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The Amazing Race 17 is the seventeenth installment of The Amazing Race. It premiered on Sunday, September 26, 2010 with a 90-minute episode at 8:30pm e/p on CBS. The entire season was released on DVD (exclusively only through Amazon.com) on November 7, 2014.[1]

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, with the Starting Line at the Eastern Point Yacht Club in Gloucester, Massachusetts, making this the first season since The Amazing Race: All-Stars to start in a city other than Los Angeles. The season ended on June 15, 2010, with the Finish Line in Los Angeles, California.

Prior to the season's broadcast, CBS posted a short preview video clip from an episode on the Internet, showing Brook & Claire competing at a watermelon launching challenge using an elastic slingshot. The clip showed Claire being hit in the face full-on with a watermelon after it failed to launch correctly from the slingshot, leaving her momentarily stunned but otherwise not seriously injured. The clip spread virally on the Internet.[2]

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] 3.1/8[3]
2 "A Kiss Saves the Day" October 3, 2010 2 England → Ghana Brook & Claire Andie & Jenna 2nd Eliminated
10th Place
10.67[4] 3.2/8[4]
3 "In Phil We Trust" October 10, 2010 3 Ghana Connor & Jonathan Michael & Kevin Non-Elimination
Leg
11.99[5] 3.8/9[5]
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[6] 3.5/9[6]
5 "Tastes Like a Million Dollars" October 24, 2010 5 Sweden → Norway Nat & Kat Katie & Rachel 4th Eliminated
8th Place
11.42[7] 3.4/8[7]
6 "Run, Babushka, Run" October 31, 2010 6 Norway → Russia Jill & Thomas Nick & Vicki Non-Elimination
Leg
9.09[8] 2.6/7[8]
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[9] 3.3/8[9]
8 "Ali Baba in a Suit" November 14, 2010 8 Russia → Oman Chad & Stephanie Gary & Mallory 6th Eliminated
6th Place
10.34[10] 2.8/7[10]
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[11] 3.0/7[11]
10 "I Hate Chinese Food" November 28, 2010 10 Bangladesh → Hong Kong Nat & Kat Nick & Vicki Non-Elimination
Leg
11.07[12] 3.2/8[12]
11 "I'm Surrounded by Ninjas" December 5, 2010 11 Hong Kong → South Korea Jill & Thomas Nick & Vicki 8th Eliminated
4th Place
10.34[13] 3.1/8[13]
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[14] 3.7/9[14]
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 Roadblock
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
     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 24-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[]

US[]

  • First season to only have one U-Turn mat in the entire season since its introduction.
  • Most number of all-female teams in a single season, 4 (tied with 25 and 35).
  • First season to have no married teams.
  • Last season to be broadcast in Standard Definition.

Reception[]

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

External links[]

References[]

  1. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Amazing-Race-1-Seasons-16-and-17/20476
  2. How to take a watermelon smash to the face | NBC News
  3. 3.0 3.1 https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=26202
  4. 4.0 4.1 https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=26280
  5. 5.0 5.1 https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=26366
  6. 6.0 6.1 https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=26443
  7. 7.0 7.1 https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=26511
  8. 8.0 8.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-finals-amazing-race-undercover-boss-adjusted-up-60-minutes-adjusted-down/
  9. 9.0 9.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-finals-desperate-housewives-adjusted-up-brothers-sisters-cleveland-show-adjusted-down-plus-final-cbs-nbc-numbers/
  10. 10.0 10.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-desperate-housewives-family-guy-amazing-race-adjusted-up-csi-miami-american-dad-60-minutes-down/
  11. 11.0 11.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-including-amazing-race-undercover-boss-and-csi-miami/
  12. 12.0 12.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-amazing-race-adjusted-up-60-minutes-down-plus-chargerscolts/
  13. 13.0 13.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-desperate-housewives-60-minutes-amazing-race-adjusted-up-brothers-plus-steelersravens/
  14. 14.0 14.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/sdsdskdh279882992z1/sunday-final-ratings-desperate-housewives-adjusted-up-the-simpsons-down-plus-amazing-race-undercover-boss-and-csi-miami/

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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