At the start of this NBC summer reality show, the host makes an important point when he tells the competing families that this is not a race. And given the nature of the show - seven families going from Chicago to LA in RVs while competing in challenges along the way - it was hard not to think (with reference to a similar CBS show) that is is also not amazing.
That being said, the show isn't awful in any obvious way. The host, Reno Collier (a comedian best known as Larry the Cable Guy's opening act), is game if not particularly dynamic. The families, as you'd expect, come from the various elements of our great melting pot/salad bowl. Just with more "energy." And in the case of the family from Texas, a set of gigantic fake knockers.
But I digress.
The point of the show is that the families drive their RVs to a location with some historic impact (such as Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois) and compete in a task. The winner gets a prize, while the bottom three families participate in another challenge, with the loser there going home. In the first episode, the yuppies from Westport, Connecticut, who saw their education as their greatest asset, lost in large part because they forgot that the shortest distance between to points is a straight line. I'm sure that'll keep them up nights in their McMansion.
And, of course, there's drama along the way, but as it's a family show the drama is more light comedy than something from Chekov. The Alabama housewife and Yonkers dad have a desperate moment while trying to come to grips with the uses for "youse" and "y'all." The Yonkers mom accuses the downstate Illinois family of cheating. The Long Island daughter throws a tantrum over gummy worms. Woo.
So while it's not particularly worth seeking out, it's not the worst a network could do for a summer series (ABC's The Scholar, for example). Just don't expect anything surprising.
