The last team to check in here MAY be eliminated.

So The Amazing Race launched its fourteenth go-round last night. I don't have a great feel for anyone yet, except that I know I hate this "hillbilly" couple (they call themselves that, not me). The guy's a nag, and the lady's a whiner. I have dubbed them Cletus and Lurleen. Unfortunately, they made it through to next week. Hopefully they go quicker than the last bunch of "hillbillies" they had on the show, the West Virginia coal miners from a couple of seasons back. (I actually liked those two, in all honesty.)

I liked how they cut down on all the Airport Intrigue that usually marks the first episode; maybe the producers have finally realized that watching people buy plane tickets just isn't that interesting? Anyway, they did the "Initial briefing" by Phil at the start line, and then about ten minutes later, everybody was in Switzerland. Previous seasons wouldn't have everybody out of the airport before the second commercial break, so that made me happy.

The roadblock was utterly insane: people had to use these rickety wooden contraptions to carry giant wheels of cheese down a steep hill, while Swiss guys laughed at them. Many cheeses got dropped, and boy, do those suckers roll. The first team to get eliminated? I couldn't even tell you their names. But they wore orange. The team to arrive first was the mother and her deaf son, so Phil made the "You are team number one!" announcement in ASL, which I thought was pretty cool

Next week, we're into Germany, and apparently Lurleen gets lost somewhere in the Alps. It's on a road, though; she's not lost on a glacier somewhere, only to be found by those St. Bernards who bring the casks of brandy with them. And apparently one of the detours or roadblocks involves pie throwing. I'm unaware of any specifically German traditions that involve the good old pie in the face, but hey, I'm always a fan of that bit of goofery.

I love TAR!