TAR5 start in feb?

I can't wait for the TAR5 to start. Just knowing that they have probably already started the racing, is for some reason getting me really excited. I can't wait to see the early list of just exactly what the lineup of racers is. Hope the summer comes quickly. There is no better show on TV - it has a great foundation.

Unfortunately, I think this will probably be the last season unless we really get the word out to all our freinds. I have found, like Sonic said that a lot of people were just totally unaware the show even existed and when they do tune in that they really like it. I'm making sure I talk to everyone about when TAR5 starts and what time and station they need to tune into.

I understand also that it is a very costly show to produce and that the only way to keep it on TV is if the # of viewers drastically increase. Not likely - unless we get the word out and that by getting that word out it actually affects viewership in a significant way. Too many people seem to be hooked on Friends reruns.

I guess an option would be to cut the production costs but to do so they would probably have to keep it in the US and possibly even in very limited areas which would pretty much destroy the show anyway. Part of the huge draw for me is seeing the racers go into all these different countries and cultures and how they interact in that environment.

One thing I'll never understand is why some shows get more mention than others. I was watching CBS last night, and every time it went to a commercial there was a mention of ASS or CSI- do those shows really need all that publicity? Usually by now either your a fan or your not. Honestly, it's why I get tired of some shows because it's all you ever hear about. Maybe TAR would do better if it had publicity like Survivor. I just hope they have a better diverse group of teams. I don't know if I can stand another season where another set of Rob/Brennan clones win. Maybe that's part of the shows problem. I will never understand how this show has done so poorly in the ratings. But hopefully it'll stick around. Maybe if it wins another Emmy.

If CBS decided not to renew TAR for a 6th season, could the producers take it elsewhere?

Could? maybe. Would? No.

Bruckheimer has 3 top-10 shows on CBS. I think if they said "no more TAR, Jerry", he'd nod along merrily.

That stinks...this is gonna be bad watching TAR knowing its the last season and you don't have to be worry free especially after the immediate renewals for seasons 2-4...

and a person alone can't get enought viewers to drastically improve the ratings...i've in total got about 12...but that doesn't show up in total...

It doesn't do ANY good unless they're Nielsen families. But if your 12 friends are all Nielsen families, then you've just upped the ratings by about 1.3 million viewers. Thanks! :)

i don't think they're neilson...but how do you become a neilson family?

i'll ask them if they are.

Edit: never mind, found it...wow they have to keep it private...that means ... i'll never know if i recommend nielson families...i just know i'm not a nielson family :(

Well that's a total bummer. So even if we do turn all our friends on to watching TAR5 - even if by some miracle an additional 2 million viewers a night started watching the show due to people like us turning their friends on to the show the chance of it actually having any effect in determining the fate of the show depends on how many of those 2 million were actually Neilsen people.

Still I guess the percentages would play out, but I'm afraid the likelihood of an additional 2 million viewers is about as high as my ever winning that much money. But I don't know what else to do, except just enjoy the show while we have it.

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Originally Posted by Thearnon

Well that's a total bummer. So even if we do turn all our friends on to watching TAR5 - even if by some miracle an additional 2 million viewers a night started watching the show due to people like us turning their friends on to the show the chance of it actually having any effect in determining the fate of the show depends on how many of those 2 million were actually Neilsen people.

Still I guess the percentages would play out, but I'm afraid the likelihood of an additional 2 million viewers is about as high as my ever winning that much money. But I don't know what else to do, except just enjoy the show while we have it.

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:yeahthat

I'm from Australia and I can't get none of my friends to watch it simply cause the show never took off here. There was some hype when TAR1 came out as it had the 8.30pm timeslot however after 3-4 episodes it then went to a 10.30pm timeslot which is too late. I must admit - I switched off as well considering the team I backed got eliminated and just was too tired to watch the rest of the race that late at night. I also never watched TAR2,3 and missed half of TAR4. (which I have been kicking myself ever since)
TAR2, TAR3 and TAR4 also got the 10.30pm timeslot, however at least TAR2 and TAR4 got some publicity since the race came through Australia (and in TAR4 - they had some pretty goods commercials like showing Kelly and Jon smiling as the perfect couple - then cut to them arguing in Malyasia as well as showing Reichen taking off his shirt at the shark tank - anything to draw in the female viewers)

None of my friends watched the race which is real shame as its probably the most intelligent, planned out reality shows compared to others. Aussie Big Bro and US Bachelor is huge here as well as US Survivor. These are the shows which get a lot of publicity and a good timeslot - which is so unfair (no offence to the fans of these shows)

Like you, I will wait (and this time watch and tape the whole thing) for TAR5 - even though it will be broadcasted about 2 months after the US premiere.

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Originally Posted by Thearnon

Just knowing that they have probably already started the racing, is for some reason getting me really excited.

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You know, over this past weekend when I thought about the Race probably either just getting underway or about to, it was mixed emotions. I was excited it was actually happening again, but a bit of disappointment that my backpack was sitting empty in my closet. :(

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Originally Posted by karalott

One thing I'll never understand is why some shows get more mention than others. I was watching CBS last night, and every time it went to a commercial there was a mention of ASS or CSI- do those shows really need all that publicity?
...
I just hope they have a better diverse group of teams. I don't know if I can stand another season where another set of Rob/Brennan clones win. Maybe that's part of the shows problem.

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You're right, those shows don't *need* the non-stop promotion to stay popular, but they probably do need it to stay at/near the very top. All networks introduce a few new shows each year, but at the same time they cannot afford to take too much of a chance on their proven successes. They need to ride them as long as they can and hope new successes emerge. If they didn't promote the daylights out of ASS it would still draw big numbers, similar to S Pearl Islands did. But, by going all out and doing the post-Super Bowl premiere it could actually turn into another #1 (or close) show for them. A post-Super Bowl premiere of TAR5 would be GREAT for one episode or two, but unfortunately it probably would not launch it into successfulness. TAR is destined to a slow grind and maybe an eventual breakthrough. Getting a gigantic audience one or two times is not the answer. It's not always a jump-through-your-TV-set-absolutely-fantastic show every minute of every episode. It's more subtle than that. It takes time for some (many?) people to "get" the greatness. While pure numbers-wise TAR4 was a small step backwards from previous seasons, it was actually the *MOST* successful TAR so far popularity-wise, albeit against summer competition--during the second half of TAR4 it was REGULARLY Top 20, and improving. I think it can grow on that success and last at least a few more Races.

Regarding diverseness of the Teams. I don't see Chris/Alex or Reichen/Chip really being R/B-clones. But, I know that doesn't mean that I'm right. Yes, they are young, fit males, but I think those three winning teams have been distinct enough that it is okay they've all won. Plus, the show "has" to cast at least a team or two like that. It's part of the "slice of US" that it needs. And, you have to admit if they are in the Race they stand a better than average chance of doing very well, if not winning. But, we can't have them not put any young male-male teams in the Race just because they may win. Just as they can't leave out the Dave/Margaretta (TAR1), Grannies (TAR2), TerIan (TAR3), Steve/Debra (TAR4), and others just because on the surface there appears to be no way they can realistically compete, let alone win.

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Originally Posted by John

Bruckheimer has 3 top-10 shows on CBS. I think if they said "no more TAR, Jerry", he'd nod along merrily.

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I don't know about this. Hasn't JB done other stuff recently or even currently on other networks (granted, not as succesfully)? And, another clue would be Survivor's Burnett who is obviously not tied to CBS, although S has been a long running success.

I could just see the wheels spinning at other networks if TAR is ever released from CBS. The other majors? Or more likely would be a trimmed down version, maybe fewer teams, with a smaller grand prize--that way it would be feasible for a Travel Channel, or even the new Reality Central due to launch soon. Shoot, our TAR2 Blake co-started the network, and has the backing from TAR1's Rob/Brennan and TAR2's Chris/Alex, if not others too. What better way to boost the new network, if CBS were to pass on future TARs. I'll bet it could work. People on the inside, I think, know it is a bigger show than the numbers show on the surface.

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Originally Posted by Sonic-TARmaniac

...this is gonna be bad watching TAR knowing its the last season ... the immediate renewals for seasons 2-4...
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a person alone can't get enought viewers to drastically improve the ratings

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Do I sense pessimism? Now, now. Think positively! I think we all thought there was a very real chance that TAR4 would be the last, and look at us talking all about TAR5. Maybe that entire feeling of "TAR4-is-the-last" was in fact *the* bottom, the low point, the it-can't-get-worse-than-this turning point. It's up from here.

Regarding renewals.
* TAR2 was "renewed" before TAR1 even *premiered*. So, that's not much to go on.
* And, then TAR2 was improving on TAR1's numbers, and they "renewed" TAR3 during the latter part of TAR2's airing.
* Then, TAR3 went down instead of up. But TAR4 apps were announced and due before TAR3 even *premiered*. So, TAR3's performance had little to do with TAR4 renewal.
* What I'm trying to say is this renewal (TAR5) is the first one we've had where they've been able to look at the full season that just completed and make a decision based on that. And, they decided to do it again. That's a good thing.

It got 8 million regularly during TAR4. If all of them got **1** more person each, that would be 16m, and it would've been an absolutely smashing hit of the summer. Surely we don't think that everyone that could possibly enjoy the show is already watching it, do we?

I found out late during TAR4 that my brother and sister-in-law started watching TAR4. I couldn't've been more shocked. Their usual viewing habits (I thought anyway) were either TV-off, or something like Discovery or Animal Planet. I didn't let on that I had a *slight* TAR problem (that's our little secret here), but I did agree that it was a great show and made sure that I encouraged them to keep watching it til the end. I even emailed them a rather lengthy (imagine that :) ) synopsis of the season-so-far to catch them up. Wanted them to feel more "invested" in the show than just the few episodes they had seen. If they'll watch, I say just about anyone will.

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Originally Posted by Sonic-TARmaniac

i just know i'm not a nielson family

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Or, maybe you really *are*, and this is your way of trying to keep it a secret. Hmmm? We'll never know.

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Originally Posted by Thearnon

Still I guess the percentages would play out, but I'm afraid the likelihood of an additional 2 million viewers is about as high as my ever winning that much money.

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Yes, the percentages should play out. If we could call people at random until we found 2 million that were not already watching an episode of TAR, and ask them to turn it on (and they actually do!), then the ratings should go up by about 2 million viewers. Of course we haven't reached 2m Nielsen families, but we would have surely reached several (without knowing), and each of them that tunes in will raise the viewership numbers greatly. Each Nielsen family represents many, many thousands of "real" families.

I wonder if Nielsen families don't in a way get attached to programs that they are viewing and subconsciously feel the need to keep watching them because they know they are directly involved in their ratings. Obviously some shows/events are too powerful to overcome this feeling. Not many people are going to miss the Super Bowl just to watch a re-run of a show they normally watch. And, some things like the Original Survivor or the American Idol finales, etc are similarly extra-large draws on viewing audiences.

My point though, is that just because we can convince untold numbers of Jacks- (and Jills-) On-The-Street to give TAR a try, a Nielsen family's viewing may be less flexible.

This is total and complete randomness on my part. But I think a Nielsen family may feel they need to watch what "they normally watch" because they are being measured on what they watch. And, this *force* is very powerful, only to be exceeded by the mass-hysteria-for-certain-events force.

http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/...ory.php?s=2187

"If, as reported by some media outlets last week, Burnett truly was steamed over CBS' planned attempt to counter-program Apprentice's originally scheduled Wednesday telecast of its second episode (which was eventually moved to Thursday) with a special CSI broadcast, then we can only guess that the relationship between the two might get even a bit more agitated in the weeks to come."

Well sorry to Survivor fans but MAYBE if burnett gets really mad and moves future survivors to NBC, then Amazing Race can become CBS's main reality show :) ... just a suggestion...