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Curse of the Reality shows?

Cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons -the list of disasters following Amazing Race and Survivor destinations is spooky stuff.

Most places would get very excited about the idea of Survivor or The Amazing Race coming to town, buoyed by the amount of money they would be spending.

But hold that thought and consider this: are these shows a jinx on local communities?

In the last few weeks we’ve seen a cyclone in Samoa, a hurricane in New York and a typhoon in the Philippines.

All three locations featured heavily in recent episodes of both US shows.

Samoa was a location for Survivor: One World, Survivor: South Pacific, Survivor: Heroes and Villains and Survivor: Samoa. After filming of its 19th and 20th seasons in 2009, the island of Upolu was damaged by a tsunami and an earthquake. Now it has been hit by Cyclone Evan.

Meanwhile its latest location, the Philippines, is recovering from a typhoon that has killed over 1000 people.

The Amazing Race ended last night in New York, recently besieged by Hurricane Sandy.

In 2011 episodes in Japan aired just after teams raced through Tokyo.

In 2004 the trains that carried the teams in Sri Lanka and the town of Galle were later damaged by the Asian tsunami.

In 2005 it raced through New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina striking.

On several occasions hosts of both shows have even managed to introduce episodes by promoting disaster relief phone numbers.

The next season of The Amazing Race also sees Phil Keoghan and racers in Christchurch, New Zealand, this time after its dramatic earthquakes, not before.

Hopefully he’s not a lightning rod for more of the same….

3 Responses

  1. Buddy029, wasn’t that filmed in like 2003?

    Personally I prefer to blame “K-9”, although “Sinbad and the Minotaur” was much more deserving of divine retribution…

  2. Also remember the very first episode season 1 was filmed in New York City, which aired in the US on September 5, 2001. We all know now what happened a few days later.

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