Reality Show Genre Blindness: Difference between revisions

** Even better is how, on the second day of shopping, the contestant almost never considers that the hosts are watching, despite the fact that they do this every episode. Some even go as far as to willfully disregard the "rules" laid out earlier in the show for their shopping experience, buying things that fit into their old lifestyle instead of the new look. In fact, once, when a contestant managed to obey the rules on the first day to the letter, she was rewarded with the ability to spend that $5,000 on non-clothing items (she bought a computer). Who doesn't love free money?

** Not so much on later seasons, since most of the contestants, when Stacy and Clinton introduce themselves, respond with something along the lines of "I know who you are!!" And apparently they don't know (beforehand, that is) that S&C have invaded their closet and/or talked to family and friends, which is why 99.99% of the time one of the people "in on it" lives in the same house (roommate, hubby, daughter, etc.) And I would guess on the second day that the contestants don't know where or when S&C are going to show up...just that they ''are''.

* Similarly, the home-redecorating program ''While You Were Out'' not only arranges for a family member to get out of the house while the team swoops in and helps the rest of the family redo the place, but invariably sends a camera crew along with him or her on some bogus pretense — such as a documentary. Only ''twice'' has the stooge figured out what was going on; the first found out because his favorite radio station reported the presence of the show's distinctive vehicle in his town, while the second was told by one of the staff at the hotel he was staying at.

{{quote|"Oh, you're the guy who's on ''While You Were Out'', right?"}}

** Season 9 had the Jocks (Eric & Jeremy) saying that "We didn't know the last task was gonna be brains." Half the time, there's a [[Final Exam Finale]] puzzle on the final leg after arriving back in the US that requires relying on brains. It's such a staple of TAR season finales that teams have been known to spend the flight back to the US reviewing for it, and Nat & Kat in season 17 actually took detailed notes throughout the race.

** The multitude of contestants who never learned to swim or to drive stick-shift. (Even in season 17, when the contestants had to drive in the UK, at least one person said "Uh oh, Stick shift!")

** Not to mention the contestants who take taxis when they're supposed to walk, leave something they're supposed to bring with them behind, or basically forget in any way the most basic rule of the Race — "[[Read the Freaking Manual|Read the entire clue, do exactly what it says.]]" Season 17 alone saw ''five'' 30-minute time penalties for taking a cab or having one guide them when they weren't allowed to.

** Remarkably few teams have bothered to do the math and realize when the time penalty for skipping a task will be less than the time it takes to do it. Only one team has ever taken advantage of the fact that by definition you can't be eliminated due to a time penalty if you can convince a team ''behind'' you to accept the same penalty.