Another day, another venerable pop culture institution stymied by our collective fear of death, as CBS announced this weekend that the upcoming season of The Amazing Race has been postponed due to concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus. To be fair, it would be hard to imagine a reality show better suited for serving as a vector to spread the infection around the globe—say what you like about Love Is Blind, but at least most of those couples spend most of their time in quarantine—given that TAR is all about, well, hanging out in airports, chatting with people in airports, and just generally competing to see who can be the next, best, and fastest Patient Zero.
Per Variety, CBS emphasized that the decision is less about any real or pressing worries, and more in the interest of exercising “an abundance of caution.” The series was reportedly about three weeks into production on its 33rd season when the order came down, with all of the cast and crew being sent home and monitored for possible exposure to the virus. (Meanwhile, the show’s 32nd season has already been filmed, although CBS has yet to set an airdate for it.)
Meanwhile, we can only sit in envy of whichever contestants are currently filming the next season of Survivor on some isolated island, freed from the twin threats of viral infection and news about viral infections. (That being said: Stop touching your face, Boston Rob.)