Blogger Twins on The Amazing Race

August 4, 2005 4:13 PM

Blogger Twins, and fellow MeFi members, camworld and mrbarrett, want to take part on TAR9. Help them get noticed by the casting directors of The Amazing Race, currently undergoing casting call review.
posted by riffola (44 comments total)

on the blue?
posted by spicynuts at 4:14 PM on August 4, 2005

shouldn't this wait for projects or announce?
posted by By The Grace of God at 4:16 PM on August 4, 2005

Yeah, it's an interesting approach. They're using the 'net, and the "blogger power" to try and gain momentum and be noticed by the casting director(s). It's on the web, it's something people have not seen before, and it may warrant a discussion, meets all the guidelines no?
posted by riffola at 4:18 PM on August 4, 2005

Lame.
posted by guruguy9 at 4:18 PM on August 4, 2005

Is there a petition I can sign or something?
posted by drezdn at 4:32 PM on August 4, 2005

How much influence can we generate from the blogosphere and fans of the show? Will we succeed in getting the casting directors to take a second look at our audition tape? [...] Do we have any natural advantage because we are identical twins and long-time bloggers?

Having worked in the television industry: 1: Possibly a little. 2: Unlikely. 3: No.
posted by Kiell at 4:35 PM on August 4, 2005

it's something people have not seen before

people have never seen blogs wherein someone REALLY badly wants to be on tv before? remember that website like 6 years ago where the girl just wanted money? helpkelly.com or something? how is this different? i really think this should be on the gray.
posted by spicynuts at 4:35 PM on August 4, 2005

Blogger power, huh? Like When Ernie Hsuing was on The Weakest Link? Or like when Wil Wheaton was on The Weakest Link?

Don't get me wrong. Those are actually cool examples.

If camworld and mrbarrett wish to follow Danny Kastner's lead, fine. Grab a guitar and a video camera, whatever. But plugging for the net's support is like begging for abuse.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:46 PM on August 4, 2005

PS - Dreama didn't have to beg teh internets to go on Jeopardy!.

She's another positive example.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:49 PM on August 4, 2005

*blows raspberry*
posted by interrobang at 4:50 PM on August 4, 2005

Do we have any natural advantage because we are identical twins

Well, Kami & Karli, identical twins from Oregon were on Amazing Race 5 - so, I'd say the producers have "been there, done that" already.
posted by ericb at 5:00 PM on August 4, 2005

I love TAR. I could spend hours watching ignorant Americans talk about how much Indian cities 'smell', or how the people in third world countries are 'just so quaint and lovely'.

That and the arguments with airline counter staff. Love that shit.
posted by pivotal at 5:02 PM on August 4, 2005

They've lived abroad and they (presumably) get along with each other. Totally inappropriate for TAR, where teams must at all times lose their shit and blame one another, and not know shit about fuck.

Now, pair up a couple of you grumpy naysaying MeFites, and that'd be more like it.
posted by mcwetboy at 5:07 PM on August 4, 2005

pair up a couple of you grumpy naysaying MeFites

Interesting. Who'd we nominate, if we could, to represent MeFi on TAR?
posted by ericb at 5:09 PM on August 4, 2005

What the hell is The Amazing Race?
posted by salmacis at 5:10 PM on August 4, 2005

Dios and amberglow. Or y2karl and S@L. In a small cage. Armed with machetes. I'm willing to kidnap them and transport them across state lines to make that happen. I'd probably even watch TAR for that.
posted by loquacious at 5:12 PM on August 4, 2005

Me and jonmc. We could spend hours going off about which Spinal Tap drummer was the greatest.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:12 PM on August 4, 2005

Apologies, but.

Metafilter: teams must at all times lose their shit and blame one another, and not know shit about fuck.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:13 PM on August 4, 2005

Do we have any natural advantage because we are identical twins and long-time bloggers?

3: No.

Well, the blogging thing probably won't give them an advantage, but TAR has cast identical twins before. They've also cast obvious geeks. So they've got a slight edge.

where teams must at all times lose their shit and blame one another, and not know shit about fuck

Season two's winning team got along with each other really well, even when things got tense. There have also been couples that get along really well. Not a lot of them win, but they get on the show, which is what these guys want to do.

Maybe this approach isn't going to improve their chances of getting on, but y'all should stop being so negative. Damn the torpedoes, guys.
posted by hifiparasol at 5:15 PM on August 4, 2005

Now that I think about it, we could get Paris and Al Franken to team up. The perfect match!
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:23 PM on August 4, 2005

"Help them get noticed by the casting directors of The Amazing Race"

Or not.

Couldn't they just whine about not being selected on their blogs instead? It would be a lot more amusing...
posted by insomnia_lj at 5:52 PM on August 4, 2005

no
posted by lazymonster at 5:57 PM on August 4, 2005

(||||||||)?
posted by snsranch at 6:30 PM on August 4, 2005

*urinates on reality teevee and anyone that supports it in any way*
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 6:54 PM on August 4, 2005

Interesting. Who'd we nominate, if we could, to represent MeFi on TAR?

Someone already mentioned Dios, so how about ParisParamus and Mayor Curly?
posted by delmoi at 7:32 PM on August 4, 2005

I know! Let's just automatically take every post from Boing Boing and re-list it on mefi!
posted by nightchrome at 8:03 PM on August 4, 2005

Um I didn't see it on BoingBoing when I posted this, I saw it at this super duper secret website.
posted by riffola at 8:07 PM on August 4, 2005

Good luck to them - ignore the haters, blogger twins!

Australia just saw the final of TAR 7 last night - most gripping piece of television I have seen in ages. Not being a sports fan or keen on nationalistic spirit, it was my first personal experience of cursing and cheering at a television screen. Even a tear was shed or two.

I'm not a big fan of television, but i am of this show, it's something else.

*ponders how lycanthropic furniture is able to urinate while mopping up the mess*
posted by elphTeq at 8:11 PM on August 4, 2005

If only one of them was a dwarf. Then they'd be on in an instant. Or if they were sia... er... conjoined twins. That'd make for great television!
posted by crunchland at 8:14 PM on August 4, 2005

i was just about to say that crunch--conjoined!

If they already did twins, it's not that likely they'll do them again. I'm sure they'd be great on it tho, and it's definitely one of the better "reality" shows.
posted by amberglow at 8:24 PM on August 4, 2005

They've done twins at least twice, amberglow. Though whether that makes them more likely or less likely to do it again is anyone's guess.
posted by hifiparasol at 8:38 PM on August 4, 2005

If only one of them was a dwarf.

Been there .. done that ... Charla from Phoenix.

"Charla says she is married to the man of her dreams and is manager/co-owner of ten sportswear stores. She has a form of dwarfism and says she 'certainly does not consider it a limitation.' In fact, she says she hopes 'to show the world what I can do and break all stereotypes about dwarfs!'"

But, maybe you knew that already! ;-)

How about gay/lesbian, identical-cojoined "dwarf" twins who maintain separate blogs on the Internets ... one with sympathy to James Carville; the other to Mary Matalin?
posted by ericb at 8:53 PM on August 4, 2005

I don't see that they have any other hooks, besides being twins and being not actors/models. What makes them good tv as opposed to the thousands and thousands of other wannabes? Is one a bastard, and one nice? (the good/evil twin thing) Is one a loser and one a winner? etc? What's the elevator pitch?
posted by amberglow at 9:06 PM on August 4, 2005

As a long time reader of camworld, I wish the Barretts luck. One word of advice... I've noticed from watching the last three seasons that the NYC based teams seem to die off quite early in the race, principally because of poor driving skills. If I were them, I'd spend a long weekend renting a manual transmission car and driving around LI.
posted by sleslie at 9:20 PM on August 4, 2005

"If I were them, I'd spend a long weekend renting a manual transmission car and driving around LI."

No worries. We both learned how to drive on manual transmissions in Michigan and have only been living in NYC for the past 5 years. We both also have owned cars and trucks with manual transmissions.
posted by camworld at 9:23 PM on August 4, 2005

We both learned how to drive on manual transmissions in Michigan and have only been living in NYC for the past 5 years. We both also have owned cars and trucks with manual transmissions.

*yawn*

I find that more interesting than the 'twin geek blogger' angle...
posted by the cuban at 2:14 AM on August 5, 2005

There's no doubt that the blogging to get on reality TV is a small but noteworthy crossover point in a culture that celebrates inane self-absorption and navel gazing.
posted by rhymer at 2:18 AM on August 5, 2005

I suspect that many of you who despise TAR have never seen it. It is nothing like those other shows (Big Brother, bachelorette, et al) that rely on vapid, model/waitstaff strutting around half naked and alternately locking lips and stabbing each other in the back. The Great Race is part travelogue, part scavenger hunt, part couples therapy.

I hope the twins do get cast. My husband and I always root for the oddballs and last year we were crushed when the hillbillies were eliminated first. My only fear is that the twins look a little too much like a previous couple that competed.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:35 AM on August 5, 2005

I'm a fan of TAR, and wish these guys luck, but WTF?

From camworld:

Feel free to link to BloggerTwins.com, email your friends, family and colleagues and ask them to help as well. Someone out there must be friends with the casting directors at CBS for The Amazing Race, or knows someone who is. Let's see if we can get this guerilla marketing campaign to work.

MeFi is not for marketing, viral or otherwise.
posted by mkultra at 9:02 AM on August 5, 2005

I hope that if they get on they will say, at least once, "Blogger twin powers... activate!"
posted by babar at 9:15 AM on August 5, 2005

Is one a bastard, and one nice? (the good/evil twin thing)

No, they're both bastards. kidding!

As the the third Barrett twin myself, I'd like to see the boys out there fighting for a nice house for their mother. If you knew these fellows, you'd know they don't give two craps about being on television. They've both had plenty of mentions in the press and all over the the Internets for other things, so that sort of publicity is all yawnifying for them. They're about as fame-seeking as a professional carbuncle-popper.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:19 AM on August 5, 2005

What the hell is The Amazing Race?

You'd need a television to know about it.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:57 AM on August 5, 2005

I would expect nothing less from 2 of the web's most pretentious members...
posted by mrblondemang at 10:22 AM on August 5, 2005

Dios and amberglow. Or y2karl and S@L. In a small cage. Armed with machetes.

<accent="australian">Two MeFites enter! One MeFite leaves!</accent>
posted by chuq at 12:24 AM on August 6, 2005