Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Amazing Race episode "Olé, Olé!". Read at your own risk!
The Amazing Race was scheduled to air not one but two hours of action on November 4, which probably came as welcome news to viewers who wanted a break from the ongoing TV coverage of the 2020 presidential election, which is still undecided at the time of writing. Unfortunately, that wasn't a possibility for The Amazing Race fans who were originally promised two episodes but ended up getting one hour cut for election coverage.
The news was rather sudden, with the official Twitter account only informing viewers of the schedule change shortly before the first episode's end. The tweet delivered the news to fans, as well as when they could expect the next episode to premiere.
As one may expect, people were upset. Those who were eager to watch the two-hour block of The Amazing Race were angry and felt like they were deceived considering what they'd seen on television in terms of promotion. Take a look:
That’s some bullshit. Y’all been plugging 2 hours all week.
Some of the anger was directed at not being able to escape the election, but the switch was made even more confusing by the fact that CBS then aired a re-run of S.W.A.T. and not election coverage. With the election coverage not set to start on the network until 10:00 p.m. ET, some wondered why it was so important to replace The Amazing Race with S.W.A.T. On person phrased it this way on Twitter:
But... S.W.A.T. is on not election coverage.
Perhaps another reason The Amazing Race being cut short tonight was disappointing was that it disrupted the flow of the episode. The first episode was a non-elimination leg of the journey, which meant no team was sent home at the end of the episode. Presumably, someone would've left in the next hour, but now fans have to wait until next week to see who. Another Twitter user didn't mince words:
As previously mentioned, it's a bit of a stressful time in the nation, so it's understandable that some of the anger/disappointment in CBS was also tied to the election. Some were hoping for just a short escape to parts unknown but were instead relegated to watching Shemar Moore kick some ass.
It's disappointing that The Amazing Race had to cut an episode for the night, but it's not like it's going away forever. Plus, losing an hour this week may mean an added hour of The Amazing Race down the road or even the possibility of another two-hour week! As a positive, at least everyone can be happy their favorite teams survived another week and can pretend it'll stay that way forever until next Wednesday.
The Amazing Race airs on CBS Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest in the franchise, and for more happening in television and movies.
