 | 6 | Lithuania → Croatia | Ron & Christina | Azaria & Hendekea | 6th Eliminated 6th Place |
11.95 | 3.9/9 |
| 7 | "This Is Forever, Now" | December 23, 2007 | 7 | Croatia → Italy | Nicolas & Donald | Kynt & Vyxsin | Non-Elimination Leg |
8.97 | 2.8/8 |
| 8 | "Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something!" | December 30, 2007 | 8 | Italy → India | TK & Rachel | Kynt & Vyxsin | 7th Eliminated 5th Place |
9.69 | 2.9/7 |
| 9 | "I Just Hope He Doesn't Croak on Us" | January 6, 2008 | 9 | India → Japan | Ron & Christina | TK & Rachel | Non-Elimination Leg |
11.99 | 3.9/9 |
| 10 | "Sorry, Guys, I'm Not Happy to See You" | January 13, 2008 | 10 | Japan → Taiwan | Ron & Christina | Nathan & Jennifer | 8th Eliminated 4th Place |
11.65 | 3.8/9 |
| 11 | "The Final Push" | January 20, 2008 | 11 | Taiwan → United States | TK & Rachel | Nicolas & Donald | 3rd Place | 9.75 | 3.1/7 |
| Ron & Christina | 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 | Average | 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TK & Rachel | 3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.18 | 5-6 |
| 2 | Ron & Christina | 7 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3.45 | 5-6 |
| 3 | Nicolas & Donald | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 1► | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4.18 | 6-4 |
| 4 | Nathan & Jennifer | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3.70 | 5-5 | |
| 5 | Kynt & Vyxsin | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5⊂ | 3.63 | 4-4 | |||
| 6 | Azaria & Hendekea | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3.00 | 4-2 | |||||
| 7 | Shana & Jennifer | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6⊂ | 7 | 5.80 | 3-2 | ||||||
| 8 | Lorena & Jason | 4 | 1 | 8 | 8⊃ | 5.25 | 1-3 | |||||||
| 9 | Marianna & Julia | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8.33 | 2-1 | ||||||||
| 10 | Kate & Pat | 8 | 10 | 9.00 | 2-0 | |||||||||
| 11 | Ari & Staella | 11 | 11.00 | 0-1 | ||||||||||
| Notes | [1] | [2] | ||||||||||||
Legend:
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Notes:
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Trivia[]
- Production of this season ran into the production of The Amazing Race Asia 2 (which concurrently filmed as the same time as this season) in an unspecified airport.[7]
Franchise[]
- First season to visit Ireland, Burkina Faso, Lithuania, Croatia, and Taiwan.
- Least amount of all-male teams, 1 (tied with The Amazing Race 5, The Amazing Race 6, and The Amazing Race 29).
- First season to implement the Speed Bump as the penalty for the last team to arrive at a Non-Elimination Leg.
- First season to have only two Non-Elimination Legs.
- First season to feature only 11 single-length legs.
- The Finish Line in Girdwood, Alaska is the northernmost finish location in the entire Amazing Race franchise.
US[]
- Thirteen of the twenty-two contestants are from California, the most populous state in the United States.
- There were three Jennifers this season, all on different teams (Jennifer McCall, Jennifer Parker, and Jennifer "Vyxsin" Fiala).
- This is the first season to not feature a midpoint destination in the final leg.
- First time the Finish Line was not located in the contiguous United States.
Reception[]
- Eric Goldman at IGN.com (05/16/2007): "Wolverine will sing on CBS; Amazing Race put on hold"
- Josef Adalian at Variety (12/09/2007): "Amazing Race still running"
External links[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Amazing-Race-1-Seasons-12-and-13/19464
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rocchio, Christopher (November 1, 2007). 'The Amazing Race' producer: Upcoming twelfth edition is a nail-biter. Reality TV World.
- ↑ http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-amazing-race-12-run-shorter-drop-non-elimination-pit-stops-5562.php
- ↑ http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/cbs-renews-the-amazing-race-but-delays-next-edition-til-midseason-5183.php
- ↑ http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-10-22-laughlin_N.htm
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.spottedratings.com/2011/12/spotvault-amazing-race-cbs-fall-2007.html
- ↑ Fang's Bites: Interview with the Amazing Race Asia Executive Producer Michael McKay (archived)
| 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 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 |
| Asia | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 |
| Australia | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · |
| Brazil | 1 |
| Canada | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 |
| Central Europe | Cancelled |
| China | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 |
| China Rush | 1 · 2 · 3 |
| Finland | 1 · 2 |
| France | 1 |
| Israel | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 |
| Latin America | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 |
| Norway | 1 · 2 |
| Philippines | 1 · 2 |
| Ukraine | 1 |
| Vietnam | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 |