Just in cases.

Hello all. I posted this over at RFF and I really think it deserves our attention as a possible heads-up on a casting spoiler and the start of the race.

I've got a possible casting spoiler. Here's my detective work.

Background: I play poker on a pretty regular basis and am active on a message board. A few months ago former Survivor: China contestant and professional poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande started a thread requesting help for input on who we as a poker community think would be a good casting decision for a reality show. He lists qualifications including it must be two women. Here is a link to that thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-...ty-show-483388/

Now, about three weeks ago word came out that last year's final female remaining in the World Series of Poker main event, Tiffany Michelle, would not return to play the event this year. It's curious because she could get backing for the $10,000 event from any of the major poker sites. She wrote a statement saying she had a chance to travel and do some acting. Very vague. Here's that thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-...red-yet-527817/

Finally, this week's podcast on PokerRoad Radio with Norman Chad has rumors of her being on TAR. It's on itunes if you have interest.

Final thoughts: with Jean-Robert having been on Survivor we know there have been cross-casting instances before. This smells pretty strong to me. I'd wager a solid amount Tiffany Michelle is going to be on TAR and that they will leave soon considering the main event just ended yesterday.

Here's Tiffany at one of her finer moments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Qay92zE-Q

Just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth. Cheers guys!

Thanks for the info jordonian, but geez I hope you are wrong! I HATE stunt casting as a general rule, and on TAR specifically. When it comes to the Race, I want to watch real people with a real relationship. I hate the thought of teams being cast whose sole "hook" is that they are hot & single.
TAR is better than this!
YMMV, ofcourse

I hope Jordonian is wrong, too. But if it's true, it sounds like TAR is really looking for a strong female team who can win (and look good on TV, too).

As well as an even finer moment, one in which upon it's occurrence, had me thinking that she actually would be a great fit for TAR, and not necessarily just Survivor.

As with MamaT, I can't do sans the stunt casting. OTOH, I don't hate it; it just don't think it's super-necessary. Then again, it's what helped TAR get out of somewhat of a slump (following seasons like TAR6 and TAR8 though the latter took a while to get back to its glory). But if it is true, it would make sense. Survivor and the Apprentice both had poker players, so it would be only a matter of time for TAR to get one as it's the only one of the big reality shows (save for Idol of course) that didn't have a poker-represent.

If it's true, and her partner is who I think it is, then in this instance, it would actually be a real relationship or real connection. Coincidentally, Maria Ho also finished ahead of every other female in her field a year prior to that. A duo like that would be fitting, good for TV, and great for poker.

In terms of casting, I guess the reality world decided to forgo the model route from earlier in the decade in favor of the poker pro route for the other half of the decade! Thanks for all the stuff, Jordonian!

I'm a poker fan and I remember her doing that. It makes you believe that she wouldn't hesitate to use the yield. However, Jean-Robert was not very impressive on Survivor being the 8th person voted out and the 2nd jury member. He also wasn't the first choice as Daniel Negraneau turned it down. Hopefully if the spoiler is true Tiffany would do better.

Just a few moments ago, my flight attendant niece came upon a race team going through security at LAX. She asked the cameraman if he was with TAR. He said no. She then heard the security people ask, and this time he said yes. A female racer was holding a TAR envelope and passport. The Race has begun. It's too bad she had to get to her flight, so she wasn't able to find out where they were headed.

Per RFF, looks like things are once again taking off from the Los Angeles area. Although it's sounds repetitive, I'm just finally glad that they're finally on their way. It's on!

Heh. Reading that thread its pretty obvious that production needs to start from somewhere besides LA next season. All kinds of twittering on the start there and sightings. I know that an LA start is nice for the budget, but they could probably do an inexpensive start from somewhere else in CA, like Anaheim or San Diego.

It's on!

LA river and 6th St

Details to be found at RFF

About time.

I wonder how the H1N1 virus pandemic is going to affect this Race. Clearly, China would be difficult, as the government is putting entire planfuk of passengers into one-week quarantine if even one passenger on board shows any symptoms of influenza. I don't know if other countries are being that strict, but I'm sure BVM is going to try to avoid those countries this time around. (There shou;d be H1N1 vaccines available by the time TPTB are ready to film cycle 16.)

And Paris In Spring, it's amazing what twittering can do!

Starting the Race in the LA River basins? Genius.

I can already see the promos for this.

Fucking hell.



Good. I could do without China for a few seasons. (From what I can gather, India's also taking similar measures. So we might finally have a fourth season where we skip both of them.)

OH please, let Tiffany Michelle NOT be on TAR - she absolutely screwed her relationships in the poker community for being far, far too stupid for words and I don't want her on my screen.

I was wrong that TPTB could prevent spoilers. Nothing can be hidden from this crew. I glad it finally started.

Pretty much everything comes from the ridiculously obsessive RFF guys anyway. I can't remember the last time an actual spoiler started at TWoP.

Speaking of RFF, apparently the first two destinations are Tokyo and Bali.

Has it been confirmed that twelve teams started but one was eliminated immediately? I read some comments about this but it wasn't clear to me that this occurred.

Wonder if they'll play Greased Lightnin at the start location?

I'm bummed that it's another LA start. I want them to start in some podunk town and do a detour before they even have to hop a flight to somewhere else.

Nascar, from what I've read the evidence about a twelfth team is circumstantial as is the possibility a team was eliminated at the task that was at the start line. (There's one team in a photo of the start line (taken from a distance of 2000 meters that apparently wasn't seen at LAX), but I haven't read those discussions since last night.

The one new thing that's made a different is Twitter. The best use so fat was someone running a tweet through the Google language translator.

Jean-Robert Bellande, Annie Duke and now Tiffany Michelle...How is it that it is always poker players with horrible personalities/shady pasts that make it on these shows. If Tiffany's competitive style from the 08 WSOP continues here there is no doubt that she will be hated from the start. Hope things have changed over the past year.

If the race is now in Asia as reported, they, and probably us when the show airs, are going to get a great view of the eclipse that rolled through the far east! Cool!

From what I can tell the first task is for one teammate to race Danny Zuko while the other impersonates Sandy Olssen singing a reprise of "Sandra Dee." Sandy's new tight black pants and perm optional. Summer Lovin', indeed.

Annie's style wasn't that bad! Well, at least in terms of poker. With Tiffany? Meh. What happened last year was a first, and really more in the lines of a poker player as opposed to herself. While I'm not condoning her actions, her competitive style may be the best thing for her to get to the Final 3. Especially given some of the other teams and the possibility of what they'll bring to the table! A couple alpha-male teams, and at least two strong (looking) couples teams, they really need to do whatever it takes to make it. I hope that Tiffany acts much better than what she did last year, but if aggressiveness is the key to survival, then I can't blame her too much. JMO.

But, yeah, she'll probably be disliked (with Maria playing the role of Cara to Tiffany's Jaime in terms of being the peacemaker) if and when her attitude surfaces. It probably won't happen for the first couple of episodes (especially if they go far or complete the whole race).

For those of us who don't follow professional poker playing, can you elaborate (or provide a link) as to what is the controversey over Tiffany Michelle?

Tiffany Michelle garnered a bit of attention at last year's WSOP (world series of poker) Main event. Prior to playing the main event she had been a reporter for an online poker news site (Pokernews.com) and seemed to be knowledgeable and well liked. During the main event she ran rather well and made it deep into the tournament. Apparently during those final days her personality began to grate on a a number of players. She seemed to become extremely arrogant and made a number of breaches in etiquette. In addition she was seen cheering when other women were knocked out of the tournament. She hoped to be the "last woman standing" a "title" that probably is only meaningful in terms of future marketing potential. Finally, there was some controversy between her employers and her regarding sponsorship. Late in the tournament she began wearing Ultimate bet patches and gear (a popular form of advertising). The situation with her employer was her own business but Ultimate bet is reviled by many in the poker world....And that brings us to Annie Duke. She has been a long time spokesperson for Ultimate Bet. Ultimate Bet was at the center of an extensive cheating scandal that resulted in a number of online players losing money. Annie Duke has consistently defended the company despite many feeling that the whole story has yet to be told. Moreover there are numerous tales of bad behaviour on her part that go back years.

Here is some info on the Ultimate Bet scandal

Looks like we're in for another season of repeated countries. Aside from Japan, RFF has confirmed Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City again), Cambodia (Phnom Penh this time), and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai again). At least they're a better selection of countries compared to last season, even if we're yet to officially confirm a new place (turns out Bali was spec).

I don't know that there's that many new countries they could go to given the political climate around the world. I think security has to paramount and countries like Mexico, Honduras, Indonesia, most of the Middle East, etc. are probably too dangerous now, even though TAR had previously been to some of them. By my very unofficial count, TAR has been to 68 different countries already.

When is the last time the Race went to Egypt? I'm rewatching Season 5 right now, and the Egyptian locations are just spectacular. Is it unsafe to visit now?

Please make sure you're talking about spoilers if you're posting in the spoiler thread. We have lots of other threads for general questions, etc.

Teams were spotted in the Netherland town of Groningen by a Dutch news crew on Jul 30.
YouTube link

The local media in Estonia got the teams arrving by ferry from Stockholm (Sweden). and that makes a new country for this edition of TAR. I'll bet that there will be a second before filming ends up this coming weekend.

Y'know, even if I'm pissed by another stupid costume task (confirmed in Masem's video -- and that "Ericka & Brian" are still left in the race), I'm glad that they're at least recycling some countries that aren't the usual suspects. Between Japan, Indonesia (?), Vietnam, Cambodia, the UAE, Israel (?), the Netherlands (hopefully without Amsterdam this time, though I'm not going to bet on it), Sweden, and Estonia, this is turning into a great route, even if it's only on two continents so far.

Also, Estonia! Woo!

Between the Jakarta hotel bombings and the general Israel strife, I can't see either of those two being true, at least for this version. Are TAR Asia and TAR Israel filming?

Links to Postimees articles about Estonia sitings:

One.

Two.

And a YouTube video.

I can't read the articles, but a friend in Estonia said this in his e-mail:



He visited us in May, and I told him to be on the lookout just in case the race ever went to Estonia. Good timing.

ETA: When I have more time, I might try to figure out where the photos are exactly. A couple of them look familiar, but I don't have time to figure it out right now.

I did notice that in the photos with the team of two women, there's a third woman with blonde hair in several. I wondered if she was with production (although her clothes seemed a little impractical for that) or if they found a fern.

The two women in the photos are Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle.

RFF's thinking at this point is that Tiffany and Maris were decoys in Estonia. And the Race was seen in Prague, in the Czech Republic, so we now have our second new country on this Race.


Indonesia and Israel are being discounted by the TAR detectives since there's been nothing to visually or eyewitnessed to confirm. There isn't much more left to film, and my guess is that the finish line this time will be somewhere on the east coast. Probably not New York or Miami, but there are other major international hubs, such as Atlanta, Boston, and DC.

Part of an addition to the TAR 15 article on Wikipedia that I had to remove due to lack of sourcing, but provided by user Awilmot there:

"On Wednesday August 5th, I have just seen 2 teams at Prague Castle, which was their pit stop. One pretty team (guy and girl in blue) and one all guy team (one with dyed hair)."

Ericka and Brian = Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap and her husband Brian Kleinschmidt. TAR does love its beauty queens, doesn't it?

Wedding pictures.

Other contestant spoilers.

And RFF has reason to believe that the finish line is at the MGM Grand in Vegas. Nice to see we're moving away from the Pacific. (Baby steps, people!)

It's definitely Las Vegas. This was posted yesterday in one of the Review Journal's entertainment blogs:

The pedestrial bridge I'm guessing is the one spanning across the Strip from the Luxor to MGM Grand. There are some others but that's the biggest one.

I figured it'd be the one between MGM Grand and New York New York. It's got by far the best scenery.

...so unfair, I was in Vegas about a month ago and staying in the MGM. I pout now.

It could be, it's entirely possible I have remembered what's across the street incorrectly.

My hope has always been if they come to Vegas they will do something like the first season challenge where it turned out there were two Focault's Pendulums in the same city with the Statue of Liberty. Everyone knows about the one incorporated in New York-New York, but there's another one on West Sahara a couple miles off the Strip in a retail storefront. It's a scale version about 20 feet tall.

The taxi drama should be interesting. Many cabbies rip people off by taking them to the Strip via the tunnel on highway 215, which actually heads away and then curves back. Extra $10-$15 on the fare. The more direct way is to go west on Tropicana, which has construction right now and lanes blocked off.

Dear me, now that it has been absolutely confirmed that Tiffany (insert multiple expletives here) Michelle is on this season, I actually have to serious consider if I actually might miss a season of TAR. The woman is an evil, disgusting creature who deserves her foul reputation in the poker community.

Maybe the producers thought TAR needed a real villain(ess) this season. We can always call her Cruella Michelle if she gets too nasty. I hope, however, that TAR will hold up on casting celebrities, even minor ones. I'm more interested in seeing regular people instead of celebrities in this competition.

If Michelle is a villain, then people will be in for a treat, as she won't surface on the final 4-5 episodes. Which might mean they would have to create another villain within the F3 (or someone not necessarily a villain, but someone that may do or say something that isn't cool) that isn't as bad, but just as a "reserve" a la TAR6. So, loud, you're safe to return to TAR, roughly sometime in Mid-November, if you want.

Cruella Michelle: nice. I'll still tune in, as always. For one thing, I've already seen her antics, so I'm used to it. Though she could improve to something even bigger.

Plus, it's TAR. Having watched every season, I've seen it all, from Mactors to Families to Familiar Faces (in TAR's 6, 8, and 11). The casting celebrities isn't necessary though, I agree. However, we had the regular folks the past 2 or 3 seasons, but people renounced the show. They shouldn't overdo it; leave that to DWTS.

In fact, the lone "star" last year was Mel/Mike, and after their elimination, the viewership dropped. Partially b/c they were awesome, but from the remaining people, a lot of people didn't care about those regular folks. So sometimes, if the stars are what TAR is going for, whatever helps the show is fair enough. Or they could cast people that don't bore the crowd, but I'd rather have either as opposed to no TAR at all.

Anyway, Vegas as the end city, or close enough, it pretty awesome. They might still go to LA, but it's pretty much (all but) confirmed per RFF that it's Vegas. How awesome would it be if they ended the action indoors, or on a rooftop. Probably not, but it would be so awesome if they did. Sorry you missed the action Tez. I was supposed to go to Vegas this summer myself (though I doubt I would've been around that long b/c it is hot in LV in August). I'm pretty glad that I missed their arrival on the East Coast since the finish line isn't there; it was just a checkpoint to get back to the West Coast.

Finally, I cannot believe that they're only visiting 3 continents again this year. Wow. And they're not technically circling the globe. I understand why, but at this rate, I won't be surprised if they dip down to 2 continents before series-end. I wish they would've stopped briefly in S.A. /andor Africa just to clinch 4/5 continents. Sadly, the swine flu as well as the antics abroad left them no choice, so it makes sense.

Seabreeze, I strongly suspect that the H1N1 virus had an impact on the apparent Race course this time arond. But if the apparent new countries are correct, then I will say TPTB still came up with a good course.

While technically, it was just two continents, the regions of Asia are so vastly different, it will feel as if there were three continents.

And even the old countries aren't the usual suspects (no China, India, Thailand, Russia, Germany, Italy, or France this time around), so it's still going to feel pretty good.

Do we have confirmation that it's only two non-US continents, though? I thought we lost them a couple of times -- once between Japan and Vietnam (so Australia/NZ is possible), and once between Dubai and Holland (so Africa is possible).

Since we're probably going to get a gratuitous product placement somewhere, could it be in Estonia? It's where Skype was founded, and where it's largest headquarters is. (And it'd give it a reason to be Amazing aside from having a weirdly attractive national flag.)

It would be a nice surprise if they do limp into Africa, raceguy. Maybe Egypt or something, but as mentioned, all efforts are put toward everyone's safety as much as having an awesome race to tune into.

One of the posters on a gaming site I visit just learned that his friends, who claimed they'd be in Europe for a month but didn't elaborate further, were actually in TAR15, specifically Meghan and Cheyne, which, interesting RFF has pegged as a final 3.

I've asked the poster to try to get them to post here to get all the juicy race details when they come out.

Link to discussion

Based on some things Anthony Bourdain said when he filmed an Egypt show not too long back, it seems like that country is a powder keg right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a no-go because of insurance reasons.

I'd love to see Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, or Ethiopia though. Each would have some decent plane routes into both Europe and the UAE, and are relatively politically safe and stable as long as you stay in core cities. (Libya would be part of my dream race, but the visa situation for Americans to film there is a nightmare)

I wonder if any of the racers got blitzed on the Swedish ferry. I've heard they're big party boats because they can sell relatively cheap booze once they clear Swedish waters.

I've never been on the ferry between Sweden and Estonia, but I've been on the three-hour one and the overnight one between Finland and Estonia, and, yeah, a lot of people do a lot of drinking. So it's a possiblity, selkie. It would be stupid of them, so probably somebody did.