“The Amazing Race” has spent 25 years proving that the world really is waiting. How it launched am iconic series – and Phil Keoghan’s eyebrow.
‘Amazing Race’ had rough start 25 years ago, but rolled to TV history
Phil Keoghan kicks off the very first “Amazing Race” on Sept. 5, 2001. The Emmy-winning race is still going strong at 25, so is the eyebrow lift.
Standing under gray New York City skies, mop-headed host Phil Keoghan gave final instructions to 22 contestants about to crisscross nine countries for a $1 million prize at CBS’ first-ever “The Amazing Race” starting line on Sept. 5, 2001.
Keoghan smiled as he told the motley crew, “The world is waiting for you. I want to wish all of you the best of luck. Travel safe.”
Then the host arched his eyebrow before declaring, “Go!” as the 11 teams sprinted off.
It was the starting gun for one of television’s most enduring and decorated reality competitions. Twenty-five years and 38 completed seasons later, the indefatigable “Amazing Race” has sent contestants over 1 million competition miles across 39 countries, thrived amid seismic changes in the TV landscape, and won 15 Primetime Emmys.
It also launched one of reality TV’s most enduring send-offs: “The world is waiting for you. Good luck. Travel safe. Go!” Keoghan will deliver the familiar line – complete with his signature eyebrow raise – again when Season 39 premieres over two nights, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 (9:30 ET/PT, CBS).
“There was something very exciting about that starting line, because we were setting out on one of the most ambitious things ever done before on reality TV with 11 teams from all walks of life,” Keoghan, now an executive producer, tells USA TODAY. “Did we actually 100 percent know that we were all going to come back in one piece and pull this off? No. There was a wonderful nervousness.”
‘Amazing Race’ aired on Sept 5, six days before Sept. 11 tragedy
The first episode proved cocreators Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster’s insanely complicated international production could be pulled off – and made for compelling TV.
But just six days after the Sept. 5 premiere, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed the world. The tragedy immediately cast doubt on the need for light-hearted reality shows, much less one built around international travel.
“I was living in New York, and I remember going home and watching the news. I just wanted to throw up,” Keoghan says. “I just felt so confused and surreal watching news footage and seeing a poster of ‘Amazing Race’ on a bus covered in debris amid people covered in debris. It was soul destroying as far as the importance of a reality show in that moment.”
CBS postponed the second episode, scheduled for Sept. 12, for a week as the network focused on news coverage. But Keoghan credits government leaders for rallying the country around the need to move forward, and for entertainment.
“It was like, the best thing we do is not let this affect our lives,” Keoghan says. “And part of our everyday life is having escape from life’s hard realities. Our show took on a new meaning.”
Network exec insisted on the ‘Amazing’ eyebrow for Season 2
Season 1 started the momentum as a moderate breakout hit. Season 2 began production in January 2002, and Keoghan ended with his original unscripted send-off for the 11 teams. However, a note came back from a network executive asking, “Where’s Phil’s raised eyebrow? It wasn’t in the starting line in Season 2.”
Keoghan had shot the raised eyebrow again as well, a pure ’70s facial flourish subconsciously stolen from his childhood TV hero, “The Six Million Dollar Man” star Lee Majors. “When I was a kid, I used to do his bionic eye move, and raise the eyebrow,” Keoghan says. “I still have his doll.”
With the exec’s note, the eyebrow lift had to be added. “So they actually went back to the footage, found the eyebrow raise, and put it back in,” Keoghan says.
The move has remained through the seasons, growing legendary and referred to by fans as #Browsey. The inspiration behind Keoghan’s signature eyebrow arch was fully revealed when Majors’ wife, Faith, approached Keoghan at the Kentucky Derby.
“She said, ‘I love “The Amazing Race,” but you stole my husband’s eyebrow,’” Keoghan says. “And I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I did.’ So we took this great photo of Lee Majors and me doing the raised eyebrows.”
Reese and Drew had an ‘Amazing’ idea, but where are the big stars?
The show has thrived with its changing global locations and challenges, and without A-list star power. “We essentially turn the planet into a giant game board,” Keoghan says.
Hollywood stars are major fans. Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon stopped Keoghan in a New York City restaurant months ago to pitch an idea for a Valentine-themed race. Dierks Bentley expressed his fandom over a recent pickleball game.
The show has also lured famous contestants into the starting-line scramble, like pre-“The White Lotus” creator Mike White with his father, Mel White, on Seasons 14 and 18. But no superstar name has scrambled around the world for the show.
“There are celebrities who can put up with the schedule, maybe. But the number one thing I hear from everybody who comes on the race is ‘Oh my god, I had no idea how it was going to be.'”
Sadly, Keoghan’s dream “Amazing Race” contestant died Aug. 25. Country music legend Dolly Parton, he insists, would have rocked the race with her drive, determination and competitive spirit – if only she put the “9 to 5” job on hold.
“She would’ve fully embraced the idea of the race,” Keoghan says. “Dolly would have been a serious contender.”