<p>crizello, it was mentioned in an early episode. I don’t recall exactly how, it may have been discussed by one of the other contestants. </p>
<p>It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a variety of teams with different experiences on the show. The show has always done that. It isn’t a contest to see who is more deserving of the money due to their financial circumstances. It’s a race.</p>
<p>Yes, it was mentioned early in the season.</p>
<p>I agree that it is a race, not a who needs the money show. It sounds like the guys definitely could use the money. I don’t think having a cable TV show makes you rich and having a small farm is not easy. And they referred to them as the Beekman Boys which is the name of their farm, not their actual names.</p>
<p>I didn’t know the farmers had a TV show until I saw xiggi’s post. I watched all the episodes but apparently missed it if it was referred to.</p>
<p>Although I’m not sure they’re really qualified as ‘celebrities’, since apparently few people know about their show, I’d much rather TAR NOT have celebrities or winners or even contestants from other TV shows competing on it. I didn’t even like it when they did a show consisting of past losers of TAR. I’d much rather have the contestants be ‘regular people’, including a good mix of people (not all ‘pretty’ young people within a narrow range like some contest shows do). This makes it easier to live vicariously through the show and imagine oneself on the show as I think a number of people do and I think it’s interesting to see how a range of people do on the show.</p>
<p>I believe there are other countries who have Amazing Race competitions. I’d like to see US teams compete against European, Asian, and other countries’ teams. There would be a language problem, but it would be interesting to see how the “home court advantage” would hold up in a team’s native land.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me why the Beekman Boys were called the Beekmans? I must have missed that.</p>
<p>tx5athome, in just a couple of posts upthread, says that Beekman is the name of their farm. [Beekman</a> 1802: Goat Farmers, Provisions & Seasonal Living. Home of “The Fabulous Beekman Boys.”](<a href=“http://beekman1802.com/]Beekman”>http://beekman1802.com/)</p>
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<p>Canada will have its first season in 2013. I know several people who will be applying.</p>
<p>^^^ Wonder who their “Phil” will be - assuming it won’t be OUR Phil!!! :)</p>
<p>I didn’t realize Beekman wasn’t their real name.</p>
<p>abasket, we wondered that, too! I doubt it will be Phil, unfortunately.</p>
<p>My son watches the Spanish version in his AP Spanish class.</p>
<p>I’ve been a big fan of the show since the start, and what intrigues me the most is the preparation that must go into planning each season–selecting routes, setting up tasks and transportation, even recruiting greeters for each pitstop. I’d love to see a “making of” documentary about how a season is set up, or maybe a tell-all book by one of the employees. I’m wondering how far in advance the scouting teams get started, to what extent local staff are involved in each country, and whether government agencies have to be negotiated with in some places. It seems like even a relatively simple task like having a bunch of cars lined up at the exact right spot at the exact right time would require planning skills way beyond my abilities (I envision tow trucks trundling away the Fords for parking violations just as the first racers arrive on the scene.) And perhaps there are indeed logistical mishaps that we never see. Maybe someday Phil will write that book.</p>
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<p>The Beek Boys was too Californian and wholesome! :)</p>
<p>MommaJ:</p>
<p>It’s clear that accommodations are made. I’ve not seen yet where any of them had issues with immigration in a country and they clearly have special parking spots in many/most of the places including this last time where they would have had difficulty finding a spot in the city they were in otherwise - plus there was a little sign right at the entrance for them to ‘park here’. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was actually a local police person jus off camera at many of these locations.</p>
<p>These countries get a great deal of positive exposure due to this show. I’m not the only one who says “that place looks interesting - maybe we should go there”. That kind of advertising normally costs countries and areas a lot of money and this show provides it for free or for perhaps minimal accommodations with the logistics.</p>
<p>That position of doing the pre-planning, scouting locales, working with locals on the traditional challenges, especially in the small villages, does look like a dream job.</p>
<p>The original owner of their farm was William Beekman. He had it built for his family in 1802.</p>
<p>It can be expensive for the show to pay for the services of many road block “employees” for a day or a half of a day. Remember that some teams don’t get there for several hours after the other teams leave.
How many times has none of the teams selected one of the road block challenges I wonder? Those poor people have to hang around all day and night waiting to perform.</p>
<p>The race is run almost flawlessly. I rarely notice the cameraman and they don’t have the luxury of a second take. Either current racers know not to act foolish, or the producers avoid picking teams they expect to have embarassing meltdowns along the beaten path.</p>
<p>^^ There have been some embarrassing meltdowns along the way on some seasons. I think the producers probably love it when that happens - more drama.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen the movie that Phil made about his bike trip? I saw it once on Amazon, but have never rented it. It looked very interesting.</p>
<p>^^ I watched the Phil biking movie with Phil - I think it was on Showtime. It’s really a documentary of his bike trip across the USA he made to raise funds for MS. He ended up raising around $1M up until now - he raised $500K during the trip but apparently donations due to it are still coming in. It was a good thing for him to do. </p>
<p>[Phil</a> Keoghan : National MS Society](<a href=“http://www.nationalmssociety.org/online-community/personal-stories/phil-keoghan/index.aspx]Phil”>http://www.nationalmssociety.org/online-community/personal-stories/phil-keoghan/index.aspx)</p>