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]