The Amazing Race 1

The Amazing Race 1 (originally broadcast under the name The Amazing Race) is the first season of the American reality competition series, The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and nine countries and traveled over 35,000 miles (56,000 km) during thirteen legs. Starting in New York City, racers traveled through South Africa, Zambia, France, Tunisia, Italy, India, Thailand, and China before returning to the United States, traveling through Alaska, and finishing in New York City. The season debuted on CBS on September 5, 2001, and concluded on December 13, 2001.
Lawyers and best friends Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain were the winners, while separated parents Frank and Margarita Mesa finished in second place, and life partners Joe Baldassare and Bill Bartek finished in third place.
On September 13, 2000, CBS announced that it was set to produce a new reality show, which would feature eight teams of two traveling to eleven international locations to win US$1 million. By December 2000, the show was under the working title of CBS Summer Global Adventure Series. Location scouting for the racecourse took place in January 2001. Filming for the first season began in March 2001 by which time the show had been renamed to The Amazing Race. The first season of The Amazing Race traveled 35,000 miles (56,000 km) in 39 days, spanning four continents and nine countries. The season was hit with multiple filming delays, including an airport strike in Rome and a sandstorm in Tunisia, the latter of which forced teams to begin sixth leg in Gabès rather than the original Saharan desert Pit Stop. Filming concluded on April 8, 2001, at Flushing Meadows Park. The top of the World Trade Center was considered as the finish location for the season but was changed to Flushing Meadows Park after production was unable to secure needed permits.
Multiple aspects of filming were unique to the first season of the series. Host Phil Keoghan handed out clues at the beginning of some legs and only greeted the last-place team at each Pit Stop; all other teams were greeted and informed of their placements by local representatives. This would be changed with Keoghan informing all of the teams of their placements while accompanied by the local greeter in subsequent seasons in order to increase his in involvement in the show and prevent him from appearing like a grim reaper. Each leg's Pit Stop mat featured a localized design, while subsequent seasons have used a single design. The teams were also not required to read their clues out loud on camera; this was made compulsory for all teams in subsequent seasons.
The Amazing Race was designed so that the final three teams would all reach the finish line. However, Joe and Bill were so far behind that they could not catch up and did not finish the competition. They were still completing leg 12 in Alaska while Rob and Brennan, and Frank and Margarita, were crossing the finish line in New York City.
Eleven teams participated in the first season of The Amazing Race.
Kevin and Drew made an appearance in The Amazing Race: Family Edition, handing out clues at a hot dog stand in New York City. Kevin and Drew, and Joe and Bill, returned for the first All-Stars season. Frank Mesa made an appearance at the starting line of season 25. Rob and Brennan made an appearance at the starting line of season 27.
The following teams are listed with their placements at the end of each episode.
Season 1 was not particularly a ratings success as the series premiered six days prior to the September 11 attacks, after which interest in foreign travel waned and viewership fell correspondingly. The show was further hindered by the lack of media coverage and promotion as networks focused on news stories and more patriotic programming. Additionally, the show premiered and competed in the same time slot as with NBC's short-lived Lost, another travel reality game show with a similar premise. The show premiered with 11,800,000 viewers. By midseason, ratings had dropped with the sixth and seventh episodes pulling 8,370,000 and 9,170,000 viewers respectively. By the time of the finale, the show rebounded with 13,650,000 viewers. The show did just well enough to earn a second season, which aired the following spring.
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 92%, based on 13 reviews as of August 2023. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Amazing Race elevates reality television conventions with its globetrotting scale, making for a suspenseful competition and fascinating travelogue." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 24 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Following the season's premiere, Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote "[The Amazing Race] brings new energy and respectability to the 'reality' genre popularized by the same network's Survivor -- and surpasses it in spectacle and human drama. Great TV lives." Michael Speier of Variety wrote "Television gets back to real reality via The Amazing Race. With this thrilling trip around the world, CBS blows away the Summer of Rats — thank you Fear Factor — while creating a terrific companion piece to the net's comparatively tranquil Survivor. Linda Stasi of the New York Post wrote "I never thought I'd love a reality show, because mostly I hated all those shows with their wannabe models, fat yutzes and half-wits who try to be as smart as the fat yutz from Survivor but are dumber than a family tree of Bushes. But this one actually is so good I am already addicted." Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel wrote "Classier than Fear Factor, clearer than The Mole and swifter than Survivor, CBS' The Amazing Race jolts the reality format with tantalizing thrills. Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote "An exhilarating, fast-paced competition filled with colorful characters, The Amazing Race is a pulse-pounding good time." Ed Bark of The Dallas Morning News wrote "It all makes for a watchable feast of accidental tourists navigating various twists, turns and blind alleys. Amazing Race seems to be well-cast with vivid characters."
Conversely, following the show's premiere, Terry Kelleher of People called it a "half-decent start". Anita Gates of The New York Times wrote that while the show may be less mean-spirited than previous reality show, it "may not be what viewers who love reality shows want to see." Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it had "all the interest and awareness of an air-conditioned tour bus roaring by Nantucket."
Following the season's conclusion, Linda Holmes of Television Without Pity wrote that she "was flat-out hooked for thirteen weeks, and the ending managed not to disappoint, which almost never happens." Matt Roush of TV Guide called this season "TV's best reality show". Allan Johnson of the Chicago Tribune called the first season "a satisfying race around the world". Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly called it "[2001's] most exciting reality adventure. The fast-paced editing, breathtaking scenery, and almost perfect casting made for truly pulse-racing programming." In 2015, Joe Reid of Decider wrote, "It really is a remarkably well-structured, well-edited, well-conceived, and well-cast season of reality television. This show made its reputation for a reason." In 2016, this season was ranked 5th out of the first 27 seasons by the Rob Has a Podcast Amazing Race correspondents. Kareem Gantt of Screen Rant wrote that this season "had a great cast, truly awesome locations, and challenges that kept the viewer on the edge". In 2021, Jane Andrews of Gossip Cop ranked this season as the fourth best. In 2022, Jason Shomer of Collider ranked this season among the show's top seven seasons. In 2022, Rhenn Taguiam of Game Rant ranked this season as the overall best season. In 2024, Taguiam's ranking was updated with this season remaining as the overall best season.
The DVD boxed set for season 1 was released on September 27, 2005. Kevin and Drew, Lenny and Karyn, Joe and Bill, and Rob and Brennan did commentary on four episodes.