Tue, March 21, 2006
The Adorable Race—11:09 PM
Sorry, non-McRacers, this may not make much sense. But for the rest of you, I contend that it cannot get any cuter than:
Tipping Phil
A super-sized, neon PHIL
A gaggle of contestants all spontaneously employing the term "systematic" over the course of a few hours
A Groundhog Day reference to driving in circles
"They're running backwards – you see, Peter?"
"Santa?"
A Puerto Rican Natalie Portman. Dancing. Near the point of tears. In lederhosen.
Joe Mulder — Wed, 3/22/06 12:56pm
I've been calling her Puerto Rican Emmy Rossum, but... indeed. Sad to see her to.
This was the perfect thing to say. This was the "Yeah, that's what it's like" of "The Amazing Race" (my apologies to those of you out there who aren't Jameson and therefore have no hope of understanding what that means, but, it totally was).
Joe Mulder — Wed, 3/22/06 12:57pm
"Go!" Sad to see her "go!"
Bee Boy — Wed, 3/22/06 2:01pm
The great thing about Phil's quote – like his earlier "eyebrow" at Eric & Jeremy – is that it's the absolute antithesis of Coach Probst. Phil's job is to interact with these idiots for mere moments a week, and he knows how to restrain his commentary to the absolute minimum. He puts up with their behavior, and sort of calls attention to it, but drops all the hollering and editorializing. He lets us come up with our own response, which is far more powerful. This is where all those Emmys come from.
That said, I'm loving BJ & Tyler. Perhaps because I love them, perhaps – like Rupert – in direct proportion to how much Miss Alli hates them. But I delight at every "T-tow!" and I giggle at their cute, overly choreographed "Kramer entrance" performances at the opening of each clue envelope. As Letterman guests, I'd hate them. As Survivor contestants, I'd hate them. But somehow, The Amazing Race, the way it's just the two of you off on your own a lot of the time – it just seems to lend itself to this sort of enjoyment and I'm glad they're having fun and racing well.
In terms of their affectedness, they're really no worse than Team Guido, but their affectations are more enjoyable, and they're just out to entertain themselves; they never act like their crazy antics make them better than anyone else. Sure, they're jumping in faces and demanding attention, but it seems like they're mostly doing that to teams who enjoy it (Dave/Lori, Monica/Joseph, DudeBro II) or Phil – who's contractually obligated to grin and bear it. (Or, "eyebrow" and bear it.)
Joe Mulder — Wed, 3/22/06 2:11pm
I don't mind the hippies, even though A) they're hippies, and B) they're constantly mugging. Still, they don't bother me. I think we could hang.
But, that said, the "running backwards" comment was just perfect, because like them or not, running backwards to the mat is gay.
Bee Boy — Wed, 3/22/06 2:30pm
Yep. Although, once you accept some mugging, it's par for the course. The dumb thing, of course, is that this sort of antic costs you. At the actual end of a leg, it costs because every minute you're out there screwing around is a minute you're not leaving twelve hours later. It seems even worse in this case, since they're joshing around when they could be heading off to their next clue.
But, Phil rescues it. God, I could just hug him (but he hates that). Pointing it out to Santa/Peter: the only person around who could possibly give a shit less than Phil himself. Sheer, Emmy-worthy genius.
"KOTC" — Wed, 3/22/06 3:56pm
Why is running backwards to the mat Gay?
Bee Boy — Wed, 3/22/06 4:09pm
For the same reason the twist ending to The Village was. It just is.