It's a nationwide scavenger hunt where you try to find "oddities" in America.
Cup or glass?
<Seriously, Amazing Race is one of the "better" reality shows out there. 11 teams of 2 people each "race" around the world, trying to find a certain number of marked "pit stops" (where they are given the location of the next one) and finally reach the final rest stop for that "leg" (generally there are 4-5 pit stops in a leg) and the last team to reach the rest stop is eliminated. There are also four pre-determined non-elimination rounds, so you could be last and find out you're still in it. Along the way, there's a "Detour" where you choose one of two tasks to do (one's generally quick but scary while the other is slow or longer but not as scary) and a "Roadblock" which is a task only one member can perform.
It's pretty fun to watch them try to locate the pit stops and maneuver to get ahead of the other teams, no matter how small (like getting the first taxi). Generally, unless they REALLY screw up, everyone pretty much catches up to each other when they have to take flights to the next country, so everyone is pretty much together, maybe an hour apart. This season there's a bit more animosity between teams, but generally, things are amicable between players.>