The Amazing Race Season 39 premieres with a special two-night event on Wednesday, September 30, and Thursday, October 1, 2026, at 9:30 PM ET/PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+
Tonight CBS aired a special TAR: 25 Years Around the World with memorable moments and never-before-seen footage and interviews.
I guess I’m signing up for paramount plus again.
Didn’t know about the special. I’ll have to see if I can find it to watch.
Definitely watching The Race!
The special is available without subscription on Paramount +
Didn’t know that was a thing. You can watch some things on Paramount+ without a subscription?
It’s a very limited selection of free episodes, and I was surprised the special was one of them
Be aware that there is another episode airing tonight
I loved last night’s episode, although I tuned in a little late.
The trailer made it seem like paddling a canoe a few hundred meters was more arduous task than it actually is.
I enjoyed the ‘match the figure in Spanish history to their name’ challenge. Loved the guy who said something like “I paid attention in history class”!
Surprised at those who kept picking a 1600s-looking person for Picasso—they had no idea he was alive until the 1970s.
I watched the first two episodes through the cbs.com website. The cbs app wanted me to connect through my tv provider and I don’t have one, nor a Paramount + subscription. I connect my laptop to my tv with an HDMI cable to watch it on the bigger screen. Occasionally the video stops and I have to restart and forward to where I was and watch all the commercials again. It’s a pain but you do what you have to when you’re cheap/thrifty!
Anyway, as a longtime TAR fan I’m so glad it’s back and I enjoyed the first two episodes. I like several teams and find it interesting that this season there are few “pretty people.” I feel like they listened to those fans who were tired of influencers and contestants from other reality shows and I hope the ratings support their decision. Not sad about the first two eliminations. I love the grandson/ grandfather but if they don’t figure out navigation they will likely be the next eliminated. The “everyone gets an express pass twist” is a good one.
About the granddad/grandson team …
Maybe it’s the editing, but why aren’t they asking for help with directions???
They didn’t show them asking for help but I feel like they must have because they seemed to be following some directions as they ran, although obviously not correctly.
I enjoyed the anniversary special as well as the first two episodes. I agree that this season seems like a return to what long time fans like about the race. I really liked seeing Madrid as i visited last year. I almost booked a trip to Barcelona but couldn’t work out the dates.
The 90 minute episodes work well at the beginning of the season and allowed us to get to know many teams. I was surprised at how many teams cashed in their Express Pass so soon.
I missed the start of this thread. Is there a new TAR thread for each season or is there one long thread like we have for Survivor and other shows?
In this case, this is a new thread for this 2026 season.
A big 
to producers on shows like Survivor and Amazing Race who don’t let their long running history become a bore. I like the Amazing Race continues to shake things up (the express pass thing being one). Also the first two episodes, the challenges are quite outstanding and not easy!
The grandson and grandfather - the grandfather seems to be in quite good shape - I wondered if he is letting the grandson call the shots and maybe the grandson isn’t great at doing that - he seems a little frenetic so far in the first couple of episodes.
I don’t love the woman in the purple team - the team that used their express pass IMMEDIATELY in the first episode and got 1st place. She sure is showing who wears the pants in the family - not a compliment! 
I’m enjoying the brother sister team who are there for their mom. And the mom/daughter team - mom seems to be pretty athletic. I wondered if the daughter/dad are not long for this season. She also seems STRESSED. OUT. TO. THE. MAX!!! 
To be accurate, they stole that from the recent season of The Amazing Race Canada. The US isn’t always the innovator
Well I would know that if I could figure out a way to watch AR 
. I’d watch it in a heartbeat.
I read that the grandson, a huge TAR fan, had been waiting anxiously until he turned 18 and could apply for the show. Meanwhile his grandfather could have been aging out, except that he seems in fantastic shape for his age - retired fire chief, avid hiker, etc. My guess is that he’s mostly indulging his beloved grandson’s dream by being on the show and is letting the grandson call the shots.
This was the article that mentioned the grandson. It’s amusing to read Phil’s impression of each team, especially when it’s apparent he’s struggling to find something nice to say.
https://parade.com/tv/the-amazing-race-39-2026-phil-keoghan-cast-preview