The Amazing Race Canada

My wife and I have been Amazing Race fans since literally the second US season. We've watched every single season of TAR and TARC, and this is the first season we've completely lost interest in and won't be watching any more.

It's not even a race any longer. All the big travel between destinations is predetermined, pre-booked and has no real effect on "the race". No cabs either so far (we stopped with Ep. 4). Basically the occasional drive yourself (IIRC, no one's gotten really lost yet), or take the pre-arranged transportation.

And my God, the product placements. Every episode seems to have either 4 or 5 major product / branding placements, many of which have absolutely nothing to do with the race. Even the friggin' players are branded this year. You'd think with all this product placement $$$ CTV gets, they could afford to award the winning team a million dollars and and not piecemeal stuff where up to half of the "prizes" to the winner are actually donated products and services from the sponsors, with $250K cash thrown in.

Amazing Race has always had product placements and sponsors, but at most it's maybe one per episode and not every episode. TARC has like 4 or 5 blatant ones an episode. They even coerce the players to do vocal advertisement -- in the game -- for the advertisers.

Third, the challenges. Always completely made up and manufactured specifically for the tv show, like a game show contest. Again TAR had some made up challenges too, but also many established tourist or local things of interest, like bobsledding down a 75 year old tourist attraction in Switzerland, or bungie jumping off the highest one in New Zealand: in other words, challenges that pre-existed and weren't just some random "let's do aerobics 80s style in the middle of a country town street!" thing. Or worse "build our advertisers' foot long sandwich and deliver it, wearing said advertiser's branded work outfits!"

TARC -- almost all the challenges, roadblocks, detours etc so far seem 100% manufactured just for the show. Like a game show.

This isn't a race any longer. It's a tourism travelogue show / 1 hour commecial, with a few game show contests here and there.