Travel Channel Unveils "5 Takes"... United States?

The Travel Channel has unveiled the cast for the upcoming third installment of globe-trotting adventure series 5 Takes. This time, the cable network has reversed their format a little bit and instead of sending American travel journalists overseas, they've decided to send five travel journalists from the Pacific Rim to the United States.

This season, 21-year-old Taiwanese Bevis Song, 28-year-old Singaporean Jaime Tan, 26-year-old Indonesian Lena Toepan, 24-year-old Australian Tim Bloxsome, and 32-year-old Filipino Zach Yonzon will visit eight major cities across the United States on a ten-week tour, with only $50 a day allotted to them. They'll be making stops in Las Vegas, Anchorage, Washington, Orlando, Miami, Memphis, New York, and Austin. (They'll also be a final stop in either Los Angeles or San Francisco, based on audience polls.)

While I love 5 Takes (and was wildly addicted to the last installment, 5 Takes: Pacific Rim), I have to ask myself if the show's producers watched the snoozefest that was The Amazing Race: Family Edition, which for the most part remained firmly planted within the US of A. While I understand that the show is watched around the world, what excited me most about the series was the interplay between the journalists as they visited exotic locales in Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. I just can't get as excited about seeing the TJs explore, say, Austin, Texas. It's too familiar, I think. I watch the Travel Channel for escapism and to learn about new places, rather than tune in for programs about the US. Does anyone else feel the same way?

And those are some random cities... Orlando? I'd rather have seen them visit post-Katrina New Orleans or Boston or Portland... or Seattle. Still, I'll be tuning in to catch these latest travel journalists in action, even though I am already missing Gabe, Tony, Tiffany, Renee, and Josh. It just won't be the same without them.

The third season of 5 Takes kicks off on the Travel Channel on October 28th.