The Amazing Race is an American reality game show in which teams of two or four race around the world against other teams, with the first-place team winning $1,000,000. As the original version of the Amazing Race franchise, the CBS program has been running since 2001 and has completed fifteen seasons, with the fifteen season starting September 27, 2009. The show was created by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, who, along with Jonathan Littman, serve as executive producers. The show is produced by Earthview Inc. (headed by Doganieri and van Munster), Bruckheimer Television for CBS Paramount Television and ABC Studios (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company). For all seasons, the series is hosted by veteran New Zealand television personality, Phil Keoghan.

The series has won all seven of the Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program awarded since the category was created in 2003. Although it has moved around several prime time time slots since its inception, the program has averaged about 10 million viewers per season.

Concept

The original idea for The Amazing Race began as a bet between current producers Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, with van Munster challenging Doganieri to develop a concept for a TV show in less than five minutes while both were attending a trade convention. With Doganieri's suggestion of a race around the world, the two refined the concept and sold it to CBS.CBS Biographies of Elise and Bertram