TimesDispatch.com

Woodbridge family goes out in first leg of reality-TV contest
A Woodbridge family competing in “The Amazing Race: Family Edition” on CBS was eliminated in last night’s episode, the first leg of the race.

Reggie and Kimberly Black and sons Kenneth, 11, and Austin, 8, raced nine other teams of four related persons on the international scavenger hunt, competing for a $1 million prize. The reality TV show was filmed during the summer.

Reggie Black, 42, taught math at C.D. Hylton High School in Prince William County from 2000 to 2004. Kimberly Black, 40, is a fifth-grade teacher in Alexandria. Kenneth is in sixth grade and Austin, the youngest person to ever compete in the race, is in the fourth grade.

Here are some highlights from the race: More… »

CBS News
First ‘Amazing Race’ Castoffs

The Black family is the first team eliminated from “The Amazing Race: Family Edition.”

It was kids vs. adults at the premiere of “The Amazing Race: Family Edition.” The Black and Linz families sprinted to the finish, both knowing that the last team to arrive would be eliminated.

But there were no long faces for the Blacks, who live in Woodbridge, Va., when they visited The Early Show to talk about their experience.

Dressed in their tie-dyed shirts and blue jeans, Reggie and Kimberly looked happy as did their children ‚Äî Kenneth, 11, Austin, 8 and little Jordan on mom’s lap.

“We’re blessed we were even chosen to be on the show,” Kimberly Black, 40, said. “It was an honor. Everybody was so nice.” More… »

THE AMAZING RACE: FAMILY EDITION features 10 teams — each comprised of four family members — on a trek around the world for approximately 30 days. At every destination, each team will have to compete in a series of challenges — some mental and some physical — and only when the tasks have been completed will they learn their next destination. Teams who are farthest behind will gradually be eliminated as the contest progresses, with the first team to arrive at the final destination winning $1 million.

The following are the 10 families, listed in no particular order:

TEAM: GODLEWSKI SISTERS
Michelle (42)
Sharon (39)
Christine (37)
Tricia (26)
Hometown: Des Plaines, Ill.

TEAM: WEAVER FAMILY (WIDOW AND KIDS)
Linda (46)
Rebecca (19)
Rachel (16)
Rolly (14) - Male
Hometown: Ormond Beach, Fla. More… »

Blogcritics.org

I came late as a fan to The Amazing Race. I just didn’t understand. I thought - yes, you can laugh at my foolishness now - that it was about teams racing round the world in pursuit of clues and rewards. I’m blushing just typing those words. Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids!

Of course The Amazing Race, or TAR, as I like to call it, is all about the strain and disintegration of relationships. Specifically, the disintegration that happens when there are two of you in a car and in a place you aren’t familiar with, and you’re both tired and ratty, and only one of you has a map. You know what I’m talking about. I can feel the bile rising from here.

So I wasn’t sure how to feel about TAR announcing that Season 8 would be a family edition of the show. While families are the original source of all barely suppressed rage, would they provide as many fireworks as pairs? With three other people to pour the loathing on, instead of just one, would the irritability focus be split? Would their in-car behaviour be less dramatic, thanks to years of practice? Or would they crack under new pressures? More… »

www.thejournalnews.com
By HEATHER SALERNO

Carmel High School senior Brian Paolo has his classmates beat when they start trading summertime stories: He and his family are among the adventurers competing on CBS’s “The Amazing Race” this fall.

The 16-year-old honors student — along with parents Tony and Marion, both 52, and older brother, DJ, 24 — will vie for the $1-million prize in the first all-family edition of the Emmy-winning reality show, premiering Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.

The Paolos are barred from discussing their 30-day journey, which was taped earlier this summer. But neighbor Judy Racic says the fun-loving, outgoing foursome has a tight bond, which may help them fare well in the contest.

“They may bicker back and forth,” she says. “But when it comes time to circle the wagons, they’re there for each other.” More… »