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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]

Production[]

In December 2000, CBS announced that it was set to produce a new reality show entitled CBS Summer Global Adventure Series, which would feature eight teams of two traveling to eleven international locations to win US$1 million. Location scouting for the racecourse took place in January 2001. Filming of the inaugural season of The Amazing Race started on March 8, 2001 and concluded on April 8, 2001, 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] The top of the original World Trade Center was considered as the finish location for the season but was changed to Flushing Meadows Park after production was unable to secure needed permits.[3]

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.[4] Broadcast was postponed a further week due to the September 11 attacks, which occurred six days after the premiere.

Phil Keoghan handed out clues at the beginning of some legs and only greeted the last place team in every Pit Stop; all other teams were greeted and informed of their placements by local representatives. Each leg's pit stop mat featured a localized design. Keoghan also narrated this season's intro and what he said:

It’s the most daring competition ever attempted, 11 two-person teams bound by friendship, love, or family, will race around the world. They have no idea where they’ve going, what dangers they may encounter, or how the journey will affect their lives? Most of the teams will be eliminated, but the team that reaches the finish line first, will win a cash price of one million dollars. This is the Race like no other in history. This is... The Amazing Race.

Teams[]

Rob & Brennan
 1st place 
Rob & Brennan
Best Friends/Lawyers
Frank & Margarita
 2nd place 
Frank & Margarita
Separated Couple
Joe & Bill
 3rd place 
Joe & Bill
Life Partners
Kevin & Drew
 4th place 
Kevin & Drew
Fraternity Brothers
Nancy & Emily
 5th place 
Nancy & Emily
Mother/Daughter
Lenny & Karyn
 6th place 
Lenny & Karyn
Dating
Paul & Amie
 7th place 
Paul & Amie
Engaged
Dave & Margaretta
 8th place 
Dave & Margaretta
Married 40 Years
Pat & Brenda
 9th place 
Pat & Brenda
Working Moms
Kim & Leslie
 10th place 
Kim & Leslie
Roommates
Matt & Ana
 11th place 
Matt & Ana
Married

Route Map[]

The Amazing Race 1 map

Episodes[]

Episode Air Date Leg Destination First Place Last Place Finish Viewership
(millions)[5]
Ratings/Share
(18-49)[5]
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 Roadblock
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 1-0
Notes [1][2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
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
     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

Notes:
1: Leg 1 had an unaired Roadblock which required a member of the team to cook a whole ostrich egg for both team members to eat before heading to the Pit Stop. This Roadblock was shown partially on DVD release as Pat & Brenda and Matt & Ana were not shown completing this task. Pat and Matt both later confirmed that they did the Roadblock for their respective teams.[6][7]
2: Dave & Margaretta originally finished 7th, but they were issued a penalty for improperly performing the Detour. The penalty affected their departure time instead.
3: Dave & Margaretta initially were checked in at the Pit Stop in 6th Place, but they were again penalized for not completing the Roadblock correctly, hence falling to 8th Place, with their penalty extending their stay at the previous Pit Stop.
4: Paul & Amie arrived 5th at the Pit Stop but started the next leg at 4th Place after being given a time credit due to a production error.
5: Paul & Amie mistakenly arrived at the Pit Stop while accidentally skipping the Roadblock. However, since they were already in last place, they were eliminated without being penalized.
6: Frank & Margarita and Joe & Bill originally checked in at the Pit Stop at 1st and 2nd Place respectively, but both teams incurred a 30-minute penalty for not following a clue correctly before they were officially checked in. However, their placements were not affected.
7: Lenny & Karyn were given a time credit due to production error. However, it did not affect their placement.
8: Nancy & Emily and Joe & Bill initially arrived at the Pit Stop in 4th and 5th Place, respectively, but the former's decision to deliberately forfeit the Detour incurred them a 24-hour time penalty, moving the latter in 4th Place.
9: Joe & Bill were so far behind that when they reached the last Detour, their next clue informed them that the race was over.

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[]

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
Asia 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5
Australia 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7
Brazil 1
Canada 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9
Central Europe Cancelled
China 1 · 2 · 3 · 4
China Rush 1 · 2 · 3
Finland 1
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
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