The Amazing Race 17

The Amazing Race 17
Season Information
Version:	United States
Continents Visited:	4
Countries Visited:	9
Cities Visited:	30
Distance Traveled:	32,000 mi (51,499 km)
Starting Line:	Eastern Point Yacht Club, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Finish Line:	Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills, California
Filming Dates:	May 26, 2010 - June 15, 2010
Season Run	September 26, 2010 - December 12, 2010
Number of Legs:	12
Number of Teams:	11
Winners:	Nat & Kat
Runners-Up:	Brook & Claire Jill & Thomas
Cast
Season Chronology
Previous:	The Amazing Race 16
Next:	The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business

The Amazing Race 17 is the seventeenth season of the reality television show, The Amazing Race. It premiered on Sunday, September 26, 2010 and ended on December 12, 2010 on CBS. The entire season was released on DVD on November 4, 2014.

Production

Applications for this season were due on February 4, 2010. Interviews were conducted in the spring of 2010.

Filming began on May 26, 2010 and concluded on June 15, 2010. This season traveled a total of 32,000 miles (51,499 km), across nine countries on four continents.

Travelocity and Discover were the official sponsors during this season and would provide the prizes awarded to first place teams on certain legs.

This was the last season the feature the Elimination Station web series. A bonus feature on CBS.com since The Amazing Race: All-Stars (2007), Elimination Station was discontinued beginning with the following season.

Twists/Changes

• Roadblock Limits: This season featured 12 Roadblocks, leaving for a maximum Roadblock split of 7-5.
• Express Pass: The team that wins the first leg would be awarded the Express Pass, which allows them to skip any task of their choosing until the end of the eighth leg.
• Speed Bump: A team that came in last place on a Non-Elimination Leg would encounter an additional task in the following leg that only they would have to perform. The sixth leg was a Non-Elimination Leg, although the team that came in last received No Penalty, in compensation for various production issues that affected that leg's Detour.
• Double U-Turn: Beginning with this season, the Double U-Turn would become the standard variation of the U-Turn encountered on the Race. This allows two teams to each U-Turn one other team.
• Rules and Penalties: The following rules and penalties were revealed on this season:
  • A team that attempts to check in at a Pit Stop without their bags would be turned away and required to retrieve them before being allowed to check in.
  • A team that attempts to check in at a Pit Stop without having made a Race-related payment would be turned away and required to make the payment before being allowed to check in.
  • Beginning with this season, a team that hires a taxi to lead them from one point to another would now incur a 30-minute penalty.
  • A team that fails to complete either side of a Detour would incur a 6-hour penalty. The penalty for such an infraction was previously 24 hours, as of The Amazing Race 15.

Teams

Nat & Kat  1st place  Nat & Kat Doctors	Brook & Claire  2nd place  Brook & Claire Home Shopping Hosts	Jill & Thomas  3rd place  Jill & Thomas Dating	Nick & Vicki  4th place  Nick & Vicki Dating	Chad & Stephanie  5th place  Chad & Stephanie Newly Dating → Engaged
Gary & Mallory  6th place  Gary & Mallory Father/Daughter	Michael & Kevin  7th place  Michael & Kevin Father/Son	Katie & Rachel  8th place  Katie & Rachel Beach Volleyball Partners	Connor & Jonathan  9th place  Connor & Jonathan Ivy League A Capella Singers	Andie & Jenna  10th place  Andie & Jenna Birth Mom/Daughter
Ron & Tony  11th place  Ron & Tony Best Friends

Episodes

Episode		Air Date	Leg	Destination	First Place	Last Place	Finish	Viewership (millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
1	"They Don't Call It The Amazing Race for Nothin!"	September 26, 2010	1	United States → England	Jill & Thomas	Ron & Tony	1st Eliminated 11th Place	11.54	3.1/8
2	"A Kiss Saves the Day"	October 3, 2010	2	England → Ghana	Brook & Claire	Andie & Jenna	2nd Eliminated 10th Place	10.67	3.2/8
3	"In Phil We Trust"	October 10, 2010	3	Ghana	Connor & Jonathan	Michael & Kevin	Non-Elimination Leg	11.99	3.8/9
4	"We Should Have Brought Gloves and Butt Pads"	October 17, 2010	4	Ghana → Sweden	Nat & Kat	Connor & Jonathan	3rd Eliminated 9th Place	10.94	3.5/9
5	"Tastes Like a Million Dollars"	October 24, 2010	5	Sweden → Norway	Nat & Kat	Katie & Rachel	4th Eliminated 8th Place	11.42	3.4/8
6	"Run, Babushka, Run"	October 31, 2010	6	Norway → Sweden → Russia	Jill & Thomas	Nick & Vicki	Non-Elimination Leg	9.09	2.6/7
7	"I Want to Be in the Circus, That's Where I Belong"	November 7, 2010	7	Russia	Nat & Kat	Michael & Kevin	5th Eliminated 7th Place	11.01	3.3/8
8	"Ali Baba in a Suit"	November 14, 2010	8	Russia → Oman	Chad & Stephanie	Gary & Mallory	6th Eliminated 6th Place	10.34	2.8/7
9	"There's a Lot of Nuts and Bullets"	November 21, 2010	9	Oman → Bangladesh	Jill & Thomas	Chad & Stephanie	7th Eliminated 5th Place	10.59	3.0/7
10	"I Hate Chinese Food"	November 28, 2010	10	Bangladesh → Hong Kong	Nat & Kat	Nick & Vicki	Non-Elimination Leg	11.07	3.2/8
11	"I'm Surrounded by Ninjas"	December 5, 2010	11	Hong Kong → South Korea	Jill & Thomas	Nick & Vicki	8th Eliminated 4th Place	10.34	3.1/8
12	"Hi. I'm Sorry. I'm in a Race"	December 12, 2010	12	South Korea → United States	Nat & Kat	Jill & Thomas	3rd Place	12.12	3.7/9
						Brook & Claire	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	Average
1	Nat & Kat	2	7	8	1	1►	4	1	5	3⋐	1	3	1	3.08	6-5
2	Brook & Claire	4	1	6	3	5	2	2	4	4⊃	3	2	2	3.17	7-5
3	Jill & Thomas	1	5	7	5ϵ	3	1	5	2	1⊂	2	1	3	3.00	5-7
4	Nick & Vicki	10	8	5	6	6	7	3	3	2	4	4		5.27	6-5
5	Chad & Stephanie	8	4	3	7	7	5	6	1	5⋑				5.11	5-4
6	Gary & Mallory	6	9	2	2	2	6	4	6					4.63	4-4
7	Michael & Kevin	7	3	9	4	4	3	7						5.29	3-4
8	Katie & Rachel	5	2	4	8	8								5.40	3-2
9	Connor & Jonathan	3	6	1	9									4.75	4-0
10	Andie & Jenna	9	10											9.50	0-2
11	Ron & Tony	11												11.00	1-0
Notes		[1][2]			[3]		[4]	[5]	[6][7][8]		[9]	[10][11]
Legend:      The team finished in first place      The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race      The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg or continue racing in a no-rest leg      The team that won The Amazing Race      The team that crossed the Finish Line second      The team that crossed the Finish Line third ► The team used the Fast Forward pass ϵ The team used the Express Pass somewhere during the leg ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn ⋐ The team that used the second slot of the "Double U-Turn" ⋑ Recipient of a second U-Turn due to the "Double U-Turn" twist
Notes: 1: Ron & Tony incurred a 2-hour penalty for quitting the coracle task. However, since Ron & Tony arrived at the Pit Stop in last place, they were eliminated without the penalty being applied. 2: While neither Ron nor Tony was shown performing the Roadblock in Leg 1, the official website lists Ron as the team member who completed the task. 3: Jill & Thomas used the Express Pass to bypass the Beds Detour in Leg 4. 4: While Nick & Vicki came in last in a non-elimination leg, they did not face a Speed Bump in the following leg. Post-race interviews revealed that the Speed Bump was waived, and that everyone's placement was equalized at the following leg's Detour, in compensation for various production difficulties in the previous leg affecting all of the teams. One of the problems involved the judge at the Classical Music Detour, who made erroneous calls causing teams (Nick & Vicki in particular) to spend more time at the task than they needed to. 5: Chad & Stephanie initially arrived 6th without their bags and having failed to pay the taxi that drove them to the Pit Stop. They were required to return to their taxi, pay their fare, and retrieve their bags before being allowed to check in. During this time, Michael & Kevin arrived, but were issued two 30-minute penalties: one for hiring a taxi to lead them from Bank Bridge to 1 Vladimirsky Prospekt Tower, and another for taking a taxi from the tower to the Church of the Savior on Blood, both of which were explicitly prohibited by two clues. Chad & Stephanie returned during Michael & Kevin's penalty time, but were also assessed a 30-minute penalty for taking a taxi to the Church of the Savior on Blood when the clue instructed them to travel on foot. Since they were the only two teams left to check in at that point, and Michael & Kevin had more than 30 minutes remaining on their penalty time, Chad & Stephanie were allowed to check in immediately for a 6th place finish, with their penalty time applied to the start of the next leg. Michael & Kevin were then checked in and eliminated. 6: Chad & Stephanie left the Pit Stop in Saint Petersburg 2 hours after their scheduled departure time because they accidentally overslept. This did not affect their overall placement in Leg 8 since they were the last to depart. During Leg 8, Chad proposed to Stephanie, who accepted. Their relationship title was changed from "Newly Dating" to "Engaged". 7: Jill & Thomas initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for paying a taxi driver to lead them to the Pit Stop, which was explicitly prohibited in the clue. Chad & Stephanie checked in for a 1st-place finish during their penalty, dropping Jill & Thomas to 2nd. 8: Gary & Mallory incurred a 30-minute penalty for possessing and using maps, which was explicitly prohibited in the clue. Already in last place, they were eliminated without the penalty being applied. 9: Nick & Vicki elected to forfeit the Sampan Detour because they were too exhausted to continue. They arrived at the Pit Stop last, but were notified that it was a non-elimination leg. The 6-hour penalty they would have taken from the Detour was instead applied to their starting time in Leg 11. 10: Brook & Claire initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for taking a taxi to their Detour location when the clue instructed teams to travel either on foot or take the subway. Jill & Thomas checked in for a 1st-place finish during their penalty, dropping Brook & Claire to 2nd. 11: Nick & Vicki's departure time (which was approximately 11:45 pm) was not shown in Leg 11, because they departed at least 6 hours later than Brook & Claire's departure, which was at 5:26 pm, due to the penalty applied to their starting time in that leg (see note 9). Also, by the time they made it to the Seung-il Bridge in Cheorwon, all the other teams had already checked in at the Pit Stop and it had become too dark for them to safely perform some of the tasks. During the broadcast of the leg, they were only shown performing the Speed Bump and then immediately checking in at the Pit Stop to be eliminated. In interviews after the episode was broadcast, they revealed that they did the Detour as well.

Trivia

Franchise

• First season to cross the Arctic Circle.
• First-time visits to Ghana and Bangladesh.
• First season to award the Express Pass.
• First season to feature the Double U-Turn.
• Second season to have two all-female teams and one co-ed team in the final three (following The Amazing Race: All-Stars).
  • First season to have two all-female teams to come in 1st and 2nd respectively.
• Least amount male of contestants in the final three, 1 (tied with The Amazing Race: All-Stars, HaMerotz LaMillion 3, and The Amazing Race Asia 5).

US

• First season to only have one U-Turn board in the entire season since its introduction.
• Most number of all-female teams in a single season, 4 (tied with The Amazing Race 25, The Amazing Race 35, and The Amazing Race 37).
• First season to have no married teams.
• Last season to be broadcast in standard definition.
• Last season to feature the Elimination Station web series.

Reception

• Jace Lacob at Televisionary (09/24/2010): "Storming the Battlements: Quick Thoughts on Season Seventeen"

External links

• Get Season 17 on iTunes