There‘s a reality rematch brewing at the Emmy Awards.
“The Amazing Race” has dominated the Outstanding Reality Competition category since its inception, winning 10 out of 13 times. However, in the last four years, “The Voice” has won twice, including last year.
The producers of the globe-trotting CBS competition are determined to reclaim TV’s top prize.
TheWrap caught up with “The Amazing Race” co-creator/executive producer Bertram van Munster and host/producer Phil Keoghan at the Season 29 starting line on June 10. The producers shared secrets from the first day of shooting and made a case for the Emmy win.
Both argued that the difficult logistics of “The Amazing Race” puts it far above the competition.
“With all respect to the other shows, it’s much easier to shoot a show on a shiny floor stage than go to jungles of Brazil or Africa, or being in the snow in Siberia,” van Munster told TheWrap.
“[To] tell a story and do this in three weeks and 35,000 or 40,000 miles — it’s a very difficult show to produce,” he added.
Keoghan, who watches “The Voice,” sees a structural flaw in the categorization.
“To me it’s like a different category, because it’s in a studio,” he explains. “It’s almost like a ‘studio-variety-competition show,’ which is very different from what this is (gesturing to the set) … This reality show, our stage is the Earth.”
Moments later, the new “Race” cast bolted out of Grand Hope Park to complete a task in downtown L.A. before heading to LAX.
“The Race’s” first destination? Central America.
Its preferred destination? The Emmy stage at the Microsoft Theater on September 18. Kheogan and van Munster have made that trip ten times before.
To hear why Emmy voters should send them there again, check out the video above.
Emmy nomination voting began Monday, June 13 and continues for two weeks until Monday, June 27 at 10 p.m. PT. TheWrap will report “The Amazing Race” Season 29’s casting theme and new twists a later time. The new season will premiere at a yet-to-be-determined date in the 2016-17 TV season on CBS.