Phil Keoghan Talks The Future Of ‘The Amazing Race’
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Very few shows on television have the privilege of running for 33 seasons. The Amazing Race is one of those shows. After so many seasons and 21 years, fans often wonder what the producers have in mind for the future of the show. Long-time host and executive producer Phil Keoghan was recently interviewed on Rob Has A Podcast. He talked a lot about Season 33 and the future of the race in general and had a lot of interesting things to say.
The Big CBS Three
CBS hosts three of the most successful reality TV competitions of all time. Survivor, Big Brother and, of course, The Amazing Race. Between them, there is a lot of backstabbing, strategy, and innovative ideas on how to approach the games brought in by various players over time. But the way the three shows have developed over the decades has been drastically different.
Survivor and Big Brother have completely changed over time. Constantly introducing a stream of new twists, rules, and themes with each iteration. It’s to the point where the many fans of the shows look more like a mangled form of what they used to be. Especially in the case of Survivor, many worry the show has lost touch with what lured the world to watch in the first place.
The trajectory of The Amazing Race looks different. There has been an assortment of themes and new twists thrown in to add variety to the game over the years. But, overall, the race today looks remarkably similar to the first race that ran all the way back 21 years ago. Is that a bad thing? Has the show grown staler than its contemporaries by not switching up as frequently? Phil Keoghan thinks differently.
Phil On The Future Of ‘The Amazing Race’
“It’s kind of like the NFL… You don’t change the rules of the game of football. You enhance the game by doing different coverage, setting up great competitions, changing the way you see it. Enhance what works. You don’t go in and change a format. And so we’ve tried to stick to the format that people love,” said Phil.
His approach to the race makes a lot of sense. Games like The Amazing Race and Survivor should be considered like sports. Many repeat contestants make their livelihoods off being reality competition stars. Plus there are other professional sports parallels like betting on winners and final game (or finale) watch parties. It’s up to the viewers to decide whether the producers of Survivor should take notes from the producers of The Amazing Race or vice versa.
Rob Has A Podcast is hosted by Rob Cesternino. A Survivor veteran who interviews contestants from all manner of reality competitions.
Do you agree with the sports comparison? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The Amazing Race returns with the first episode of Season 33 on January 5th, 2022.